Wheaton Aston and Oxford April 2024

With our April trip to Oxford fast approaching we moved the motorhome to the side of our house and set about recharging the battery and filling up with water, bearing in mind that this was our first trip this year, since the winterisation late last year. My failing memory caused us problems as I couldn’t remember in detail the procedures I had adopted to prevent damage from the cold weather. I filled the fresh water tank for our trip, and couldn’t understand that when I switched the water on why a torrent was spurting out from below the motorhome. After researching the internet I discovered that I had opened a valve over the winter, and needed to close this to retain the water pressure for the water and heating systems. The valve was closed and our fears of yet another expensive leak were allayed.

We had stayed at the Hartley Arms in Wheaton Aston before, and decided again to use the stopover to break our journey to Oxford, so shortly after lunchtime on Wednesday 10th April we set off for the Midlands. By late afternoon we had arrived and I had taken Finn for a walk, for his ablutions, whilst Sue had finalised parking up and had entered the pub looking for us. I was late arriving at the pub as I had been on a quest to find a bin to dispose of the bag in my hand.

We introduced ourselves and notified them that we had a meal booked for later that evening. Generously, they offered to let us eat earlier, as soon as the kitchen opened, which was just minutes away. We were served our drinks, given menus and shown to our table, where we sat whilst choosing our evening meal. When the food arrived it was delicious, the Hartley Arms has improved year on year since we discovered it. When we had finished we took our leave and headed back to the motorhome to catch an episode of a serial we had been watching for some time. We then settled down to bed in order to make an early start to Oxford the next day. The day had been unsettled, and we hoped for better weather the next day.

The following morning the weather was fine whilst I prepared the motorhome for the trip to Oxford. In order to save some time we decided to forego any food or drinks, with the idea in mind to find somewhere before the motorway to have a brief breakfast.

Soon after joining the main road back to the motorway we came across a Dobbies garden centre, that was dog friendly, and has a restaurant serving breakfast and hot drinks. After the obligatory bacon buttie we were eager to get on our way, not before an Alsatian, badly controlled by its owner, took a dislike to Finn in the car park. Its owner did not realise the danger she was putting everyone in, and should not have been allowed to take such a large un-muzzled dog out.

Once back on the road I had a disagreement with the SatNav, which had decided that there was an alternative route to Oxford that morning. Sue initially agreed with the SatNav, and a frantic discussion took place on the very busy roads. I had, in advance, decided that the most straightforward route was M6/M5/M42/M40. After a lot of discussion we decided to follow the SatNav’s route, which omitted the M5 section, but instead routed us along the M6 Toll at the cost of £15.30!

Bar the above, the rest of the journey was uneventful, and we arrived at the site mid afternoon. By 4.00pm I had identified, and booked a dog friendly taxi firm to pick us up that evening from the site, by 6.00pm, to take us to our dinner booking at 6.30pm at the Trout in Wolvercote. By that time we had also hooked up to the electrics and tuned in the TV. Sue was reticent when the owner led us from reception to our grass pitch. The months of wet weather meant that the surface was very soft, and she had visions of being mud bound and getting embarrassingly stuck on the site. The owner had obviously checked the conditions beforehand, and guided us to the pitch, yelling to Sue ‘not to stop!’. It was unsettling as he left that he mentioned that he had a tractor that could help out when we left.

We briefly inspected the site with what little we had left of the afternoon.

The fun started at 6.00pm, as we were walking to the gate to meet the pre-booked taxi. My phone rang, and the taxi driver was explaining to me, that due to busy traffic he was going to be twenty minutes late.I didn’t hide my disappointment in my reply to him, explaining that I had pre-booked to ensure we would make our meal on time. He rang back shortly to explain that his delay was to be increased by another 15 minutes. To be fair, the major road works in Oxford, coupled with the newly introduced Zero Emission Zone was causing havoc to the Oxford traffic, but he could have built that delay into his timings.

Sue called the Trout to explain our predicament, and they agreed to rearrange our booking for 7.00pm.

The taxi soon arrived, and we were speeding our way around Oxford’s ring roads to Wolvercote, with Sue and Finn in the rear seat, and myself in the front with the apologetic driver. He tried to explain as best he could that he had done as much as he could to minimise our delay.

