Paul and Judy are on the road again: Oxford

WWW or MMM? What's that about? All will be revealed later.

Mon 7th July - we travelled from Stratford-upon-Avon to the outskirts of Oxford where we left the car in a "Park-'n'-Ride" then caught a bus into Oxford. That was a smart move as it avoided traffic and parking problems.

As breakfast was not included with our hotel stay, and we saw nowhere to stop until reaching Oxford, our first activity was to enjoy a continental breakfast of cappuccino and croissant. Feeling refreshed we then joined a walking tour of Oxford University led by a dryly entertaining and knowledgeable guide who, even if he was not an academic, certainly gave a good impression of one. With him we first visited Balliol College.

Charles welcomes us to Balliol college

Balliol College, Oxford

Walking group in the Refectory (Dining Hall)

From Balliol College ("gifted" by King John Gaunt of Scotland) we moved down the street and saw the "Bridge of Sighs" linking two parts of a college. Cambridge University also has a "Bridge of Sighs".

Oxford's version of "The Bridge of Sighs"

Maybe not a "sigh" beneath the bridge
but perhaps a chance to catch her breath

Further down the street, past several other colleges, we entered what is arguably the greatest University in the world: the Bodleian Library.

Entrance to one wing of "the Bodleian"

Statue of James I on tower

Main hall of the Bodleian Library

Ceiling detail in the hall of the Bodlein Library

Ceiling detail

About 100 metres from the Bodlein Library, and linked to it by a shelf-lined tunnel, is the Radcliffe camera, a reading room built between 1737 and 1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.

The Radcliffe camera building

After our guided tour was over we went to New College Oxford as part of our "WWW" mission. "WWW"? No, not "World wide web" as in web pages addresses. Our "WWW" quest was "Where Was Webb"? Your "WWW?" could be "Who was Webb?" "Webb" (Richard Webb) was Judy's great-great-grandfather (perhaps I'm missing a "great", but never mind).

Richard Webb graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, with a BA and then an MA. We couldn't visit Magdalen as it wasn't open, but we did visit the next significant site: New College. Richard Webb was a chaplain there in the early 1800s.

The college was founded in 1379 as "The Warden and Scholars of St Mary's College of Winchester in Oxford". As there was already another college known commonly as "St Mary's", this college became the "new" college, and is usually known as "New College".

Judy in the courtyard, beside the chapel, of New College

Judy at arched gateway into New College

Poster for "Evensong". The choir of "New College"
is widely regarded as one of the finest in Britain.

Cloistered passage way beside the Chapel

The Chapel, New College. Webb was there many decades ago!

Gates to college from the gardens beside the old city wall

Decorative coat of arms above the gate

I've explained "WWW". What about the "MMM"? Look carefully at the motto.

It is "Manners Maketh the Man". There's your MMM! College founders believed in that maxim, and that being good mannered was the first stage to shaping your attitudes and behaviour.

Now that "WWW" and "MMM" are out of the way we move on the what is probably the most famous of the Oxford Colleges (at least to those outside the UK): Christ College.