The Semester Ends & One of Us Takes a Long Walk

Well, the semester at St. Clare’s College has wound down. Ken has graded the papers and turned in the grades. It was a delightful experience, including an interesting group of students and a kind and generous array of colleagues and new friends. St. Clare’s, Oxford has an interesting history, having been established following World War II to bring together English and German students. Now it hosts students from more than 25 countries, and occupies something like 27 Edwardian buildings in North Oxford.

St. Clare's College Administration

St. Clare's Library

One of St. Clare's classroom buildings

As the semester was ending we also had the fascinating experience of being in the United Kingdom during the national election, which resulted in an unlikely Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. The outcome seemed to disappoint most of our friends, but most people also seemed to think the Labour party, which had been in power for 13 years, had more or less run out of ideas. So we’ll watch with interest to see how the new government does.

Soon after the end of the semester, our friends Mike, Charlotte, and Molly came to Oxford to spend a day with us. We drank lots of tea, walked around the city to see some of the colleges and other sights, and had lunch at one of Oxford’s many fine pubs. We very much enjoyed their company, and of course hope we’ll see Mike, Charlotte, and Molly when we’re next back in the beautiful Shropshire countryside, where they live in a renovated 12th-century church.

We spent the past weekend in and around Ludlow, where Connie stayed with Joan; they passed the time visiting the Hergest Gardens in Kington, drinking tea, reading, and shopping. In the meantime, Ken, Mike, and Jonathan went walking on Offa’s Dyke, an ancient (8th century) earthen fortification that extends for 80 miles or more along the Welsh-English border. They departed from a point a few miles north of Hay-on-Wye on Friday, and walked north along the Dyke. Finishing at midday on Sunday, they walked about 30 miles, staying overnight at pubs in Kington (a lovely little town) and Knighton. Joan and Connie dropped them off at the beginning, and picked them up at the end. To top it off, Joan treated the whole group to Sunday lunch at the Sun pub in the pretty village of Clun. The walk encompassed steep climbs to high vantage points with amazing views, the crossing of countless meadows and pastures full of sheep and cattle, and paths following pretty rivers. The hikers also had a couple of exciting (and humorous) opportunities to ford the River Teme. As always, we very much enjoyed our time in Ludlow, and left talking about when we might return.

Hergest Garden

Offa's Dyke Walkers -- Jonathon, Ken, Mike

On the Dyke

Fording the Teme -- someone is keeping his boots dry, huh Mike

The last pub stop -- Joan and Connie are having a drink under the umbrella while waiting for the walkers to return

Today we are back in Oxford, awaiting the arrival tomorrow of Heather, Steve, and Jamie. They will share our last 11 days here, returning, as we do, to the States on May 29.

Happy May Day!

Today is May Day, and in Oxford it creates quite a fuss. We were up at 4:30 a.m. to organize ourselves to walk to Magdalen College, where the choir traditionally sings from the tower at 6:00 a.m. on May Day. Unfortunately, the size of the crowd, as well as the crowd control tactics of the local police, made it impossible to get close enough to really see and hear the choir. We could hear them in the distance, and we could see them (vaguely) around the top of the tower, but we couldn’t get a truly good look.

The choir in the tower

A policeman at the barriers said that the first 8,000 people were allowed into the street nearer the tower, and that then access was shut off. The Oxford May Day celebration is a centuries-old tradition, and in the old days the students (who have in many cases been up all night) gathered on the Magdalen Bridge, with many of them eventually jumping off the bridge and into the Cherwell River. These days, the bridge is closed off (apparently, there were many injuries due to the jumping). One man at the barricades was shouting out the name of the local councilor, asking people to write her to protest what he saw as an abridgement of personal freedom in the crowd control tactics. We can at least say we’ve seen the spectacle.

After checking out the scene at Magdalen, we walked back into the city centre, where the bells of the old St. Mary’s church were pealing nonstop for a time. We watched (and listened to) some interesting bands (one decked out in May Day costumes with flowery hats, cloaks, and such) and several troupes of Morris dancers (Morris dance is an English folk tradition dating from the late 15th century and involves choreographed dancing in traditional costumes and using such props as colorful scarves and wooden sticks). The Morris dancers were scheduled to slowly make their way through the city, moving out to other neighborhoods through the day. A few interesting characters moved through the crowds in rather unorthodox costumes—One person, for instance, was dressed as a tree or shrub, and another was apparently the Oxford ox.



May Day Dancers


Morris Dancers

The Ox and the May Day Tree (Shrub?)

Many of the city centre pubs and cafés were open, some as early as 5:30, for May Day breakfast. We went down the narrow alley to the Chequers Pub, where we had tea and a traditional hot English breakfast. After breakfast we watched some more dancers before heading home. We spent the rest of the morning napping, and had a lazy May Day afternoon at home before going back to the city centre for an early dinner at Edamame, a delightful little family-run Japanese restaurant. Edamame is a tiny place that doesn’t take reservations; the best strategy is to be in line when they open at 5:00, which is what we did today. It was a delightful way to top off a pleasant festival day in Oxford—unlike any other May Day we’ve experienced.