14 April 2016; Oxford – Midsomer Murders tour

Despite a number of attempts to do away with me using a blunt butter knife and poison me with bad beer, I am pleased to report that our tour of Midsomer Murders “shooting” locations was enjoyable but otherwise quite safe.

We were picked up from our accomodation by John and joined a band of three ladies from Norway. They spent a considerable amount of time during our time together attempting to persuade us that we should go to Norway for the natural beauty and agreeable climate. In turn we suggested they should visit Australia for our natural beauty and agreeable climate. I don’t wish to cast “nasturtiums” but I think our climate would be more agreeable for more of the time than theirs.

We were chauffered through Oxfordshire (principally) among tiny villages that reeked of character. We stopped at a few of the villages for photo-ops and food / nature breaks. John was a wonderful guide who had a background in public broadcasting on the BBC and a relaxed speaking voice. Although he had not watched every episode of Midsomer Murders he had a wonderful passion for the landscape and the character that each small village presented. He also managed to skillfully navigate our tour such that we did not get rained on at all despite there being plenty of rain about.

We stopped for lunch at Henley where the annual regatta is held. A local pub, The Argyll, where we had lunch, was used in a couple of epsisodes. They have a special beer named in the spirit of the series. I say this becasue it was bloody terrible!

Chris and I had a great day. It was wonderful to visit the small hamlets and soak up the character that Midsomer Murders have been able to weave into the series – and all without loosing a single tourist!