 Hello, thank you for joining me. I'm at Oxford today. I've just arrived on 168 003 I've never been on the bit track between Oxford Parkway and Oxford before so I'm pleased to finally take that bit track off It's also a new entrance and exit here, which I didn't know was here until today So we've arrived here in Oxford in today's video. We're going to literally do a bit of everything So we're gonna do a bit of old railway. We're gonna do a bit of walking along the river We're gonna do a bit of canals. We're gonna do some history. We're gonna go and look for a ruined abbey So it's really going to be quite a varied Interesting bit of everything video today. So this is the current Oxford station. It's been rebuilt many times over its life It's not the original one. The very first station in Oxford was opened in 1844, which would have been somewhere south down there What I'm most interested in is what was here This is where Ruley Road station once was. Now the station was the London and Northwestern Railways Terminus on their line from Bletchley. So it was a terminal station. It was a listed building It eventually became a car garage. Now as you can see it's no longer there, but it wasn't demolished It was taken down bit by bit and rebuilt at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Which we have been to many times in the past and will go to again in the future So although Oxford Ruley Road station isn't here in Oxford anymore, it still survives not so far away So most of what was at the London Northwestern Railway is still open. The railway would have gone up there So yes, they've built houses on that section But the section through Oxford Parkway to Bista that is that original track bed And then from Bista through Clayton to Bletchley is in the process of being reopened So when it reopens we're gonna go and walk along that section of track But what I'm gonna do now I'm gonna head off down there into the housing estate because there's a really quite exciting Relic left over from that original railway. So let's go and let's go and have a look for it So we're just walking up. What would have been the track bed from Ruley Road The main line Here's just along there and here you can see the track bed ahead of us. Down there is the Sheepwash Channel Now can't see it so well from here, but we're gonna walk round. There's a very unusual bridge So the engineer Thomas Brassie, he didn't have enough spoil to put the track a higher level on an embankment So what he did in order to get across the Sheepwash Channel, he built This rather unusual swing bridge. So the swing bridge as you can see is still here Although the track bed either side has been built on so that bridge would have swung around Trains could have gone over the Sheepwash Channel. So the Sheepwash Channel is not a long bit of waterway It runs from the River Thames over there, which we're going to go and see and Just behind that van up there is the Oxford Canal So I think that's a really fascinating relic of you know of former railway times I remember as a child there wasn't a fence around it And I remember going in there once and I found the handle and I was turning the handle hoping I might actually Swing the bridge, but I realized it had been disconnected. So just look at it. There's a train as well Cross Country Voyager And if anyone on the train looked out for it was an interesting swing bridge there So you can see the base of the swing bridge down there So it's a bit like a railway turntable, but obviously on a different doesn't turn right round. It just turns you know So the trains could have crossed the canal So when we get to here you can see an overgrown pier of the bridge. That's it. Look see that handle there I was trying to turn that as a child once and I thought I might make the whole bridge swing But I you know realized afterwards it had been disconnected. You can see the other pier of the bridge just there So what I'm going to do now I'm going to follow rounds this footpath here get another view of the swing bridge So now we're down at track level So you can see the other railway how much close it was it was high enough to Bridge to track a sufficient height for boats to pass under so now we're gonna do we're gonna go under the railways It's still quite low. I'm actually having to duck down to go under here So just following the sheep horse channel on the railway which is slightly high this final one so we're coming up to Here And that bridge you can see in a distance that is the bridge Where the River Thames Connects with the Sheepwash channel And this little river here this is known as the Fiddler stream So this flows into the Sheepwash channel, and then there we have the River Thames Just over there. So what I'm going to do in today's video. We're going to walk up the River Thames It's up towards Godstow nunnery. We will see more of the Fiddlers stream later on We're just really going to explore the other side of Oxford So we're not going to go into the city centre where you know all the tourists go I'm going to show you what else there is to see the more rural side of Oxford So here's River Thames looking quite a lot smaller than what most people are perhaps used to seeing of the Thames Because we are that much further upstream and then there's the Railway Ridges commander So we're gonna go up the Thames now and up towards Godstow nunnery It's a pleasure to walk along the River Thames Walking north from Oxford As I said back there it does seem stranger just seeing the Thames You know everyone thinks that it's really big river You know where it