April 28 – Oxford, England. This place is a great fascination to me. Probably as a result of my appreciation of the Morse, Lewis and Endeavour BBC crime dramas filmed here and partly as a result of the rich religious and literary history.
Last time we stayed right downtown at the McDonald Randolph Hotel. Well located and makes walking to almost any place in the old town simple. Problem is, no parking. So this time we're staying at a Holiday Inn Express right next door to the local soccer stadium and very near to the Park & Ride system that I like so much.
The only problem with this HiExp is that it's pretty cold and the radiator in the room can't keep up with the temps. I don't think I ever got the room much over 68F the first night, fine for me but freezing for D. I learned a few tricks that had the temps up to 71 for the rest of our stay. Close the bathroom door, the vent in there pulls the warm air at the ceiling level out of the room so at bed height the room never warms up. If it's cloudy, keep the drapes closed. The windows are double glazed but it's obvious that they do not have the insulating gas in between the layers; the cold radiated off the window like it wasn't there. If it's sunny, keep the drapes wide open because the windows transmit heat as well as they do cold. Once the sun goes down, close them immediately to prevent losing the heat when they cool off. This made the room more comfortable for D and still ok for me.
Our first morning was sunny and bright but pretty cool. We took the bus from the P&R into town. Once again the drop off point was much closer to the center of the University district than the available public parking. So the P&R saves you time, money and energy. The savings in Oxford are not as good as we have previously experienced. In the last two P&Rs the parking was either free or refunded when you bought the bus ticket. Here you have to pay to park and for the bus. It's only ₤2 so, no big deal. We used 3 P&Rs and each one had a different system. They are run by the local county or city and I guess each has a different philosophy concerning how to get the local populace to ride instead of drive. At the times we went in the bus wasn't full but then it was not at the time when workers would have been riding. But sometimes we went out during commuting hours and the busses were still not full. Guess they're like SoCal, everyone wants to drive.
We walked uphill from the drop off to the Carfax Tower. The tower is all that remains of an old church and it's pretty much in the center of the University District. From the top you have great views over Oxford's famous spires. Last time we were here we climbed the tower of St Mary the Virgin's tower. It's a little higher than Carfax and had great views. We turned down Cornmarket Street to head to Broad Street and the Visitor's Center. We booked a 2pm walking tour that will get us inside some places not open to the general public. Since it was only about 11:30am we decided to see if any of the colleges on Broad Street were open for visiting. Success, right across the street Balliol College was open. It usually costs ₤1-2 to visit. I took me a while to remember that Concession when applied to admission or price was what we call the Senior Citizen's price. I think the Brits have this right. It's so much more civilized to say "2 concession please." Than to ask for the senior price.
Balliol College has been a center of learning for almost 800 years. Most of the buildings are very old and also very attractive. They've had to expand over the years and incorporate some updated class rooms. Several of the buildings are very modern.
The main gate of every college is no merely an arched hole in the wall; it's actually a passageway with gates on both ends. In between there's always a side with a window that slides open. This is the domain of the Porter, known as his lodge. He's a combination gate guard, message taker, postman, tour ticket vendor and college major domo. If you want to know what's going on in a college he would be the man to talk to, if they would talk. Mainly they are very discrete with the school's goings on. What happens at Balliol, stays at Balliol. By tradition they are usually dressed and act very formally. I have to admit that, when I'm in England, I don't mind formality. It just seems s natural there. In the USA formality makes me slightly uncomfortable in many situations but not here. The first time in my life I ever felt comfortable with someone calling me Mr. Longenberger was here in Oxford during our first visit. The head porter at the McDonald Randolph hotel addressed me that way during our entire stay and it took me a little time to realize that I didn't mind and never thought to modify that by asking him to address me by my first name. A bit odd not what I think about it.
A little aside is needed here. I was tempted to stay at the Randolph again this time because it has a great location. But since we had the rental car I decided against it. Very little parking is available and it's very expensive. This was probably Devine intervention again as just recently a kitchen fire there burned up through the vents and took off almost the entire roof. It's closed until renovated. Sad really, it's a beautiful building. On that same note. The Great Hall at Christ Church College, used for Hogwarts Great Hall in the Potter films is also closed for visiting. In this case the roof simply fell in. It's also in the process of renovation.
I approached the Porter through his lodge window and asked for 2 concession tickets. I have to admit that I feel mildly complimented when they look at me skeptically seeing as the age to qualify is only 60 and I passed that mark years ago. But at the same time I feel a little insulted because the skepticism is also an indication that I might not be precisely truthful. Maybe they do it as a way of saying that you don't really look that old. Hard to say but no one ever asked me to show my driving license, as they say over here.
