A place of inspiration.
One of the nicest things about Oxford is that you keep running into places which provided the inspiration for so many classic stories. All you have to do is to go out for a walk and keep an eye out for the tiny little details which are simply amazing gems. Here is a photo which I took from St. Mary’s passage in Oxford – the place which provided inspiration for C.S. Lewis’ passageway which leads to Narnia. You can see two sculptures of a faun in the foreground, which ended up being Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia – and that lamp post in the distant background is surely familiar to anyone who remembers how Lucy used to walk past a lamp post after entering the wardrobe to go to Narnia. Lovely, isn’t it? The Radcliffe Camera looms large in the background – itself being used as a filming location for so many movies, the latest one being ‘X-Men: First Class’. So next time you’re round and about in Oxford, walk slowly, be observant and look for the details. You’re bound to find a few surprises just round the corner.