We arrived at the Trout, our drinks order taken, and we were sat at our table in seconds. The pub was very large and busy with diners, it being a popular venue for early evening meals. The weather allowed diners to sit on the riverside terrace, although as the night progressed their numbers lessened. Our table was inside, overlooking the terrace.

The food was excellent, and I would highly recommend this pub to others. The service was also very good. Soon after we had finished we paid the bill and left the pub, this again is when the fun started. We made our way to the car park, and rang the taxi for our return journey, the previous driver had said that we would only have to wait for 15 minutes.

We had to wait, at least half an hour, for what turned out to be the most bizarre taxi journey we had enjoyed! The lady driver insisted that with me being male that I sat in the back with Finn, whilst Sue was allowed up front. Then began the quest of finding the address of the campsite on mobile phones, with the taxi driver being unable to find it. Sue was able to clearly show it on her screen whilst the taxi driver was unable to access it. She was keen to have a SatNav to show her how to find the destination. Finally she agreed that she would use Sue’s SatNav to return us back to the site. This whole episode took about twenty minutes, with us still being in the pub car park.

As I had looked at the map upon booking, and the taxi driver who dropped us off had commented that the best way back was a right turn out of the car park, I relayed that to the taxi driver, who then assumed that I knew the route. All the way back, through the narrow twisting back roads she kept asking for my reassurance we were going the right way!

Finally we were entering the gate of the site with the taxi driver expressing that she had never been aware of the place, and how nice it was. Obviously, they do not have a version of the ‘Knowledge’ for Oxford taxi drivers, which is quite ironic!

I departed the taxi with Finn, whilst Sue chatted on to the taxi driver, and paid the fare. Soon afterwards we were back in the motorhome, and settling down for the night.

The next morning broke fine for our planned day out in Oxford, and we lazily rose knowing that our return was not going to be until the evening. I had originally booked a second nights meal in the Trout, but given our transport problems the previous evening we decided to eat late somewhere in Oxford. I then cancelled our table at the Trout for that evening.

We had been informed that there were two buses an hour to Oxford, so we set off knowing that if we missed one it wasn’t the end of the world. As we exited the motorhome a bus passed the sites gate, so knowing we had some time we set off to explore where the bus stop, within 100 yards of the site’s gate, per the site’s owner, was. When we got to the gate we saw the bus stop in the distance, the owners 100 yards being very much an understatement!

We crossed the very busy road, and walked along the verge, a footpath not being available. It was tough going given the saturated ground. We eventually reached the bus stop at the Oaken Holt Care Home. On the way there we passed a sign stating it was 200 metres to the campsite, further compounding the owners error in his estimation of the distance. Luckily we met a lady at the bus stop who advised us, due to the road works ongoing in Oxford that our bus would only go to Osney Island, and we could walk into town from there. Without this advice we would have been lost. At Osney Island all the buses were turning around as this was as far into Oxford that they could go.

Once we got off the bus at Osney Island I checked with the driver where and when we could get a return bus. With this information to hand I was very relaxed that there wouldn’t be a panic later in the day.

We then noticed a sign stating a pedestrian route to Jericho, an area we wanted to go to visit a famed pub called the Old Bookbinders. The pub had been a destination on the Hairy Bikers series ‘Pubs that helped build Britain’, and we were keen to visit it. We followed the route, and after asking a number of people, were given specific directions as to how to get there. It involved walking down a number of tiny streets by the canal, and once at the canal crossing the first bridge over the canal, and turning right thereafter.

When we arrived at the first bridge Sue was unsure as to whether we should cross it as it appeared to be solely for a housing development, and there was another more substantial bridge in the distance. She succeeded in talking me out of crossing this ‘first bridge’ so we carried on along the canal to the next bridge. We crossed this bridge and discovered that we were no longer in Jericho, so again resorted to asking directions. Ultimately we found a drinker who gave us some directions and a good review of the pub. Unfortunately his directions were not too accurate! After walking around a number of the streets near to the canal, knowing that we were in the right area, we stumbled across it, mainly due to the hen party revellers outside making a lot of noise.

On the way there we stumbled across a small shop and called in to buy some essentials. When I entered, the Indian man, I suspect the owner, was on a phone call, in his home tongue. I explored the shop and found what I wanted, and returned to the checkout to pay, and left the shop. All the time the phone call continued, and my contact with the owner had been by gesture only!

