Thursday 6th August pm - Magdalen College

Jim's recommendation! We got the bus back to Magdalen and paid out £4 each (Old folks rate) to enter the college grounds through St. John's Quad. All the colleges we passed had big high doors off the street for only the students to access. The grounds of Magdalen were absolutely beautiful. The manacured lawns I would love at my place. The buildings were started in1458 and was built outside the city walls which was quite unpredecented. Building were added to the site as needs required. Buildings to the right were built in the 15th Century buildings on the left in the 19th Century. St Swithun's Tower was commenced in the 19th Century, the Grammar Hall in 1614 and is the only part of the school to survive the fire of 1828.

We climbed the steep stone stairs to the great dining hall with it's long tables and rows of table lamps. Harry Potter was filmed in Oxford and this looks like the dining hall from the film. From the walls watching over the students eating are a number of painting two of which are of Elizabeth 1 and Thomas Wolsey who later became Cardinal and Chief Minister to Henry VIII and King James I. We went into the chapel where there was a painting of the last supper high on the wall through which we entered. The stained glass windows were brilliant and some were cast as early as 1637.

Old pupils include Oscar Wilde, historian Edward Gibbon, poet John Betjeman, C S Lewis and essayist Joseph Addison after who the walk through the open park land behind the college is named.

The construction of the Cloisters Quadrangle commenced in 1474 and before the lawn was established the site was a medieval washing area.

After we left Magdelan College we headed up the High Street to see the Sheldonian Theatre and the BodleianLlibrary and the huge circular building that you see on a regular basis in the tv series Lewis. The building is really inspiring and there were students inside reading and tapping away on laptops. I was going to climb to the top of the tower but the queue was long as only 20 persons were allowed up at any one time.

Caught the Hop on hop off and headed back to the station to catch the train back to morton in Marsh and the bus back to Bourton. Great day. Awesome experience. Loved it all.