All of Half a Mile - Wednesday 15th May 2013

Just down the river from our mooring last night was a delightful Nature Park where Phoenix was able to have good run about and it was a mass of Cowslips and Bluebells.

This morning we moved all of half a mile up river and then turned into the Sheepwash Channel in order to enter the Oxford Canal via Isis Lock. The photos show the turn from the river, the channel under the current rail bridge and the old rail swing bridge.

Here, Nb. Bella, (Braidbar 109) can be seen entering Isis Lock, the arm which we reversed down, and our final mooring spot just a hop skip and jump from the centre of Oxford.

Our afternoon walk up the river brought to light these two boats, the Gaiety is dated 1887.

Further up river is a marina opposite Blossoms Boat Yard which looks out onto Port Meadow, currently under threat. Somebody decided to camp on the meadow, not sure if it was part of the protest. We crossed the meadow and walked back along the canal.

In the morning we had taken a guided Bus Tour of the city to get our bearings and understand where the 21,000 students of Oxford University live and work.
In the afternoon we toured Worcester College with its sunken quadrangle and delightful gardens which are situated immediately opposite our moorings.

We also called at the Ashmolean Museum and the meeting steps for the students although it was empty this afternoon.
A statue of a nude man by Antony Gormley (who sculpted the Angel of the North) was placed on the roof of Blackwell’s Art and Poster shop, on the corner of Broad and Turl Streets, at 9.30am on Sunday 15 February 2009.
The 7-foot-tall statue is made of iron and weighs half a tonne, and is part of Gormley’s “Another Time II” series of figures. An anonymous benefactor provided the funds for Exeter College to secure the sculpture. good job I had the telephoto lens otherwise June would have had to avert her eyes.
Other sights included the Sheldonian Theatre, and Bodleian Library.

The Bridge of Sighs, Lincoln College, and St Mary’s Church, the tower of which you can go up to get a fabulous rooftop view of Oxford or partake of tea and cake in the garden

There is also an Indoor Market with its Cake Shop and outside preachers were proclaiming to a small crowd that Atheism was a temporary condition.

We returned to the boat tired and hot as the sun had come out and the morning cold wind had gone.