It really hasn’t been a trip for sightseeing, but I just had time to photograph Headington’s main claim to fame before catching the bus to the station:

It really hasn’t been a trip for sightseeing, but I just had time to photograph Headington’s main claim to fame before catching the bus to the station:



An unfocused wander around a little bit of the Ashmolean – which suddenly sharpened into view as we entered the gallery of Dutch and Flemish still lifes. Display cases contained fascinating artefacts contemporary with the paintings – just brilliant. A completely unexpected spark.
I’m in Oxford for a few days, staying in Headington in a small estate of inter-war houses, many of which – like ours – have been extended and turned into HMOs. So not Brideshead Revisited – but neither is it Jude the Obscure. After all there is a Waitrose nearby. (Bicycle helmets in many wire baskets.) I suppose this is just urban living nowadays in the over-crowded south-east. Hemmed-in and concreted over – but somewhere I can hear a bird singing. I lived like this in London 40 years ago, but I’ve grown used to space and light since then.
It’s an easy bus ride into the centre of Oxford. Today we went on a boat trip from Folly Bridge past Christ Church Meadows to Iffley Lock. (Three Men in a Boat popped into my head at this point.)

