History

Went out pubbing last night, M&K and friends of theirs from the US. I've met A before but not J. We did a bit of a pub crawl and the first pub we went to for a drink was the Turf Tavern. We walked for ages, went under the Bridge of Sighs

and then turned down a little lane I had spotted the day before and was intrigued by but didn't go down.

And of course, M had to make a wise crack about the fact that we were going down St. Helen's Passage. The alley is so small it's not even shown on the maps, in spite of the history of the lane and the Tavern at the end.

We followed this ally for a while, along with quite a number of other people, mainly young, and I suspect students, to the Turf Tavern.

I didn't take this photo, I grabbed it off the net.

"Turn down New College Lane, across from the Bodleian Library. Pass under Oxford's much photographed Bridge of Sighs and turn left into St. Helen's Passage, an alley so narrow you may not be able to spread both your arms. It used to be called Hell Passage. In Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited Charles says, "The Turf in Hell Passage knew us well."

The passage widens and narrows as it turns corners. About 150 yards along -- just as you think you are lost -- the tiny, 17th century Turf Tavern comes into view. Go straight ahead through a tiny, green door or follow meandering passages to the right and left into beer gardens. The Turf isn't Oxford's oldest pub but parts of its foundations date from the 13th century. Inside, as with the best traditional English pubs, it is a warren of small, oddly shaped rooms, connected by narrow passages, small staircases and two small, busy bars. "

http://gouk.about.com/od/foodanddrink/fr/oxfordturf.htm

This was my first experience of Oxford at night. During the day, many of the people you see are tourists, lots of bikes tied up to fences. At night, there is a totally different feel. Lots of bikes riding around, laughter and chat from young people meeting up with their friends.

For Australians, the interesting thing about this pub is that Bob Hawke got into the Guinness Book of Records

I posted in May about the "yard of ale".

Well that's what Bob Hawke drank in 11 seconds.

Apparently Bill Clinton did something here as well - He didn't inhale - but I'm not sure of the context and can't seem to find out what he didn't inhale !! Obviously it is something that everyone "should" know !!

Also, apparently this pub often featured in the Inspector Morse series, a British show that I enjoyed muchly and was really sad when they killed him off. So this is more exploring I will need to be doing in Oxford. There are Inspector Morse tours of Oxford!

From there we went to a second pub for some food. This one was crowded and not as interesting as the Turf. My food didn't arrive until everyone else had pretty much finished. Fish and chips. The fish was a big greasy and I had been picking at everyone else's food while I was waiting so wasn't all that hungry. However, the company was good. From there it was home, see A&J off, driving back to London, and then bed.

Very pleasant evening, and I really must go back and check out that pub again.

For someone who hated history at school as a kid, I'm rather enjoying my history lessons here in Oxford !!

Today is organising for Cornwall tonight. I've got no idea if I will have Internet access or whether the next story will have to wait until Monday. In the meantime, I will definitely remember to take the adaptor so I can plug in my camera and Lara and won't miss anything this time.

Madeleine

Friday, 10 October 2008