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Dæmon Sculpture

Philip Pullman unveiled daemon sculpture in the Lower Garden on the 22 May 2019. The Oxford Botanic Garden was the setting for crucial scenes in his novel sequence His Dark Materials. The stainless steel sculpture is the work of sculptor Julian Warren and depicts the famous ‘daemons’ of this His Dark Materials. Situated behind the ‘Lyra and Will’s bench’ where the books’ principal characters enjoy a number of meetings. This sculpture joins another in the Garden, the grinning Cheshire Cat of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, tucked away in the Literary Woodland in the Walled Garden. The works are designed to stir people’s interest in…

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Royal Fort Gardens

History The house was constructed on the site of a Civil War fortification, which had two bastions on the inside of the lines and three on the outside. It was the strongest part of the defences of Bristol, designed by Dutch military engineer Sir Bernard de Gomme. It was one of the few purpose-built defensive works of the war era. The fort was designed as the western headquarters of the Royalist army under Prince Rupert. Royalists retreated into the fort when the Parliamentarians had broken through the lines in the siege of 1645, before eventually surrendering to Cromwell's forces. The fort was demolished around 1655.…

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Waitrose, Oxford.

Oxford’s Waitrose supermarket opened its doors in Botley Road yesterday. Eager customers queued from 7.20am outside the new store for the first spoils at 8am. Department manager at the store Craig Barnard said: “The tills have been ringing since we opened. “They were queuing outside at 7.20am and so far the response has been really positive. “I’m most pleased that a good proportion of customers are walking.” Susan Taylor stopped into the new store while taking the bus back to Farmoor from Oxford. The 67-year-old said: “I’m very pleased it’s here. The value for money is really good. “I see this one’s got a café…

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Cantocks Steps

The artist has no intention to mock academic achievement, far from it the sign posts are intended in a humorous way to pay tribute to the many clever monkeys that can be found on this hill. This Sculpture is called Paul, a tribute to Paul Dirac a nobel prize winning physicist who attended the local school, Cotham Grammar and graduated from Bristol University. This 'Simian Goth' sculpture is called Peter, a tribute to Peter Higgs world renowned physicist. who also attended Cotham Grammar. The skull is a 'momento mori'. The splendidly refurbished Cantocks steps rise toward the Royal fort gardens.

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