A tour round the top-right-hand-side of Oxford

Right that's it. Today I decided that we, (that is my friend Sarah, my daughter Izzy, and me) were going to explore the top-right-hand-side of Oxford. I have lived near the city for over twelve months now and have never been to that particular bit, and now it was time to make like Captain Scott (without the dying bit.... obviously).

Actually, thinking about it, if we were to 'do a Scott' and die during an exploration of Oxford, it would be a pretty poor state of affairs given that we are probably never more than 200m from a Starbucks. It would probably be akin to being run over by a motability scooter in terms of embarrassing deaths ..... yep, you would never live that sucker down, no matter how dead you were.

Pic. No. 1. Top right hand side of Oxford city centre

Anyway, enough of weedy deaths, and back to the matter in hand. I parked the car in familiar territory (bottom right hand side of Oxford), and formed a human chain as we crossed Oxford High Street and took a narrow back passage into aforementioned unchartered territory.

Pic.No.2. Izzy and Sarah heading down a narrow lane into unchartered territory

And man alive, as always, Oxford's history kept spewing forth.

Apparently, King Henry II commenced the building of Oxford University in 1167 after banning English scholars from attending universities in Paris.... so as you can imagine, everything in Oxford is really bloody old, and especially the stuff in the the top right hand side.. which is where the building started, and where we are exploring.

Pic.No.3. Sarah and I outside St.Mary the Virgin church which is well old (circa 1327ad)

Pic.No.4. Ancient University colleges (All Saints) with ancient Sheldonian Theatre on the left

Pic.No.5. Actually, here is a pic of the the not-so-ancient Sheldonian Theatre.. it is a virtual new build (completed in 1668) compared to most of the other stuff

After surveying the vista for a while, I suddenly became aware of a sign outside a church called St Mary the Virgin, advertising that the church tower was open so that people could view Oxford from above.

"Oi, Sarah. Fancying going up the church tower?" I asked. Sarah didn't answer - Izzy got there way in advance.

"Yes! I want to go up the tower!" she shrieked with excitement.

"Sorted. Let's go," I replied, striding towards the church of St Mary the Virgin, and pushing open the heavy medieval door. 

Pic.No.6. Sarah and Izzy inside St Mary the Virgin Church (with a superbly unbelievably great stained glass window in the background)

As with all tourist attractions, we were completely fleeced when we arrived at the narrow, winding stone stairs that were to take us up the tower. 

"That'll be £3.00 for an adult, and £1.50 for the child," smiled the lady behind the counter. 

"Flippin 'ek! Does that include a three course meal?!" I asked incredulously whilst Sarah elbowed me in the ribs. And the worst thing was, that I couldn't back out of the tower, because Izzy was so excited about it.

Vid.No.1 Izzy stranded on the narrow stone stairs inside St Mary the Virgin church tower

And so we climbed, and we climbed........ oh yeh, all those £3.00 entry fees were not put towards a Stannah stair lift as you might imagine........... and then we reached the top. It was at that point that I remembered that I was scared of heights..... bummer.

For people who aren't scared of heights, it goes something like this; you clock the height, your head goes all woozy, and it feels like the building you are standing in is moving. 

Luckily, if there is something to stop me falling (in this case a wall), I can get my head to think logically ("I cannot fall, there is a wall there") and in that way I can handle it. That is unless a 'humorous' (cough) friend decides to lean over the wall as far as possible shouting; "Woo hoo! Look at me! If I slipped now, I'd fall down there and get scooped up with a spoon!"

Anyway, you will be pleased to know that I managed to get some birds eye views of Oxford for you to look at...... here goes!

Vid.No.2. The new-build Sheldonian Theatre

Vid.No.3. High Street Oxford - this is one of the main shopping streets

Vid.No.4. Brasenose College (part of Oxford University)

Vid.No.5. The spectacular All Saints College, Oxford University

Finally, the sun was setting and we decided it was time to get back, but not before I took an arty photograph of the sun setting over Oxford. 

 Pic.No.7. The sun sets over the most historic Oxford quarter

 Once back at my house, Sarah asked if she could watch the TV. 

"Yeh, course you can. What you watching?" I asked.

"A programme about vampires," she replied, choosing the channel. 

I tell you now, this girl is weird. Not only is she obsessed by vampires, but she then went on to watch a programme about a werewolf, vampire and ghost who shared a house.

I am looking on the bright side though. For years she had an obsession with Star Trek, and a crush on Jean-Luc Picard. At least I don't have to sit through episodes of that, or converse with her in Klingon any more. Very odd. Anyway, that's it for today..... I have work to do. See you later.