Oxford University & Colleges, Oxford

Oxford was a Saxon town at a point where River Cherwell meets The Thames.
The first college was built in the 13th century & one of them was called 'university'.
Today, there are 39 colleges spreading over Oxford.
This next photo was taken also along Broad Street;
The Indian Institute...
The architectures are amazing but we wouldn't know them by their ages ! Some buildings are only old by the sites that they are built upon whereas the buildings themselves have been renovated many times...

Oxford was a Saxon town at a point where River Cherwell meets The Thames.
The first college was built in the 13th century & one of them was called 'university'.
Today, there are 39 colleges spreading over Oxford.
From George Street, I walked straight ahead & came to Broad Street.
This Balliol College is on the left side of the Broad St.
This college was founded in 1263, one of the oldest in Oxford.
The building anyhow is from the 19th century.
I didn't enter this place but if you want, here's the infos :Admission : 1 pound
Open : 2 to 5 pm Daily.
Balliol College

These colourful buildings in Broad Street apparently belong to Trinity College. Trinity's grounds are huge (we didn't have a look inside though) but as far as the number of students is concerned it's one of Oxford's smaller colleges.

I found a few facts on their website which I think are amazing (compared to German universities, anyway):

The library is open 24 hours a day! Its budget is generous, and the librarian can respond on the same day to urgent requests for new books.
Housing is provided for EVERY student.
There is a boathouse on the river.

The college with the famous Bridge of Sighs. And the inner courtyard is beautiful as well. Can you imagine studying in one of these buildings? I think I'd stare out of the window thinking how lucky I am all the time instead!

Home of the university physics department, where knowledge of elementary particles would be found if it were to be found at all in Oxford.

Actually Lyra is directed, not to this elegant building, but to one of the more modern and functional blocks lurking behind it, where she finds the Dark Matter Research Unit (R.I.P., Director: Lazarus) and its Director, not Lazarus but the former nun Dr Mary Malone. Once inside she confounds Dr Malone and causes mayhem with the experimental equipment. In here too, a few days later, Dr Malone is made an offer by the dastardly Sir Charles Latrom that she can't possibly accept, loses her job and sets off for universes new via the anomaly on the Ring Road.

By the time she gets back she'll be lucky to get bar work!

In her own universe, Lyra has been brought up amongst the scholars of Jordan College, "the grandest and richest of all the colleges of Oxford". As she will discover to her chagrin, no Jordan College exists in "our" Oxford. Its space is occupied by much of the area around the Sheldonian Theatre, the Museum of Science and Exeter College which, funnily enough is Philip Pullman's old college! Exeter is one of the older colleges, but not, I think, the grandest and richest. Very impressive though.

Pullman draws on a number of literary sources in constructing the narrative. Two which he openly acknowledges are Paradise Lost and the works of William Blake, and there are many others which it's entertaining to track down. I'm convinced he also enjoys slipping in mischievous allusions to other Oxford-based writers including Colin Dexter, the creator of Inspector Morse. Dexter himself is a prolific mischievous alluder, and it's hard to believe that the two men don't know each other. The housekeeper at Jordan, amongst whose duties is catching Lyra and giving her a good scrub now and then, is Mrs Lonsdale, and Lonsdale College is the fictional creation of Colin Dexter. Coincidence? I think not...

Wander through the colleges. If they let you. Most are pretty sneaky about charging entrance fees. Now, I hate entrance fees. For museums, I'm OK. Museums need revenue to maintain and augment their collections. Colleges at Oxford, with alumni dating back to the 10th century and tuition fees out the yin-yang, do not need additional revenue. They just don't. So I'm all for civil disobedience. Fake an accent (try the Queen's English if possible -- don't do your best cockney), pretend that you're applying to the college and that you'd like to investigate. They'll generally let you in. Sure, it's only a pound or two, but after six or seven colleges, that's a full evening at the pub.

The May Ball season is coming & I haven't a thing to wear!

May Balls are a traditional part of the college year. The season is kicked off on May Day (1st May) which is still a public holiday in Oxford as everyone gets to town early to hear the Magdalen College School Boys Choir atop the Magdalene College Tower. The best vantage point for this is Magdalen Bridge, from where singing coomences & some (against all advice) jump the bridge into the water below. (Look over the side first, the bridge is also over Angel Meadow which is dry in May).

On the first of may, the pubs open early in the morning & many have live music booked. Its a holiday atmosphere that very effectively disrupts traffic at one of the City's main arteries!

Should you purchase tickets, or be booked for any reason to one of the College Balls, then by all means have fun! Tickets are by no means cheap, dress is very formal, and the event runs all night to the early hours.

A few years ago I was invited to the Linacre College Ball. The rooms & grounds were filled with merry makers, halls in which live music was booked (a number of groups), barbecues, beer & buffets in odd places, bunjee jumping - all manner of activities! (I was booked to read Tarot for two hours).

Survivors (those who stay awake) until dawn partake of the breakfast - champagne with strawberries & cream.

The Ball Room is fond at the plain - the out of town end of Magdalen Bridge - a place that rents & sells gowns & tuxes in the May Ball season & out.

The proprietor is eccentric, so be prepared to be told that you carry too much weight in some places or that chips dont do you any favours! She doesn't pull punches, but she alters garments like a whiz!

you can pick up the walking tour outside the church of saint mary the virgin which is in the high st opposite the university college.

Another college, one of the 32 colleges in Oxford. This one looked particularly nice. The buildings are amazing and also set around a very nicely mowed couryard. Let the games....begin!!