Roger Bennion's photos

Happy Fence Friday, All Croome Estate, Worcestershire (National Trust)

Happy Fence Friday, All Merton College, Oxford Also added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Shadows & Light - Joni Mitchell

Happy Fence Friday, All Merton College, Oxford

Happy Fence Friday, All Another Oxford photo.....now there's a surprise :-))) This time it is the Oxford Canal :-) I should really know which lock this is :-) After some investigation and realising it is Bridge No. 243 in the background I feel 99.9% certain that this is Isis Lock :-) Not this part of the canal, but I am pretty familiar with the bottom of the Oxford Canal quite bit further North !!! :-)) We had many narrowboat holidays with quite a few on the Oxford Canal. On one occasion, we ran aground. I thought I could free us by using the pole you get with the boat to push us back to the middle of the canal !! Well, the pole went one way, and I went the other straight into the canal between the boat and the bank !!! :-))) Helen panicked, thought I was going to drown, and disappeared into the inside of the boat :-) Fortunately, I was pretty much able to sit up in the water with my head above the surface :-)) I was very wet and smelly :-))) And, I am still here to tell the story :-))) From Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Canal "The Oxford Canal is a 78-mile (126 km) narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thames at Oxford, and links with the Grand Union Canal, which it is combined with for 5 miles (8 km) between to the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill.The canal is usually divided into the North Oxford Canal (north of Napton, via Rugby to Hawkesbury Junction near Coventry) and the South Oxford Canal, south of Napton to Banbury and Oxford. The canal was for about 15 years the main canal artery of trade between the Midlands and London, via its connection to the Thames, until the Grand Union Canal (then called the Grand Junction Canal) took most of the London-bound traffic following its opening in 1805. The North Oxford Canal (which had been straightened in the 1830s) remained an important artery of trade carrying coal and other commodities until the 1960s; the more rural South Oxford Canal however became something of a backwater, especially following the opening of the Grand Junction Canal, and it faced closure proposals in the 1950s. Since the end of regular commercial goods carriage on the canal in the 1960s, it has gained a new use as a leisure resource, and become used primarily for narrowboat pleasure boating.The Oxford Canal traverses Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and east Warwickshire through broad, shallow valleys and lightly rolling hills; the canal's route northeast and then northwest forms part of the Warwickshire ring."

Happy Fence Friday, All. Clarendon Building, Oxford University. From Wikipedia - "The Clarendon Building is an early 18th-century neoclassical building of the University of Oxford. It is in Broad Street, Oxford, England, next to the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre and near the centre of the city. It was built between 1711 and 1715 and is now a Grade I listed building. Until the early 18th century, the printing presses of the Oxford University Press (OUP) were in the basement of the Sheldonian Theatre. This meant that the compositors could not work when the Theatre was in use for ceremonies. Therefore, the University commissioned a new building to house the OUP. Nicholas Hawksmoor produced a neoclassical design, construction started in 1711 and it was completed in 1715. The builder and sculptor was William Townesend of Oxford. The building was funded largely from the proceeds of the commercially successful History of the Great Rebellion by the 1st Earl of Clarendon, whose legacy later paid for the building of the Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford as well. In the 1820s, the OUP moved to new premises in Walton Street, after which the University used the Clarendon Building for administrative purposes. In 1975, the building was transferred to the Bodleian Library, for which it now provides office and meeting space for senior members of staff."

Happy Fence Friday, All Part of Merton College, Oxford. From Wikipedia - "Merton College's foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to support it. An important feature of de Merton's foundation was that this "college" was to be self-governing and the endowments were directly vested in the Warden and Fellows."

Happy Fence Friday, All. I have walked past this building many, many, many times! There are plaques on the wall and I have always meant to check out the name of this building. Even when taking this shot I still did NOT check out the name :-)) But, after some subsequent investigation, I am now sure this is part of the Clarendon Laboratory. This Laboratory, located on Parks Road within the Science Area in Oxford, England is part of the Department of Physics at Oxford University. It houses the atomic and laser physics, condensed matter physics, and biophysics groups within the Department. The Laboratory consists of two adjoining buildings, the Lindemann Building (named after Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell) and the Grade II listed Townsend Building (named after Sir John Sealy Townsend). So, this building is the Townsend Building :-)

Happy Fence Friday, All Was, initially, a bit worried there wasn't actually a fence here.....But some of the fence you can see above the bush. And, the fence looks much bigger behind the bush :-) Radcliffe Observatory From Wikipedia - "Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the building forms part of Green Templeton College of the University of Oxford. The observatory was founded and named after the physician John Radcliffe (1650–1714) by the Radcliffe Trustees. It was built on the suggestion of the astronomer Thomas Hornsby, who was occupying the Savilian Chair of Astronomy, following his observation of the notable transit of Venus across the sun's disc in 1769 from a room in the nearby Radcliffe Infirmary".

From Wikipedia - "Canons Ashby House (previously known as Canons Ashby Hall) is a Grade I listed Elizabethan Manor House located in the village of Canons Ashby in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981 when the house was close to collapse and the gardens had turned into a meadow. The house was the home of the Dryden family since its construction in the 16th century; the manor house was built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, in the 1630s and 1710." Previously, it was quite easy to find. That is until I visited on 4 October 2024 when I almost gave up after being sent on numerous ridiculous diversions due to the HS2 (High Speed 2) railway construction works. "Chaos" is the understatement!!!

Happy Fence Friday, All Croome Estate, Worcesteshire.

Happy Fence Friday, All Sheldonian Theatre In Oxford. I am also going to add this to 'Sight and Sound'. The theatre is used for music concerts, lectures and University ceremonies. "Send In the Clowns" was a song written for the musical "A Little Night Music". So I have chosen the version by Judy Collins as an obscure musical link :) Added to Sight and Sound: Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Send in the Clowns by Judy Collins

Happy Fence Friday, All. Milford-on-Sea....again :-)) And, for 'Sight and Sound' have chosen "Feel So Near" written by Dougie MacLean because it includes the line "Feel so near to the Crashing of the Waves". One of my favourite songs written by Dougie. But, then again most of Dougie's songs are my favourite :-) Performed here by Dougie and Kathy Mattea (Kathy is another favourite :-) Added to Sight and Sound: Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Feel So Near by Dougie MacLean & Kathy Mattea

Happy Fence Friday, All Back to the Beach Huts in Milford-on-Sea :-)

Happy Fence Friday, All Radcliffe Camera, Oxford University. From Wikipedia - "The Radcliffe Camera (colloquially known as the "Rad Cam" or "The Camera"; from Latin camera, meaning 'room') is a building of the University of Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in a Baroque style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radcliffe Science Library." The Radclffe Camera also serves as a reading room for the Bodleian Library. I figure the lady is on the way to use the reading room so I have also added this to 'Sight and Sound' and chosen "Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot :-) Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot

Happy Fence Friday, All A small part of the Hurst Castle Wall, Milford-on-Sea. Hurst Castle is an artillery fort established by Henry VIII on the Hurst Spit in Hampshire, England between 1541 and 1544. Also added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Castle Walls - Styx

Happy Fence Friday, All Beach Huts @ Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire Also added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Lana Del Rey - High By The Beach

I think the Christmas attractions in Oxford on 3 January were drawing to a close because there were not very many people at all taking advantage of the amusements provided :-) But, a good opportunity to take some photos methinks :-) A bit on an obscure link :-) But, also added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ Last Christmas - Wham

Happy Fence Friday, All. Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire. Also added to Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Listen here ~ On The Beach - Chris Rea