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May Morning
 Oxford's unique
celebration of the arrival of Spring begins on May the
first at 6am sharp, when the choir boys of Magdalen College sing madrigals from the college tower to the
crowds of people gathered below on Magdalen Bridge. The
atmosphere is friendly and jovial, with people drawn
together by a common sense of achievement derived either
from getting up early or from not going to bed at all!
Sadly, in recent years the police have prevented
revellers from leaping off Magdalen Bridge, fully
dressed in dinner jackets.
After a short service given by the
chaplain of Magdalen, the crowds
return to the City centre where, by special license,
pubs, cafes and restaurants are beginning to open for
business. Several traditional English Morris
dancing troops perform in Radcliffe Square or underneath
the Bridge of Sighs and the streets fill with a variety
of strangely dressed individuals (none stranger than
'The Tree').
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Punting
Few summer pastimes in
Oxford are more pleasant or peaceful than punting on the
Cherwell. Punts can be hired from several stations,
including Magdalen Bridge and Bardwell Rd in North
Oxford. Those in the know punt from the hollowed out
'Oxford end' rather than from the flattened
'Cambridge end' which is altogether more dangerous and
unseemly.
For novices, the key to
successful punting is to use the pole as a rudder to
steer the punt as you pull it out of the water. And,
above all, get into the punt from the end that is
tethered to the bank - unless you fancy an unscheduled
swim, that is!
Punting in Oxford - from the Cambridge end.
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