Oxford Visit

The kids were in school on the 11th but I was off so Jennifer and I spent the day in Oxford.

Our first stop was Bodleian Library, which is the English equivalent of the Library of Congress in the US. We didn't tour the library itself but visited the exhibition on Medieval maps that was at the Library.

We then walked down High Street to the University of Oxford's Botanical Gardens, while many of the flower beds were being cleared there were a number of flowers outside from all over the world. Inside the Glasshouses were exotic tropical plants. Established in 1621, the Garden is the third oldest scientific garden in the World (oldest in the UK) and contains over 8, 000 different plant species.

We stopped at a little cafe for lunch and then headed to Carfax Tower. It is the only remnant of the old city church of St. Martin, demolished in 1896 to improve the traffic flow at what was a very important road junction; the pedestrianisation of Cornmarket Street and Queen Street has greatly reduced the significance of Carfax as a "meeting of ways". After the demolition of the church the Tower was repaired and restored, and a fine view over the city may be obtained from the top. The two figures beneath the clock strike the quarter hours. A display of the history of the tower is to be found on the second floor.

Our last stop was The Eagle & Child pub on St. Giles St. This medieval inn has academic associations. J. R. R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and the rest of the Inklings gang met here. It is where Thomas Hardy wrote Jude the Obscure, and Jude’s wife Arabella pulled fictional pints. Now St John’s has bought the Eagle & Child on the opposite side of St Giles. The Inklings formerly met here, in the “Rabbit Room” at the back, and jovially nicknamed their pub the Bird & Baby.