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Did
you know that..
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| Harry
Potter |
Oxford is famous for its film locations, featuring in movies such
as Harry Potter
and Shadowlands.
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh was set in Oxford. Jeremy Irons
and Anthony Andrews starred in the hugely popular television adaptation.
Inspector Morse created by crime writer Colin Dexter was filmed
in and around Oxford.
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| Part
of Christ Chuch |
Oxford University is the oldest English speaking university in the
world, dating back to 1249. It boasts 39 colleges including Christchurch.
Christ Church is Oxford's largest college, and has a starring role
in the Harry Potter films.
Former President Bill Clinton went to University in Oxford as did
his daughter Chelsea.
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| Thom
Yorke from Radiohead |
Rock bands Supergrass and Radiohead
come from Oxford.
Oxford boasts Europe's oldest performance music rooms 聳 the
Holywell Music Room built in 1748.
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| Rowing
Blade |
Sir Roger Bannister
broke the sub four minute mile barrier at Oxford's Iffley Road sports
ground in 1954.
Oxford is renowned world-wide for its rowing team. Oxford's crew
have won the Oxford
.v. Cambridge Boat Race 70 times compared with its rival
who has won on 77 occasions. The Oxford boat sunk in 1925.
Three time Olympic gold medal winner Matthew Pinsent rowed for Oxford
in 1990, 1991 and 1993.
Henley in Oxfordshire is home to the annual rowing Regatta, first
held in 1839.
Oxfordshire is home to the Bennetton Formula One racing team and
many Formula One cars are built in the county.
Bicester Hash House Harriers are the oldest weekly hash in the UK.
Hashing involves running around the countryside looking for blobs
of flour. At the end, miscreants are required to down a pint of
beer. It's surprising it's not more popular.
Punting is actually a sport - racing punts are only about 15 inches
wide and are poled by two people, one at either end. The important
thing is to remember which one is in front, or the punt goes round
in circles.
Only in Oxfordshire are you likely to see anyone playing Aunt Sally...
a pub game that involves throwing sticks at a blob of wood. A lot
of people take this very seriously.
The world cockhorse-racing
championships are held every summer as part of Town Mayor's Sunday
in Banbury. Each horse is ridden by a team of four adults, with
a casualty rate similar to the Grand National.
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| The
Mini |
The new Mini is produced at the BMW car plant in Cowley, Oxford.
Oxford graduate Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the Internet.
Oxfam, the Oxford Committee for Famine, was founded in Oxford in
1942.
Most of the traditional hanky-waving morris dances now performed
around the English-speaking world were "collected" in
Oxfordshire. Each dance was unique to a town or village.
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