The Kilns At Last!

 We caught the bus to Oxford and booked in at a cheap Travelodge next to a Park and Ride.

It was great to charge my phone, shower and sleep in a bed after 11 days sleeping in a tent.

On the Monday we got all day bus passes and went searching for Cardinal Newmans college and CS Lewis's house The Kilns and his grave and  JRR Tolkiens grave.

We will start with Cecil Staples Lewis.  I have been interested in his Christian writing since my early twenties and I have watched the film 'Shadowlands' twenty four times.  J watched it again while I was there and when I had sent her pictures of his house.

It's probably my favourite film of all time.  Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger are amazing.  They should have been given Oscar's for their performance.  The film is heart breaking and yet so beautiful.  There's a northern English lad in the film who says "We read to know we are not alone." I would say we writers write to know we are not alone"!

Here is the Shadowlands theme tune:

This is one off my "to do" on my bucket list.  Helpful bus drivers and members of the public pointed us in the direction and here are some photos I took:

A sign up a street in Headington, Oxford.  The houses looked to be nineteen thirties semis.

The Kilns.

Next door neighbours house called "Narnia".

My Kansas band hero Steve Walsh and Steve Hackett the great guitarist who we saw at Cropredy in 2022.  I saw Steve with Kansas  in 2014.

There isn't an eight acre garden any more.  There is how ever a nature reserve for people to walk around.  My friend and me were the only two visitors that Monday morning.

The upstairs windows paint work is peeling.  It's up here where C SLewis wrote all his famous books.

I think I have seen these pictures in Shadowlands?

The lodge is an old clay quarry and The Kilns is where the bricks were made and then became the Lewis residence.

* PLEASE note*:

If you ever go there be sure to research how to get to these places first.  A lot of the bus stops are not situated in bus stations and distributed around the city.   

We met a few problems and it was a bit of a wild goose chase at times but we did eventually reach our destinations!  Maybe someone could print some leaflets and communicate?

We stayed at the Pear Tree Travelodge next to the Park and Ride.  The first bus is about six in the morning and the last is 11.20 at night.  It's the bus 300 and only costs two Pounds or you can buy a all day ticket and jump on and off the bus all day! It's definitely worth a two days and nights stay.  

More Oxford photos tomorrow!