WoffordOxfordPhotos

A few of my favorite things...

2008-01-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Oh, the anticipation waiting to get on the flight to England!

The morning of arrival, being picked up at London-Gatwick and heading straight to Oxford.

Our fabulous professors were bright and cheery for our first tour the day we arrived.

On the walk, I noticed how this angle gives the Eagle and Child sign a cross shape on the front of the Pub--one of Lewis' favorite hang outs.

Our delicious (and free) welcoming dinner from IES

The Eagle and Child (or "Bird and Baby," as the Inklings affectionately called it) Pub sign

We even got to eat at the Eagle and Child.

It was delicious pub food, but the experience was even more fulfilling as we imagined C.S. Lewis and the other Inklings (including, J.R.R. Tolkein) discussing their writings in the back corner sipping ale.

This C.S. Lewis poem is mounted on the side wall of the walk around Oxford where Lewis had an important conversation with J.R.R. Tolkein that changed his life forever.

We got to go on the walk, but we had to do some off-roading because the path was flooded, along with everything else in Oxford.

Because they told us we were forbidden to touch the sacred water of the ancient Roman Baths we wanted to jump in even more!

Becky and lyse listening to their audio guides and learning about the ancient Roman Baths.

The beautiful city of Bath at Dusk

No lie, this pub had the best English meat pies in all of the royal land!

(I had the venison meat pie with the vegetable gravy...delicious!)

Just one example of Paul magically capturing all of our attention.

Here, we are outside of the Canterbury Cathedral.

This cathedral was decorated with spectacular stained-glass windows throughout.

This particular window is dedicated to the life of St. Thomas Beckett.

This candle burns in honor of the saint and martyr who was murdered in this cathedral because of king Henry II who said the famous lines "will no one rid me of this turbulent priest."

Oh how we loved Paul! We got to grab a picture with him at the pond behind C.S. Lewis' residence.

The sign on C.S. Lewis' house under his bedroom.

The Anglican church where C.S. Lewis and his brother Warney worshipped.

A small memorial for C.S. Lewis inside the church, along with a plaque where he sat each Sunday.

The dining room inside Christ Church at Oxford.

This is also the dining room in the Harry Potter films.

Just half of the outside of King's College Chapel at Cambridge University.

The very front of the inside of the King's College Chapel. It was beautiful with intricate stained glass. At the altar at the front of the chapel is "the Adoration of the Magi" painting by Rubens in 1634 (unfortunately photography of this masterpiece was forbidden).

Some of the boys playing in kiddie toys in the London-Gatwick airport on the way back to the US... pay special attention to the third one from the front!

2008-01-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a continuation of more great memories in England...

William and I standing in front of the gates at Buckingham Palace.

A view of the Parliament building at dusk, taken from the London Eye.

Katie, Chris, Will and Valerie standing on the Millenium Bridge in London looking off into the distance towards the Tower Bridge-- pictured below.
The Tower Bridge in London was one of my favorite sights. It is absolutely beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed my walk across it.

2008-01-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

I hope to capture some of the highlights of the trip in the pictures below!

The first of many great tours led by Paul. On this particular tour he was showing us the layout of Oxford and taking us into several of the colleges.

Valerie and I strolling through the streets of Oxford...or trying to keep up with the group.

Once again, the class intently listening to Paul on a tour. In this picture we are at Magdalen College looking at the building where Lewis' office was located.

Walking towards a famous bridge in Oxford known as the Bridge of Sighs.

2008-01-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

Through out our trip to England we visited Oxford, Bath, Canterbury, Cambridge and London. I took over three hundred pictures and it would be impossible for me to post them all. However, I hope these pictures allow you to view a quick overview of two weeks. Enjoy the highlights!

Bath Abbey located in Bath, England.

Bath Abbey, The stain glass window behind the high alter.

Like many cathedrals through out Europe, the Abbey's architecture was very ornate.

Remains of Norman Castle in Canterbury, England.

Alex and I inside the remains of Norman Castle. We look so small in such a BIG place!
The candle represents the memorial site for Thomas Beckett in Canterbury Cathedral.

One of the many stain glass windows in Canterbury Cathedral.
The entrance of Canterbury Cathedral at night.The "back portion" of Canterbury Cathedral. It was impossible to get this immense building in one single picture.
C.S. Lewis's garden at The Kilns (his home). Oxford, EnglandThe Kilns. Oxford, England

Holy Trinity Church. C.S. Lewis is buried here. Oxford, England
C.S. Lewis's grave site. The quote reads, " Men must endure their going hence." The same quote that was on his calendar the day his mother died.
Christ Church. This is one of the colleges that makes up Oxford University. Oxford, England

Quad at Christ Church. Oxford, England
The Hall at Christ Church. Look familiar? The directors of the film Harry Potter used this as the dining hall of Hogwarts.

