Day 10, Tuesday, July 15 - Punting on the River Cherwell

Tuesday was a very eventful day in Oxford.  We started off our day with the daily journal entry, followed by reading several articles on Charles Darwin as well as a discussion on Winston Churchill, both of whose homes we would be visiting tomorrow.  We then did our usual British newspaper readings and discussed what we thought was the political standpoint of each of these papers.    We asked ourselves after reading, does the journalist have more of a left wing viewpoint, or a right wing?  After finishing that debate, we had a guest appearance from one of our favorite Woodberry teachers, Mr. Nolan LaVoie.   Mr. LaVoie has been studying at Cambridge University along with fellow Woodberry Forest history teachers Mr. Axelrod, Dr. Boesen, and Mr. Tallman.   They were learning about ancient history.   It was a pleasant surprise to have Mr. LaVoie come visit Oxford and join our class.  The rest of the session was spent discussing factors that influenced Darwin in his thinking on Natural Selection and his publication of the Origin of Species.   We wrapped up the discussion a little before 1 pm, so we could have a break before lunch.  For lunch, we ate a nice meal in the Brasenose dining hall, and discussed preparation for the fun activity that afternoon: punting on the River Cherwell.   It was a good walk to the punting station on the Cherwell and the guide provided careful instruction on how to control the boats before we set out on our trip.   The group for my boat was Badham, Edward, and me.  Although, punting was hard, and sometimes became frustrating, we had a great time learning how, and having splash wars against other boats.  (Our boat won the war against Talfourd, William J, and Robin).   We headed back in after an hour on the river and rested for our 7:30 seated dinner that evening.   Today was a day that we all enjoyed, and it was special for us to have Mr. LaVoie come and surprise us. 

Alex Whittemore

From left to right, Trevor Thornton  (WFS '04, who we ran into here at the Covered Market), Nolan LaVoie (who joined our class for the day following his studies in Cambridge), Robin, Edward & William.

In Brasenose Old Quad prior to our punting expedition.

Getting boats ready.

Blog author prepares for relaxing trip




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Chris, William and David off to a fine start.

Charles takes control at the stern.

Mr. LaVoie enjoying the river.

Robin, William and Talfourd moving down the river.

Charles taking a well-earned break.

Mr. Reid taking a turn at the pole.

Talfourd enjoying fine seated meal in Brasenose Dinning Hall