The Oxford Trip
March 20/21st, 1993
Seven people met at dawn. First we visited Tom Quad, Christ Church College.
The dawn's rosy light softened the colour of the stone. We wandered through
the college but had to retrace our steps when we found our route to Christ
Church Meadow barred by a locked gate. Eventually we were able to eat our
sandwiches by the Cherwell.
In search of hot drinks, we made our way into the covered market. We could
only drink standing up. It soon transpired that the only early morning place
to sit and have a cup of tea was McDonalds. Yes, we went in! - despite the
controversy over their prosecution of two members of London Greenpeace (for
more information contact McLibel SC, London Greenpeace, 5 Caledonian Road,
London N1 Tel: 081-837-7557). We couldn't find a proper cafe.
The rest of the morning was spent wandering around the town centre visiting
colleges and St. Michael's church, which contained a very old Shiel-na-gig.
At lunch time we went to the Bear, noted for its collection of old school
and club ties. Here an eighth person joined our party.
In the afternoon/evening the group split up exploring different sites in
Oxford. Some of us took a punt out.
Sunday involved a substantial walk. We crossed Port meadow to Fiddler's
Island, walking along where Alice had her adventure in Wonderland.
Leaving the river bank we headed for Church Farm, Binsey. Here there is
St. Margaret's Well which was decorated with flowers, candles and corn offerings.
The church pre-dates the Oxford colleges and is dedicated to St. Frideswide.
Inside the pulpit of the church there was an interesting modern carving
of a woman holding a cross and standing in the mouth of a creature half
frog half crocodile. The site used to be an Island covered with thorn thickets.
The chapel is attached to the Cathedral in Christ Church College.
We walked up to the ruined nunnery at Godstow, where there were a large
amount of geese. Then we caught the bus back from Wolvercote.
Return to ELPAN 002
Return to LPA Home Page