Noisy neighbours

You're probably aware that Oxford Brookes isn't the only University in the area. Brookes' bigger, older, and argubly wiser sister Oxford University is one of the oldest institutions on the planet and is situated just up the road from our camp on Gipsy Lane. Brookes is, unfortunately, often just seen as her noisy neighbour.

On the evening of Friday 28th November, there was sibling warfare in the form of a varsity football match at Iffley Road stadium. A tense affair ensued, with both sides making good chances and both sides hitting the woodwork.

After about 80 minutes, though, a Brookes player was felled in the penalty area, and he then picked himself up to bury the resulting spot-kick. Brookes went on to beat Oxford 1-0; merely noisy neighbours no longer.

A poor photograph from the terrace, but the best of my batch

Having another University in the city does make for a special atmosphere in and around the city. There are students pretty much everywhere you look so there are lots of opportunities to meet new people and make new friends.

Oxford's Bodleian Library is the second largest in the country, with over 11 million items inside its walls, and Brookes students are able to make use of those after a certain point in their course. We have to apply first, though.

The rivalry is strong, especially in sporting terms, but it's definitely a friendly one. I definitely recommend attending any team's varsity if you can, whether it's with Oxford themselves or another University.

It's always good to get to know the neighbours.