Travels with Charley - A Morning Walk in Oxford

Our group stayed at Linton Lodge in Oxford. It was a most agreeable place and Charley and I were fortunate to have a room that overlooked an enclosed yard where the children played at every opportunity.

Our first program day in Oxford, started with an orientation tour of the neighborhood.

St. Andrews church was nearby and, like the American churches of my childhood, was open to the public during the day.

The old houses sported many chimneys from the days when heating must have been dependent on fireplaces. They reminded me of the rooftops in Mary Poppins.

Still smarting from the extreme Texas heat we had left behind, Charlie and I marveled at the English gardens flourishing with seemingly little effort on anyone's part. Several brief afternoon showers kept the flowers watered and the temperatures down.

One of the adult lectures touched on author J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien lived just around the corner from Linton Lodge from 1930 - 1947.

We meandered down to the river where "punts" were available for hire. These flat boats with a broad front are propelled by a long pole. The pole is wielded by a person who stands on the flat portion of the front, much as a gondola is moved along.