Oxford
Posted: Sat 27 August, 2005 Filed under: Sweary, Thoughts, Travel 5 Comments »A quiet day today with not much planned, so I ended up going over to Oxford. I haven’t been there in a while, despite growing up (well, as much as I’ve ever grown up, anyway) in the area and so on, so I figured I might as well.
It was kind of weird being back in the city, actually – a lot has changed, including the infamous Cornmarket re-paving project that ran somewhere around £4.5m over budget. Mind you, from the state of people in Oxford, I can see why the council tried to make the centre “safer” and pedestrianise it – there’s just an amazing number of fuckwits who either dither out into the road for no good reason, or the shit-for-brains cunts who walk (fucking slowly) three abreast, thus meaning faster-moving people have to go out into the road instead.
Oh, and the woman with the five kids and a double buggy, saying “I’m going to belt someone in a minute” to her mate? Got news for you, love – you’re the fucking problem, not the solution. Shift your arse, stop talking to your mate who also has a double fucking buggy, and start looking where the fuck you’re walking, you mouthy scabarse.
So, what were my feelings about the place? It was nice to go back for a quick visit – and I managed to get some new Cat boots, among other things – but Jesus, I could never live there again. Too many people, too few IQ points – kind of sad, for a place renowned for its students and colleges.
Completely OT, but something’s broken the main page in IE 6.0 – have nasty horizontal scrollbar – may be the table in the post below this one?
’tis Fixed.
Stop, stop, you’re making me feel nostalgic! I’m sure you also encountered the tourists from right-hand drive countries who look in entirely the wrong direction before stepping out into the road, thus causing cars, buses and cyclists to slam on the anchors and fall off in the case of the latter.
The Great Cornmarket Paving Disaster was a really classic piece of council mis-management. I also remember the days when buses used to go through Cornmarket – you took your life in your hands walking down that street, especially when it was busy at Christmas: one shove from someone in the crowd, and you were under a bus. Not to mention the diesel fumes you could cut with a knife. Ah, those were the days…
Indeed, re. Cornmarket. Now, however, it’s just George Street and Queen Street which still do that. So at either end of the pedestrianised Cornmarket, idiots still have to suddenly contend with buses on supposedly pedestrianised streets.
My father always used to contend that the best way to remove pollution and noise from the city centre would be to simply ban all buses. I can’t honestly say he’s wrong, either…
You’re right about the cornmarket – always was a nightmare (for the six months I was there). Now in Cambridge and the same problem persists with thousands of foreign students blocking the pavements and walking 4 abreast everywhere.