St Catherine in Oxford
I’m standing in front of the huge window at the east end of Balliol College dining hall. There in prime position, right at the top is a burning wheel. It…
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Up the tower, down the tower and for a short while locked in the tower.
I’m attempting to climb all the towers in Oxford. The body being willing. And so, as the festival of Michaelmas approaches (29 September, traditionally one of the four quarter days…
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One year anniversary
The weather has perked up, the sun is out, and so what better than to take a walk along the river for a drink at the Perch Inn on Port…
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Chris Raworth, fairground model maker
I was delighted to be invited to meet Chris Raworth at his workshop in Middle Barton, catching him just after he had assembled his set of gallopers for the last…
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Beating the Bounds
We are standing alongside two large green industrial wheelie bins in the delivery area for The Covered Market in the heart of Oxford. It’s not the most salubrious of places,…
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An Oxford medieval murder tour
I am standing at the scene of a crime. Not far from The Oxford Sausage headquarters in front of the side entrance to The Ashmolean Museum on St Giles. It…
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Easter Greetings
It is Thursday morning so I head to the open-air market on Gloucester Green. At the heart of today’s city this is a square of flats and shops sandwiched between…
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John Pusey, Captain of the Tower
On a cold Thursday evening I find myself climbing the vertical ladder that leads up into the belfry of St Giles Church, a tower that has stood sentry over those…
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‘A treacle well – there’s no such thing.’
Next Thursday, October 19, is the feast day of St Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford. And so I decide to cycle with my friend, Gina, to Binsey, a tiny…
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The Stone Saints Retirement Home
Antonia Hockton has been coming to New College in Oxford twice a year for the past 26 years. She arrives as the students leave, during the longer vacations. For this…
