Fourteen ramblers met at Oxford railway station for a walk round the city of dreaming spires – Oxford – on Wednesday morning 3rd April. We started walking at 10.45am led by David and Gillian.
Initially Oxford was known as “Oxenforda” (ford of the oxen). Our first encounter was with a large bronze ox ( commissioned by the Said business school in 2001),outside the station. After a short walk along the Oxford canal, we reached the Rewley Road swing bridge, one of two swing bridges in England that are scheduled monuments. In the past, the Oxford Canal was one of the most important transport links between London and the Midlands, mainly coal from Warwickshire. Today it’s a popular route for pleasure narrow boats, many of which we saw on the walk. Next was the area of Jericho, where we could see the Italian style St Barnabus Church, built in the 1860s to serve the spiritual needs of the University Press workers living locally.
We then walked along Walton Street, where we came across the Oxford University Press. The University became involved in the print trade in the late 15th century, growing into a major printer of Bibles, prayer books and scholarly works.
We came face to face with the Blavatnik School of Government, founded in 2010, which is now part of Oxford’s Social Sciences Division. This is on the site previously occupied by The Radcliffe Infirmary, knocked down some years ago. The walkers debated whether the modern architecture fitted its surroundings.
Then we passed by the statue of John Radcliffe. Nearby was the Tower of the Winds, an octagonal tower (based on a similar one in Athens ) on top of the old Radcliffe Observatory building.
We then entered the University Parks, with lovely displays of spring flowers. Charles II used to exercise his dog here!
Just outside the city wall, we stopped for lunch at the Turf Tavern, one of the oldest in Oxford. We managed to find a long table in an enclosed courtyard and were sheltered from the hailstorm by sun umbrellas! Despite the pub being busy, we were served promptly with a range of food: pies, fish and chips, burgers, toasted sandwiches .Previous visitors included Bill Clinton and Bob Hawke, when they were Oxford students in the 1960s.
David was himself an Oxford student at Jesus college in the 1960s. As one of its alumni, he was able to show us around. We saw the dining area and chapel and the interior quadrangle, which was very interesting.
We moved on to the Sheldonian Theatre, the work of Christopher Wren. David pointed out a wren in the hair of one of the statues! We then walked up the High Street to Rose Lane, reaching the Abingdon Road via Christchurch Meadows. We then joined the Thames at Folly Bridge and followed this to Osney Lock, where we saw a small hydroelectric plant driven by an Archimedian Screw. This can generate about 49kW, maximised by the inclusion of solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of the building.
We arrived back at the station via Botley Road at around 3.15pm. Our walk around Oxford was around 10km (6.25 miles) – everyone enjoyed the walk, showing many of us parts of Oxford we didn’t know, and I’m sure we all learnt a lot from the excellent sheet David had given us before we started the walk. Even the weather was kind. On behalf of all who attended, I’d like to say thank you to David and Gillian for researching and leading the walk.
Diana