Alice Day - has turned into a weekend of Alice in Wonderland Events
On the first Saturday of July every year Oxford commemorates the 4th of July when Lewis Carroll recalled that he told the original story to Alice, with a day which has turned into a weekend of events.
All sorts of institutions and people contribute from all over the city. There is a feast of possible Alice related events, a visit to the Botanic Gardens, a tea party, river trips.
This year one of our great cartoonists, Chris Riddell spent the day with families at the Story Museum.
I chose a Mark Davies ‘Alice’ Tour.
We explored the characters and lives of real and fictional characters beautiful and fascinating nooks and crannies of Oxford which I had yet to discover.
Mark Davies has published a number of books on Alice and Oxford’s waterways which are available in the Oxford History Shop.
Outside the Botanic Gardens
In 1860 Lewis Carroll attended the Great Debate on the controversial Origin of Species., at the then brand new University Museum
Bishop Samuel Wilberforce argued that it was absurd and impossible that man was descended from apes. Lewis Carroll indulged his passion for portrait photography that day and immortalised a number of the attendants and afterwards a great party was enjoyed by all at the Botanic Gardens.
Holywell Street
With true British gumption the brollies come out at Holywell Street next to the Catholic Martyrs memorial. Mark moots whether the Red Queen might have been a reflection of any of our own monarchs.
‘Alice Day’ has now been established long enough to attract the Alice cognoscenti from across the world.
Resources
A fascinating collection of letters and doodles
Way up towards Manchester in the village of Daresbury is a beautiful stained glass homage to Lewis Carroll
https://educated-traveller.com/2020/11/23/alice-in-wonderland/