Autumn Walk Around The Colleges

What a great way to spend the afternoon, a nice walk in the sun enjoying the lovely parks and college buildings of Oxford with you other half. Good on you guys for making the most of the day, love the long shadows against Merton College wall, with those plants growing out of the wall.

Avenue Of Tree's

Went for a nice Autumn walk around Christ Church Meadow this morning, nice to get into this lovely area of Oxford at this time of year. The air was crisp however when you stood in the sun it was a nice day. I like this Avenue of Tree's leading down to the River Thames, today I had a little chat with Zoe Peterssen, the old lady in this photo on the right. She is an Artist who is often seen sitting in Christ Church Meadow and other parks of Oxford sketching trees on large sheets of paper. She is one of Oxford infamous characters who I am sure has come in contact with many visitors and residents alike. She is often very hard to engage, however today I was lucky to be shown her work, and has a chat for about 30min after taking this photo.

Little Cool For A Milkshake Today

Ohohohoh, it is starting to get chilly in Oxford now, that might be why Shake-A-Way store was a little empty this afternoon, but I can not resist a good milkshake. I think they are starting to do warm shakes now, never had one, but I could be tempted.

Hairspray Hits The New Theatre

Tonight was the opening night of Hairspray the musical at the New Theatre in Oxford and it was a sold out show. This is the musical that is based on the movie of the same name, it will be in Oxford for the next two weeks, I am hoping to see it later in the week. Let me know if you have seen it, hoping it will be good. I see that the theatre have put a large can of hairspray on te side of the building as a promotion, might try and get a better shot of that during the day.

Shopping Trolley On Cross Walk

Students are back in town, I think a few still think it is Fresher's Week? Spotted this just as the sun was setting this evening. Who and How are two questions that come to mind, and the other is how long?

Peartree Welcome Break

Headed out of Oxford today, and stopped at the new, well new to me, Welcome Break at Peartree Services on the A34. Right on the edge of North Oxford this service area has completely changed since I last used it. It was a Little Chef, but now has completely transformed and has a Starbucks, Waitrose and KFC. I like the promotional old double decker bus out the front. Good to get and early start, with a quick drink at before hitting the road.

The Crown On Cornmarket

A couple walk past The Crown on Cornmarket, just next to McDonald's which has been closed for a couple of days now. I am not sure what is happening at the Crown, has it closed or is it undergoing a refit, lets hope that later as we are losing too many smaller pubs in Oxford, my local closed last week with no warning. Lets hope The Crown will reopen soon, as it was a great little boozer in the city centre, and you all know my feelings on larger corporate take overs of local businesses...

Nice And Quiet On The Oxford Canal

Love walking both the Oxford Canal and the River Thames around Oxford. It is nice and easy to get out of the busy noisy city centre and start to relax within in a 10 minutes along the canal, I would love to one day have a canal boat and lots of time to just cruise the English country side. Oh that would be the life.

Inside The Natural History Museum

This was what the inside of the Natural History Museum looks likes. I had a post from Leif in the comments section of the last post asking what the inside of the Museum looks like, so I decided to post this photo. It is a great place to visit when it is wet outside and entry is by donation, so if you are in Oxford on a wet day talk a quick walk to this Museum, well worth it.

Waiting Natural History Museum

Waiting out the front of the Natural History Museum and getting a little of what could be the last of the Autumn sun.

Oxford To Cambridge Bike Ride 2010

Bit of a wet and windy start to this years Oxford to Cambridge bike ride this morning. I was not aware that this event was today, as had I know I would have entered I think, I must plan ahead next year and get a team together. I was in the city centre early this morning and noticed all the cyclist gathering in Gloucester Green, everyone was pumped up getting ready to start the ride. It is not a race, and you can leave over a two hour period between 7am and 9am for the ride on country roads to Cambridge. I was told that it would be about a 4-6hour ride to Cambridge. There was arrangements in place to bus the riders back to Oxford with there bikes should they need it, and I think that the money raised was going to the British Heart Foundation. Pity the weather was not that great today, but a big well done to all those to rode in the ride today! Congratulations!

