Saturday 23rd May, Dukes Cut
If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Yesterday, I asked for a dress rehearsal of good weather; today- we had good weather! I will now ask for three months of good weather. Thanking you in anticipation.
We moved down to Eynsham Lock for water and to empty the Porta-Potti; then we moored on the visitor mooring; we then caught the bus to Oxford. It was interesting to look at the landmarks that we knew from the river, from a different perspective.
We alighted in the City centre and walked to the Pitt Rivers Museum.
The museum is named after the snappily named Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers; rolls off the tongue easily does it not? He was a career soldier, in the Grenadier Guards from 1845 to 1882 retiring in the rank of Lieutenant General. He collected a few items during his service abroad, although the bulk of his collection came from dealers and auction houses.
Initially housed in the South Kensington museum, Bethnal Green branch, it was transferred to Oxford in 1882 when a purpose built extension to the University museum of natural history was constructed.
We had a picnic in the grounds, bathed in sunshine, before going inside and looking around. It was very interesting, we spent nearly two hours inside before we began to suffer from ‘museum eye’ and will need to visit again at least once, possibly twice to see and absorb all of the exhibits.
The building itself is beautiful stone and brickwork, together with graceful steelwork arches supporting the fully glazed roof.
We had a wander around Oxford with a visit to a café in the covered market before catching the bus back to Eynsham Lock. Casting off, we headed for Dukes Cut and the Oxford canal.
2009 Totals – Locks 188; Miles 352.5; Bus pass uses 4.
