Travel
A Day in Oxford
WE are continually being asked how best to spend a day in visiting Oxford. The answer is, of course, that a much longer space of time is necessary : but this is hardly a practical answer. Let us assume, therefore, that you are a visitor', staying in London, who can afford only a single day. How can it be most profitably spent ?
Catch the 9.45 train from Paddington, which will get you to Oxford at a few minutes past eleven. The return fare is sixteen shillings, but on a Wednesday you may go for eight. Incidentally, on the journey you will see Windsor Castle (left-hand window, about twenty minutes on the way), Maidenhead, and, after the train branches north-west at Reading, some typical Thames Valley scenery. Look out for Dorchester Clumps, on the right, near Didcot, and a lovely glimpse of Abingdon Church on the left, soon after Didcot is passed. When you get out at Oxford, cross the line by a subway, and take a 'bus marked Cowley Road, asking to be put down at Magdalen. The 'bus carries you quickly past hideous buildings to a cross-roads by a clock tower. It is called Carfax. Note it, as it will be your chief landmark for the day. The 'bus will then swing you past St. Mary's (left), the University church, between All Souls and University Colleges, past Queens, and the noble course of the street to Magdalen Tower. Get out, and go boldly in at the small door near the foot, cross a courtyard with the old school on your left, and enter the cloisters. Walk round to the left, till you find a doorway leading into the open, which brings you out facing a huge, bland Georgian front. Turn right over a bridge, and take the path leading to the left. This will soon bring you to the long stretch of Addison's Walk, and, as you bear round past the narrow river Cherwell, you will catch glimpses of Magdalen Tower through the trees, and hear the bells.
When you get back to the college, look in at the Chapel (down on your left, just before you come out again into the courtyard) : then walk up the High as far as Queens, the next College on your right : cross the road : and then take the first turn on the left, bringing you into Merton Street. Beside the great square tower you will find a footpath that leads into Christ Church Meadows. Walk down and see the college barges by the river, if you have time, before bearing to the right and coming out into St. Aldate's, just below Tom Tower. It should now be about time for luncheon. To be traditional, you may turn into the Mitre, a little way down High Street (first on the right) : if you prefer a Trust House, the Clarendon—one of their best—awaits you in Corn- market : or there is a good up-to-date restaurant, beloved of undergraduates, in Cornmarket Street (straight on across C,arfax), at the corner of George Street, on the left-hand side. Personally, I recommend the Golden Cross,' a lovely old inn, also in Cornmarket Street, in a courtyard—first on the right.
Having lunched at your leisure, go down Broad Street, past Balliol and Trinity, to look in at Blackwell's famous bookshop. Then cross the road, and go up some steps into the Bodleian Library and the Divinity School. Come out in front of the dome-shaped Radcliffe Camera—Brasenose on your right, All Souls on your left : turn sharp right up an alley between posts, and come out into the Turl. Turn left, and you will find yourself again in High Street. Cross over, go down a little way to your left, and turn down the first on the right (King Edward Street) till you reach a gate of Christ Church. Go in, bear left, and emerge into the great Tom Quad. If you arrange with the porter at the gate, you may for a trifle see the dining hall and kitchens. The Cathedral—entrance opposite the tower—you may see for nothing.
What you do after tea will depend upon your stamina. If you are footsore, take a 'bus from the Town Hall (between Colfax and Tom Tower) to the top of Boars Hill. The view of Oxford on the way back will be worth a good deal more than the fare. If you still have energy for walking, go down Cornmarket Street, away from C,arfax, straight on past the Martyrs' Memorial and St. John's College, along St. Giles. Fork to the right at a War Memorial, and then the first on the right will bring you into Parks Road beside Keble College. Cross the road, turn right, and pass the new Rhodes building, turning in at Wadham College to see the Chapel and Fellows' Gartlen. Then carrying on, take the second on the left, under an ornamental bridge ; look in at New College : and carry on down New College Lane, emerging into the High just below Queens. On your way to the station, stop as soon as you reach the Canal, and go along its left bank till you come to the old tower of Oxford Castle, which once held Queen Matilda prisoner. Then catch your train (there are plenty of good ones), having seen just enough of Oxford to decide that you must return and spend a week there. 8.
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