Brasenose Lane Bike Racks

Took this photo not far from yesterdays, it is of all the bike on Brasenose Lane, this little passage between two colleges leading towards the Radcliffe Camera. The lane was so busy today not only with bikes, but with people stopping and chatting. There is a group of about 7 students at the end of the bike rack just stopped sitting around catching up after being away for the summer, I guess, nice to be part of an impromptu chit chat.

Bikezone Moving

I have heard that Bikezone in Market Street is moving in the next couple of weeks. I am not sure how long Bikezone have been at the current location, but I have been a customer for a number of years, as it is the only city centre bike store in Oxford. It has always been a very busy store so maybe they are moving to larger location, hope they keep there great staff.

European Trade Union Day of Action Oxford

Across Europe today trade unions are gathering together to protest against cuts and privatisation of essential public services. UNISON's Oxford supporters gathered in Cornmarket central Oxford, supporting unionists across Europe, among those protesting this afternoon where nurses from Oxford NHS Trust. It has been reported this week in the local media that up 1900 posts from the Trust could go as part of the Governments public spending reduction.

Oxford Streets Are Steam Cleaned

This afternoon on the way home I noticed that the pavements in Queen Street where being high pressured steam cleaned by Oxford City Council. The equipment they where using was a very high tech little buggy with this cleaning extension that the operator used to clean the stone pavement. I think the worse thing about the streets of Oxford is all the chewing gum, the council do a good job of keeping the rubbish away, but the gum needs this steam cleaning to remove it. More photo's here.

Moscow State Circus Setting Up

This morning I drove past an empty recreation ground on Oxpens Road, this afternoon when I was coming home, there was the Moscow State Circus all but set up ready for opening night on Wednesday. These guys know how to set up quickly, I wander if the packing up takes longer. Anyway, I think I might have a look one evening this week for another photo. My last photo of this touring circus was in October 2008, click here

Rowers On The Thames

Lot of rowing activity on the River this weekend, more that I have seen in awhile, I guess that all the students are starting to filter back in to Oxford after the summer break, and they are straight out into the waters making up for lost time.

Sorry about the lack of posts, the last couple of days, I have been away in Nottingham for a couple of days to see Grinderman! Great gig.

Just Having A Chat

Not sure what I can say about this photo, I just saw these two chatting in Bonn Square and thought that the image portrayed a message of friendship across the ages and abilities. I don't have a lot of people photo's on ODP which I might try and change, as it is the people of Oxford that make this city what it really is. I also think it is harder to take photo's of people.

World Car Free Day

Today is World Car Free Day, so I decided to go down to St Aldates to see if there was an increase in commuters catching the City's buses today. The bus stops were busy with people waiting but I no more than usual, when I asked a couple of drivers if they where busier because it was Car Free Day, they said not really. Oxford City Council had a campaign to try and encourage us not to use the car to get to work today, I was lucky today as I was on a course in the city centre, so had no need to use the car today.

Spider Season Has Started

Spider season is comes around once a year, like Freshers week in Oxford, and at the moment, just before Freshers it is spider season. I am not sure why, but at the moment there are more spiders and there webs around that you get at other times of the year, and with the cooler mornings you can see some very nice webs with the due on them. Took this photo on the outskirts of Oxford this morning, which was a bit foggy in Oxford today and I was trying to get the due on it, not sure if it worked that well. Anyway, look out for those Spider Webs when you are out early.

Diana Bell's The Big Book

If you walked past Bonn Square this weekend you may have seen a very large book, it is 2.2metres high, and been invited to add a comment on what you Imagine about Oxford. It is Oxford artist Diana Bells latest art project, and will be in Bonn Square till Monday. So far she has had eleven pages of her book filled with what the public have imagined or are imagining, and I am sure she would love to see you in Bonn Square till Monday evening if you would like to add anything to her art project. Have a look at her website.

