Friday, September 16, 2016
OxfordHaving Company in Oxford--Research at the Bodleian and a Walking Tour
It is odd waking up with someone else in
the house. Carol is also an early riser and I could hear her moving about
upstairs and using the bathroom. When it was free, I moved in to use it. It was
also nice to sit at a table and eat breakfast properly with someone else to
talk to. About six weeks after being on my own, I am appreciating the joys of
companionship. We had toast with peanut butter and Tony’s homemade gooseberry
jam (with gooseberries from his allotment) for brekkie with tea for her and
decaff coffee for me, showered, dressed and left the house, as decided at 8. 45
am.
We took the bus together to Oxford City
Center down Abingdon Road and parted company at St. Aldate’s. Carol, a gardener
and amateur botanist, headed to the gardens at Christ Church College for we
found the gates wide open, and I waited for the bus to turn into the High
Street, got off at Queen’s College and walked to the Bodleian. It was our plan
to meet on the steps of the Ashmolean Museum between 12. 45 and 1.00 pm, for Carol
would have time to pick up our friend Rose who was arriving from London on the
train at 11.00 and spend an hour or so at the Ashmolean before I joined them
for a lateish lunch.
Research at the Bodleian:
I am loving these mornings spent quietly
in uninterrupted reading at the Bodleian’s Radcliffe Camera building. I have
been very fortunate to find seats rights by the window but this morning, things
were slightly different. There was a bustle at the entrance to Brasenose
College which is right on Radcliffe Square—students were standing around with
big bunches of balloons and there was a massive banner announcing the name of
the college on the door. Was this the day the new freshmen moved in, I
wondered. Wasn't it a tad too early for that?
It did not take me long, from all the
noise and commotion outside, to discover that it was Open Day at Oxford
University. This was brilliant. It was the day Rose had chosen to arrive at
Oxford and I was supposed to give my new friends, a walking tour of the town
and gown portions of it. Wow! This meant that we’d be able to get to the more
inaccessible colleges (such as Christ Church) for free! Yess!! Well, I
concentrated on the chapters I wished to finish, continued making my notes and
then at 12. 45, I left my carrel and moseyed up to the Ashmolean. Although I
was right in the middle of one of the most interesting bits in my research, I
had to drag myself away as I did not want to keep my friends waiting. Time
permitting, I would return later in the day to continue working.
Oxford’s crowds had trebled—prospective
students and their parents were everywhere. As they competed with the regular
late-summer tourist hordes, it jammed the entire city. Thankfully, autumn has
sneaked in finally and under blue skies (although it had drizzled in the
morning), the cool temperatures did much to help us keep our cool despite the
crowds.
I waited for about 20 minutes before my
friends (who were deep in the heart of the Ashmolean) joined me on the steps,
as planned. Right away, I began my walking tour with them showing them the
following items that I think every first-time visitor to Oxford needs to
see—plus many more colleges thrown in as well as they were happy to welcome us
in.
1. The
Ashmolean Museum (founded in the 1600s and named for Elias Ashmole who started
the collection by bequeathing his own).
2. The
Randolphe Hotel (famed setting of so many episodes of Inspector Morse that there is a bar in there now named ‘The Morse
Bar’ and a ‘Morse Suite’ on the third floor. Great place to have Afternoon Tea
to which I was once treated as a grad student by wealthy American friends).
3. The
Martyrs Memorial (to remember Cardinals Latimer, Cranmer and Ridley who were
burned at the stake by Bloody Mary Tudor during the counter-Reformation).
4. We
detoured to enter St. John’s College but its famed Canterbury Quad was made
ugly by the erection of huge white marquees.
5. A
look at St. Giles, location of the Eagle
and Child pub where the Inklings (Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and their friends)
met once a week while studying at Exeter College to talk about their work.
6. Also
at St. Giles, the War Memorial that divides the road into Woodstock Road
(because it leads there) and Banbury Road (ditto) and to look at the other pub
on the other side, The Lamb and Flag.
7. Broad
Street to see the actual spot at which the martyrs were burned. Marked by a
cross of white and black stones.
8. Also
on Broad Street, Balliol College—one of the best-known. Just because it was
open.
9. While
on The Broad, the exterior of Exeter College’s Margery Quad to spot the new
sculpture by Anthony Gormley that happens to be poised just above my former
room at the college.
10. The White Horse Tavern
(Morse and Lewis often drank here).
11. Blackwell
and Co. Bookstore and specially the Norrington Room that goes underground
several levels and then settles under one of the colleges.
12. The
new spiffy glass and chrome lobby of the newly-named Weston Library.
13. The
former Indian Institute to see the Indian motifs on the wall—cow, lion,
elephant, tiger—opposite the King’s Arms
Pub.
14. Down
the hidden alleyway leading to The Turf
Tavern where Morse drank and Bill Clinton in his student days did not
inhale. I ate Beef and Ale Pie with Mash and Veg and half a pint of Guinness.
My friends ate giant Hamburgers with chips. We sat in the Conservatory—most un-pub-like—but
there wasn’t much room in the more traditional parts of the ancient public
house. A very nice meal indeed with huge portions.
15. Outside,
the pub, we looked at the blue plaque that pointed out the former residence of
Jane Burden who was the favorite model of the Pre-Raphaelites until William
Morris married her and she had a torrid affair with his best friend Dante
Gabriel Rossetti.
