Tag Archive | Woodstock

Research in the Bodleian Library and a Bus Ride to Woodstock

Sep15

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

London

Awaking on my own in my new home in Oxford was another novel experience. I love the silence of this home—there are absolutely no street sounds, no crazy traffic, no music blaring from passing vehicles, to wake me up here. I adore the sights of a green meadow outside my bathroom window—what a joy to have a bathroom that actually has a window! In every respect, this home here in Oxford reminds me so much of my own home in Southport, Connecticut. This is what I am accustomed to: a home in the country surrounded by greenery, cozily furnished, lived-in. I am rejoicing in it and making the most of every second I spend here.

Getting a Reader’s Card for the Bodleian Library:

I brewed myself some coffee and got breakfast of muesli with honey yogurt organized. I also had a shower and got myself ready for the day. My first priority was getting to the new Weston Library to get my Reader’s Card and I was there a little after 9. 30 am. Producing two pieces of ID and my NYU ID card, I was easily able to obtain my card, after filling out a brief application form. The lovely young man who helped me out put me through the paces and told me where to go to obtain material based on my Bibliography.

I made my way up to what used to be the Indian Institute Library (now called the David Reading Room), where another lovely assistant showed me how to go to the first floor to use the computers to find the call numbers for the books I sought. My card would not work for at least an hour and my passage through the varied security gates depended on a small slip of paper that cleared me through. As a Reference Library, rules at the Weston Library are very similar to those at the British Library in London: pencils only, all material to be carried inside in clear plastic bags, phones turned on silent.  Armed with Call Numbers, I went back to the David Reading Room where an ever sweeter assistant called for the material I needed from Closed Stacks. Some of this material is stored in Swindon, a little way outside Oxford, and will arrive only tomorrow. I asked for it to be sent to the Radcliffe Camera as most of the material I need is there and because I rather fancy sitting in some of the world’s most extraordinary and oldest libraries to do my research.

Off to Begin Research:

And so off I went to the Radcliffe Camera, past Japanese tourists clicking pictures of the incredible Radcliffe Square, and inside I disappeared. I was directed three floors down into the basement where I found the two important books I was looking for—I took these to the quiet, air-conditioned space of the lower level basement reading area. The air-conditioning is such a relief as the UK is having its hottest September in 20 years. I am not complaining as the days are warm and sunny and perfect for exploration. In fact, it seems rather a shame to have to sit underground in a basement, albeit a cool one, instead of being outside enjoying the last of the summer wine.

Bu that was exactly what I did—and from 11.00 am when I began my research till 2.00 pm when I stopped because I was hungry, I knuckled down to some serious reading. It was such a delight to learn the process of finding call numbers for books and going down into the stacks to seek them out (in the good old days, you called for the books and never got to the stacks yourself—you waited for them to be sent up and then picked them up from the desk). I was amazed how quickly I made research progress, thanks to the quiet and studiousness of the atmosphere. Colleges have not reopened for classes yet—so, for the moment, independent scholars have the run of the libraries and are savoring every moment.

Re-visiting the Covered Market:

Leaving the Bodleian Library, I walked to Broad Street to the Tourist Information Center to pick up a host of brochures and flyers for places of local interest that I can explore in the late afternoon. I then sat on a bench overlooking Exeter College and Anthony’s Gormley’s sculpture on the rooftop just above the room I once occupied in the college and ate my cheese sandwiches. That done, I walked towards the Covered Market to use the loos and to explore a place from which, thirty years ago, I had bought very expensive cheese for a party at Exeter College. The cheese shop is still there together with a number of pricey butchers’ establishments, bakeries, pie shops, shoe shops and the like. I am happy to see that although some Asian dealers have set up shops, the traditional British salespeople are still dominating—not like Shepherd’s Bush Market in London which made me feel as if I was in a bazaar in Bombay!

