Oxford

While I had been to the Law Library, Keith had spent a profitable morning in the Bodleian library. After lunch, I headed off to visit the Christ Church College and the Ashmolean Art Gallery while Keith returned to the library. He was in his element, being able to sit and read the resources there.

Christ Church College is enormous and spectacularly beautiful. The cathedral is the largest in Oxford and dates back to the 1600s.





The dining hall is where the filmed Harry Potter. It had the aromas of a cooked lunch while I strolled up and down beside its long tables. I wondered if it had included mashed potatoes and boiled cabbage.

I then discovered some Condie history. I found a list of those who died while serving with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light infantry between 1939 and 1945. It just happened to be opened at the Co page and there listed was a Private Gordon Donald McKenzie Condie with the date 11 November 1943 next to it. My Father-in Law Alan has researched much family history. I am curious if there is any link with this Condie.



My head had not been fantastic these last few days, so I decided to retire to a cafe with my book and sit quietly. There is a lovely cafe in the Ashmolean Art Gallery, so I spent the remainder of the afternoon happily engrossed in my book. I am reading my third Margaret Forster book in a row - "Shadow Baby". I had finished reading "Hidden Lives"earlier that week and had enjoyed that enormously. Keith and I met up again in the late afternoon and had a quick browse of the gallery before returning to Morton in Marsh by train.

Oxford is where my father grew up and there is so much more I would like to see and discover. I can only imagine what it was like for him there growing up. I know that he went to the Dragon School, which is now one of the most expensive schools in Oxford, but it wasn't then. He loved riding his bike and walking. I can imagine that he enjoyed cycling out into the countryside and around the town exploring.

Bodleian Law Library in Oxford

Last Thursday, Keith and I had another early start and caught the train for Oxford - yet again. I had arranged to meet the Law Librarian Ruth Bird at 10.30 and she had kindly agreed to show me around the library. It was a half hour walk from the station which I enjoyed enormously. Oxford sparkled and I enjoyed the relative quiet compared to the chaos from the day before in London. There is such a charm and elegance about Oxford.

The Bodleian Law Library is the largest law library in England and impressive. The building is relatively new - it was opened in 1964. Despite its youth, it has a heritage order on it, making it virtually impossible to make any changes to the building at all. There are many features of this library that I love. It is light and open. The ceiling is glass, letting in natural light. The ground floor is surrounded on three sides by additional levels that overlook the ground floor. There are long desks in the middle for the undergraduate students to use and then the masters and post grad students have their own desks or cubicles with views overlooking a beautiful field. The shelving is wooden and light in colour so the overall impression is of light and space. The architect created a building that has allowed a collection to expand and grow at a rate of a third of a kilometre each year.

The floor is cork tiles, which sounds rather nice, but after forty years, many are blackened by use. They can't be replaced by any other floor type - remember that heritage order? and cork tiles are no longer made. Ruth has made a few changes to the building, but each has been prefaced by years of meetings and negotiations. At least our pink carpet squares don't have any heritage value.

The collection is impressive and organised by jurisdiction - rather confusing for the user, as their books really could be anywhere, but this is in the process of change, as the library converts to the Moys system, which will be much more useful for the students. The ethos of the library is changing under Ruth's direction as the staff move from invigilating to a more user friendly approach. For the understated British, this will be some accomplishment.

The collection includes legislation going back to Henry VIII. Imagine that! They also have a wonderful collection of primary and secondary resources from the US, Canada, most of Europe, the EU and also the United Nations. What a privilege to work in such a library! I was inspired to see this library as it holds a wealth of treasures on its shelves.

Bodleian Library in Oxford

Keith and I did a tour of the Bodleian Library. For some reason, this library has always intrigued me. Perhaps because I had to write an essay on this library during my library school training. For whatever reason, it is a place worthy of interest. To get into the library, you need a reader's card. Keith has a reader's card for the next few weeks, but little old me would have to write a letter and provide a reason for being granted permission to enter. The only way to get in, is to do a tour, so that is what we did! Again, the guide was friendly and amazingly knowledgeable.

