Outfit used
2007 Swift Charisma 620 with
2007 Chrysler 300c Touring 3.0 V6 CRD
There has always been great rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge. The university boat race, varsity rugby match and cricket match prove this. But which city offers the most for caravanners?
I was born in Cambridge and was a student there, so I admit to being biased. But I would try to let go of my prejudices for one week and judge the City of Oxford and Oxfordshire on their own merits. So, as I set off for the city of dreaming spires in the new Chrysler Touring, towing my Swift Charisma, I decided to look at Oxford with fresh eyes.
After pitching up at the Camping and Caravanning Club Site in Oxford, I was ready to start comparing. I crossed the the road from the site to the Park and Ride bus stop and in ten minutes I was in the city centre.
Near the castle, I left the bus and walked to , one of Oxford's best known thoroughfares, because of the striking Sheldonian Theatre and Bodleian Library. Along the way, I noticed similarities between this town
and its East Anglian rival. The architecture in both is rich in spires and detail; dragons and unicorns adorn college buildings, gargoyles leer menacingly from their lofty perches and colourful bosses adorn vaulted archways.
You can see why Christ Church College, Oxford was the location for the Hogwarts dining hall in the latest Harry Potter film. They are so close to being fantasy places themselves. This medieval Disneyland has inspired much fantasy literature, such as JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings.
Oxford, like Cambridge, may seem to be a forbidding place where only the privileged few may come to learn. But don't don't be put off from visiting. It is your city as much as it is the home of dons and students. Your taxes have helped fund the university; researchers are seeking the cures for diseases and striving to understand the beginnings of life on earth. Of course, students are honing their debating skills in the Oxford Union; one day, any of them may become prime minister and shape the destiny of our country. Tony Blair is only one of 25 British prime ministers who studied at the university.
As if to prove this, while on Broad Street,
I bumped into a friendly man carrying
a cardboard box. In it was a bright green moth or butterfly, the size of my two hands. He explained he had found this behemoth nearby and was taking it to be identified by a professor who is a world expert in such things. My first thought was, it would take a lot of mothballs to stop that thing from eating your best suit. But it proved my point that the university's academics are there to help us.
Moving on, I reached the. This impressive round building, completed in 1668, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul's Cathedral in London. The Sheldonian was built for graduation ceremonies. Previously, these had been held in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin on High. It was thought these increasingly rowdy occasions should not be held in a place of worship. Gilbert Sheldon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, ended up footing the bill, so it bears his name.
I had to admit the Sheldonian may eclipse the fine Senate House in Cambridge, designed by James Gibb (1722-1730), but Gibb has his own Oxford masterpiece around the corner: the (Latin for room). It houses the books undergraduates need,
and Tolkien remarked that it resembled his own creation: Sauron's temple to Morgoth
on Numenor.
A good place to view this stunning piece of architecture is from on the High Street. It costs a couple of quid to ascend the tower and the climb will leave you panting, but the views over Oxford and All Souls College are worth it.
Next on my list of buildings to see was the . It is one of the oldest libraries in Europe and is second in size only to the British Library. I caught the end of a tour and heard it was one of the six legal deposit and copyright libraries in the UK. That means it is entitled to request a free copy of any book within one year of publication.
I conceded that the Bodleian knocks the architectural socks off the 1930s-era Cambridge University Library, which is so ugly it has to be hidden by trees.
Beyond the Bodleian was the . Fans of Inspector Morse will recognise it instantly and recall Morse's MKII Jag parked under it. However, to get a car into Oxford, you have to wait until after 7pm.
Extract
|