goes through London And Buckinghamshire, Berkshire but up here You know it's this nice smaller river I mean all of the Thames is nice but It's just we're just not used to seeing it You know at it's smaller stages It's probably the furthest north I've been along the Thames One day I'll have to, well I know I'll keep saying it I'll do the Thames path so then we'll see Right from Source to Estuary But I'll have to try and explore some of the other towns Further north up the Thames Now back there where we were at the Sheepwash Channel I showed you the Fiddler's stream Well this is where the Fiddler's stream comes off the river Thames And then it becomes the small stream down there So we're gonna go over this concrete bridge here And the area ahead of us is known as Fiddler's Island We're gonna be on an island in the middle of the Thames For not for long, for a couple of minutes And then the Thames path goes on to the other side of the river So we will then keep following up on up north So I'm not gonna go over, this bridge would take us back to the other side And you could walk back to Oxford If you wanted to do this as a shorter walk to what I'm doing You could come along the Thames You could go over this bridge and back down there Back to Oxford, see we are officially on the Thames path So I'm not doing that today I have a different route back to Oxford planned I'm gonna take you across Fiddler's Island There's a bridge up here known as the Medley Bridge And it's just coming in to view up here It's quite an exciting looking bridge So we're just walking on the other side of Fiddler's Island You've got Marina The railway line is over there Marina isn't gonna pick it out But you can just see a load of containers moving along So it's obviously a container train heading north That's a nice boat, that one there So we're coming up towards the Medley Bridge Which is, they say it's like the rainbow shaped bridge It's a lattice bridge but, well rainbow shaped I suppose So we're following Fiddler's Island I see one of the churches over there in Oxford That's why I said you couldn't now So these bushes are just over there There's a church by over in Oxford City Centre And so the Oxford Canal and the railway in the Thames They all head north along this, what I suppose It's a flood plain, I expect it probably does flood along here I'm gonna let you see the Medley So once we get onto the other side, Thames path is in On this side over we're gonna keep following it So we get to Godstone Abbey We'll talk more about that when we get there So we've now reached the end of Fiddler's Island Can't go a lot further Now let's go over the Medley Bridge And there you get a view over the flood plains North of Oxford So we're gonna keep going right to where those houses are Right the way up there That's the plan on today's video Just coming over here So there's the Medley Bridge behind us I know it's a bit in the trees I'm gonna now keep following the Thames path Up here for another mile or so So we just walked past Godstow Lock This section of the Thames here This is a man-made cup built in 1780 The original Thames flows off over there It's now known as the Wolfcote Stream We're gonna have a look at that a bit later The lock back there is called Godstow Lock Which is named after Godstow Abbey Or Godstow Nunnery which is the remains of it And just here So this is a Benedictine Nunnery It was founded by Eddiver of Winchester In around 1115 There's not a lot of it left other than this chapel here They've rebuilt the external walls I believe the main church would have been just over there somewhere And there have been the cloisters in here What we'll do We're gonna go inside what we can see of it This small chapel and have a look If you look over there across the field That's Godstow Lock You can just see the Lock Keepers Cottage So let's go and have a look in the chapel And then after that we'll go and find What I believe is the original course of the Thames The Wolfcote Stream We're going to go into the village of Wolfcote We're gonna go and find the site of it It's a very short lived railway station And then we'll finish up on the Oxford Canal But more of that when we get there So come round here There's a gateway into the monastery here So I'm not sure what this is original Or what this has been gradually rebuilt So we come into this big space here You can see it's really just a big empty space I believe the cloisters would have been In the middle somewhere So there'd have been a tower over there The church would have been over there And then this is the chapel I think the chapter house might have been Somewhere along there I'm just not trying to visualise the whole place As a ruined abbey So I may have decided to come here When it was still an abbey before the dissolution I think it was in about 1539 I think it was dissolved I'll probably walk along the edge of a cloister now Let's go and have a look This is the tallest abbey The masonry of the abbey I've always enjoyed something Well Start with the negative Not very nice seeing all this rubbish I really wish people wouldn't Why leave rubbish in a historic site like this I think that's a real shame Those sort of people shouldn't be allowed To come into the countryside But if we pretend the rubbish isn't there Let's just have a look at the architecture So you can see looking down to the window Up there And interestingly Where we came in that must have been There must have also been another floor up there Because you can see where the wooden Joyce would have been In the wall Why people have to leave