Recently, Eldest Sulk went to university; Things have changed since I went to Uni (it was so good in my day, I did it twice!). Anyway, he asked me if I would drive him and a group of folk to a varsity match in Oxford, near Keble College.

never having been to oxford before, I said yes and we set off in a hired minibus at 0740 on a Sunday morning. Now this was a part of my cunning plan – I knew that the minibus would probably be Fiat/Peugot/Citreon/Mercedes and would be fairly modern – meaning I would get a chance to drive whats likely to be the base vehicle of Ziggy’s Replacement.

Dont get me wrong – we have loved Ziggy and we have done a huge amount of trips out locally and further afield – but, as we realised at the tail end of last year, we are lucky enough to live in a five bedroom house in a beautiful village – but its far too b iug for just the two of us. So – we are selling the house, and are going to downsize – and as a part of that downsize we will be getting a more modern motorhome that will cover us for the next 10 years – by which time I will be 70 so….. if anyone is looking for an ickle 5 bedroom pad…

So, I got to drive a 2 year old Peugot, with a manual gearbox. I found it easy to drive, with a fairly positive, well spaced gearbox; it certainly had a decent amount of acceleration, though it was set to no more than 62mph. Instruments were well laid out and the driving position was comfortable for me. The mirrors were a decent size and covered the rear area well. there were the obligatory blind spots from the pillars. With a full load of students we averaged around 30mpg. I must also give a nod to my Avtex3 SatNav; when we hit the A45, beyond Northampton, we saw an awful lot of police cars speeding past us, and noticed the traffic slowing down a lot on the dual carriageway – I took the next exit and headed cross country, leaving the sat nav to sort the route out. A short detour around the local villages put us back on the A45 at the junction where the police were taking all east travelling traffic off…. It seems that there had been a multiple vehicle accident, with a fatality – the road was still partially closed when we returned that evening.

We arrived in Oxford around 1030, and having been told that the car parking was a bit steep, I decided that I would leave the younger folk to it, and head off visit Blenheim Palace – I had never been before, so it seemed like a good plan. I arrived and having been mugged, sorry paid to get in – I cant really complain too much as the £41 gives you unlimited visits in a year – if I lived locally, I would visit often, as I suspect the grounds will be wonderful to explore.

The larger central part of the house is under scaffolding and covered up, but the two wings were stunning – when I first arrived, the sky was overcast and this made it a little muted though still stunning. I really liked how the cover over the main building had been populated with workers from the 18th century – the effect was brilliant.

Inside was an exhibition of the original architect’s works, and examples of the models and scale drawings done of the construction of the palace. There were also nods to the other famous person who had actually been born in Blenheim Palace – Winston Churchill. I found the main building interesting as it had been built as one contigious build over a few decades – many stately homes have been built, adapted altered etc over centuries so – they style was solid through out. But, what did make me stop, was the Long Gallery – there was a son et lumiere style show in it, but the sheer magnificent use of the space – and then the amazing organ at the end…

From the end of the gallery, I left the house to first admire the view outside, and then to return to look through the chapel and a couple of other exhibitions – one on Churchill, and one on the life below stairs; Many moons ago I watched the film Young Winston and I am certain some parts were filmed in Blenheim.

After a pleasant few hours, I left the house, snapped a few photographs including a wonderful Kite and then drove back to Oxford, stopping only to grab a bite to eat at some services…..

Back in Oxford I parked the bus – 15 sodding quid for two hours on a sunday evening! then went over to the University park to see what the young folk were up to (a lot of fun involving nerf guns, plastic swords and giggles….) and a walk around to see the sights.