A magical journey: Oxford to Stonehenge

Wednesday May 13, 2009

In May, after launching A Magical Journey: Your Diary of Inspiration, Adventure and Transformation, I set off on my own magical journey, revisiting some of my favourite places and exploring new ones, on a sweet second honeymoon...

Wednesday 6… And we’re off! It’s a long way to London from Sydney, and we both have colds, which isn’t much fun. But after watching six movies and drinking lots of tea – and writing in A Magical Journey, which I was happy to note was easy to write in and had no show-through – we finally landed at Heathrow at some ungodly hour…

Thursday 7… and jumped on the bus to Oxford, after a big Starbucks chai (strangely sweeter than at home)… We found our way to where we’re staying, walking through the beautiful, historic town, which inspired Harry Potter and the His Dark Materials trilogy, and atheists through the ages, and past the striking and awe-inspiring Christ Church College, where we peeked in through the gates to the imposing quadrangle. Crossing a tiny bridge, we saw a huge swan – and a little swamp hen! Then after settling in we went on a college walking tour with a man who hates students and religion, ironically. And he wasn’t fond of academics either! The colleges of Oxford University are amazing and ancient, built from the 1100s on, and so beautiful and mysterious. I pictured Lyra skipping through the halls, and Harry, Ron and Hermione eating in the dining hall… We wandered through Merton, All Souls, Brasenose, New College and Exeter, our heads filled with stories of Tolkien, Lewis and Dawkins...

Friday 8… A little dazed and confused after waking up at 5am, we set out for breakfast at Café Loco, an Alice In Wonderland inspired place with murals of the Mad Hatter’s tea party on the walls, and had tea and scones (well, I am on holiday). We wandered through awesome bookshops, then went up the tiny spiral staircase of Carfax Tower for a view out over the Dreaming Spires that have inspired so many poets and writers. We walked through The Meadow by Christ Church, so English and pretty and green, and sat by the stream, giggling at the ducklings, then went to the Botanic Gardens and sat on Lyra and Will’s seat and admired Tolkein’s favourite tree... Our next adventure was the canal walk down to Port Meadow, where Lewis Carroll used to take Alice. It was beautiful, all green and sun-dappled, with gypsy houseboats moored along the shore, but much longer than I’d thought (sorry Cutes!). Just as we were about to give up and turn back we came across a pub, and had a cup of tea, and discovered we were almost there… I’d apologised for taking Cutes on a wild goose chase – and when we got there, there were geese! And tiny rabbits nibbling on bluebells. And an old ruined nunnery, and a beautiful walk back along the River Thames – called Isis in these parts… Lucky the sun doesn’t set until 10pm!

Saturday 9… We woke again at 5am, and I read Lyra’s Oxford, and was inspired to go and retrace her steps, through Exeter College and the Bodlein Library, and down to Linacre College (near the science buildings, which are all ugly – guess they don’t think scientists need to be inspired by beauty)… After hours wandering through the old streets, we hot footed it to the station and caught the train to Swindon to pick up the car. Driving back to Oxford, we saw the sign to Wayland’s Smithy and decided to check it out. Of course, following our new theme, it was not just a few steps to the site, as expected, but a 3km hike each way. But it was worth it, even in our still-sick state – it’s an amazing old long barrow grave with a cute little cruciform chamber you could crawl into, exposed to the elements and surrounded by trees in a beautiful glade. Then it was back to the Uffington White Horse, which wasn’t much of a horse to be honest It might be England’s oldest chalk horse, but it’s not the most impressive… We made our way back to Oxford, up Saint Giles to the Eagle and Child pub where the Inklings, including Tolkien and CS Lewis, used to meet to discuss their writing, their other worlds and the topics of the day…

Sunday 10… We woke again at 5am, with the sun, so we went walking along the river, shivering but stunned by the beauty of the mist on the water, the sunlight filtering through the trees, and the cute little squirrels, ducks and swans. Our favourite was the little goslings all huddled together under Mama Goose’s wing. One had five under her wing, and another had 10! At some moment decided by both the mums stood up and shepherded her kids over to the grass to begin their very civilised British breakfast ritual. So cute! After a last wander through the town, and the purchase of an Alice In Wonderland tea set from Alice’s Shop, we set out for Warwickshire, through tiny quaint villages and tree-canopied roads. We stopped at Blenheim Palace and strolled through the beautiful grounds, then searched for the Rollright Stones, made up of a really pretty stone circle, a nearby cove known as the Whispering Knight’s burial chamber, and a standing stone called the King’s Stone. This is where we came across bumblebees, bees as big as cats! And then, after driving through pretty Stratford On Avon, we made it to our next home away from home – a castle! – where we had a little tea party. Our room is in the old wing, high-ceilinged and old fashioned, with heavy velvet drapes and the coolest, hugest window seat that looks out on a turret.

Monday 11… We went exploring in the castle grounds before breakfast, then our friend came out to take us on an adventure. We went back to Stratford, where Cutes had his first decent coffee, and we walked along the river, said hello to the swans, laughed at all the Shakespeare pubs (and the house he was allegedly born in – which was in fact built 150 years after he died)… We went to a pagan shop and witchcraft museum, with an apocathery and a ghost-train style spooky tour, with a haunted toy store and stories about murders in the area. Then we went rowing and watched the swans take off over our heads, before driving through a host of little Cotswold villages, pausing to admire the ducklings, visit a traditional sweet shop and drink tea in a pub. Later we went back to Stratford to do a ghost tour, with a some-time actor who regaled us with history and ghost tales and laughed at our shivering… It is so cold here!

Tuesday 12… We set off early for Amesbury, the closest village to Stonehenge, pausing for tea and shortbread in little villages with names like Stoke On The Wold, then settling in to our very English looking little room then making our way down to Salisbury, where we explored the town for a while before meeting up with Pat, who’s worked on the Durrington Walls archaeology project, for our inner circle Henge tour. He was a little overcome with joy that I was excited about seeing his favourite monument, Durrington Walls (the ancient village whose foundations were recently discovered, which is believed to be where the builders of Stonehenge lived), as most people haven’t heard of it. We drove through the beautiful Woodford Valley, past little pixie houses and Sting’s rather massive mansion, to Woodhenge (which was as impressive in its day as SH) and DW, then walked through the landscape around Stonehenge, checking out the Cursus, and some barrows, and walking up the Avenue, then making our way inside the circle after it had closed for the day. This time I did try the dowsing rods over the leyline within the circle, which was fascinating. And the sunset was as beautiful and incredible, but nicely different, as last time.

Wednesday 13… A cute inbetween day… Hanging out in Salisbury, washing clothes, drinking tea, visiting the famous cathedral and exploring Old Sarum, the ancient castle and earthwork. Then we went back to Stonehenge and explored more of the surrounding landscape, checking out more barrows (under the ever watchful and curious eyes of a few cows), including the Bush Barrow where the Amesbury Archer was found – it’s fascinating that Stonehenge is the centrepiece of a giant graveyard. We also stumbled upon the caravan of “King Arthur Perndragon” (changed by deed poll), a druid who is “claiming” Stonehenge and living nearby in protest at the protective measure of English Heritage. Don’t get me started We returned to Amesbury for dinner at the big old Antrobus Arms, once owned (allegedly) by the Antrobus family, who owned and protected Stonehenge for a century.

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