Oxford is a world famous City located in the south of England.
The City is historically associated with its world famous university.
A walk around the square mile of university buildings will reveal an abundance of outstanding individual pieces of architecture that are worth the entrance money alone. Only joking about the entrance money!
This small square mile of Oxford houses the majority of the 39 Colleges which are all financially independent and self-governing.
A small tip :-When visiting or working out an itinerary it is suggested to maybe Google beforehand to see which colleges are open to the public as it would be disappointing if there was a particular college of interest that on the day of your visit is closed to the public.
I believe three full days will see you get the most out of a visit to this compact and walk-able city.
To try :- During late spring through to late autumn there is every chance that you could choose to experience part of the true in the sense of a traditional ‘Oxford’ pastime…… Punting!
Whilst punting there are some delightful stop off places of interest but please be careful not to drink and punt…it isn’t advisable!
However, if you do quaff a few sherbets do watch out for the TVPP (Thames Valley Punt Police) as they are always lurking about the riverside generally camouflaged as trees! If you are stopped by the special branch and breathalysed you will be disqualified from ‘captaining’ a punt for a year and sadly your pole will be turned back into an everyday builders scaffold accessory again. Boo.
Another ‘Oxford(shire)’ institution bordering on the side of eccentricity is an outside pub garden game called ‘Aunt Sally’. This ‘game’ has people living on the outside of the city and county’s borders scratching their heads in bewilderment of the name of the game – Bjorn in awe of the skill involved once they get their Worzel Gummidge heads around this weirdly wonderful game.
The game has pub teams around the city and county competing against one and another during the summer months. There are several city and county leagues such is the popularity of this game.
The name suggests hilarity and I guess at a push in some games it can be but in the main it is taken pretty seriously.
Players in the top two or so leagues are almost La Liga in the Aunt Sally world from the rest of the league teams downwards if you know what I mean…ahem.
The rules are simple. Two teams of six players each are armed with six sticks and take turns in throwing these baton type sticks at a white painted doll…which actually isn’t a doll as such but a shaped block of wood. This block of wood is around sixteen yards away located on a metal type of spindle around a yard or so in height from the floor. This metal spindle has a movable type of perch of which the ‘doll’ sits on.
The aim is to knock the doll cleanly off the spindle to score a point. Six clean strikes gives the player a ‘sixer’ massive kudos in the Aunt Sally world. Six misses gives the most unwelcome title of a blob.
The teams play out the six players against the other teams six and the team with the highest ‘doll’ total at the end wins the match. Told you it was easy and uncomplicated!
And once the match is over there is generally a beer leg. It can end in tears or legless. Over to you Sally.
As silly as the name of the game is – there is a ‘World Championship’ in Aunt Sally held every year and this championship is generally played in the town of Charlbury.
Back in earnest to the City.
Within the central area there will be many locations you visit during your time spent here that have been the backdrop of many UK and overseas drama and film productions. Such semi/recent film productions include :- Mamma Mia! Here we go again (2018) :- Tolkien (2019) :- The Mummy (2017) :- Dr Strange (2016) :- Salaam-e-Ishq (2007) Alice in Wonderland (2010) :- X-Men : First Class (2011) :- Brideshead Revisited (2008) :- Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) & who could forget the Harry Potter films!
There are plenty of walking tours available within the city centre and if you are lucky enough to stay overnight at one of the central hotels available there are one or two spooky ghost tours to chill your fingers, toes and hairs on your back.
Landmarks to look out for within the square mile :- Any of the 39 steps…..sorry Colleges :- The Radcliffe Camera :- The Bridge of Sighs :- The High :- Martyrs Memorial + the Broad Street Cross – which is set in the road in granite and marks the spot where Martyrs Latimer and Ridley and later Cranmer were burnt at the stake (1555 & 1556) :- The Bodleian Library :- Oxford Castle (incorporating the former HMP Oxford into the incredible Malmaison hotel…a must see and stay hotel…but beware its not for the faint hearted or for any former geezers of Her Majesties….just too many memories lol) :- The Sheldonian Theatre :- Oxford Botanic Garden and a host of top museums including the Ashmolean and Pitts Rivers.
The George Street area of central Oxford is one long road full of pubs, bars, theatres, cinemas and eateries which come alive especially on a Friday and Saturday evening.
Other popular places to be seen and heard are the Jericho and Cowley Road areas of the city with the Summertown District coming up on the rails!
Now if it rains…we have an umbrella.
And in wrapping things up…a little tit-bit of information that not too many people know….
DMS taxis of Witney 