16. We
emerged under the Bridge of Sighs and walked into the courtyard of the
Sheldonian Theater—Christopher Wren’s only Oxford Building. On the right is the
Clarendon Building, designed by his best-known pupil, Nicholas Hawksmoor. Carol
chose to detour at this point to go into Blackwell’s Art store. The agreement
was that we would reconnect either at Exeter College or at the art store.
17. On
to Turl Street and into Exeter College—to which I have a special connection as
I did grad work there, many moons ago. We saw the lovely Quadrangle, the Dining
Hall (whose steps were adorned with potted geraniums) with its lovely High
Table, oil-painted portraits on the wall and wooden paneling throughout. I have
eaten many a happy meal in the company of wonderful friends in this beloved
space where a lot of bonding has taken place—those bonds still remain. We
walked through the Junior Common Room to the Fellows’ Garden where we peeped
into the College Library, then climbed the steps to the ramparts of the walls
that enclose the college and overlook lovely Radcliffe Square.
18. On
the ramparts of Exeter College, I pointed out the many buildings that give Radcliffe
Square its unique character—exterior of the Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera,
Brasenose College, The Church of St. Mary The Virgin, All Souls College (the
only one that was not open as All Souls College is exclusively for grad
students and Oxford Fellows).
19. Back
in Exeter College, we went to the Chapel, designed by George Gilbert Scott who
also designed the Library of the University of Bombay where I have also done
research—I love my Scott connections! Rose loved the tapestry portraying The Adoration of the Magi as she is a
huge Pre-Raphaelite fan. This one was designed by Edward Burne-Jones and
created by Morris and Co (of William Morris fame). Morris, Burne-Jones and
Rosetti (all Exeter alums) had met in the college, founded the Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood and stayed fast friends for the rest of their lives—despite their
complicated romantic entanglements. In the Margery Quad (which was under
construction—yes, yet again!) I pointed out my room to Rose. Carol was not
around at the main door of the college by the time we finished, so assuming she
was still in the store, we soldiered on.
20. Past
Brasenose Lane, we entered Radcliffe Square and tried to get into the Church of
St. Mary the Virgin. There was a memorial service going on inside, and so we
could not enter. Not wanting to waste time waiting, we left the Square and
emerged on High Street (The High) which we crossed to enter University College
(where Bill Clinton did not inhale).
21. On
to the Shelley Memorial which is tucked-away in a corner of the college—its
tribute to a passionate alum and one of the country’s greatest poets, as a way
of making up for “sending him down” unjustly on baseless charges.
22. One
to Oriel Square past Magpie Lane where I took Carol into The Bear, Oxford’s
oldest pub and the one in which you could, in past centuries, pay for a drink
and a meal with a student tie. The Pub collected hundreds of ties that are
showcased on the walls and on the ceiling and give it a very unique look
indeed. We tried to get into Christ Church Quad but it had closed at 4. 30 pm.
So, in the end, we did not get into the one college that asks tourists for
payment to enter.
23. It
was then almost 5.00 and Rose had a train to catch from Oxford Station at 5.
30. We made our way back to Exeter—no sign of Carol there. We entered Blackwell
Art Shop—she had probably left a long time ago. I checked my phone to see if
she had called me—she is not reachable by me as she has a US number and no
local UK number. Rose and I were worried. Where was she? It does not bode well
when parties separate and there is no phone contact. Rose and I decided that
she would go to the Station—they were sure to meet there as they were on the
same train back to London.
Rose and I said goodbye and parted—I will,
no doubt, see her again in London in October. I had thoroughly enjoyed my day
out with my friends in Oxford and although I could have given them at least
another two hours’ worth of viewing (for we did not get a chance to see Christ
Church College or The Meadows or Magdalen College or the Botanical Gardens or
Carfax), one must always leave something out for “next time”. Rose thoroughly
enjoyed the tour and her visit.
Back to the Bodleian:
Since it was only 5.00 pm, I returned to
my seat at the Radcliffe Camera—it had almost emptied with most readers having
left by this time. I got back to my work and stayed there until 7.00 pm. Then I
called Ela who lives in Painswick in the Cotswolds as the plan was that I spend
the next day, Saturday, with her and her family. However, after walking to the
railroad station and finding that there was a major disruption to the service
and that many commuters headed to Heathrow felt deeply concerned about making
their flights, I nixed my own plans for Painswick. It was a far more
complicated, time-consuming and expensive journey than I had imagined.
Returning Home for Dinner:
The evening had turned chilly—how can it
be 82 degrees one day and 62 degrees the next? The UK seems to have gone from
summer directly to winter and I was rather cold. It is time to add another
layer to my outfits, for sure. I took the bus from St. Aldate’s back home to
Grandpont and got myself comfortable in front of the TV to watch and eat my
dinner (leftover pasta from the previous day)—which is my favorite place in the
world to eat when I am alone. In so many small ways, this house makes me feel
thoroughly “at home’—in a way I was never able to feel in my house in Bethnal
Green. The difference to my psyche as a result of my new space is simply indescribable
in words. I made the right decision, I am convinced now. It was inconvenient to
move out of a home in which I had expected to stay for 5 months—but I was not
going to be unhappy for 5 months either. I am sure that in my new London space
to which I will move in October, my heart will feel lighter again.
I have also discovered that I can re-watch
Inspector Morse on ITV on my
computer. What a joy to watch Oxford on screen while living in Oxford! I did
just that as I fell asleep.
It had been an unusual day—the joy of
having friends to share and enjoy one of my favorite places in the world, was
simply priceless.
Until tomorrow, cheerio…
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