This morning when we set out for Bristol Temple Meads Station
a lot of people had umbrellas. However
fortunately it wasn’t really raining, as it is very hard (actually nigh on
impossible) to carry our luggage and an umbrella!
We caught a train to Didcot Parkway and then changed for the
short trip to Oxford. Unfortunately
there were no hot drinks on the first train as the boiler had failed. Consequently I was forced to buy a coffee at
Didcot Parkway, instead of enjoying the free coffee I was expecting in first
class on the train!
It was quite early but we were able to leave our bags at the
Guest House and set off to explore Oxford; well, after we stopped somewhere for
lunch.
I have never personally known anyone who studied at Oxford,
unlike “The Other Place” (Cambridge) where my cousin did his PhD. However, thought it would be an interesting
place to visit. It is also the setting
for the television series “Morse” and “Lewis”, two shows that I really enjoy.
I studied at the University of Melbourne from 1966 till
1969. For these four years I was a
resident in University Women’s College, affectionately known as Womens. Since it is now co-ed it is University
College – UC. We wore academic gowns to
dinner every week night and I think Sunday lunch. There was High Table, grace in Latin at
dinner, coffee after dinner in JCR (Junior Common Room). I really enjoyed the whole tradition thing,
but I am sure it is now not nearly as formal as when I was in residence. One of my daughters was a resident in UC in
the early 90s and I think they only wore gowns to dinner a couple of times a
week. According to the guide book I
bought, “Oxford Colleges”, “Formal Hall”, for which students are often required
to wear gowns, is available in many colleges at least once a week. Although the guide was written in 2008, don’t
know everything in it is still current!
We looked at the outside of Magdalen College and walked
across the Magdalen Bridge. (Apparently
pronounced ‘mawd-len’)
I also went to look at St Catherine’s College
We then paid to visit Balliol College – the gardens/quads, chapel
and hall.
We then made our way back to our very nice Guest House.
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