Off on the Bus to Woodstock:

I found the bus stop on George Street that enabled me to board the S3 bus to Woodstock. It was a half hour journey to the little village that sits at the entrance to the Cotswolds and shares many of the typical characteristics of these areas: honey-toney stone buildings, charming cottages, wool churches, a village hall, a high street filled with tea rooms and taverns.

Woodstock has all these elements plus is the place you go to see Blenheim Palace, built by a former Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Winston Churchill who descended through this illustrious aristoctatic family. Most recently, it has been the site of a number of shootings of Hollywood films including James Bond’s Skyfall! Having been to Blenheim twice before, I did not venture towards it, but focused on lesser-known Woodstock streets. I could not find the showroom of Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, an interior designer of repute who lives in Blenheim Palace, which used to be on the High Street—it is possible that her business has moved.

However, I did find the Museum of Oxfordshire, which happens to be free to enter. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the little exhibits that make up this place especially a showcase filled with local taxidermied animals and birds that represent the area. There was also a lovely film about rural Oxfordshire in 1944 and the manner in which life has changed in this region. In particular, it is amazing how the influx of ethnic people from around the way is changing the face not only of British cities but smaller towns and villages as well!

The Receptionist at the Museum who entered into conversation with me was delighted to discover that I was from Connecticut, only 10 minutes away from where his daughter lives—in Norwalk, having married an American. He knows and loves our area well and could barely let me take my leave—so much did he want to chat about America.

Back to Oxford:

It had been my intention to attend Evensong again at Christ Church Cathedral—this time with the full choir. But the bus disappointed us very badly, not showing up on time at all and making me very late for the 6.00 pm service. I, therefore, decided to skip it and took the bus home. Once I got to my doorstep, I left my heavy bag with its tourist material behind and taking some of it to browse through, I walked one minute away to the park and the duck pond where I did some leafing through. I enjoyed every second of the lovely late summer’s evening with the sunset still in the distance and dogs prancing around off leash—so delighted to be in the park themselves. Ducks quacked occasionally and added to the countrified experience that I am so relishing.

Home for Dinner:

Back home, I switched on the TV and got my dinner organized. I was thrilled to eat the last bits of Shepherd’s Pie and Susan’s Apple and Fennel Salad with Beetroot and feta cheese and to eat brownies and vanilla ice-cream for dinner—what a treat to have such a smashing dinner and not to have cooked it myself! Once again, I feel overwhelmed by the extent of the blessings that are being poured on me.

After a little bit more TV, I got ready for bed as I gave thanks for another very productive research day in Oxford.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…

