Home Farm, Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire

The forecasted rain storm arrived on schedule, early this morning and forceful enough to find its way through the bathroom vent onto the floor. This is never a problem unless you happen to be resting in this intimate little spot at the exactly the right moment. I was still snug in bed, but … do I need to say more?

We set off into Oxford soon after 9 am, always a good plan if you wish to avoid the worst of the traffic in the morning; this is a well-recognised tactic for the retired. 

We parked up at the Peartree Park & Ride at the modest cost of £2 then were timely enough to catch the #300 into the city, for a further £4.80. We have learned that it is often to our advantage to buy the two tickets at the same time because many Councils offer a group ticket deal. (All these little savings add up.)

Alighting in the centre of the city we were at once familiar with our surroundings, having been here two years ago. However today we did not want to simply wander about aimlessly and come away at the end of the day no better educated about the city than last time, so after finding the Post Office to post mail and enjoying a coffee at our favourite Scottish restaurant, we joined the 11am two hour walking tour, run by Footprints Tours, in theory free but in fact reliant upon the generosity of the tourist to reward effort. 

Today our guide was post-graduate student Tibha, a delightful young Welshwoman of Asian heritage, who spoke with a well-educated English accent. Not only was she attractive, clear spoken, and super smart, but she also had an excellent sense of humour and was a thoroughly nice person. May she go far! 

The tour group was similarly pleasing, just six of us, all but one from DownUnder. I am not sure how many miles we covered but all of it was most enjoyable and very informative, as well as very entertaining.

Tibha explained how the university is made up of thirty nine colleges, and told us about many of the strange customs and traditions of the various colleges, clubs and past celebrities. 

We heard about the role that Oxford had played in the burning of the “heretics” on the orders of Bloody Mary Tudor in the mid-1500s, about Cardinal Wolsey who established Christ Church College, the tunnels that run under the city allowing for books to be conveyed from one building to another, and so much more. We admired the Bridge of Sighs, the Bodleian Library, Divinity School where exams are sat, the frontage of significant colleges and so much more. Oxford is full of stories and well worth a day’s exploration and then one will barely brush the surface. 

When we managed to prise ourselves free of her presence, we found a spot near the Cathedral to lunch, then made our own way around the city investigating some of the spots Tibha had highlighted such as the many storied bookstore of Blackwell’s where one could spend a fortune on the printed word if flight weight restrictions were not an issue. I was keen to check out the Jane Austin exhibition in the library however the building had been evacuated, the fire alarms were still going off and the fire engines were yet to arrive. 

We pressed on to Pitt Rivers Museum, basically a natural history museum, but of the kind to keep my attention for more than half an hour. The exhibitions also include archaeological and ethnographic objects from all parts of the world as well as being a place of teaching and research. 


The museum was founded in 1884 by General Pitt Rivers, an influential figure in the development of archaeological and evolutionary anthropology, who gave his collection to the University of Oxford. Then there were more than 26,000 objects in the museum but now there are over half a million. Thankfully not all are on display or my eyes may well have glazed over after all. 

I was particularly taken with the glass case full of a multitude of cockroaches, along with a host of other weird, whacky and wonderful exhibitions, all very well curated. The building alone was worth a visit with its great structure of cast iron and glass, very much a pioneering development of the time, following on from the Crystal Palace in London.

The day had remained dry throughout, and as we travelled back on the bus to the Park & Ride, the sun shone down upon the city and we were glad to be seated high in the front of the double decker bus, to enjoy the street scenes. 

Today heralded the last of our touring because tomorrow we will head “home” to Suffolk, with about two and a half weeks to spend with family and sorting the caravan and car for storage, before heading down to London for a few days prior to flying back to New Zealand. There will no doubt be more travel, places and mini-adventures to be recorded, but it will not necessarily be a daily affair as it has been for the last few months. But then, who knows what lies ahead?