Monday 8 December 2008

Oxford University Park

Saturday, we had a visit from an old friend of M’s. D was one of the “gang” that used to stay at our house when the boys were teenagers. So we’ve known D for many, many years. He has recently moved to London to be with his English partner R. So old friends and new friends. During their visit, we went for a loooooooooong walk through Oxford University Park, a place I didn’t even know existed until Saturday.

My first introduction to the park was when K said: “Madeleine, come over here!!”. I was busy looking at something else. This was what she had to show me.

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I was so fascinated, I forgot to ask the man what exactly the bird was. I think it’s a hawk judging by the Google images I found. He/she was apparently 12 years old and the bloke has had him since he was a little bird. How gorgeous. I don’t even know why they were there in the park. The bird had been on his arm until just before I took this photo. Apparently, they like to have the wind under their wings and this was what he was doing. Also, apparently, they don’t weigh anything when they have the wind under their wings like that. He was sort of hovering on the sign.

Here’s a close up.

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The Oxford University Parks, more normally the University Parks, or just Uni Parks to members of the local community, is one large parkland area slightly northeast of the Oxford city centre in England. It is open to the public during the day, and boasts beautiful gardens, large sports fields, and rare and exotic plants.


From 1853 to 1864, the University of Oxford purchased a total of 91 acres of land from Merton College to build the parks. Some of this land was then used for the University Museum and the Science Area, so the current site is measured at about 74 acres. The park is situated mostly on the west bank of the River Cherwell, though a small plot of land called Mesopotamia sits between the upper and lower levels of the river. The Parks are bounded by Norham Gardens to the north, Parks Road to the west and the Science Area on South Parks Road to the south.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Parks

The is the High Bridge or Rainbow Bridge over the River Cherwell, it is shaped like a rainbow (hence the name) and was built in 1923/4 as a project for unemployed people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge,_Oxford

Here’s a photo going up the bridge and the backs of M & D.

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After more walking, we came across this:

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For some reason I didn’t take a photo of the whole scene. This is called the Punt Rollers, but I’m not quite sure why. Maybe because when punts get to this point they are likely to roll over?

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This is not my photo. I took it off the net

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Punt-rollers-river-cherwell-oxford.jpg

There was a lot more water flowing when we were there and here’s some close-ups of the water.

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I do like my close-ups.

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I subsequently discovered that there are a couple of interesting stories about this part of the park.

Mesopotamia is a narrow island (about 800 yards long by 30 yards wide) that forms part of the University Parks, Oxford, England. It lies between the upper and lower levels of the River Cherwell. The name Mesopotamia in Greek means "between the rivers" and originally referred to the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq.

The land was purchased by the University of Oxford during the expansion of the Oxford University Parks between 1860 and 1865. A footpath, Mesopotamia Walk, laid out in 1865 runs along the centre of the spur to Kings Mill.

The Domesday Book records a watermill on this site and milling continued until 1825; one level of the river was once the mill stream. From 1914, attempts were made to introduce wild ducks and geese to the area, but these proved fruitless because of the predatory local otter population. Until 1926, a ferry operated from a point half way along the Walk, when it was replaced by a footbridge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia,_Oxford

Also, in Wikipedia (and this one gave me a giggle):

Parson's Pleasure in the University Parks at Oxford, England, was a secluded area for male-only nude bathing on the River Cherwell. It was located next to the path on the way to Mesopotamia at the south-east corner of the Parks. The facility closed in 1991 and the area now forms part of the Parks.

Parson's Pleasure was traditionally frequented by dons of the University. To save the embarrassment of ladies who might be sitting in passing punts, they could be directed to a path that skirted the area behind a high corrugated iron fence. If a pretext were needed, the ladies could be told that the men needed to haul the punt over "the rollers" — a track made of concrete with metal rollers — next to the nearby weir. Women's use of the path declined in later years. The path and the rollers remain.

Parson's Pleasure is now part of the folklore of the university. One anecdote goes that a number of dons were skinny-sunbathing on the Pleasure when a group of students floated by in a punt. All but one of the startled dons covered their modesty — one placed a flannel over his head instead. When asked why he had done that, he replied haughtily, "Oh, well my students know me by my face.".

There are many variations of this joke. One, which appeared as a series of cartoons on a weekly wallpaper in Oxford about 1990, had a punt of camera toting Japanese tourists glide past the Pleasure, flashbulbs popping, much to the disgust of the dons enjoying their Sunday Times crossword. All but one of the dons covered their modesty with the crossword, and of course, the caption below stated something along the lines of" "Old Chap, I am rather known by my face in these parts!"

In 1996, the Oxford University Beer Appreciation Society commissioned a local brewery to produce a barley wine that was called Parson's Pleasure Ale.

A similar Dame's Delight for female bathers also existed nearby, but this closed even earlier than Parson's Pleasure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parson%27s_Pleasure

And just a bit more information about Dame’s Delight

Dame's Delight was a place for family bathing on the bank of the River Cherwell in the meadows near the Oxford University Parks opposite Mesopotamia Walk in Oxford, England. It was started in 1934, but closed in 1970 due to maintenance difficulties because of flooding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame%27s_Delight

Interestingly enough, the story about the don covering his head rather than his genitals, is one I have heard. I can’t remember where, of course. I think it was in a movie somewhere.

Roald Dahl wrote a story called The Parson’s Pleasure which is a lovely little story, but has nothing to do with university don’s bathing naked. You can find the story here:

www.daltonvoorburg.nl/file/5147/1068724036/Parsons+Pleasure.doc

Here’s a bit of a map with our travels. After our walk, we stopped at the Royal Oak for a drink and a rest before heading back to the house.

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And that’s all for now folks.

Madeleine

Monday, 8 December 2008

3 comments:

Veedub said...

I had a look on Google Earth...it must have been a very long walk. Mesopotamia is really quite long isn't it?
There were some good photos of the park and Rainbow Bridge when it's covered in snow...when you see them you will want to go back and get some for yourself.

Rosymosie said...

Yah, it was quite a long walk, Veedub. But not too cold and quite enjoyable. If it snows I have a selection of places I have to go to before the snow melts LOL.

Anonymous said...

The Hawk is a Red Tail Hawk called Scart. He was born in 1997 and is still going strong.