In the days approaching my second trip to England, I thought about how out-of-place I would be, a middle-aged man from a small town in western Kentucky visiting Oxford, “the city of dreaming spires.”
Not a world traveler, I was very anxious, of course, about just getting there, the flight changes, the full body searches at security and then the right coach from Gatwick Airport to Oxford. All of the travel connections, though, went off without a hitch, and I found myself safe and secure on a National Express coach, wheeling on the left side of the roads through the snowy English countryside.
The English landscape of rolling hills always reminds me of western Kentucky.
I had heard that the land on which the Oxford colleges were built is “as flat as a pancake,” but the approach to Oxford is really quite hilly.
I arrived at the Gloucester Green bus terminal and negotiated the four blocks walk to Regent’s Park College with three bags in tow.
The folks at Regent’s Park greeted me warmly, with a Kentucky sort of welcome, rather than with the famous English reserve. I settled in my flat, unpacked and went out to explore.
I remembered almost everything from the trip to Oxford that I had taken in December 2004, and so much in Oxford was very much the same. Just to the north of the Regent’s Park Quad is the Eagle and Child Pub.
Just to the south is a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Coffee shops and bookstores abound, although my favorite used book shop on High Street had closed down.
“The folks at Regent’s Park greeted me warmly, with a Kentucky sort of welcome, rather than with the famous English reserve.” – Duane Bolin, professor of history
At Murray State we have our award-winning The Murray State News. In Oxford, I picked up a copy of The Oxford Student, with headlines such as “University Still `Neglecting’ Ethnic Minority Student Intake,” and “Museums Face Budget Cuts.” I also read The Times of London with its page after page of sports coverage.
England’s love of sports is another similarity to Kentucky, although instead of basketball, football and baseball; the sports pages were filled with articles and statistics about soccer, rugby and cricket. In fact, just as I am writing about Adolph Rupp and the “religion“ of basketball in Kentucky, Dr. Robert Ellis, the president of Regent’s Park, is conducting research on rugby and the intersection of sport and faith.
Dr. James C. Klotter, Kentucky’s state historian and Georgetown College professor, spoke at Regent’s Park during a recent term on the concept of southern honor, so the Kentucky/Oxford tie remains strong. During a meal at High Table, the conversation among the dons and staff seated around me turned to Kentucky.
We discussed the Queen’s fifth visit to the Bluegrass in 2007 to attend the Kentucky Derby.
Queen Elizabeth II had made visits to Kentucky in 1984, 1986, 1989 and 1991, and was often hosted by Will Farish, the owner of Lane’s End Farm and the former ambassador to England.
Several of the dons at Regent’s Park had visited Kentucky as well, always visiting the Kentucky Horse Park among other attractions.
We discussed the rock fences of the Bluegrass and the identical rock fences evident in the countryside of Oxfordshire.
I told them that in Kentucky we pay our taxes to the county sheriff, a practice of which they were all too familiar.
The dons also knew about county magistrates. It was as if we were talking about Robin Hood and Nottingham Forest.
All in all, the rich English heritage in Kentucky helped me to feel right at home in Oxford. I know that my Oxford sojourns have helped enrich my history of Kentucky classes. I can’t wait to return.
Column by Duane Bolin, Professor of history