Saturdays out from Melksham - to Oxford, to Didcot or to Swindon
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2010-02-07 07:59:37 - Graham EllisFancy a day out with the family from Melksham to Oxford, to Swindon or to Didcot? We took a train trip on Saturday to Oxford from Melksham Station ... three adults and one dog - total return fare to Oxford £24.15. The train left Melksham station (free parking) at 09:18. We bought our ticket on the train ("Groupsave 3 Offpeak day return to Oxford, please") and - changing at Swindon and Didcot - got to Oxford at 10:40. We returned on the 14:37, with the same changes, and got back to Melksham at 15:45. We could also have caught the 20:07 back from Oxford and got back into Melksham at 21:53. If there had been four adults, with a "Groupsave 4" it would only have cost us £24.40, and children aged 5 to 15 can travel with the group (but not more children than adults) for just a pound each. These are book-on-the-day fares and apply every Saturday - although you should recheck the train times in case there are engineering works. What is there to do in Oxford? There's lots! There's shopping. There's "The Oxford Experience". There's the bus tour showing you the University City. You can climb the Carfax tower. You can wonder at the old fashioned market. You can go into the colleges and look around. You can choose from a wonderful selection of places to eat lunch. You can browse the books at Blackwells (one of the best bookshops I know out of London). Hire a punt at Magdalen bridge, take a boat trip on the Thames (both seasonal) or visit the botanic garden (open daily thoughout the year). If Oxford United are playing at home, you can watch their match at the Kassam Stadium. Or - if you're like us, with dog in tow, you can see the open spaces and architectural beauty of the city. We walked up the Oxford Canal past Isis lock, then across into the back streets of the old but fashionable suburb of Jericho, where we sat outside a cafe and had a breakfast bap and a coffee. Across to the Woodstock Road, past the site of the recently-demolished Radcliffe Infirmary and down St Giles to the city centre. Then to the Meadows of Christ Chuch College, leading down to the river Thames (know locally as the "Isis") which are open all year. A walk across Folly bridge and a short section of the Thames Path before it was time to head up Oxpens and back to the station for our return journey, tired but happy, to Melksham. |          |