Once inside the pub, we were disappointed to find that a famous English pub had been converted into a French bistro. However, given the effort that had been put in getting there we decided to stay for a much needed cider to cool down after our walk in the sun. I also decided that a snack was needed so I ordered an onion soup and some garlic French fries, whilst Sue opted for a smoked salmon crepe.

Fully replete and cooled down we decided that it was time to take in a bit of Oxford’s culture. We then headed for St John’s College, which we soon found, and as dogs are not allowed within the grounds we took it in turns to explore the cloisters.

I sat on a low wall outside the entrance whilst Finn enjoyed himself scaring the pigeons, occasionally pulling my arm out of joint when one of them got too near and called for a lunge from Finn to warn them off. Sue went in to take some pictures on her phone. We swapped when it was my turn to take in the wonders of the building and the grounds.

We then decided to take in the Ashmolian Museum, the Bodleian Library and the Bridge of Sighs, but on the way got waylaid by the White Horse, which was another pub to be ticked off our list. In there I was pleasantly surprised to see Spam fritters and fries on the menu, but I resisted, as I had already eaten a fair amount of fries already, and Sue is no fan of Spam. We enjoyed a cider or two in there whilst ‘people watching’ the crowds going past. As usual Finn became the topic of conversation with our fellow drinkers, he is very much an ice-breaker.

As the day was getting on we decided to restart our culture trip, and headed out into the crowds. We explored the architecture rather than enter the buildings as Finn would not have been welcomed.

We were disappointed, however, at the Bridge of Sighs, where the blue plastic railings surrounding some construction works spoilt every opportunity of a good picture being taken. For many this was the photo opportunity they were after.

We took in the view for a while and then decided to start on our way back to the site, but first to stop and take in a meal somewhere on the way.

The streets were very busy with visitors, and in the centre, with vehicles in the pedestrian zone. We had to stop to check our bearings, involving the SatNav and a discussion. I didn’t know whether to turn left or carry on straight ahead. We carried on straight ahead, all the time looking for a suitable place to eat. After a while we came across the Grapes, with a sign outside offering a tapas menu. We enter and order drinks before obtaining the menu of the tapas on offer……there wasn’t any! With experience of living in Spain for a long time I know what dishes to expect on a tapas menu, the Grapes did not have any! With little will to leave and find another establishment we decided to eat what was on offer. We ordered spicy chicken wings with ‘dirty’ fries with a spicy sauce and ice cream……Sue ordered vanilla and received strawberry! Unhappy with the food supplied we sat and listened to the vinyl records being played. The young man behind the bar had no idea that the Top of the Pops vinyls from the seventies and eighties that he was playing included cover versions of the original hits played by less than average bands. It was laughable to hear the bad quality of the music!

The Grapes is situated across the road from a theatre, and a show had just finished and the pub was soon crowded with the audience, and the noise levels were rising. We decided to take our leave and go catch the bus back to the site.

As we neared Osney Island the crowds got thicker with the tunnels under the construction work becoming cramped with travellers. We were soon at the bus stop where we came across a group of young Spanish girls enjoying a break in Oxford. We put them at ease that they were in the correct queue.

We did not have to wait for long, and the bus filled up very quickly once it stopped. A couple of last minute travellers luckily being allowed on board as the bus departed.

We were soon back at the site, and as we walked past the foodstalls on the way back to the motorhome, I still felt cheated that I had not been provided with the last night's feast that I had envisaged, so I decided to look at what was on offer from the Farmbox Burgers and Shakes. Sue did not want anything, so I approached the van myself, and ordered a burger and fries (to complete my day of unhealthy eating!). The food was very good and was soon wolfed down, on a table outside of the motorhome, as the evening was fine, as was the wine. Thereafter we settled down to our last night on the site.

Our last morning broke fine again, and we set to with all the jobs necessary before our return journey. Sue was worried that the motorhome may have settled in the mud, and by the high rut in the centre of the track taking us to the exit. The worry was unnecessary, as once the motorhome was disconnected Sue performed a U-turn on the site and deftly drove on to the hard track out of the site.

The trip to Oxford was over, and very good it had been.