Jessie's top photos

2008-01-28T14:29:00.000-08:00

King's College in Cambridge

Posting Box near Christ Church

view from tower of St. Mary's

Hilary writing friends from home

Matt and Emily at St. Mary's in Oxford

C.S. Lewis's grave
Bath Cathedral

inside Lewis's church

worship service in Canterbury Cathedral

gargoyle and view from top of St. Mary's

London from the London Eye
Lewis's desk at his Oxford home, the Kilns

lunch spot in Woodstock: The Blenheim Tea Rooms and Guest House

oh the bikes...

2008-01-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

Surrounding the Roman Central Bath were statues of Roman Emperor's. This is Hadrian.

In the center of Canterbury Cathedral is a dome, this is a picture of the inside of it.

This is in the Quire of Canterbury Cathedral looking back towards the shirne for Thomas Beckett.

It was a full moon when we walked out of Canterbury Cathedral after we heard the Evensong Service.
This is another picture of one of the Roman Emperor's around the Central Bath. This is Constantine.

A picture of the Stained Glass above the High Altar at Bath Abbey.

This is a picture of the ceiling at Canterbury Cathedral, may favorite place of the trip.

There is a monastery attached to Canterbury Cathedral, and this is the quad connecting the two.

This is one of the towers at Canterbury Cathedral. At the top you can see the clock.

In Bath Abbey there was a small prayer chapel to the left of the high altar. The lighting in it was perfect surrounding the cross.

Bath, along with Oxford and most of the surrounding areas have suffered from some extensive flooding recently. The water was very high in most of the rivers.

In several of the Cathedral's and Abbey's that we went into there were flags that adorned the columns on the sides of the sanctuaries. This is one of them.

The two images above are good views of the intricacies of the ceiling at Bath Abbey.

A tombstone that was in the Roman Baths. I seem to think it was from around 700 AD. I could be very wrong though.

This is a good view of the fan vaulted ceiling in Bath Abbey. Bath Abbey's was very beautiful, but King's College Chapel is world renowned for the same type of architecture.

Posted by Will Mann.

2008-01-28T11:52:00.002-08:00

A spectacular view of Westminster Abbey and downtown London from the London Eye.

A view of one of the dormitories at Cambridge University. This was when a group of us went punting down the river.

This is Jane Austen's signature on a letter she wrote to her niece.

A gate leading to a garden at St. Claires College. This was on our way to go to the library to see Jane Austen's letters.

Christ Church in Oxford where part of Harry Potter was filmed.

A view of Oxford City from atop the University Church.

In glimpse at the inside of Canterbury Cathedral.

A picture of the park in Canterbury.

Inside the Cathedral at Bath Abbey.

A picture of the overflow at the Roman Baths in Bath.

Posted by: Matt Low

Read our Stories!!

2008-01-28T10:53:00.001-08:00

For those interested, we have stories that correlate with most of these pictures on a similar but separate blog... here it is:

www.woffordoxfordinterim.blogspot.com

Check it out!

-Matt Watts

Matt Watts' Top Ten Shots... kinda

2008-01-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

This is a very difficult thing for me... choosing only 10 of over 1700 photos.

So I am going to cheat a little bit. I am planning on posting my Top 10 England Shots and a Top 10 Photographic Shots as well as my Top 10 Most Hilarious/Random Shots (maybe even another Top 10 if I think of one.)

So here it goes:

View from the Tower of University Church! We had to walk up

the smallest spiral staircase to get up there but it was worth it!

Here is a group shot of some of us in front of Big Ben in London.

We spent two days taking London in and barely scratched the surface!

This was the courtyard of King's College in Cambridge... simply AMAZING!

The weather was especially great this day and there were many great

sights to see! We also went punting (a English boat ride!)

This is the library at St. John's College in Oxford. Not only did it have

one of the first (if not the first) copy of Canterbury Tales (worth over

$10 million dollars) but it also housed a 13th century Bible, the original

letters of Jane Austen and many compilations of theological writers

collected throughout the 16th-18th centuries. (need I say more???)

This is the pub that the Inklings (Lewis' writing society) met

to discuss and critique each others' works. JRR Tolkien also

attended and presented his ideas on the Lord of the Rings

(which recently was made into a 3-part series and was very

famous in the United States.)

This is C.S. Lewis' home desk outside of Oxford at the Kilns.

Some of the things on his desk were his belongings or things

he would have had when he lived there. Our time at his house

was a chance to let it all out and make this trip worthwhile.

This is a GORGEOUS stained glass window

at Canterbury Cathedral (a place known for its

pilgrimages such as Chaucer's "Canterbuy Tales")

This is a lamp at Bath Abbey Church.

I thought it looked pretty.

This is shot of a Unviersity or Chapel in

Oxford, England with the moon.

(Not many days were this clear...)

This is Hayes asleep in a Tomb at the

First Century AD Roman Baths... in Bath, England

(I wonder where they got the city name...?)

Posted by: Matt Watts

Welcome to Wofford Oxford Photos!

2008-01-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

Our Interim trip to Oxford, England and surrounding cities has been quite an adventure and we wanted to share this adventure with you with pictures since they are worth a thousand words. Here are some of our students' favorite shots from the trip. We hope you enjoy!

-Matt Watts