Monthly Archives: April 2017

County Council elections are on Thursday May 4th

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County Council elections
County Council elections are on Thursday May 4th. They could be the last before Oxfordshire County Council becomes a Unitary Council.

A month later is the general election. Normally such elections would be planned in advance and happen on the same day. Having two elections will presumably double the expense for the district council.
County Council elections
We got our polling cards a couple of weeks ago, but I have not noticed any literature from any of the parties until this morning when our first County Council candidate, Alison Rooke, came knocking the doors of West St Helen Street.
County Council elections
It was amusing to see in the Abingdon Herald this week that instead of Mike Badcock, one party’s candidate for Abingdon South, the paper has mistakenly shown Neil Fawcett, another party’s candidate for Abingdon South.

Swift Ditch Revisited

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Swift Ditch
There are two different channels from the River Thames that spill over into Swift Ditch.
Swift Ditch
There is currently a tree with fire damage at its base, across one spillway / weir. I have no idea how that happened.
Swift Ditch
Back in the 1890s, shown in this picture (possibly by Taunt), the area was much clearer.

Much of Swift Ditch flows under fallen trees and branches. But it makes an interesting walk – along the Thames beyond Abingdon Lock, to Swift Ditch, then back along the farm track by Kingfisher Barn.

Swift Ditch
If you go over the bridge, over the first stream, you will get to an interesting historical feature.
Swift Ditch
Between the early seventeenth and late eighteenth centuries Swift Ditch was the main navigation channel with the earliest Pound Lock on the Thames. There is an information board near the spot that tells more. The stones of the lock walls are still in place, but the lock gates are long gone.

How our Car Failed to stop at an accident

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Cloned Plates
The weekend before last we were woken by banging on the door sometime between 11 pm and midnight. We went downstairs to be confronted by two policemen who said that our car had been speeding on the Oxford East bypass. It then failed to stop and had hit another car escaping. They found the same car parked near our house.

We had been together all evening so knew it wasn’t us, but couldn’t find the keys at first. For some time the police did not believe our account, and thought somebody we knew had used the car.

Watching the video in the police car I could see it was our car make and number plate, but the car in the video was cleaner than ours, and it must have sustained damage hitting the other vehicle. Our car did not appear to have any damage. Then we did find both keys.

Finally the police said they thought somebody had cloned our number plate. They then found the car with the cloned plates in Oxford.

In future I am going to make our car more distinctive so there is no mistaking it.

Another Abingdon Connection in London

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Abingdon Connection
About 2 years ago I reported that Spike Abbott had moved from Abingdon to become the newest member of the Body of Yeoman Warders at HM Tower of London.
Abingdon Connection
While in London – quite by chance – we met Spike at the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street – at about 10:30 on Monday evening.

He was in mufti. Previously, Spike was in the RAF for 35 years (corrected from 30), and now guards the crown jewels.