Roger Bennion's photos

This space, originally owned by Merton College, was purchased by the University in the 1850s and first laid out as a Park for sports and recreational purposes in 1864. The park is open to the public almost every day of the year until dusk (the only exception being Christmas Eve) and boasts a choice of walks, a large collection of trees and plants and space for informal games and picnics. For those that enjoy sport there’s the opportunity, depending on the season, to catch a game of cricket, lacrosse, tennis, football or rugby. Harry Potter fans may even encounter a game of Quidditch in play. The River Cherwell borders the north east side of the park with a small plot of land (Mesopotamia) sitting between the upper and lower levels of the river. Norham Gardens is to the north, Parks Road to the west and with the Science Area on South Parks Road to the south. Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Water is Wide - Bruce Guthro & Heather Rankin

Happy Fence Friday, All On the left is part Hertford College. Over to the right is part of the Bridge of Sighs that links the two parts of Hertford College. This shot is similar to one I uploaded in June. There is a bigger shadow here and this allows me to use a more obscure musical link for 'Sight & Sound' methinks. And, that is "Wonderful Land" by The Shadows :-) Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Wonderful Land - The Shadows

Happy Fence Friday, All Rewley Road Swing Bridge, Oxford. There follows an extract from the Oxford Preservation Trust - www.oxfordpreservation.org.uk/content/rewley-road-railway-swing-bridge "The LMS Swing Bridge is one of only two moving bridges on the River Thames - the other being Tower Bridge in London. This ingenious mechanical structure dates from 1851 and was essential in keeping 19th-century Oxford moving. This Scheduled Monument has a big story to tell, and one that is easy to overlook at first glance. This is a tale not just of the railways coming to Oxford, but of the part Oxford played in railways across England - of Robert Stephenson and Isambard Brunel, the battle for east-west and north-south, and of the ‘Great Exhibition’ of 1851. The railwaymen could swing open the bridge with a hand crank to let the boats pass or swing closed to let the trains across. The bridge is 22 metres long and weighs 85 tons. It took two men around 5 minutes to wind it open." I think the bridge has pretty much been restored but maybe the surrounding area is to be landscaped. Anyway, it looked to me like the bridge can never be fully used again because there are a number of buildings close to the bridge that must have been built after the bridge fell into disrepair. If so, that's quite sad! I will have to research this story some more, methinks :-) Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Water Under the Bridge - Olivia Newton John

Happy Fence Friday, All Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford. Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Walk On - Roy Orbison

Happy Fence Friday, All Radcliffe Square, Oxford.

Happy Fence Friday, All Oxford - Clarendon Building in background. For 'Sight and Sound' I have chosen "Walking Away A Winner" 'cos there are quite a few folks walking here :-) Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Walking Away a Winner - Kathy Mattea

I have, many times, walked by the River Thames in Oxford. But until recently I hadn't walked along the section that runs from Osney Lock to Magdalen Bridge. When I did walk this section I came across the Old Gasworks Bridge and subsequently uploaded one of my shots to ipernity. When I thought about what I could do for World Photography Day the weather was pretty good so I decided to go to Oxford and try some more shots. I had already searched the internet for images of this bridge and seen quite a few inspirational shots. This shot was taken from the opposite direction to my previous upload. I'm sure there are lots of other possibilities here including close ups, reflections, shots of multi-coloured graffiti (not visible in this shot) and shots that would include boats. There are often narrowboats, cruisers and rowing boats going by but needless to say when I took this shot there wasn't a boat in sight :-))) The Old Gasworks Bridge is an iron bridge. It crosses the River Thames between Iffley Lock and Osney Lock. It was constructed in 1886. Apparently sections of the bridge were floated into position before assembly. I had previously looked for the actual gas works but later discovered they were demolished in 1960 !! It was really good that World Photography Day made me stop and think about subjects I could photograph and be able to upload a photo to the World Photography Day Group. I have also been inspired to try and research a bit more of the history of this bridge :-)

Happy Fence Friday, All Looking from within Merton College out to Christ Church Meadow, Oxford. Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ A Home in the Meadow - The Waterboys

This was taken at the City of Oxford Royal Regatta. Traditional, two lane, side-by-side racing downstream over 1000m and 500m courses on the River Thames in Oxford. Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Rowing Song - Patty Griffin ..................Please view Large.................

Happy Fence Friday, All The New Building, Magdalen College dates from 1733 as a part of Edward Holdsworth's designs from 1731. It is built in a Palladian style, and features a colonnade. It was intended to be a "Great Quadrangle". The building's ends were left unfinished and, sadly, Holdsworth's full vision was never completed.

The Old Gasworks Bridge is an iron bridge. It crosses the River Thames between Iffley Lock and Osney Lock. It was constructed in 1886. Apparently sections of the bridge were floated into position before assembly. I couldn't find the actual gas works but later discovered they were demolished in 1960 !! For Sight & Sound was going to use "Bridge Over Trouble Water" but then came across a version of "Love Can Build A Bridge". One of my fave songs by The Judds. It was written by Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet and John Barlow Jarvis. I had no idea it was recorded for Comic Relief by Cher, Chrissie Hynde and Neneh Cherry with Eric Clapton on guitar. Must have have been asleep when this happened :-) Added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Love Can Build A Bridge - Cher, Chrissie Hynde & Neneh Cherry

Happy Fence Friday, All. This is just around the corner from the entrance to Oriel College in Oxford.

Happy Fence Friday, All There is a fence here, honest :-) This is Nuffield College, Oxford. The College was founded in 1937. Lord Nuffield, the industrialist and founder of Morris Motors donated land for the college. He also gave £900,000.00. Lord Nuffield appointed the college's first fellows in 1939 but due to the outbreak of World War II construction did not start until 1949.

Happy Fence Friday, All

Happy Fence Friday, All

Happy Fence Friday, All. The Clarendon Building in Oxford, again. This time with a fence :-)

The Clarendon Building designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor was built between 1711 and 1715. It was built to house the Oxford University Press. In 1829 the University police took over part of it as their police station with cells in the basement. It only became known as the Clarendon Building after it was adapted by the University for use as a registry in 1832. It continued as the university registry until the present University Offices were opened in Wellington Square in 1975. The Clarendon Building was then taken over by the Bodleian Library.

Happy Fence Friday, All Radcliffe Camera, Oxford