Would You Cut It As A Time Traveller?

It's easy when everything's working fine. But your time machine is out of control - plunging you straight towards every disaster that's going in Oxfordshire over the centuries.

Can you get out of them in one piece?

Here are six time zones in which you're going to end up dead (or as good as) if you make the wrong choice - and three choices in each one. Choose A, B or C.

If you get it right every time, the Dark Archivist will give you a certificate to show you're a cool traveller of the time lines. But if you don't... bye bye!

1. Oxford, 1754.

It's election time - the Blues versus the Yellows. And they really don't like each other. That's don't like, as in kill. You find yourself in the coach of the Blue leader, Captain Turton, as it goes over Magdalen Bridge, when suddenly the Yellow mob are on top of you, trying to tip the coach into the river. Turton panics! What do you tell him to do?

  1. A: Call the City police for help. NO! There were no City police - they weren't created until 1836.
  2. B: Pull out his pistol and shoot the ringleader. YES! That's what he did - and walked away from a murder charge on the grounds his life was in danger.
  3. C: Leap out into a passing student punt and escape down the river. NO! Student punting only started in Oxford after about 1860.

2. Henley, 1751.

Gives you an appetite, this time travelling. The local Town Clerk, Francis Blandy, invites you to tea. Only problem is, his daughter Mary is trying to poison him. What should you avoid eating in order to stay alive?

  1. A: The oatmeal gruel. YES! Mary stirred arsenic into it - and was hanged for murder in 1752.
  2. B: A glass of Coke. NO! You wouldn't be offered one - Coca Cola wasn't invented until 1886 (by John Pemberton).
  3. C: The curry. NO! But you could have been offered some. Although commercial curry powder didn't appear in England until 1770, a recipe first appears in an English cookbook in 1747.

3. Oxford 1577.

Time for a bit of entertainment. There's no clubbing available, so you take a look to find out what other people are doing for fun. Which of these should you avoid?

  1. A: Go to a play. NO! It'll be almost another ten years before someone tries to ban plays in Oxford, and they're quite safe. Well, apart from the one at Christ Church in 1566, when a wall fell on the audience.
  2. B: Watch the trial of Rowland Jenkes for selling saucy books. YES! Popular pastime, watching people have their ears cut off for annoying Queen Elizabeth. But in this case, everyone in the court was dead a few days later - some ghastly plague called Gaol Fever killed everyone there except Jenkes himself - after sending them crazy.
  3. C: Go bowling. NO! Why not? Favourite sport in Oxford in the sixteenth century - there were four bowling alleys around the town.
timeline traveller

4. Oxfordshire, 1720s.

You're always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now you've been accused of some crime you didn't commit, and you're about to be locked up and the key thrown away. Which prison should you try to end up in?

  1. A: Oxford gaol, in the Castle. NO! Not unless you're crazy. Horrible place - cramped, smelly, water running down the walls, and a jailer who wouldn't let you out at the end of your sentence unless you paid him.
  2. B: The prison in Abingdon. NO! You can't. Abingdon was in Berkshire until 1974, so they wouldn't take you.
  3. C: The house of correction in Thame. YES! Great choice. It was run by Giles Wiggins, who took the main gate off its hinges because he didn't like being locked in. You could just stroll out back to your time machine.

5. Banbury, 1852.

Typical - you've landed in the countryside outside the town, and need a lift to get into the centre. Plenty of tradesmen moving their goods around in wagons. Who should you not accept a lift from?

  1. A: Kalabergo, the watch and clock maker. YES! You don't want to travel with him. His nephew's along for the ride, and is about to shoot him dead to inherit his money. He won't want any witnesses...
  2. B: Samuelson, the maker of agricultural machinery. NO! Perfectly safe. Samuelson developed the famous Britannia Works, built the Hook Norton railway viaduct, and was the biggest industrial employer around Banbury.
  3. C: Hunt, the brewer. NO! You might even get a drink as well as a lift. Hunt was the most successful beer manufacturer in nineteenth century Banbury, taking over the Banbury Brewery Company in 1879.

6. Oxford University, the 19th century.

It's all that time travelling - you're feeling hungry again. Still, the University hands out lots of dinner invitations. Whose should you not accept?

  1. A: William Buckland, Professor of Geology. YES! Buckland's hobby was trying to eat one of every creature on earth. He said the nastiest thing he'd ever eaten was a bluebottle. You might find yourself being served up rat kebab or wildebeest curry. Or you might just find yourself being served up...
  2. B: Charles Dodgson, Professor of Maths. NO! Lewis Carroll, as he was better known, liked to take friends for delicious picnics on the river.
  3. C: The President of the Phoenix. NO! The Phoenix was a legendary dining club in Brasenose College, which served up wonderful meals. You're well in there!
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