Length: 16.3 km (10.1 mi) [longer walk possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent:
a few steps up from street level to the station and several arched footbridges
Net
Walking Time: ca. 4 hours
Toughness:
1 out of 10
Take
the 10.05 Oxford train from
Marylebone, arrives Oxford 11.09.
Return
trains:
15.09, 15.43, 16.11, 16.42, 17.11, 17.41, 18.07… (from 65 minutes journey time).
This
is an undemanding but enjoyable short Country Walk, ending in an exploration of
this historic university city, with its University’s Colleges and the Norman
Castle compound.
The
walk starts along the Isis River to Binsey, a favourite walk for the poet
Gerard Manley Hopkins. With Port Meadow on the other side of the river, you
walk to the ruins of Godstow Abbey, before coming to the Trout Inn at
Wolvercote (a lunch option) then take in a bit of Wolvercote Common before
coming to the Plough Inn (a second option for lunch).
After
lunch the walk heads south along the Oxford Canal, past some houseboats, then
across town and via a footbridge by Wolfson College to go along the River
Cherwell through its Nature Reserve, where buttercups are abundant in May.
Going through the University Parks, you come to the Pitt Rivers Museum. From
here you start your walking tour of Oxford’s historic colleges and famous
buildings, winding in and out of lanes and small streets as the walk fits in
many of the colleges as well as the Norman Castle Compound with the Castle
Mound and the former Victorian Prison (now a hotel), before you stop for tea
and finally head for the railway station.
Three
separate Short Extensions to the route are possible:
--- an out-and-back in the morning to Binsey Village with its lovely church and well adds 2.0 km (1.3 mi);
--- a loop around lunch through the Wolvercote Lakes, a Nature Reserve owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust, adds 0.5 km (0.3 mi);
--- a loop after lunch through the Trap Grounds, a local Wildlife Site, adds 0.6 km (0.4 mi).
--- an out-and-back in the morning to Binsey Village with its lovely church and well adds 2.0 km (1.3 mi);
--- a loop around lunch through the Wolvercote Lakes, a Nature Reserve owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust, adds 0.5 km (0.3 mi);
--- a loop after lunch through the Trap Grounds, a local Wildlife Site, adds 0.6 km (0.4 mi).
If
you are fast enough, you can visit Modern Art Oxford,
a renowned art gallery open to 16.00 hours today, for their Kaleidoscope exhibition, celebrating their first 50 years.
There
are four good pubs en route, before you get to Oxford, the two best
positioned ones for lunch are some twenty minutes apart. The first of those is The Trout Inn
in Wolvercote (4.4 km/2.8 mi). This
pub enjoys a lovely setting beside the River. On the other side of Wolvercote
Common is The Plough
Pub & Restaurant in Wolvercote
Green (6.2 km/3.9 mi). This pub is more homely than the Trout Inn and less
touristy. For tea, you
are spoilt for choice for cafes, restaurants and pubs in the city centre. For
details consult the Walk Directions.
5 comments:
Expect very long queues at the Marylebone ticket office over the holiday period (there were on Thursday) so leave plenty of time before your stated departure. Your Oxford train will also be bombed out by Far-Eastern visitors heading for Bicester Village - so be close to the barriers when the train is announced: it's along way to stand before you reach Bicester.
On arrival at Oxford station you may find the start of the Thames path at the beginning of your walk closed, with its diversion poorly marked. So I suggest the following: coming out of the station, turn left. At the end of the concourse keep ahead on a green coloured cycle path, which soon swings to the right. Now pick up signs to the Thames Canal, and follow them through a residential area until you come to the canal. Here turn left and head down to go under the railway (restricted headroom) and keep ahead for the short distance until you reach the Thames path, with a footbridge on your left. Turn right onto the path - and continue with the Book's directions.
For lunch on Thursday, the Plough at Wolvercote Green looked after my family very well.
From Ealing: 09.18 direct, arr. 11.06 or 09.33 via P'ton and Reading
The Tames Path diversion is a bit more straightforward from memory, having walk-checked my writeup a few weeks ago, it's only 100m or so that are affected due to some housebuilding. Take the residential road to the right just b4 the Thames and turn left in 100m or so to join the Thames Path. Just follow me...
Just n=4 walkers on this today, in w=gloomy-but-dry weather, who did the extension to St. Margaret's church and well, had an ultra-fast lunch at The Plough, and then split in Oxford, with 3 going to Modern Art Oxford, 1 following the route straight to the train. The 3 then also climbed the Castle Mound (well worth the £1 fee). 16.30 train.
...oh, and the outbound train was only half full, despite Bicester Village being open all day...
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