Tuesday Walk

I went for another little wander yesterday and I’ve been playing around with Google Earth today.

This is where I ended up

That bridge you can see is called Folly Bridge. Made of stone, built buy a guy called Ebenezer Perry in 1825–27.

“The bridge is in two parts separated by an island. The origin of the name is uncertain although it has been suggested that it originated about 1650 after a tenant of Bacon's study.......The bridge apparently stands at the place of the original oxen ford, which gives Oxford it’s name. The first known bridge on the site was built by Robert d'Oilli in around 1085, but there was believed to be a bridge in the time of Ethelred of Wessex. Remains of the Saxon structure may still be seen beneath the present bridge.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly_Bridge

This is my photo. I didn’t see any remains of a Saxon bridge but then I didn’t go underneath the bridge.

I did part of this walk earlier in my stay here (I Love the Paths) and this time decided I was going to walk all the way into town. This was my route:

I went along one of the paths by the river, which took me past the incredibly ugly ice skating rink.

I read this the other day from another web page and had to giggle:

“We passed under an ornate footbridge, then round the back of the ice rink with its ridiculous external cable supports (I swear I'm going to attack it with my junior hacksaw one day), and under another railway bridge which barely gave me enough headroom.”

http://www.billwalfordpublishing.co.uk/chapter_3.html

It is not the prettiest of buildings!

I think they were going the opposite direction from me. This, I think, is the “ornate footbridge”. I must go back and get a proper photo. You can just see the pillars in the water and the ornate “things” (no idea what to call them) on the side of the bridge.

They are rather ornate, aren’t they?

According to the signs at this spot, I could have crossed the river and ended up almost at the same spot as I did. I chose to stay on this side of the river. Again, maybe that is a trip for another day.

I have no idea what this building is, in spite of all my research. So if I walk the other side of the river, I might just find out. This is a composite of three photos. I just liked the look of it.

On my side of the river, the path was a bit scary. In many places there was no railing between me and the river.

The first photo is looking back where I had been and the next one is looking forward

Then I came upon this lovely set of buildings

And a bit closer

Again, I’m not sure what the blue building is. It’s on that little island you can see in the Google Earth image at the beginning. Things look totally different from above than on the ground. The island appears to be called simply “The Island” and not to have it’s own name – just the island at Folly Bridge.

My next stop was The Head of the River. This pub has been photographed millions of times. I had thought this was something to do with the Oxford and Cambridge boat races, but I was totally wrong. That is in London and no where near Oxford. The river here, IS used for races but not the Oxford/Cambridge one.

“It is here that the college rowing crews race against each other in the two annual regattas - 'Torpids' in late February and 'Eights' in mid May.”

http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/guide/riverwalks.html

And to explain a bit more:

“Head of the River. Winning crew or college in Eights Week or Torpids. A bump supper may be in order. Also the name of the next pub up the river from the finishing line, at Folly Bridge.” http://web2.comlab.ox.ac.uk/oxinfo/guide/glossary.html http://www.peetm.com/OxfordTerms.htm

Don’t ask me what Eights Week or Torpids are. You will have to do your own research on that one.

It is also not particularly old:

“They held a competition to name this pub when they built it in the 1970s, hence the name.”

http://oxford.openguides.org/wiki/?Head_Of_The_River

However,

“The building was originally used to build boats and still has the original crane used to lift boats in and out of the water in the forecourt area.” http://www.tourinaday.com/oxford/best-hotels-oxford.html

And for a bit of a laugh:

“....it is said, in the good old days when racing eights were made of wood, the leading university crew were proclaimed “head of the river” and ceremonially burnt their boat as a prelude to a memorable (if not remembered) evening.”

“That custom was not quite as daft as it seems because what they were doing was ensuring that they got a new boat for next year (and there was, and still is, considerable development in the technology of racing boats - so a new boat is usually an advantage) and that all those college boatmen were kept in full employment.“

http://thames.me.uk/s01680.htm

So there are races from here, but not the one I thought.

Here’s the pub. Not bad looking for an ex-warehouse!

And this photo is looking from the bridge down on where I walked.

And this one is also from the bridge looking in the other direction.

After a short walk, I was back in central Oxford, and guess where I was:

I’ve seen this shop before and so have you guys, here and here.

That’s all for now folks.

Madeleine

Wednesday, 10 December 2008