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Band trip to Pershore and Oxford

The brass band participated at the Pershore Midsummer Brass festival in England this year. We also had a stopover in Oxford on our way back home.

Image: We stayed at The Angel Inn in Pershore. First order of business is getting something to drink and having a good time. Image: Our first gig was in the back garden of The Star Inn, which has a view of the nearby canal. This is the River Avon. Image: There's also a sluice at that location. Image: The band who were playing before us. Image: Our second gig was at Chapman Court. The times have changed since this area was given over to public use. Image: One of the avenues was inside the Pershore Abbey. A lovely building. Good for music but unfortunately too much echo for when the conductors were speaking. Image: An old tree trunk outside the abbey has been turned into a sculpture. Image: England produces a lot of good ciders. This particular one isn't local to Pershore, but is quite good nonetheless. Image: We went back to the abbey for the final concert of the day. It looks spooky from the outside as we were heading back to the inn. Image: Waiting for the train to Oxford. As is often the case with British rail services, it's delayed. Image: We had bus for train from Moreton-in-Marsh to Oxford, which gave us a chance to take a closer look at the English countryside. The stone walls are curious to us, since we'd be using much bigger rocks to build them here. Image: More English countryside. Image: Arriving in Oxford we decided to take a walk. Of course they have a Logic Lane. Image: The University Church of St Mary the Virgin. Image: The Magdalen Chapel viewed from the Magdalen Bridge on our way back to the hotel from having a lovely evening singing at The Half Moon pub. Image: Our hotel has a map of Middle Earth on a wall in the lobby area. J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor in Oxford. Image: There's also some shelves containing all the obligatory Oxford books. Image: On our second day in Oxford we went punting, which is nearly compulsory for visitors. Punts are flat-bottomed boats propelled by means of a long staff wielded by the punter standing on the aft deck. In this case Arvid. Reidun proficiently wields the emergency paddle. Image: Vidar stakes out his own course. Image: "Under den hvite bro" ("Under the White Bridge") is a well known Norwegian tune, which we promptly started singing when crossing under this bridge. Image: We went round in a leisurely pace, and eventually Roy caught up with us. Image: Arve and Roy decided to trade places. It doesn't take that long to get a hang of punting, but beware of mud which might make the pole stick to the bottom. Image: Arvid and Maret also decided to trade places before we took an extra round. Image: The Bridge of Sighs is a landmark near the Sheldonian Theatre. Image: Walking along the Radcliffe Camera towards the Vaults and Garden restaurant in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin building. Image: The Radcliffe Camera is a building originally designed to hold the Radcliffe Science Library. As that library was moved into a larger building, it is now used as an additional reading room of the adjacent Bodleian Library. Image: On the other side of the Radcliffe Camera with the University Church of St Mary the Virgin building in the background.

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