Oxford Food and Wine Festival

The Oxford Food and Wine Festival is on all weekend in and around the Oxford Castle complex with loads of stalls from local business selling and sampling there wears. I sat and watched these two chefs from the Malmaison Hotel demonstrate how to make a quick hollandaise sauce, so lots going on down at the Castle this weekend.

St John's College

Just out and about in city centre this afternoon, and liked this typical street scene in St Giles. You have the Lamb and Flag pub, the Red English telephone box in front of St John's College, which is in the sun. To me this photo just says, Oxford.

Origin Of Species Monument

I was at the Natural History Museum over the weekend have not been in this part of Oxford for a good while and I noticed right at the front doors a new monument. Last year was the 150th anniversary of the Charles Darwin's Origin of The Species, and from the inscription on the monument where was a debate in Oxford within six months of this. Thomas Henry Huxley argued in favour of Darwin and Samuel Wilberforce who was the Bishop of Oxford at the time set his case against Darwin's theories. I think we are still debating Darwin's writings today in society.

Unforgettable Moments

New store just about to open in Cornmarket next to KFC, Pandora which is a jewellery store with a difference. From what I understand and I could be wrong this store allows you to custom design your pieces. I have just popped onto there website and they have a nice video/advert on the home page. I am just glad this new store was not a fast food store.....

Open Doors On The Oxford Canal

Another great day for the Open Doors programme that I photographed yesterday. Today I headed out to the start or end of the Oxford Canal where as part of the Open Doors weekend British Waterways had free 40 min canal boat rides up the Oxford Canal. I arrived about 11am and the line was already about 50 long, so this event was going to be very popular for the rest of the day I am sure. Photographed here is one of the three canal boats operating the free rides returning for more passengers.

Open Doors Oxford 2010

This weekend across Oxford and in many other cities around the country, buildings that are not normally open to the public open there doors an allow the public to have a little look behind those closed doors. I love this event, because apart from getting access to places that you normally don't get the opportunity to see, there is lots of historical information about events that took place in or around the buildings.

Open Doors has a very good website with more information on what will be open and from what time, I managed only a few of the places that I wanted to visit today, so I will be back out tomorrow with the camera looking behind those doors.

Todays photo was taken at County Hall, built in 1841 and looking like a Norman Castle. As apart of Open Doors a tour of the building run for about 20min where you could see the council chambers and court room that is still being used today. The highlight for me was really seeing the underground tunnel from the court room straight into the prison that was behind the building, I have a photo of this that I will post later, unless you want to see it on the additional pages?

Camping In Oxford - Site Full

Accommodation in Oxford is aften expensive in Oxford, even in at the YHA Hostel in Oxford the prices can be a little higher than other city's around the UK. However if you have a caravan or a tent, did you know that in Oxford we have a very centrally located Caravan Park at the end of the Abingdon Road. I am not sure of the prices of the park, but it must be reasonable as this afternoon I noticed this sign staying that "Sorry Site Full"

Obesity Bill Doubles In Size

Thanks Tim for looking after the ODP blog while I had a week or so off cycling around France, the photo's were great, and you get more comments than I do!!

Just popped up to the High Street this afternoon for a few basics and spotted this advert for todays Oxford Mail, which caught my eye, very eye catching headline.

We will remember them

Today exactly 70 years ago the sustained bombing of Britain by the Germans, also callled the Blitz, began in London. Between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941 almost 43,000 civilians in the UK were killed and more than a million houses were destroyed or damaged in London alone. Lots of other important cities in the United Kingdom were also bombed but Oxford was spared. Hitler wanted Oxford to be his capital once he had captured Britain and bombing that city wouldn't be a smart choice. Who knows what would have been left of this city today if he hadn't made that choice? I guess Oxford has been "lucky", unlike the people who got killed and their loved ones. I think it's a good thing that we don't forget these people, we will remember them through stories, memorial stones and other items such as this cushion that can be used when you're praying on a kneeler in a church. This one can be found in the St. Mary Magdalene Church in Woodstock (I know that's not within 5 km of Carfax Tower but I think the photo is special enough to post it today, forgive me for that).

Now that's what I call a cake!

