Well it was a cold, dry and sunny start to our trip as we left the confines of Bristol to head for the dreamy spires of Oxford. However not all of Oxford can be described as the City of Dreaming Spires! These were the parts that were not included in the programme. Dr Chill had laid on the good weather through contacts he has with Head Office. We all went in one coach and our driver was Hugh.
The trip took us along the M4 to Swindon and we turned on to the road to Oxford. Swindon used to be a famous railway town where steam engines and carriages were built for the Great Western Railway. The last steam engine to be built in Britain was constructed at Swindon and was called ‘The Evening Star’. However I digress. The road took us through the Vale of the White Horse, and from a distance the horse was carved into the side of a chalk hill at a small village called Uffington. It is not the one we passed when going to Stonehenge. The horse in the vale is the oldest being prehistoric, probably around the time of the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age. You may not have noticed this but we went through a small village called Shrivenham, and here is located one of the two campuses of Cranfield University. The Shrivenham site is also called the Royal Military School of Science, and Dr Chill worked here part time for a year in 2002/03 as a research assistant.
So we arrived at Oxford where town and gown as a university and city were established about one thousand years ago. There was a walk with a Badge Guide in the morning looking at places of interest, as well as a visit to Trinity College, not the advertised Brasenose College! Trinity College was founded in 1555 some 40 years after Brasenose College. The monarch of England at this time was Mary (Tudor) the eldest daughter of Henry VIII, known for his gluttony, overweight stature and having 6 wives. Mary was married to King Philip II of Spain and this was at a time when your religion could lead to persecution. Mary was a Catholic and she imprisoned and executed many non Catholic Christians loosely termed Protestants.
You may have noticed that Trinity College is situated in the centre of Oxford, close to the University’s libraries, laboratories and lecture halls as well as the City’s amenities. The academic community consists of over 300 undergraduates and 100 graduates. Originally the Colleges at Oxford were founded by the Church and were seminaries for the training of priests. Until the mid 19th Century all of the academic staff of Oxford University, called dons, had to be celibate. Most of the curriculum focused on the studies of classics. Matters gradually changed over the latter part of the 19th century.
Some new colleges were formed but were styled ‘Halls’ rather than colleges, dons could now be married and the University curriculum was slowly widened to include modern studies as for example Politics, Philosophy and Economics, (the famous PPE degree)! Science and Technology were also slowly admitted to the Oxford curriculum but not without protest from the traditional dons and politicians, most of whom in the 19th century had been educated at Oxford. The classical tripos was still more popular than the modern tripos.
Well I hope that you enjoyed the trip and that these few notes in this Blog will give you additional information about Oxford. Don’t forget now on 8th May 2010 is the Cambridge trip; book on line early to reserve a place. Do not leave it until it is too late otherwise you will be disappointed.
photos to come
