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8th May 2010 at
The Jacqueline Du Pré Building
St Hilda's College, Oxford
The Jacqueline du Pré Music Building was the first purpose-built concert hall to be built in Oxford since the Holywell Music Room in Handel's day. It is a living memorial to a great artist, funded jointly from fundraising by St Hilda’s College, of which Jacqueline du Pré was an Honorary Fellow, the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund and a wide range of institutions and Trusts, and many private individuals. The Building was opened in September 1995.
The Building offers the 200-seat Edward Boyle Auditorium, with full disabled access. In 2002, the Brian Duke Foyer was added, also designed by the original architects, van Heyningen & Haward. This elegant glass structure offers us an informal space for socialising and relaxing alongside the day's programme of panels. The college also offers us four acres of grounds on the banks of the River Cherwell.
St Hilda's College, Cowley Place, Oxford, OX4 1DY was founded in 1893 by Dorothea Beale, Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College. Miss Beale chose to honour St Hilda, the head of Whitby Abbey, as the double monastery was famous for its learning (educating at least five bishops). Until 2007 St Hilda's was the last all-women's college of Oxford University.
The college has a superb literary tradition across all genres. PD James is an honorary fellow and Val McDermid is an alumna. Susanna Clarke graduated from the college in 1981 while TWF's Juliet McKenna took her degree in 1988. The Write Fantastic's connections with Cowley Place also include Chaz Brenchley, educated just across the road at Magdalen College School.
The Cape of Good Hope pub just across the road at the other end of Cowley Place offers a good selection of beers as well as food, seating and free wifi. This has all been personally verified by the hardworking TWF scouting party.
The Cowley Road also offers a splendid choice of restaurants and cafés within five or ten minutes walk of the college, with menus to suit all dietary requirements, tastes and pockets.
Click here for a few suggestions, bearing in mind that the lower the number, the closer a restaurant will be to the college.
Visit Oxford also offers fully searchable online listings
Daily Info, the one-stop guide to life in Oxford, also offers a wealth of detail in its guide to visiting Oxford.
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