People who often visit the Covered Market in Oxford's city centre will probably have seen this cake before. It's been there for about a couple of weeks and every time I see this one and the other cakes at the Oxford Cake Shop, I admire the creative talent of the people who make them. If you haven't been there before, do so! You can watch how the cakes are made and the Covered Market has many other shops worth paying a visit. Just because I couldn't choose which photo to post today, I'm giving you another great example made by the Oxford Cake Shop:

St. Giles Fair

I'm having severe problems with my internet connection since Friday. That's why I haven't been able to post any new photo's. On Monday and Tuesday the St. Giles Fair will take place in Oxford. Passed by this night and I saw a wide range of attractions for people of all ages. Freak shows, roundabouts, cake-walks and so on. So I would say: choose whatever you like, folks!

Open air opera at Oxford Castle

Yesterday evening I passed by Oxford Castle during a performance by the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company. Until Sunday they are playing "the Yeomen of the Guard". Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me yesterday evening so I wasn't able to take a picture by night but I took one this afternoon. With Oxford Castle as dramatic background for this Savoy opera they made a good choice, I think. It looked amazing last night with all the lights on and it sounded great. They have an alternative venue in case of inclement weather (it's an open air production) but let's hope they won't need it. So far, the weather forecast looks good, hopefully it will stay that way....

Done or not done?

Words like classic, full of history and old are typical used to describe Oxford's city centre. For today's post I have chosen quite the opposite to all those words: some graffiti art on Cowley Road. In general I'm not a big fan, but in some cases artists do a great job in creating something special. I would like to know what you think about something "modern", like the creations above, in a city with so much history like Oxford. Do you like it, or is it "not done"?

That's one way of decorating...

I saw this building at Cowley Road and I think that we have to thank the 2001 Cowley Road Carnival for its decoration. I'm not sure about this, so correct me if I'm wrong. I quite like it to be honest. In a way you can compare it with yesterday's stained glass, since it's very colourful too. It brightens up your day a bit if you pass by, I think. On the other hand, I have to admit that I saw it on a very cloudy and rainy day so it stood out easily compared to some of the buildings on Cowley Road.

Stained glass window by John Piper

In the Magdalen College Chapel you can find another "hidden gem". It's a stained glass window by John Piper entitled 'Nativity'. I tried to find some more information about this window on the Internet and I found out that you can find a copy of this window in the parish church at Iffley. At this page you can find some information explaining what this window represents. I prefer to place a link instead of just copying what they have written about it. I've made a compilation showing some details of the window because I think that just a photograph of the whole window doesn't show how beautiful the colours and the details are.

Another "hidden gem"

I've written posts before about "hidden gems" in Oxford's city centre and today I've got another for you: the cloisters at New College. Maybe I don't give them enough credit by calling them "hidden" but I hadn't been there before and I was quite surprised with what I saw. I didn't expect them to be so peaceful and mystical. While I was walking there, more and more questions about this place crossed my mind. The statues without any description at all, the smell, the huge tree the branches of which cover half of the courtyard, the wooden roof structure, and so on. Did this post make you curious? Then I suggest you go and see for yourself.

Another new shop at Friars Entry

On the 18th of August Percy wrote a post about a new business starting up at New Road. He was glad that it wasn't another "coffee or baguette place" because Oxford already has loads of these businesses. When I went to get some grocery at the new Tesco's today, I saw another new business starting at Friars Entry in the city centre. And guess what, Percy? If I'm not mistaken, it's going to be another coffee or baguette place! Interesting to see what they are going to serve us to distinguish themself from the others.

Last sunny Saturday of summer?

Compared to the last couple of days we've had some pretty good weather yesterday and today. With a bank holiday on Monday everyone is enjoying a long weekend, which might be one of the last periods with nice summer weather since autumn is slowly getting closer to us. I saw this man with probably his daughter on Gloucester Green, feeding the pigeons - which is officially not allowed according to some prohibitory signs in one of the corners of the square. But they where laughing and really enjoying some time together in the sun and the pigeons didn't seem to mind. So who cares......

How do you define history?