British Driving Note: Over here they put a capital L on cars that have novice drivers. It's a bold, black L on a white magnetic card about six inches square. It's a good way to tell other drivers that the vehicle might make some unexpected maneuvers so you should be careful around them. I learned something new today. The L means the driver is licensed but new. If the car has two Ls, one on each side at the back, it means he or she is not licensed yet but is learning and to expect almost anything to occur. I was thinking it might be nice to have the same sign with a capital T on it for tourists to display when driving. I haven't had many problems but I can see where it's entirely possible that someone could. They rented me a large Ford station wagon; it's great for my luggage but not suited for an American driver on these narrow English roads. I had a heck of a time figuring out where the passenger side tires were. I scuffed quite a few curbs in the first couple of days. One advantage to the car was that it was easy to find in parking lots. It was so long that it hung at least 2 feet out of any parking space so you just look down the row and there it was. It was a nice car however, comfortable easy to drive. Had it been a foot narrower and 4 feet shorter it would have been perfect.
Meanwhile the porter has been waiting for me to pay for my tickets. When you first exit the entrance gate you are in the Front Quad (quadrangle) completely surrounded by buildings and walls with only a few ways to continue. The porter gave us a map of the college with a suggested route to walk and numbers with explanatory notes for all the main features. When you leave the gate you enter the Front Quad. The flower beds have been planted with spring flowers and it's very nice. The wisteria vines have started blooming but are a long way from full. They're still more vine than flower. The school chapel is in the back right corner of the Front Quad and the business office is in the front left corner. Seems appropriate to have the finances as far as you can from the church, sort of a metaphor for the disparity of their usual states of mind. The oldest buildings in the college are on the north and west side of this quad. Built in the 1400s, the north side's medieval hall and the west side's "new library" were built in the 1400s. The "old library" was in the second floor on the north side, the first floor is the "Old" Common Room (read as seniors only). If these dates are correct, Balliol's second and of course the first libraries pre-date the publication of printed books in Europe.
Their recommendation was for us to enter the chapel passageway and go into the chapel. On the right side of the chapel passageway is a memorial to those Balliol students who died during WWII. I usually scan the names of these small memorials to see who is listed. Nearly the last name on the list was Friedrich Adam von Trottzusolz, Rhodes Scholar. Everyone mocks the Nazi Week the History Channel used to run every now and then, mainly because they did it a bit too often in the beginning. But I watched most of the documentaries that played that week at one time or another. Friedrich Trottzusolz was executed by the Nazis for his role in the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler. He was at Balliol in 1936.
The current chapel was built in 1857 and is the third to stand on this site. It has a single nave and one row of pews along the back wall. From there forward the choir stalls are on both sides of the aisle and terminate a few feet short of the dividing railing separating the nave from the sacristy. The altar is covered in silver and gold. The face is embossed with five scenes from the life of Christ, the crucifixion at the center. The 5-light window above the altar is very nice. It has splashes of color but many of the pieces are intricately drawn in umber on clear glass or nearly clear. All of the faces and many of the other features are done this way. The only consistently colored panes are the people's clothing and the sky. Consequently it lets in quite a bit more light than most stained glass windows and the chapel is quite bright. This was probably by design because the side windows are blocked from direct sunlight almost all the time and the organ's pipes block the rear window almost completely. It's a peaceful place with a cozy feel.
From there we followed the map back into the Front Quad and walked past the old library and through a passage into the Garden Quad. This is the larger of the two quads. Most of the buildings on the west side are student housing. The north side building houses The Hall. In most colleges this would be modified by the word Great, here it's just The Hall. Many of the buildings here are old but there are two obviously newer buildings. One is at the end of the residence halls on the west and one is at the eastern end of the building with The Hall. One looks like a residence the other looks like lab or science space.
The Hall is not a huge space but it's a large room. I'd say it's about half the size of the Great Hall at Christ Church College that was used as Hogwarts Great Hall. It's got all the features of a classic Oxford College dining hall. Long tables with bench seating, portraits of past Headmasters and illustrious graduates, coats-of-arms of the founders and important persons of the peerage that have attended, a large fireplace, a pipe organ and a raised dais for the head table. A very dignified place.
After taking a good look at The Hall we descended the stairs back to the Garden Quad. It this quad that was the subject of two limericks that parodied the immaterialist philosophy of a Bishop Berkeley and the answer to his position by Ronald Knox a Balliol educated theologian and Bible translator.
Berkeley's observation:
There was a young man who said, God
Must think it exceedingly odd
If he finds that this tree
Continues to be
When there's no one about in the Quad.
Knox's response:
Dear Sir, your astonishment's odd:
I am always about in the Quad.
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be,
Since observed by, Yours faithfully, GOD.
I love it when people can discuss their philosophical difference with a bit of wit and creativity rather than invective and anger. After all, everyone has the right to be wrong.
Apparently Balliol won the Oxford U 6-man sculls in 2010. A chalk (or water based white paint) drawing over the doorway to the senior lounge proclaimed the Head of the River for that year. It's fading but then it's 5 years old. One of the university wide tournaments of Oxford is tidily-winks. I used to play that with my grandmother when I was very young. The thought of all these brainiacs competing by flicking small disks into a cup with a larger disk in their hand is a very comforting thing. They still know how to have some fun.
The trees in the Garden Quad are blooming and it's a grand sight. The only tree that's not looking so good is the 400 year old mulberry but they say it bears fruit almost every year.
