It's a Boy!

Christ Church celebrates the birth of the  royal baby by flying the Royal Standard of Henry VIII

As the world now knows, The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy at 16.25 BST on Monday. Kensington Palace announced the news of the birth just after 20:30 BST on 22 July 2013, and the news was confirmed by Buckingham Palace, shortly afterwards.  On Tuesday, Christ Church celebrated the event by flying the Royal Standard of Henry VIII above Tom Quad.

As Christ Church was founded in  Henry VIII 1546, the college retains the right to fly the Royal Standard of its founder.

On the left the Standard of Henry VIII - on the right the current Royal Standard

What’s New in 2014?

We have twenty-eight new courses for you on the programme for Oxford Experience 2014.

You can find the list of new courses here...

Monday, 15 July - Morris Dancing at Oxford Experience

The Charlbury Morris Side were dancing in Tom Quad this evening.  As always, the dancing, despite the heat, was superb and a great deal of fun was had by all.

At the end of the dance session, there was a general invitation for members of the audience to join in, and quite a few took part in the last dance of the Charlbury side.  The very last dance, however, was a Rapper Sword Dance which was danced by members of another Morris Side who were joined by Peter from the Charlbury side.

This ‘sword dance’ comes from the Northumberland mining country and actually uses double handled flexible blades that were once used to wipe the sweat from the pit-ponies.  It is a very complicated dance and after many elaborate contortions as the dancers move in and out of the circle of ‘swords’, it finishes with the ‘swords’ being held aloft in an interwoven pattern.

See more photos on our Facebook Site here...

You can find out more about the Charlbury Morris Side here... 

And, if you are interested in Cotswolds folk tradition and music, you can see the Morris Side at the Finstock Village Music Festival on YouTube here... 

Building a New Bleak House

Tonight (10 July) the author Lynn Shepard gave a talk about her novel “Tom All Alone’s” (American title “ The Solitary House”) which is set in the world of Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House”.

Those of you who were not lucky enough to be at the Oxford Experience to hear her might like to watch this short video in which she discusses her work and its relationship to “Bleak House”.

You can find the video here... 

Alice's Day at Christ Church

As part of the Oxford-wide Alice Day on Saturday 6^th July, there will be an exhibition of poetry and artwork in the library by local schoolchildren between 9am-4pm. 

Much of the poetry was inspired by a visit to Christ Church to see the places that the real Alice would have known, followed by a workshop with former Children’s Poet Laureate, Michael Rosen, at the Story Museum.

The exhibition takes its subject from the theme for Alice Day 2013: ‘Nonsense’.  

Admission is free to families and individuals carrying an Alice Day brochure (available from the Story Museum).  

For more information about Alice-related events taking place across Oxford on Saturday 6 July, please see:

www.storymuseum.org.uk/alicehttp://www.storymuseum.org.uk/alice

Independence Day

Yes, it’s the Fourth of July and one of our participants at the Oxford Experience decided to dress for the occasion.

The outfit was wonderful, but her shoes were the most amazing part: one being decorated with the stars and stripes, the other with the Union Jack.

“People asked me if I had to buy two pairs to get this effect”, she says, “but they came like that!

“The real joke is that they were made in France, and I bought them in Paris!”, she commented.

Christ Church Meadows

One of the delights of being in Christ Church is that you can walk around the Meadows before the tourists are allowed in.

On a pre-breakfast walk, I saw this heron looking for his own breakfast!

Get handy with history

From left, Lorraine Lindsay-Gale from the county council’s Culture and Community Service, Nicola Blackwood MP and Debbie Dance, director of the Oxford Preservation Trust, with artefacts at Oxford Castle. Picture: OX59922 Greg Blatchford

HISTORY enthusiasts can discover Oxford’s past with a range of activities at a free archaeological day.

There will be demonstrations, hands-on activities and mini-lectures during Archaeology Day at Oxford Castle on Sunday, July 14, from 11am, organised by the Oxford Preservation Trust and Oxford Castle Unlocked.

Visitors can also find out about archaeological projects happening in the city.

Debbie Dance, director of the Oxford Preservation Trust, said: “If you have ever been interested in what is going on under the ground you should come to the castle and see first-hand.”

Read the rest of this article...

Croquet in the Masters' Garden

Croquet in the Masters' Garden

1 July

The summer weather continues and dinner in Hall was followed by croquet and sparkling wine in the Masters' Garden