The Pocket Oxford

A concise yet comprehensive introduction to all things Oxford. Whether you're keen to punt on the Isis, where the university's rowing team trains for the fiercely contested Boat Race against Cambridge; or see priceless treasures in the Ashmolean Museum; or rise before dawn for May Morning, let your journey start here. Dubbed 'the city of dreaming spires' by Matthew Arnold, Oxford has nurtured 70 Nobel Prize winners and is today a high-tech hub. Its Bodleian Libraries are the largest in the UK. Home to the Oxford English Dictionary, it's no surprise that the city has nurtured so many authors - J. R. R. Tolkien, Oscar Wilde and T.S. Eliot among them. Nestled in the surrounding Cotswolds, the city itself contains green oases: Christ Church Meadow, the 400-year-old Botanic Garden, and Port Meadow. For something more sporty, visit Iffley Road Sports Centre, where Roger Bannister ran the first four-minute mile, or Corpus Christi College for the annual tortoise race.