We walked back to the Tourist Information Office to join our 2pm walking tour. It's being led by an Austrian lady who has lived here almost 35 years. We walked down Turl Lane past Jesus, Lincoln and Exeter Colleges to the Radcliffe Square. All Souls College is on the west, St Mary's Church on the south, Brasenose College on the east, the Bodleian Library on the north and the Radcliffe Camera in the center. This is a pretty impressive educational epicenter.
All Souls is one of those strange Oxford Colleges that has no resident students. There are a few colleges that specialize in research but do have tutors that will take on students in specialized subjects that are in their research area. I'm assuming that most everyone knows that students at Oxford do not attend classes. They have a tutor for each subject and they meet with the tutor in small groups or one-on-one occasionally so the tutor can interact with them to see how their studies are progressing. At the end of the term they show up at the Testing College to take their exams and find out what they learned.
Brasenose is a more traditional school with resident students, a Great Hall for dining and all the other things necessitated by having young student's life in college. The name seems odd but it derives from a brass door knocker that was originally on the hall door of the building that was converted to the college. It's the face of a dog and the first thing you see is his nose. Hence, Brasenose.
St Mary's Church was part of St Mary's college but the college was taken over by Brasenose when finances became questionable. It's an old church and was around when the religious wars were storming in England. It's interesting to visit and has some wonderful stained glass, including the Becket Window. The spire of the church is the place to climb to get a view over Oxford. The staircase is spiral and very narrow. If you have any shoulders at all you have to angle them to fit. This is not a problem because that's the best way to clime spiral stairways anyway. The problem is that the staircase and the walkway around the top are only wide enough for one person. If you encounter anyone on the stairs going the opposite direction you have to negotiate which of you will retreat to one of the doorways or windows that will allow the other person to pass. It wasn't very busy the day we were there so there were only a few jambs that were easily resolved.
The Radcliffe Camera is a round building and one of the icons of Oxford. It's actually a reading room for the Bodleian Library next door. It's an extremely attractive building. One of the college traditions is to climb the outside of the building to put an orange construction cone on the spire at the top. This is, of course, illegal as some students have died trying. Still the practice continues.
The Bodleian is the main library of the University. It supplements and expands on the materials found in the individual college's libraries. Only parts of it are open to the public, mostly the old library building and some of the rooms. The stacks, reading rooms and special collection are not available to tourists. It has not only books but ancient manuscripts and scrolls as well as research materials not available in many places.
We walked down a few hundred yards across the High Street to Oriel College. All we did there was enter the Front Quad to take some pictures of the very fine medieval buildings that surround it. The building directly across from the entrance has three nice sculptures arranged in a triangle. The top one is Mary and Jesus as an infant. The other two lower ones appear to be two kings but I have no idea who they are. Above the door for the main entry they have carved three coats-of-arms plus the three white feather symbol of the Prince of Wales. I recognized the three horizontal lions on one of them but I can't remember to whom it belongs. It's one of the kings of England.
Next up, a visit to Corpus Christi College. This school is fairly new having been founded in 1517. It's one of the smallest if you consider resident students. There are only about 350. Its specialty is 'classics' which is probably why it's small. It did have a role in producing the King James Bible (known in the UK as the Authorized Version), published in 1611. The entrance to the college is impressive with coats of arms from the founder and others at the corner of the main door and on the enclosed balcony above it.
Pelicans are everywhere around the college. The name Corpus Christi means Body of Christ and the legend that the pelican offers its own blood to its young. The founder, Richard Foxe chose the pelican as the school's symbol. The tall sundial and perpetual calendar in the center of the quad put there in 1581 has a gilded pelican on top. The grounds are blooming beautifully. Some young men were playing croquet on the space reserved for that game.
Our next stop was the Old Bodleian Library building. It's a fine old building from the 1600s. The large statuary over the inside of the main entrance shows King James handing copies of the Bible in English to an old woman and an angel. Not really sure about the symbolism here but it does mark a major event in Protestant history.
We were allowed to go into the main hall of the building usually not allowed for visitors. It is truly a beautiful room. The ceiling vaults are majestic in their complexity and the addition of a multitude of carved bosses situated very close together give is a bit of a chaotic yet attractive look. One interesting is the false columns where vaults appear to come together but instead of a column supporting them at that spot an ornately carved projection hangs there unsupported. I don't think I've ever seen that technique before.
From the library our guide took us down some very small lanes to a pub where Morse and Lewis occasionally had a pint after work. I remember the scene very well. Hard to believe John Thaw is gone. The Morse series ended with Morse dying just a short time before John died.
After that visit we walked to the Museum of Natural History. D wanted to see the shrunken heads. Yikes! They had one of the best statues of Isaac Newton I've ever seen. He's standing up with a book in one hand at his side with his right hand holding his chin while he gazes down at an apple at his feet. You have to approach the statue to see his face. From a distance you only see the top of his head. I think they captured the essence of his discovery of gravity perfectly.
It was a full day in Oxford and very rewarding. Tomorrow's another day. It was back to the bus stop on to the bus and out to the Park & Ride.
