Jericho

Yesterday we watched the second ever Morse episode, well we are in Oxford! ‘The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn’. Parts of the story were filmed in Jericho on Walton Street, we’re getting good at spotting them. Barbara Flynn did however get out of her car close to the Oxford University Press and walk towards the city centre , the next shot had her walking in the opposite direction towards Studio 2 (The Picture House). This isn’t that uncommon and keeps boaters who are not going very far at the moment occupied.

Today we decided to see what the interior of the Picture House was like and opted to see ‘Official Secrets’. This had a Silver Screen showing for which Mick got £4 off his ticket, I suspect I’d have got in cheaply if we hadn’t been honest when buying our tickets. With large comfy seats we settled down with about ten other people to watch the film. No adverts, other than for the cinema, which was a surprise, but a couple of trailers for films to come which we may keep our eyes open for.

Official Secrets tells the true story of whistleblower Katherine Gun who leaked a memo asking GCHQ to find out personal information on diplomats from smaller countries at the United Nations, so that they could be blackmailed into voting for the second UN resolution on the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Her actions changed the allegiance of The Observer newspaper who brought the story to the public’s attention despite the Americans claiming it to be a hoax memo. The film follows the story up to Katherine Gun’s court case for breaching the Official Secrets Act. We both thoroughly enjoyed the film with it’s great English cast including Janie Dee who I know from my Scarborough days.

On our way back to Oleanna we walked down to look at Combe Road where the first ever murder happened in Morse. The house most definitely is a tardis. No way would three people and a grand piano be able to fit into that little house.

With the stove on Oleanna re-light for the second time today, we suspect the chimney needs sweeping, we headed back out for some food at The Old Bookbinders. The pub had been recommended to us by several people and the menu was attractively French.

Warm and cosy we were greeted by a very French man who directed us to a back room sitting us by a radiator to warm up. The place was starting to fill up when we arrived and we were glad we hadn’t waited until later to eat. There was a Menu Du Jour which we had just arrived in time for (good value), but we both decided to chose things from the A La Carte Menu.

Mick chose Le Benicassim, a burger with everything including a fried egg that revealed it’s yolk through a hole in the top of the bun, it was very tasty. I opted for L’Entrecote Frites, steak and chips with a very nice salad and loads of garlic butter, the aroma will wear off in a couple of days I’m sure. My steak was cooked perfectly rare and had been left to rest before being served.

We followed on with a crepe for Mick, sadly these were not gluten free, so I had a creme brulee. Both were very tasty. With a large glass of wine and a pint of Tim Taylor Landlord our bill was just shy of £60. We don’t eat out much and have become used to pub food being only okay, so today was a treat. If you fancy a slice of France in the middle of Oxford we’d highly recommend the Old Bookbinders, which is nothing like it was back in 1987 when Morse visited.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 silver screening, 1 memo, 1 secret leaked, 1 courtcase, 2 times to light, 1 burger, 1 steak, 1 crepe, 1 brulee, 2 fat content boaters, 1 bored cat who just didn’t bother today.