Day 21: Oxford to Banbury

September 27, 2022

Heart

Comment

After we left the Ali Inn this morning, I was surprised to find that the Ashmolean was literally just around the corner. I also got to see the front of the Oxford New Theatre, whereas previously I was only acquainted with its loading dock. And the Oxford Martyrs memorial, was also right there, not to mention the Five Guys branch that I had spotted once yesterday, thought it might be a good idea for later, but never found again. This is all just to say that Oxford was starting to come together in my head, just in time to leave town!

Some of the play bills at the New Theatre. Dream Girls strikes me as sort of a Supremes biography.

Another great thing we came upon before really going anywhere was a Sainsbury's. Dodie popped in to stock up on food for the day, leaving me as usual to stand with the bikes. In front of me, a lot of people were queuing at a bus stop. Always the social researcher, I approached the unfortunate people nearest me in the queue, and asked "Since we are already downtown, what is everyone queuing for here?". Most ignored me, a strange bearded yellow apparition disturbing their early morning reveries. But one girl volunteered "The bus". "Where is it going?" I persisted. "That way", was the non committal reply. I retreated to the bikes to analyse all this new data.

A bus came and went, and a new queue formed. With Dodie still in the store, I had time, so I tried again. Under intense cross examination, one girl conceded the destination was Summertown and the purpose was "school".

Summertown is about 5 km north of Oxford, and yes, there are a number of schools there. I hope they work their magic on these kids soon, because right now they did not seem much on the ball!

From Sainsbury's we began our 54 km odyssey for the day, passing through a big variety of neighbourhoods and landscapes, each of which was really a joy. Top to bottom, this was another stellar day.

We passed through the outskirts of Oxford, noting interesting buildings and houses as we went.

We thought this would be a cool apartment building to live in.

Jude the Obscure is a novel from 1896 by Thomas Hardy. It was scandalous at the time. Greene King is a line of pubs and also a beer brewer. We have seen them everywhere since Bury St Edmonds.

We entered a series of one block neighbourhoods, and were assessing the housing quality in each one. By and large, the places were nicer than we have seen in other cities, but again, the long lines of plain row houses were not the greatest.

A nice, family residential area near Oxford.

Today we were also seeing more Dutch-type cycle solutions.

Reasonable dwellings, but they may only be living room and kitchen down and two bedrooms above.

We really enjoyed coming to Wolvercote. Morse fans will know the episode "The Wolvercote Tongue", which made the place famous for us. The Wolvercote Tongue is ancient precious jewellery, based on the Alfred Jewel, which is held at the Ashmolean.

We were enjoying looking at the houses and all, but the lights and sparklers really went on when the track suddenly took us beside the Oxford Canal. It is beautiful and includes interesting house boats, bridges, and locks, plus a cyclable tow path by the side!

Your pull the chain and the counterweights raise the bridge, so boats can pass.

This is a slightly different bridge design, with a winch.

The boat "Dusty" was delivering charcoal fuel.

The dog really had a swell place to observe life.

The canal has really a lot of boats like this. Many have solar panels mounted on the roof.

In approaching the canal, there was a spot where the NCN said the path was closed. As usual we were reluctant to believe it. But a walker directed us to a bridge, and that spared us coming to this. They really meant it this time!

This boat has just come out of a lock. Everything here is low tech and low key.

Our time on the canal was unfortunately short, and we were popped out onto the road below. But at least there was a path beside. As you can see, there is no safe way to actually ride the road.

Along the road, we came to a stone wall, and beyond it a very green green. The wall went on for a km or more, distinguishing it as a large piece of work. But who had built it, and what was the green used for?

The clues about the wall now came in very fast. We had reached the town of Woodstock, which is the location of Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace is the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the birthplace of Winston Churchill, who was the grandson of the 7th Duke.

The wall builders are doubling down, literally!

Here we are at the entrance gate to the palace.

Admission to the palace is 40 pounds each! We settled for this shot of the front!

This poster was at the ticket booth. Suspiciously, their photo does not match our photo?

The actual town of Woodstock struck us as totally quaint, and we did a circle through it for a bit of a look.

You have to know a bit of English history to appreciate a thing like this. Charles I was beheaded by Cromwell, but his son, Charles II was later put on the throne.

We got a shot of the back end of the palace from in Woodstock village, but could not sneak in there - they had yet another ticket office.

Outside of Woodstock we found ourselves in this - but the surface was not bad and the forest pleasant.

The path came put to a lane, and on the lane we found this thatcher at work. Fascinating old trade.

Now we entered an area that real was the image of English countryside - with cows and sheep, green pasture, and rolling hills.

Some of the hills were very tough. I think the camera more or less captured this one.

We arrived at a series of towns in which every house was made from brown fieldstone. There were so many of them, many looking like new construction. It was marvelous looking at the skill with which the stone had been crafted, and wondering where it had all come from. I shot the house below because it also had a thatched roof, but overall it does not look so new and spiffy as some of the ones I failed to shoot.

All the while the landscapes continued gorgeous. There was also one tree that caught my attention for its myriad branches.

Our travel in the pleasant landscape ended as we came to Banbury, and the guesthouse we had booked. We stashed some of our stuff and went off in search of Banbury Cross.

Banbury Cross? Well yes, from the nursery rhyme:

Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,

To see a fine lady upon a white horse;

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,

And she shall have music wherever she goes

Not only is there a real Cross at Banbury, but there have been several in history, typically knocked down by Puritans.

Here is the current Banbury Cross, it includes Queen Victoria in the base.

The frog represents metamorphosis, the symbol of nature and community.

The town itself has quite a few streets of interesting shops, plus some very old buildings, like this one:

The two dates on there are 1537 and 1910.

Another interesting feature was a church with very large columns - not a design we have seen elsewhere:

I rained a fair bit today, the first real rain in at least ten days. During that time my e-assist had settled down to not being perfect, but at least being usable and predictable. It would sometimes cut out, but if I stopped pedaling and then started again, it would start again. Meanwhile I had written a desperate plea to the e-assist controller company for advice and help, but there was no reply. I decided that even if they were going to let me down, the controller was good enough to carry on. Until today, and the first rain. Despite our chewing gum repair, it seemed to take a look at the water, and it shut down. So now I have no idea how it's going to go. Perhaps it will revive, like last time.

I phoned the controller company in Los Vegas and yelled at them for not answering my email. But they claimed I had sent it to the wrong address. They affirmed that they could try to get me a controller to Paris, but it would come from China, so need to get on it right away. I am resending my impassioned email, to the address they say will reach the lady in China with the power to send out the part. We'll see how it goes!

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 715 km (444 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	9
Comment on this entry	Comment	0