A little while ago I saw this boat at the Oxford Canal near the train station. It wasn't the first time I had noticed it but I saw it again a couple of days ago. Each time I see her, she's one step closer towards a complete collapse. I wonder what kind of history this boat has. Where has she been? How many storms did she had to face? Who were her passengers? What did she do to deserve this ending? It's not that I really care about this boat - neither does someone else, I guess - but she reminded me of a quote from a movie I once saw, History Boys. One of the characters is asked how he would define history. His answer? It's just one fucking thing after another......

Wesley Memorial Church

Taken this evening on my iPhone whilst coming home from an evening meeting, Wesley Memorial Church on New Inn Hall, all lit up. This is a Methodist Church associated

with John Wesley who along with this brother founded the Methodist movement.

First Green Hybrid Buses In Oxford

I have been meaning to get a nice photo of the first Hybrid Buses in the UK, which are running around the street of Oxford for a few weeks now, but I have not been in the right place at the right time, so thanks Oxon for this photo.

Stagecoach have invested £7.5million in the fleet of 26 hi-tech buses which are now operating in the Oxford network, the company say that the buses will help make Oxford greener buy reducing carbon emissions by 30%, which is great for the city. Not sure which other city's will be getting them, I have seen a few Hybrid taxis in other places, but not buses well done Stagecoach Oxford for bring these buses to our city.

Oxford Draw Against Wycombe

As you can see from the photo, Oxford United are playing away today against Wycombe. There was no score in this game this afternoon with the end result Oxford 0 - 0 Wycombe. I will get to a home game soon with the hope of getting a nice action shot for Oxford Daily Photo of Oxford United in action.

Sketching By Weir

With all the lovely buildings around Oxford I am surprised that I don't see more artists of every description taking advantage of Oxford. I had not really thought about it before until I saw this guy sitting next to the Oxford Castle with his paper and pencil sketching away near the weir. Without trying to snoop over his shoulder to have a good look, what I saw was very good, you maybe able to see if you click the photo to enlarge it. Where are all the Oxford artists?

Sign Of A New Business Starting Up

There's always someone with there hands in there trousers telling a labourer what to do, look at this photo taken this afternoon in New Road. Four people telling, pointing, watching one guy up a ladder doing all the work. Sound like your office?

Not exactly sure what this place is going to be, but it looks like a beauty treatment business is just about to open in the old Tiger Lilly store next to Que Pasa on New Road. Wish them good luck, and I am sure glad that it was not another coffee, baguette place we have enough of them in Oxford at the moment.

End Of The Day At The Cowmead Allotments

A couple heading home from there allotment at Cowmead while another holder cycles past towards his. I think the allotment system for growing your own fruit and vegetables in an urban environment is becoming more and more popular. If I had the time, I think I would enjoy potting about on an allotment. I think I will look into this when I am start to get to retirement age. I missed the open day at the allotments over the weekend, so decided to get a shot today of the area, hope you enjoy.

I'm Not A Sodding Tourist

Spotted this in the window of a card store in Oxford, it just appealed to my feelings of the day. With all the tourist in town at the moment over taking every area in Oxford, I am sure many locals feel like this at least once in awhile. The population in Oxford is very seasonal, cause just as all the Summer tourist leave, we will have all the students back for the new year, and the cycle begins again.

Sunday Night Drinks

With so many pubs in Oxford it is often hard to leave after the football on the weekend. Well when I finished this 1664 I decided that with work in the morning I had better just call it a day, hope you all had a nice weekend.

Tesco Magdalen Street Now Open

I was going down to get a photo of the new Tesco store that opened Monday on Magdalen Street, not sure how I was going to capture the shot, when I spotted a couple of bikes in St Michael Street advertising the opening of the Tesco Store. While chatting to Alex, one of the riders of these bikes, he told me that they are for exclusive use for customers of the new store, to take them to or from the store in an environmentally friendly way. There is no charge for this service, but you have to be quick, they are only in town for two weeks, just let the Tesco Staff know that you want to be taken home by bike, what a great idea.