Oxford in the Rain

Yesterday we took a trip to Oxford with the intention of taking photos of some of the architecture there. Unfortunately shortly after we arrived the heavens opened, but not quite before I got a shot of this rather magnificent statue;



created by Anthony Gormley (he of the Angel of the North fame) and commissioned by Exeter College. Named 'Another Time' (as opposed to his fabulous statues named Another Place who all cast their gaze out to sea on Crosby Beach) he stood stark against the grey Oxford skyline, protectively watching over Broad Street and Balliol College beyond. Gormley is quoted as saying he hoped that;-

'the work would act as “a point of reference in a city where scholarship and quotidian life intermingle”. He said that the casual passer-by might ask “What is that naked iron bloke doing up there?” but might also be made to think of “other relations with time and distance, with other destinies and destinations other than the immediate'.

Once the heavens opened we hastily decided to revert to Plan B and hot-footed it along to the Museum of the History of Science, who's free entry saw many other tourists also reverting to their own Plan B's in order to take cover from the torrential rain. I soon discovered it was a Steampunk enthusiasts dream (complete with hoards of steaming wet tourists!) with all manner of wonderous objects to behold;



Glorious brass and ivory dials from I 'think' the 16th century (I'm rubbish at remembering dates, I'm also rubbish at remembering the technical names for such wonderous objects!)



whilst others were more ivory than brass,



intricately decorated with images from across the globe,



which mingled with the remains of long dead bladder fish,



and 15th century brass equatoriums,



and beautifully antiquated boxes containing figures for the mysterious and wonderfully named 'Thunder House Experiment' which apparently gave 'a spectacular demonstration of the destructive effect of a lightning bolt striking a house with an imperfect lightning conductor.' So there!

The museum was terrific and had we the time and energy we'd also have liked to visit the Rivers Pitt Museum which I've heard fabulous things about, but having climbed up and down three flights of stairs to visit various exhibits Ian decided he and his hip had had enough, so we made a compromise and ended up in Blackwells bookshop where I could happily have spent a fortune, but instead contented myself with just one book 'Hyddenworld' by William Horwood,



which according to part of the blurb concerns '"the Hydden, the little people with whom we share our world [...] the holders of natural lore and guardians of our link with the Earth". Right up my street then!