Each summer, we celebrate another half year of exploration, travel, excitement and learning with our annual party. Every year it is an absolute smash, and 2012 was no exception!

Team INSCAPE – Nicholas, Louise and Sara – and a group of our members, 40+ strong, spent last Wednesday in Oxford to this very end. This year’s theme and focus was Lewis Carroll’s wonderful, surreal and brilliant work, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and we travelled by boat from the famous Folly Bridge up the River Thames, through the city.

Despite all meteorological signals to the contrary, the weather held good and even we were even treated with that increasingly rare English summer commodity: sunshine. We were joined by the brilliant Mark Davies, author of Alice in Waterland: Lewis Carroll and the River Thames in Oxford and he and Nicholas regaled our congregation with tales of Carroll’s life in Oxford, his relationship with the real Alice that became the now-legendary character, and how his most famous book came to be.

We later stopped for a delicious lunch at a riverbank pub where the magical tales continued.

We also found that we were by no means the only people celebrating Alice that day – we rubbed shoulders with a very dedicated group of Carroll fans in full costume – there goes Alice herself!

The party was so popular, and became fully booked so quickly after our announcing it, that we are holding a repeat party on 31 July. There are still some spaces available, so don’t miss out!

If you would like to join us for another floating celebration of INSCAPE, please contact Sara by phone or email: 020 8566 7539 or sara@inscapetours.co.uk