Oxford Trip Report
On Wednesday 6th September, a select band of members set off for Oxford. We all went by car, using the Park & Ride at Thornhill.
We all arrived at Jesus College about 10am and were met by Simon Smith, the Conference and Events Manager.
Simon explained that Jesus is one of 38 colleges in Oxford and that there are very strict rules about what can be done with the building, particularly the exteriors.
The college dates back to 1571, during the reign of Elizabeth I, and her picture hangs in 2 places in the college. Hugh Price, lawyer, cleric and founder of the college, petitioned Elizabeth to ‘establish a college for the spread and maintenance of the Christian church in its sincerest form’
Going through from Turl street through the porter’s lodge we entered the Front Quadrangle, the oldest parts of the college are here and date back to the 16th century.
The chapel was added in 1619 and now serves as an location for meetings and events as well as being the chapel for the college.
The Hall was built about 1618, and features the first portrait of Elizabeth I. Looking round the walls there were many other portraits of famous students, staff and benefactors, including, founder Hugh Price, Harold Wilson, King Charles II and Lawrence of Arabia.
We then climbed the stairs to the Fellows Library, built in 1620 and rebuilt in 1679. The books used to be chained and are now slowly being digitised so that they can be consulted online.
The library has many early books in Welsh, including 
Bishop Morgan’s translation of the bible into Welsh (around 1588). The oldest book dates from 1467, a version of De vita Christiana by Saint Augustine, but many of the oldest books are now held in the Bodleian Library. The library contains benches at which the books can be read – they are called ’15 minute’ benches as the design has intentionally made them so uncomfortable that scholars could only bear them for 15 minutes at a time.
We then walked through the Third Quadrangle and over to the most recent addition to the college – the Cheng Yu-tung building, which is very modern and contains modern teaching 
rooms, student accommodation and a ‘digital hub’. The view from the top of the building is wonderful, and we stopped for a group picture.
It was then time for lunch, so we made our way back to the Hall, where a table had been reserved for us. The food was surprisingly good, but the benches were somewhat unforgiving!
After lunch we had a couple of hours to ourselves and some spent the time shopping, some doing more sightseeing and others stayed in the shadows to avoid the heat of the midday sun.
We all met up at Christ Church Cathedral for 3pm, where we were met by our guides Anne and Steve Handsley. Christ Church is unique in that it is the college chapel and also the cathedral for the city of Oxford, and as such one of the smallest cathedrals in England. This means that the Dean of the church is also the head of the college.
Before the college was built, it was the site of the church of St Frideswide’s Priory. In 1532, Cardinal Wolsey chose the church for his proposed new college – Cardinal College, but Wolsey soon fell out of favour with the king, Henry VIII for failing to secure him a divorce, and eventually the project was taken over by Henry in1532, renaming it Christ Church (Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxoniensis).
More recent claims to fame include the use of parts of the building in the Harry Potter films.
There have been a good many alterations to the building over the years, but much of the building dates back to late Norman times.
Christ Church is famous for its stained glass windows, including the Becket Window from the 14th century, the Jonah Window by Abraham Van Linge in the 17th Century, the St Michael Window by Clayton and Bell in the 19th century, and the famous pre-Raphaelite Frideswide Window by Edward Burne-Jones, also from the 19th century.
The tour finished at about 4:30, and we set off to find the bus to the Park & Ride car park.
I think that everyone found the day instructive and enjoyable.
There are some more photographs on the Photo Gallery here.
Ladies nearest the pin: Jane Morris
Salmon with Beurre Blanc Sauce & veg followed by lemon tart with mixed berry compote and whipped cream
This year we chose a new venue for the AGM – the Jubilee Hall in Amersham. This is a new building on Rectory Hill, near the railway bridge, and just down the hill from Dr Challoner’s and is the home of the 2nd Amersham-on-the-Hill Scout Group.
There were about 33 members in attendance, and chairman, Colin Picton, kicked off the meeting at 7:30. Colin went through the formal part of the evening with approval of last year’s minutes and a run through of all the events we had enjoyed over the past year. Membership remains at about 110, and Colin welcomed several new members to the Society.
2Ann Lawrence asked a question about older members. Some members are no longer able to attend any of our meetings but still wish to keep in touch with the society. Ann asked whether it would be possible to let these members become ‘honorary members’ with no fee, but still included in emails and sent copies of the newsletter. David Powell said that, as treasurer he should point out that newsletters and postage would cost £4 per annum. The chairman proposed a vote on the issue and it was carried unanimously. The society will now offer an honorary membership to those who can no longer attend meetings.
Ann Tennant then served us all with dinner with three choices of main and several alternate desserts. We are all very thankful to have Ann, and are constantly surprised at how she prepares such good food on her own at such reasonable prices.
locations in the UK, both in Snowdonia. The flower is the only Alpine bulb in the UK and is probably a remnant from the ice-age.
On the way Gwyndaf found several plants of interest, including the Coralroot, a tall pink flower which is quite rare (in most places)96, but one of the few places you can find it is in the Chilterns.
5 Horsemoor Lane, past a farm and some woodworking buildings, across a field with views across to Penn Street and its church, then turned right into a path edging Priestlands Wood, back towards the common and The Potter’s Arms. On the way we were told of the hundreds of different types of dandelions, and were informed about sedges – all being asked to recite ‘Sedges have Edges’.
