My Travel Adventures

On the Saturday of January 22 nd , I planned a walk to Headington with my housemates to see the famous Headington Shark. Although urban legend has it that the sculpture – a shark apparently crashing through the roof of a local house – was designed to spite local authorities, the reality is somewhat different. Its owner Bill Heine described the artistic intention behind John Buckley’s sculpture in the following way: “The shark was to express someone feeling totally impotent and ripping a hole in their roof out of a sense of impotence and anger and desperation…. It is saying something about CND, nuclear power, Chernobyl and Nagasaki.” The Oxford City Council subsequently attempted to have the shark removed but was defeated when the matter escalated to the central government.

I spent a nice three weeks at home making traditional Christmas sweets and going on walks. Since several of my friends had covid, I saw almost no one, and decided it would be safer that way considering I would have to get back to Oxford for my exams. I made it a resolution for the new term to take a walk every day, which has helped me explore a decent chunk of town around Saint Antony’s. I discovered the western end of University Parks – where I had never been before – as well as the beautiful grounds of Lady Margaret Hall, among others.