Oxford Day 2

 May 15th. Fine warm day around 19 degrees.

Beds and pillows are very comfortable at this Premier Inn and we both slept in until late.   A leisurely breakfast of cereal, fruit ( contained red currants evoking memories of Dad’s currant bushes), yogurt and milk.   Then a toasted crumpet with strawberry jam and a delicious cup of PG Tips tea.

Little sister opted to rest and knit while I prepared to go on a Literary Walk.   She assured me I couldn’t get lost as it was only a small place and everything was central.  How wrong could she be.   Even with Google maps I got thoroughly bamboozled and saw the same corner three times before I eventually decided to follow my nose and instinct  and nearly 7000 steps later finally got to 1 Brewer Street, which is in fact only 3 minutes walk from our hotel if you know the way!   

So, who lives at 1 Brewer Street?   I don’t know, but it is where Dorothy L Sayers was born and the little blue plaque says so.   I walked along 

until I found Balliol College which the fictional Lord Peter Wimsey supposedly attended. 

Also Brasenose Lane.   And realising I was close to the Radcliffe Camera I wandered the quadrangle.  

My oh my, cobble  stones are hard to walk on.   

But I did find the lampost and door that are said to have inspired C S Lewis.  I was standing quietly remembering  Mother reading us this book as children when a hijab clad young woman came up to ask in splendid British English if this was “the door”   I shared what little I knew and she excitedly told me “I was brought up on the Narnia books”.  

I also found The Randolph Hotel and The Morse Bar of Inspector Morse fame.

An excellent morning  Then it was back to the hotel and a refreshing cup of tea, before Little Sister and I ventured out for a sushi lunch at Itsu and then on to the Hop On Hop Off bus.   What excellent value for money!   Two tickets, two headphones and up to the top of the double decker bus for a hugely enjoyable tour around major landmarks and 20 stops.   We didn’t hop off at all the first round.

Our first stop was the remains of Oxford Castle and prison.   Little really remains and what does is used for other purposes by the council.   The huge Westgate Shopping Centre is built where the original gate was and as the commentary said “is not of pleasing architectural interest” .  Then on to Speedwell Street alongside the River Thames where currently river cruises depart.  

Past the little red shop where Alice, of Wonderland fame, used to buy her barley sugars.  Directly opposite was the Deanery where Alice’s father presided 1855-1891.  Apparently Queen Victoria so enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland books that she asked that his next book be dedicated to her and she be sent a copy.  So, as he was a mathematician he dedicated An Elementary Treatise on Determinants to her.

The next landmark was Christ Church Cathedral, recently made famous as a location for Harry Potter films but of more ancient significance as  having a bell tower housing Old Tom the bell which rings 101 times at 9:05 each night signifying the end of student curfew.   Also stained glass windows of Alice and The Cheshire Cat.  Little Sister and I intend to make a visit and see for ourselves tomorrow.

This building, so the commentary told us , is the most feared building in Oxford.   All university exams are held here.  Students attend exams in full academic regalia, suit, white shirt, white bow tie, mortar board and academic gown.  Apparently known as subfusc   I’m becoming daily more convinced that Latin is a living language in historic England!

Past Magdalen College of which C S Lewis was a fellow, and over the bridge where punting is still a popular pastime.  On our second cycle around we stopped off here and took photos.

Then back towards the centre, past the Martyrs Memorial  (to Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer),

the Sheldonian Theatre where  Oxford University graduations are held.   

Further along the street is the theatre where Richard Burton first made his acting debut when an undergraduate.  Also the famous Blackwells Bookshop.  Initially a tiny shop into which only three people could fit, it is said that if a fourth person wanted to enter a staff member had to go out!

Along Banbury Road which is lined both sides with gorgeous Victorian houses.  Originally Dons of the Colleges had to live in College and remain celibate.  This was revoked in 1870 when they then built these large detached houses.  The tour commentary said “big houses in preparation for the large families their new lifestyle would allow.”

The Eagle and Child, the famous pub where J R R Tolkein, C S Lewis and Charles Williams, known as The Inklings met to discuss what they were currently writing.   This pub has been bought by the Ellison Institute of Technology who have plans to develop the site.

This little red post box was placed here outside the home of Sir James Murray, the first editor from 1879 of the Oxford English Dictionary. Apparently letters merely addressed James Murray, Oxford would reach him.

After nearly two and a half circles of the route we stopped off to purchase postcards and find a place for a cup of tea.  We found Cafe W, on the second floor of Waterstones Bookshop. Today’s treat was a Rhubarb Custard Cake and  a Battenburg Slice.  Yum to both.   We shared a table with a young woman from Saudi Arabia.  A qualified lawyer there she is in Oxford studying English so she can do her Masters of Law at a London University.  

And so home to the hotel.