Being a huge fan of Inspector Morse, I wasn't about to let my recent trip to Caption go by without taking a little stroll around Oxford itself. It's a city I've always wanted visit... but would it live up to expectations?
Well, there certainly are some beautiful old buildings and wonderful examples of classic architecture. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to architecture, hence my use of "classic" in that previous sentence rather than "Classical". Pedants beware!
I suppose I had it in my head that Oxford would be all old buildings, trapped in amber, time-warping me back to a long gone Golden Age of England as soon as I drove through the city limits. In places though, Oxford looks like any other city. I guess every high street needs a Superdrug.
Many of the actual colleges were either closed to the public - or charged a hefty entry fee that unemployed writers couldn't really justify paying - but I did get to walk through the grounds of Christ Church College and the Bodelian Library (above). Tempted as I was to shout, "Do hurry up, Lewis!" I kept quiet as a mark of respect... and because I generally get very annoyed by people who talk in libraries. As to those colleges I couldn't gain free entry to, I leaned through the gates and took a few photos anyway...
I began my tour very early on Sunday morning while the streets were reasonably quiet... but it wasn't long before I was joined by hordes of tourists. Every corner I turned, I met another group, guided by an old boy of Oxford (it was usually boys) sharing his knowledge of the city's history and heritage. As beautiful a place as Oxford undoubtedly is, I soon grew tired of all the sightseers with their cameras... particularly when they prevented me from getting decent photos of my own!
As the morning rumbled on, the skies over the dreaming spires grew cloudy and began to threaten rain... so I headed down to the river to catch a few shots that matched the Oxford in my head even more than the magnificent skyline...
Oxford, then: almost everything I'd hoped for. Just a disappointing lack of cunningly planned murders being foiled by grumpy misanthropic policemen and their thick Geordie sidekicks. You'd have thought they might have organised at least one after I'd driven all that way...
