Nic and Sue’s Euro River Cruise and l bits on the side. Autumn 2026. Day 15 – Plan C. Windermere to Oxford.

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We had a pretty boring day on the road today.
I did get up early and walk up to Orrest Head lookout, a couple of miles from the BnB. Hoped to catch some wildlife. It was a lovely morning walk, there were some birdcalls high up in the trees, and the path was walled on both sides by stone wall fences, mossy and green.

There was a wildlife sculpture walk and I thought this was the only squirrel I might see!

I was stopped taking a pic of the ‘kissing gate’ into a farmers field when a jogger stopped and let me know that the pathway along the fence was the quick option and he was on the long option. I went left, there were a few steep bits and big steps. I got to the top and he had just arrived. I figured out the earlier signs ‘miles without stiles’ were accessible paths, the public footpath was all bets off (steeper, slippery and steps).
I did manage to see a squirrel who too quickly disappeared before I could capture a pic.
Then I found a more compliant subject. Sorry about the squirrel spam! Sorry it’s not a Red Squirrel (quite rarely seen according to a doctor Sue had breaky with this am) but I figured a red head was good enough (Janine!).

The end was definitely worth the climb. The 360 views over Windermere, Lake Windermere and the surrounding mountains and farms were spectacular.

I decided to take a combination of accessible and not paths down. I had been gone longer than I expected and might miss breaky. I texted Sue and then hit my strides only to be stopped in my tracks by yet another squirrel- hiding over a fence and behind the hedge. Sorry more cute squirrel shots. I carried my large lens all this way and today it paid off.

I then bolted for home, and made it with 30 minutes to spare for breakfast.

Travelling mostly on the M6 today, I certainly missed the challenge and interest of the smaller roads and lanes and the scenery, but we needed some miles under the belt. There were SO many trucks on the road.

The plan was foiled a little by a couple of incidents on the way that slowed traffic with a short delay on the first one.

The second delay had been forecast on the overhead screens for almost our whole trip and we were crawling at about 1 mile an hour for what felt like an hour but wasn’t. I then turned off towards Stoke on Trent and into Hanley for a loo stop and a drink – we ended up using a servo to grab a drink – the staff there were very taken with our accent and curious why we were there! We chatted for a bit, got some freebies and then went in search of the loo ‘5 minutes up the street’. Ended up at The Potteries shopping centre for loo and grabbed some sandwiches for lunch. That little detour plus the delay cost us an hour.

We took the M6 toll road and traffic lightened significantly. £12 obviously a bit rich for most.

We arrived to our Pickwick’s Guest House, Oxford at 3:30, having left this am at 9:30.

A local bus into Oxford city centre, in search of Hop on, Hop Off bus.

We ditched that idea and had a wander around Oxford instead.
Firstly exploring Christ Church War Memorial Garden, Christ Church Meadow and Christ Church College and Cathedral.

Christ Church is one of Oxford University’s largest colleges and the Cathedral Church for the Diocese of Oxford. Thirteen British Prime Ministers have been educated at the college, and academics and alumni remain world-leaders in their areas of expertise today. The architecture, people and way of life at Christ Church have inspired authors and film makers, including Harry Potter Films, making many of its buildings and interiors famous around the world.
Wandering around the pebble stone streets we admired the buildings, architecture and age of things. I love the detail on so many of the buildings.

Into the High Street, we stopped for tea and a scone for Sue and a cinnamon scroll and tea for me. Finally Sue got her scone with a good dose of jam and proper thick (clotted) cream. She’s been hanging out since we arrived in the UK.

Some more sightseeing before we returned to the Merton College Chapel at 6:15 for Merton College Choir Evensong Service.

It was an incredible old Chapel and seeing the ceremony surrounding the Evensong Service and then hearing the soaring sounds of the choir and the acoustics of the chapel. Even more fortunate that tonight’s service was the combined choirs of Merton and Magdalen colleges. There are a photos taken before and after the service with a couple of videos capturing the sound only.

Afterwards we wandered High st a little more before eating The Crown Hotel before heading home by bus.
The Crown has had a succession of famous landlords. In the year of the gunpowder plot it was kept by John Davenant. During this time Shakespeare used to stop in Oxford on his journey between Stratford and London, he used The Crown was his headquarters.