Going West

Hello!

Re-writing this post from Guildford I am really aware of just how much travelling I've done of late. I wrote the draft in the Black Forest, editing from Guildford and the content relates to Bristol and Oxford. Such is the life of the nomad I suppose.

My many recent trips have highlighted several heritage-y thoughts.

Arnos Vale Cemetery: A Place to Remember
One morning myself and some friends visited an Art exhibition, the Bristol Blue Glass Shop (where we hoped to witness some glass blowing but alas twas not to be) and a cemetery. But not just any cemetery, this was the Arnos Vale Cemetery, 'a place to remember'. At Arnos Vale they have decided to let nature reclaim a disused Victorian churchyard, an intriguing take on remembering. One of the other ways they 'remember' is to host themed events such as a halloween gig on site. Seeing as people have been buried in the cememtery into the 90's such events might seem a tad incongruous to the living memories of the not-long-gone deceased. The stones that remain are a veritable catalogue of Bristolian personalities from the famous to the unknown. Their stones, nationalities, and works of note all point towards Victorian Bristol's industrial past - one stone even had a watermill represented on it! There were several references to Bristol's connections with the open sea, with Indians buried in Bristol and memorials to Bristolians buried in India. Funny how somewhere so regional (think accents) can have such an international impact...

Memorial Reclaimed

Watermill Grave

St Mary's Tower: A Higher Perspective on Heritage
The next day I ventured to Oxford and was indulged with both Byron burgers and an old church tower. You all know how I love to climb things (this might jog your memory) and St Mary's Tower was no different. Standing at more than 120 steps tall (noone wants to tell me its actual height but it felt less than Canterbury's 100ft) its worth the climb - on a clear day the reward is an impressive 360 degree panorama. The views chart much of Oxford's history from rolling countryside through Medieval, Tudor, Victorian and of course 1960's architecture. Whilst considering the sheer range I was reminded of the limitations of preserving whole living, breathing cities. What would the impact of preservation have been on Oxford if organisations had prevented development along the way. Some 2400 miles away in Mali the whole town of Djenne is UNESCO protected. Part of the legislation dictates that any buildings must be built in the traditional style (faced with mud, occasional tiling) and that's a tad problematic if regular rainfall washes all the mud away. I wonder what Oxford would look like if the same rules had been applied to that historic city?

Preservation in Djenne, force for good?

Next time: Freiburg & Guildford - twinned cities.

Randolph and Ashmolean.

So last weekend my cousin got married, congratulations Katy and Ahilan. This was a great excuse to be in Oxford and indulge in a luxuriant weekend.

The Randolph Hotel is on Beaumont Street in the centre of Oxford. My sat-nav knew exactly where it was and my own eyes soon attested to its presence! See photo below.  I drove to the entrance and our valet took over from there. Apparently valets are quite normal in America but I have to say it was a first for me; and my Mum definitely cleaned the car before we set off! Inside customer service was prized with concierge and many complimentary services on offer.

Chillin with a paper

 I have to say though, that we did spend time in queues, get delivered twice as many Sunday papers as we’d like and receive a visit from a member of staff ‘checking the mini-bar’. So the room itself cost just over £200 (definitely the most my parents ever spent on a room, me too!) and for that we got a twin room complimentary tea, coffee, hot chocolate (including cream as a milk option!) water (sparkling and still), an ensuite with some small toiletries (and a confident reminder that if I were to make a souvenir of my bath towel I was to enquire as to its sale price at reception!). Our beds were Egyptian cotton and we also had a writing desk, arm chair and footrest, complimentary wifi and of course, a trouser press. We decided in the main to avoid the mini-bar and 24-hour room service (you could even have your herring brought to you in the morning!). Our experience over night actually left me a little disappointed; the room was uncomfortably warm or noisy depending on whether you used the fan or not, the industrial fans outside also made for a noisy evening. I would also say however, that my parent’s room on the other side of the building, overlooking the Ashmolean museum was quite tranquil and beautiful, they had no such complaints. Perhaps it is luck of the draw. And as we were a family of four at a wedding it was so nice not to feel joined at the hip!

Writing my last blog

The hospitality on the other hand was brilliant. The reception venue was very smartly decorated, even the children’s menu had adult portions, our food was very tasty and the customer service was really good; just the right level of interaction and invisibility. I also had the good fortune of visiting the famous ‘Morse Bar’ and watched them make me a Mojito on my room tab (thanks Mum!), it was truly worth the £10.50 rivalling my local London favourites, Sophie’s.

As I mentioned earlier the hotel is across the road from the Ashmolean and remembering the occasion my Anglo-Saxon history lecturer claimed to have stolen the ‘Alfred Jewel’ from the Ashmolean I decided it was time to pay this place a visit. I will make the caveat now that I only had an hour. The first thing that struck me was a resemblance to the British museum; the fusion of old buildings with new architecture that makes the most of the light. Also like the BM it had an orientation space which serves to prepare the visitor for thinking about culture and provides information on the different exhibitions which are organised geographically then chronologically. Interestingly also like the British Museum I thought there was a noticeable lack of African archaeology on display. Plenty of Middle Eastern, Indian and European pieces but no African and a similar bias towards ‘classical archaeology’. The European Early Medieval Room was worth visiting if you are an ASNAC or British antiquarian, plenty of strap ends and beakers, armour and of course the Alfred jewel; it was photographing badly on the day I was there. But as far as I was concerned their visible early Medieval collection was nothing extraordinary; you’d have seen as much in that archaeology seminar with Geake.

Christopher Wren as a young man.

The other place that the Ashmolean reminded me of was the Louvre. My sister and I visited the Louvre in February and I noticed it was full of brightly coloured hallways with European paintings, hung upon the walls for contemplation. The Ashmolean had many themed rooms including one quite large room dedicated entirely to Dutch still life! If I had one complaint about the Ashmolean it would be that it seemed dominated by the interests of earlier Oxford academics; the room full of Russian ceramic and the Dutch still-life came from benefactors who had given large collections as represented by these large rooms. What the Ashmolean did well was partner the contemporary with the ancient. A sculpture exhibition put modern sculptures of Olympic sports up against classical statues in an attempt to get the public thinking about national feeling and the human body. Similarly their exhibition on conservation was inspired; lots of fun and not only for children! The picture below is me playing with a piece that counts the number of touches various materials can take before they fall apart. It was interesting.

Bodies: Ancient and Modern

Please Touch, interactive conservation.

So in conclusion, I enjoyed the bit of Oxford that I saw. Admittedly I didn’t actually go beyond Beaumont Street other than when I drove the car in. Being light blue for a start I wouldn’t have wanted to dirty my shoes...I jest. There were other priorities. I enjoyed my family time and what I saw of Oxford. I might even go back if only to taste more of the Morse Bar menu.