Summer in Oxford

Although it was bucketing it down on Saturday as I left Oxford to start my hols, it has always pained me that the academic calendar means we don't get to experience the city in high summer. Oxford is made for summer sun, even if official guidelines direct us to secrete ourselves away from it in dark and dusty libraries; golden evenings in the centre make me fall in love with the city again and again, and I've managed to take more rolls of film in the last two weeks of term than in the whole of the preceding eight months - a solid indicator of joyful existence. Here are some joyous things to do under gorgeous Oxford summer sunshine.

Croquet

Despite years of practice and family-ruining rows on my grandma's lawn I still manage to be terrible at both tactic and technique in this most upper middle-class of sports. New College has a great little croquet lawn in its front quad, over-looked by the porters and any curious freshaz who want to peer down from their rooms and witness everyone's sporting triumphs(failures). During my first summer in Oxford I enthusiastically entered into inter-collegiate cuppers croquet with an American friend who had never touched a mallet before; he still managed to wipe the floor with me and all the other Englishmen, which I suppose is a rather damning summary of our national sporting character, and also of croquet. But however futile in athletic terms it stands that bashing a ball around the college croquet lawn is a very entertaining way to spend the remains of a summer afternoon - especially when things get heated and someone kicks over a hoop. (Alright I admit I have yet to witness this at Oxford. My family is very competitive.)

Punting

Most Oxford colleges own a number of punts that their students can rent free of charge. New College's vessels may not be as swish as Magdalen's or indeed as roomy as Hertford's, but they're conveniently placed in a boathouse just off of our sports' grounds and they get the job done - I mean presumably. When one is competent. The only time I have managed to go punting we made it about 100m from our starting point, got attacked by more branches and bushes than Harry in the Triwizard maze, and one of our number fell in... But as a means to an end of picnicking on a grassy riverside knoll surrounded by daisies and inquisitive ducklings, it does do the trick.

Balls (lol)

Getting all fancy and enjoying a 12 hour extravaganza of food and fun in a centuries old setting is an essential part of the Oxford summer experience, one that I wrote more about here.

Soaking up the sun in beautiful surroundings

Every city I have chosen to park myself within so far has been a beautiful one, lucky for me. Growing up in London was a convenient starting point, four months in Paris and then five in Burghausen, but Oxford arguably tops them all in general loveliness. Being able to laze an evening away in a setting as glorious as New College gardens, a stone's throw away from our bedrooms, is a luxury afforded to students at very few other universities and one that we do not waste. Whether it be eating ice-cream in Magdalen's back quad or chatting in Christ Church's egregiously extensive grounds, even the most boring conversational partner's company is improved by these surroundings; unless you're at St Anne's. Soz.