I was able to enter the Duke Humfrey's Library which holds the oldest manuscripts of the collection. For many years many of the books were chained to the shelves. There is a chair in this section which is the "Librarian's Chair". Part of the Bodley tradition is that at closing time, the librarian sits on the chair and the bell rings telling the readers that it is time to leave. This still happens today.

The original Duke Humfrey's library consisted of a large number of manuscripts that he donated to Oxford University in the mid 1440s. However, it only survived in its original form until most of the manuscripts were burnt during the reign of King Edward VI during the 1550s who wanted to purge the country of all things "roman catholic" and to make a protestant England. Thirteen manuscripts remain, three of which are in the present collection.

Sir Thomas Bodley, a wealthy protestant, rescued the library soon after. He provided his own collection of 2,500 books and provided money to establish a library for the "public use of students". In 1610, he organised the first legal deposit, when he organised for the Stationers Company of London to provide a copy of every book published in England and registered at the Stationers' Hall.

This inscription appears above the entrance to the library. It reads "That it might turn out happily, Oxonian academics, for you and for the republic of lettered men Thomas Bodley placed this library." It is questionable as to whether his original intention of it being a library for "everyone" has been upheld, as it is not the easiest library to enter.



There are now over nine million items in this collection - which must take some housing. In reality, I got a mere glimpse of this rich and wonderful library. I would have to become a scholar to really be able to dig and delve into the treasures it holds. Keith plans to spend some time working there this week. All library users need to say an oath before being allowed to enter - basically promising to respect the collection and not damage or steal anything. That is a novel idea! This library receives 1,200 new items each week!



I am visiting the Bodleian Law Library on Thursday. I am hoping that I can ask a few questions about the use of this library by undergraduates.

Oxford on the train

Imagine living in Morton in Marsh. Despite its name, it is a very cute market town which is where we drove to catch a train to Oxford. Although expensive, it is a civilised and beautiful way to travel. We decided to do the bus tour of Oxford, as we had no maps or anything and thought it might be a good way to get our bearings. It is a bit like the Sydney Explorer, a bus comes by every ten minutes and you hop on and hop off when you want. We stayed on most of the way around and were amazed at the buildings and the age. We drove past a stone wall built in the 800s. No wonder they called New College in 1300 new.

After alighting, we decided to have an early pub lunch. We chose one in High Street with tables in the sun. Both boys had steak. It was delicious and reasonably inexpensive. We then got into the business of exploring. We started with climbing the Carfax Tower, which is one of the oldest buildings remaining in Oxford. We climbed up and up a spiral staircase until I thought that I was going to become quite giddy. Fortunately, it was sunny still and the views were awesome - well worth the climb.





We visited two of the Colleges and had a good explore of the grounds. Trinity College and Balliol College. Both are incredibly old and amazingly beautiful. Once inside, it is like you are in this inner world, that is quiet, reflective and a place of learning - although I am sure that there are students who avoid this. One thing that struck us both about Oxford is that it is a place of many small inner places that are totally separate from each other and almost shut out the rest of the city if not the world.







Keith visited the admissions office of the Bodleian Library and he has a card which allows him access for the next two weeks. It is such a vast library and I am keen to return to do the tour of the library. I remember doing an essay on this library back in my library school days. I know the Bodleian Law Librarian and hope to catch up with her next week.

We visited Blackwell's and it was difficult to tear any of us out again. All these new books, but in hardcover - a new Peter Temple, Dick Francis, Kate Atkinson, Niall Williams and this is just what comes to mind now - plus so many others that were just begging me to be bought. Keith discovered a couple of books second hand that he has been looking for.

We went past the Christ Church College and wandered through their war memorial garden, and will return another day.



Each of us have different images from our day from rooftops, spires, cushions to bicycles, they are all part of the fabric that make up Oxford. These two pictures capture the quirkiness of this place - Trinity College chapel has these beautiful cushions that were made by a group of women in the early 1960s to beautify the interior:



There are very few cars in Oxford, but heaps of buses and bicycles:



We didn't get home until nearly 7pm after nearly missing our train. We decided to end our time in Oxford aboard the bus, but hadn't factored in the going home traffic that suddenly hit the roads. We raced across the bridge to platform 3, only to discover that this was on the other side, in front of platform 2 - only England can have such a quirky platform system.