A Yank at Oxford

Jayne spent the day working in front of the computer, so Keith's writing the blog.
There's a lot to see in London, but there's also more to the UK than London. So our stay here with the students will take them out of the city several times. Today we hit the road for the first time and spent the day in Oxford, a university city of about 125,000 people about 50 miles northwest of London -- just up the Thames River.
It's been one of the world's greatest centers of learning for about 750 years, making America's most venerable old colleges and universities (Harvard and William & Mary, for example) seem brand spanking new by comparison. And Oxford is not a university in the sense that we're familiar with them in the U.S. -- it's a loosely-related collection of 39 colleges, each with its own "campus," which total about 20,000 students.
Our day in Oxford began when we were dropped off by our bus in the town center near the Martyrs' Memorial. It's like a lot of statuary in this country -- a beautiful piece of work which commemorates a violent act. The martyrs were three Church of England bishops who were burned at the stake in the city in 1555 by order of "Bloody Mary," the Catholic queen.
It's a lot more peaceful these days, as long as you can avoid the ever-present bicyclists who sprint up and down the streets, especially in the pedestrian mall area called Broad Street.
Our tour guide took us past several colleges and we spent some time at several Oxford landmarks. One of the most interesting was the Sheldonian Theatre, designed by Christopher Wren, the architect of the magnificent St. Paul's in London. Oxford's buildings have little ornamental touches that reward the careful observer. At the Sheldonian, it's the heads of what folks believe are Roman emperors. On other buildings, it's little creatures called gargoyles who perch along the rooflines.
It's also not a tour of Oxford without hearing about the university's famous former students. We saw the coffeehouse frequented by authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who were classmates and friends. The poet Shelley was a student here before the administration "sent him down" over a pamphlet he wrote espousing atheism. And of course, Americans are shown Christ Church, the college attended by both former president Bill Clinton and daughter, Chelsea.
School's not in session at Oxford for a couple more weeks, so many of the colleges are closed. But we had the opportunity to enter Magdalen (pronounced "Maud-lin") for a look around. It's a beautiful college, with a garden and deer park and the Thames flowing nearby. It's fun to try to imagine what the life of those students in the 1300s must have been like, and in some respects probably not a lot has changed.
One enduring tradition has to be a visit to an inviting pub, which mom-in-law Emma and I took advantage of following the guided tour. We searched out a place called The Turf Tavern that Jayne and I fell in love with on our first visit to Oxford back in December 2000.
Anyone who can find this charming but out of the way place deserves an honorary degree from the Oxford college of his/her choice. It's at the end of St. Helen's Passage, which it would be generous to describe as an alleyway, and there's been a public house on the site since sometime in the 1400s. (And we talk about campus tradition here …let's see, when will Clemson's Esso Club celebrate its 600th anniversary?)
"An education in intoxication," reads a sign on the wall.
"Best pub in England," I heard one visitor say to a friend as they walked in. I wouldn't disagree. Try the fish and chips with green peas and wash it down with a Strongbow cider.
Our visit ended with some time to wander around. Bookshops abound, as you'd expect in a college town. And even dignified Oxford has its official campus shop with all sorts of Oxford-branded apparel and souvenirs, including shot glasses and umbrellas. (I'm wearing the baseball cap as I write -- free with purchase of a t-shirt. What would the martyrs think?)
It's back to the bus and back down the motorway to the City. The students seem to have enjoyed the trip and one or two wonder what it might be like to go to college there. As long as they're thinking, it's been a successful day.