rubbish here You know You can see clearly A door up there I'll let you see that view With no rubbish off the chapel So now We'll come out here I'm going to go across there I'm going to go and find the original course Of the Temps So we're now just leaving Godstow Nunnery behind us We're going to come out and cross the Temps Now I've just realised back there What I said about The new cut and the original cut I said that the old river Might be now the Wolfcoat stream I've realised I don't think I'm correct there This is the new cut here No mistaking that When you're looking up there There's another bridge here I think that's the original cut And when they put the lock in They built this cut across here The lock is just around the corner And Godstow Nunnery's Abbey Is over there So we're now coming onto this island There's some rather nice Abandoned looking gates there Just try to keep out But if we come along here Now on the island there's a pub Just here So Here we are, the pub It's called The Trout So I think this is the original course Of the River Temps here To me that would make more sense But if anyone wants to comment and confirm Please do And then on this side you can't see a lot But you can see the two rivers Through the trees do join up again I'd love to walk over that bridge So here We are now back onto This side of the Thames I'm going to walk through the village Of Wolfcote And we're going to go and look for the old station And canal So I'm going to carry on walking up this way For a little bit I'm now just a little bit further along Godstow Road Now I said about the Wolfcote Mill Stream earlier So we're just coming up here Over the Wolfcote Mill Stream So it flows into the River Thames Just up there So where I walked was right away Down there So this is the Wolfcote Mill Stream Nice little garden Down there I'm going to continue on down here Towards Wolfcote Station So I'm going to walk through Wolfcote village And soon we'll be at the site Of the very short lived railway station Let's finish with another view Over the river Here we are at Wolfcote Common We've walked through Wolfcote village That's Wolfcote Common all the way over there The River Thames flows right along there And here's the railway line So that's obviously looking towards Oxford City Centre So this is the main line, there's two good swoops Whether the camera's picking it out There is a container train sitting up there It's heading in that direction If it was heading this way I might have waited to see it come along Now if we look over that side Of the road bridge, just down there That's where Wolfcote platform Would have been Now the GWR had a habit Of calling certain Station's platforms So they were a bit more important than a halt But not as important as a fully flung station So there's just been two little platforms With little Pagoda waiting rooms A bit like you've got Denham Golf If you have a look at this video on screen now You can see what I mean It opened in 1908 And then it closed in 1915 We're not going to go there today But just over here A bit further on There was the London and North Western Railway Which we talked about when it went into Rooley Road They also had Wolfcote Holt on their line So there were two Wolfcote platform, Wolfcote Holt Very very close to each other And now they're both closed Almost makes you think now If there was a Holt or a station at Wolfcote Would it be used because Although it's sort of a village It's a bit of a suburb of Oxford So you never know My plan now though is As you can see, we found the Oxford Canal And there's the road bridge On the Oxford Canal there So my plan is To go down onto the Oxford Canal And that's the way I'm going to walk back To Oxford And that will pretty much conclude this video But it looks like getting to it It's going to be easier said than done I think I should have walked I wanted to show you the view over Wolfcote Common So I went on this bridge But it looks like I've got to come all the way down here To go all the way back down there To get onto the canal But I do want to finish the video On the canal So let's go and find that canal Interesting that there's these traffic lights For the two bridges over the railway And canal They look like they were temporary But they're very permanent temporary lights So let's get down onto that canal And then that will be My route back to Oxford So I think when I get back to Oxford Station I would have probably done About a six mile walk It's been a very pleasant six mile walk It's been a very flat six mile walk In fact I'd say coming over this bridge Has probably been the steepest gradient Encountered on the whole walk It's literally as flat as a pancake But it's been a really enjoyable walk So why not come on a train To Oxford and do this walk for yourself So let's go down these steps And there's a lock as well So it's even more interesting So just coming down here We find a lock on the Oxford canal But there's 45 minutes to Oxford Not sure if that's on foot Or by walking But that's looking up the canal Here's the very small lock This is Wolvercote lock We're going to go through here Under the bridge And then I will continue my walk On back towards Oxford So just let you see the lock Bridge 235 So by the way That's where we went a moment ago Up there On the Oxford canal I hope you enjoyed this video And as I said why not come here And do this walk for yourself And it's a really pleasant walk So thank you very much for watching Please do feel free to like, subscribe, comment Tell your friends Thank you very much for watching Goodbye