This daytrip to Oxford came with the first whiff of Spring. I felt the excitement trickling through my nervous system as the train departed Marylebone for the ‘City of Youth’. And unlike those excursions where expectation and reality clash, the day unfolded like a dream in the radiant sun.

With no plan and a mostly unhelpful foldout map I just drifted the streets – down past Christ Church then back along the High Street and through the covered market. I took lunch sat outside in Turl Street not far from Brasenose College. Near the Bodleian Library I remembered the day I spent here shooting a BBC Culture Show with Russell Brand in 2007 that culminated in his address to the Oxford Union. A fun day.

Although I’d carried the image of finishing the day in a pub garden beside a river, when I reached the end of my perambulations I fancied a return to the ancient Turf Tavern where I’d spent an evening here celebrating the recent arrival of my 40th birthday. Emerging into the twilight I followed the voices in the alleyways (there’d been exams that morning) til I arrived at The Bear, said to be one of the oldest pubs in Oxford.

A glorious day and I shan’t leave it so long to return next time.