Trekking in Woodstock and Witney, Oxfordshire

Aug3


Friday, August 2, 2013
Oxford
Tearing All Over Oxfordshire:
            Today was quite extraordinary indeed! For one thing, I have set an all-time walking record having covered 12 miles in a single day! And I never expected my day would shape the way it did but then that’s what being spontaneous and ‘in the moment’ is all about, isn’t it?
            So I awoke at 7.00 am, showered, dressed and breakfasted at Sue’s generous table with muesli and yoghurt and bread and marmalade and coffee and then blogged a bit. At 9. 40am, I began my walk from Grandpont to Oxford City Center to meet Tony at Blackwell’s at 10.00 am. Being a retired don (a professor of Oxford), he has privileges that allow him to take visitors into New College (where he taught Chemistry for 20 years) which reputedly has one of the prettiest Oxford campuses and was the site of many of the Harry Potter film locations.
A Tour of New College, Oxford, with Tony:
            Indeed, New College is marvelous and historic and although all the Oxford Colleges are, this one is special because it is constructed on the ancient walls of the City of Oxford which are preserved and inspected each year by Oxford’s Lord Mayor to ensure that they are in good repair! Indeed a scaffolding a ladder are installed with much pomp and circumstance to enable him to climb to the top to make his pronouncement! This custom derives from the purchase of land by the founder of the college Robert Pope, who was informed by the City of Oxford that he could have the land to found a college provided he maintained the walls “in perpetuity”. He agreed! Hence, this unique custom.
            Tony was a fantastic guide—indeed he is an insider who took me through the chapel with its fabulous carved stone figures on the reredos and its stained glass window designed by the 18thcentury’s Joshua Reynolds. We were unable to see the Dining Hall which is under renovation but we were able to access the gorgeous gardens with their perennial flower beds that feature in many a movie. We also saw the huge mound that was built after the moat was dug out for New College has an amazing sunken lawn. To access the mound, there is a steep flight of stairs and up those we went. Yes, we did see the famous quadrangle with its cloisters which is the scene of a famous episode in the Harry Potter film that has to do with the breaking of a wand. We walked through them and enjoyed the views from all the angles of the university’s many towers and turrets and spires. It was fabulous and I felt very privileged to enjoy this amazing tour and I was grateful to Tony for making the time to guide me and provide so many entertaining tidbits.
Off on a Walking Tour of Oxford:
            Tony said goodbye to me and I sauntered off to see the Tourist Information Center when I discovered that free two-hour tours of Oxford were being offered by young guides. I have taken these tours in Berlin and Amsterdam and I can say that they are fascinating. How could I forego the opportunity of taking one of them?
            So off we went and, of course, there were so many new things I discovered. For example:
1. The exact spot at which the three martyrs, Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake for heresy by Bloody Mary was not where the Martyrs Memorial currently stands but on Broad Street near the entrance to Balliol College. It is marked by a few stones in a cross-like pattern.
2. The five floors that comprise the tallest building in the quadrangle of the Bodleian Library are in the following patterns: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite.
3. The Bridge of Sighs was built in Oxford simply because there happened to be one in Cambridge and Oxford fancied it.           
4. All Souls College only admits people who are already specialists in their fields. They must hold graduate degrees and come there to do research.
5. Pubs in Oxford were divided among those frequented by Town Versus Gown. The King’s Arms is a Gown Pub.
6. Sir Christopher Wren, one of Britain’s greatest architects, invented the system of Insurance after the Great Fire of London, before he rebuilt the city.
7. It costs 9000 pounds for a year’s study at Oxford today.
And so it went. I enjoyed the tour immensely and when it ended, poked my head into Brasenose College where most of the early episodes of Morse were shot. Graduation celebrations were in progress, so I made myself scarce having taken a few pictures. Indeed, I was fortunate to see a typical Oxford scene with graduates in their black gowns and their mortar board caps which allowed me to take a few interesting pictures.
            I then popped into the Wheatsheaf Passage to find out who had taken over the premises that belonged to the hardware store called Gill & Co, which was had closed, four years ago, after 500 years—and I discovered, to my horror, that a Nail Salon called Oxford Nails had been installed there! Horrors!
A Bus Ride to Woodstock:
            It wasn’t the last bus to Woodstock (the name of the first Colin Dexter Inspector Morse novel which became an episode of the same name) but it was an afternoon one that was filled with young Asian students off to see Blenheim Palace (which is in Woodstock). Since I had seen the palace twice before and merely wanted to wander around Woodstock, Sue, my friend, had instructed me on the existence of a small nondescript gate. This allowed access on to the Blenheim Estate to the townspeople. It would allow me to walk on the grounds by the lake without needing to pay the hefty entry fee for the palace
