I hadn't properly grasped the fact that, when they say the Oxford is a University Town, they mean that the colleges of the university are literally intermingled with the shops and effectively form the central business district. There don't appear to be any road rules in the place since bicycling and pedestrian students or (while we were there at least) wannabe students and their families, make up the vast majority of the traffic in the place. I suppose there's more than a few academic staff in the general populace too.
It's more than a little strange I must say and, given that everyone is looking down their noses at you, not in the least bit friendly. Plenty to make photographs with though.
There are more pictures of the place in the book I linked to in the last post for anyone who has an interest.