Oxford and Avebury

We met Michelle and Zane off the train from London and drove around a bit and finally found a little church that we could park beside and have morning tea (it was Michelle’s breakfast). The woman doing the flowers in the church stopped to chat and told us that in the 1800’s the church had been moved stone by stone from the centre of the town to its current site.

Last night we had asked for directions to the river where we could punt and so walked there and got directions about how to use this long pole to steer and move the boat. We had a great time, us girls sitting in the boat while Harry and Zane had a go at being helmsmen. It rocked a bit but I didn’t take the stories seriously about falling in until we saw a ‘not very young gentlemen’ sitting rather dejectedly in a punt and very wet. When I asked him if he fell in he replied not particularly good humouredly ‘twice actually’. Anyway, we got back all dry through the skill of the men (though Harry nearly lots his head from a low lying branch and Zane got the pole stuck in the mud which made the boat rock a bit).

We went for a walk around Christ college – Michelle pointed out that we were more fascinated by the fact Harry Potter was filmed here rather than the history of the 17th century building. While we wandered round Zane set the scene by telling us a bit about the last book as we knew we wouldn’t read it (I think Michelle tried to block her ears at some time). The eating hall was where the sorting hat worked out what house Harry Potter and friends would join and was also the setting for the Alice in wonderland stories by CS Lewis. The grounds were immaculate, a man with a hat on told us where to go and not to stand on the lawns, all felt very artificial and a bit stark and just like Cambridge no students to be seen (though we had seen heaps of bikes in the town). Michelle thought there would be one university, but there are heaps of colleges some that the public could wander through for a charge and some that were closed.

We had another picnic in the same churchyard before dropping Michelle and Zane off at the train station (not a minute too early) as the traffic was held up with a demonstration against ‘animal testing’. It felt good that they would remain on the same island and that we would see them again soon. Haz and I then decided we would go home rather than staying away another night away and took the long route. We drove through horse racing country where Dick Francis and John Francombe must have sat I am sure getting inspiration for their next horse racing 'who dunnit' and saw many fields brown and spotted with hay bales. We stumbled across Avebury. 6000 years ago the inhabitants moved sassern rock (only harder natural material is diamond) to Avebury about 2-3 kilometres away where they built a huge ‘circle of stones’ – it has got some monolithic and celtic spiritual meaning as well as signifying when the seasons start. The town was inside this circle and surrounded by a ditch. Absolutely fascinating - it was free to go in and look, open all the time and just as fascinating as Stonehenge if not more. The sheep grazed around the stones and were obviously used to humans as they more interested in eating than running away. Had dinner at the local pub - yum - and looked down the 86 foot deep village well (which the pub had been built around) and then headed for home.