            I bought a day pass (7.50 pounds) for the bus and took the S3 Stagecoach Bus to Woodstock (it was headed to Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds—which I felt strongly tempted to reach!). I was informed by a resident on the bus that it was not a village but a town—indeed, he said, it is the smallest Town in the United Kingdom by royal charter. He told me the townspeople feel very offended if you call Woodstock a village. Well, well, well. Live and learn, eh?
Wandering about the Blenheim Estate:
            I wandered around the town at will and enjoyed its lovely shops, Council Hall, Parish Church and cobbled lanes before I followed Sue’s instructions and found my way on to the Blenheim Estate together with joggers, walkers, babies in strollers, dog walkers, etc. I was already pretty beat by this time but pressed on in order to walk over John Vanbrugh’s famous Bridge over the river Glyme that flows through the estate. Soon the beautiful outline of the palace came into view as did a multitude of sheep. It is very bucolic indeed just as its landscape designer Capability Brown had intended it to be. I rested on a bench for a bit, did a few stretches and after five minutes, continued on my walk to the bridge. I got into conversation with a lovely lady who told me that she walked on the estate every single day—all the way to the entrance of the Palace. Finally the tall monument came into sight and a little later, I was on the Bridge taking a few pictures of the gorgeous building behind me—the work of the great John Vanbrugh who also designed Castle Howard in Yorkshire.
            I did not linger longer than a couple of hours (during most of which I walked)  as I had a long way to go. You see, in the morning, I had finally managed to make contact with Austin Fuller, the son of my Hall Stewart Stan Fuller who had mentioned to me that my old friend, now 81, was in a Care Home for the Aged in Witney. He was doing poorly and I felt that having the opportunity to meet him, I should try to do so.
On a Mission of Mercy to Witney:
            So, when I felt I had enough of Blenheim and because the sun was much too oppressively hot anyway, I made my way back to the town, found the bus stop and a bus that went directly from Woodstock to Witney and with the instructions and directions given me by Austin, off I went in search of Stan.
            I hopped on a bus going from Woodstock to Witney and, on making inquiries inside the bus, discovered that there was a young chap who was headed exactly to Madeley Park on which estate my friend Stan was resident in a home for the aged. I asked if I could follow him there and he readily agreed. The bus ride took about 25 minutes and just before we got to Witney Town Center, we hopped off.
            Then began another long walk of 25 minutes to get to the Home. It was hot and there wasn’t a bit of shade. I felt as if I was in the midst of nowhere and was grateful for the company of the sweet guy whose name was Leigh. We kept up a cheerful conversation until we reached the venue where my jumping over hoops seemed so worthwhile. All I have to remember is the look on Stan’s face when he saw me because he had no inkling that I would be arriving to see him. It was, therefore, a mission of mercy. I was pleased to see that my friend was mobile, not in pain, still his smiling self and although a bit forgetful, still very much in control of his faculties. He is not happy about being in the place and preferred to be at home, but he also told me that he had recently fallen from the bed at 2. 00 am and lay on the ground for 2 hours in the middle of the night before help arrived. He had to be hoisted from the ground in a mechanical hoist. Ever after that he has slept in an armchair out of fear. Old age is no fun, for sure.
            I stayed with Stan for almost an hour, then started the long trek back to the Town Center for the bus. I got lost and that added to my walk but at least I had a chance to see some of the factories that produced the famous Witney woolen blankets of which Stan was so proud. At that point (about 5. 30 pm), I realized that I hadn’t stopped for lunch and that I was starving. Needing something mobile, I found a vast shopping mall which contained a Marks and Spencer place from where I bought two sets of sandwiches. I wolfed them down in the bus that came trundling by in about 10 minutes and just before 7.00 pm, I was back in Oxford again after what had been a truly tiring day.
Back on the Coach to London:
I bid goodbye to my friends Sue and Tony in whose home I had been so comfortable. Although they urged me to eat dinner before leaving, I did not want to reach London too late—so I left at 7. 20, rode the Stagecoach bus to the Gloucester Green bus station in Oxford, hopped on to the 8.00 pm X-90 coach to London and arrived in Victoria at. 9. 45pm. I did not get a 44 bus to Battersea until 10. 10 but by 10. 30 pm, I was with my friend Roz who had cheese and leek quiche and salad ready for me with a lovely cold lemonade Perrier.
            Whew! I was knackered, let me tell you, and ready to collapse. But at the end of the day, it was worth the time and trouble I took to see an old friend who was extremely kind to me so many years ago. 
            Until tomorrow, cheerio!