Coffee, Cadets, Clarinets and The Town Crier

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Most of the people were drinking coffee at tables round Abingdon’s Market Place this morning.
The Town with Tomorrow
OCVA were recruiting volunteers for a variety of ventures. The Sea Cadets were also looking for enthusiastic helpers.
The Town with Tomorrow
The large clarinet section of Abingdon Concert Band were playing and the Town Crier was there to promote them and other town events on behalf of the Mayor. Just a normal Saturday morning on the Market Place in Abingdon-on-Thames.
The Town with Tomorrow
Town Criers are getting better and better at projecting their voices from the County Hall Roof – something I don’t remember happening before the refurbishment and reopening last year. It always get a cheer.

The Town with Tomorrow

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The Town with Tomorrow
When the new shopping centre and Guildhall were being developed Abingdon-on-Thames was billed as “The Town with Tomorrow.”
The Town with Tomorrow
A display about that era was put up along with older historical displays in the old Abingdon People and Places picture display at the Community Shop. That exhibition will run until Heritage Weekend – 14th – 15th September.
The Town with Tomorrow
Last week, there was a dry run of the Heritage Boat Trips. There are still some tickets available at the Town Council Information Centre. A smaller number will be available on the day (14th September). Learn about Abingdon’s history from the River Thames on an Edwardian launch.

The reason for the boat trips are that the latest part of the Abingdon Heritage Trail will soon be on show with new information boards around the St Helens Church area. Mock ups will be there for people to look at over Heritage Weekend. The Mayor of Ock Street will do a ‘Mock Opening’.

Almost everything else that is happening during heritage weekend is in the Heritage leaflet. Paper copies can be found at the Community Shop or Town Council Information Centre.
The Town with Tomorrow
The same day there is a free food festival at Our Ladies Abingdon – which has the chapel open for Heritage Day for the first time. Stride and Ride round the Oxfordshire Churches is also that day, next weekend. And Dragon Boat racing is tomorrow.

Celebrating The Iconic River Thames with a relay

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A bottle of water taken at the source of the River Thames in Gloucestershire is being carried by a relay of walkers, swimmers, kayakers, rowers, and sailors to the city of London then out to sea. The relay began on September 1st and will finish on September 15th.
Abingdons Iconic River
Today, the bottle was brought to Abingdon by Arwyn, a 1960’s electric powered sailing boat, on behalf of the Electric Boat Association, and the Abbey Sailing Club – which celebrates 80 years in 2013.
Abingdons Iconic River
The Abingdon lock keeper is on holiday this week, and so the relief lock keeper will keep the bottle overnight and entrust it to the rowers tomorrow. Both Abingdon Rowing Club and the City of Oxford Rowing Club will speed the bottle as far as Benson Lock.

This is part of the Thames Festival, celebrating the iconic River Thames.

Too Beautiful to Survive

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Lily Shelter
Last time I went to Radley Lakes there was a notice from the Earth Trust saying they were assessing the damage to see whether it was worth attempting to repair the beautiful Lily Shelter.
Lily Shelter
It was built in August 2010 and has survived three winters, and has been used as a shelter and bird hide, often by young people who have treated it well.

But then it just takes one or two, of any age, to ruin things for everybody else – as happens in life.
Lily Shelter
We returned there today and can assume it was not worth repairing, and then re-repairing.