We all went on a trip to Oxford on Monday to see a free exhibition at the Bodleian Library on the works of J R R Tolkien.
I'd worked out routes to two side roads in the area where D and I had managed to park on past visits. Sadly, there were no places but luckily we found a place by the Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museums.
Although the not so good news was that parking time was limited to just two hours - I am sure it used to be longer. Still it would be long enough to view the exhibition and perhaps have lunch.
I loved the brick work on this building.
An interesting looking garden behind gates.
Oxford is the city of bikes although it would appear
they aren't welcome everywhere.
Whenever I see a door in a wall I wonder what is hidden behind.
Two of the colleges.
Plants in walls not looking very healthy in this dry summer.
More bikes!!
Some of the carvings on buildings are amazing - I would so liked to have had more time to explore.
And so to the exhibition........... unfortunately photos were not allowed inside such a shame as I would have liked to show you some of the exhibits. I assume it may be due to copyright???
Despite the timed tickets the exhibition was busy but if you bide your time and are patient you can view all the exhibits. My favourites were the sections on the Father Christmas letters and the original illustrations from The Hobbit.
Blackwells, a wonderful bookshop, had a large display of Tolkien books.
Timothy enjoying the sights of Oxford
When D and I were last in Oxford we had a superb meal at The White Horse but this time all the tables were taken and as time was limited we couldn't afford to wait which was disappointing.
The history of the pub is interesting - and there is a connection to Morse the TV series.
A few more pictures of this area of Oxford.
We saw several Horse Chestnut trees that looked as though they were suffering from infestations of the Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner - an insect pest first reported in the UK in Wimbledon, London, in 2002. It has since spread throughout much of England, into Wales and there has been one confirmed sighting in Scotland. The presence of many larvae can damage leaf tissues.Although it causes much damage to the foliage on an annual basis it does not significantly impair the overall health of the tree.
We decided to return to the car and go in search of a country pub for lunch in the nearby village of Kidlington. E using her phone found a canalside pub that was serving until 3.00 pm.
And, oh look! - yet another Morse connection!
I must admit it was not a tv programme I used to watch but I am considering perhaps trying one of the books.
Lunch was very good.
Before leaving we went a short walk along the Oxford canal.
I must admit I did buy rather a lot of souvenirs - well it is not every day you get chance to buy Tolkien "memorabilia".
By sheer coincidence on D and I's past two visits we were in exactly the same area of Oxford. So if you would like to see more photos of the Colleges, Library, Pitt Rivers Museum and trilobites please see here
and here
And finally, sorry lots of photos again! a few photos from my son
