At 6pm, on 9th September 2015, the bells will be rung at St Nicolas Church in Abingdon for Queen Elizabeth II who will become the longest serving Monarch – surpassing the record of 63 years and 216 days set by Queen Victoria.
This may be of limited interest… There is currently a consultation underway about increasing the number of residents parking places in West St Helen Street and St Helens Court.
A lot of residents, and temporary visitors like nurses, already park along St Helens Court. 10 metres either side will become legitimate if the proposal goes through.
There is currently 10 metres residents parking outside the flats at 66-76 West St Helen Street. That is to increase to 18 metres. So in total there could be 5-6 additional parking spaces.
Normally there is not a problem finding parking on weekdays. It is weekends, and evenings, when there are not enough spaces.
The annual Rotary Dragon Boat Day was being held on the River Thames at Rye Farm Meadow in Abingdon-on-Thames.
The day was sunny with a cooling breeze and large crowds gathered.
There were lots of other things happening including funfair, BBQ, tea tent, real ale beer tent, music and community stalls.
Lots of people dressed up.
There is no chance to practice before the day, and dry land coaching is given before teams get into their boats.
Teams raced against each other to get a good time and progress to the semi finals and finals, raising money for their own charities and the Rotary charity.
A good time was had by all. Some teams had better times than others.
At the Community Free Space (previously known as the Community Shop), in Bury Street, there is a picture exhibition about Victorian Abingdon. It will be open for a week.
As always people are fascinated to look at old photographs of Abingdon, and this time there is also a large scale map of Abingdon in Victorian times. The displays were created by Elizabeth Drury who co-authored the Abingdon Past and Present books.
Also instrumental was Hester, who arranged the rota of volunteers and did the admin.
Meanwhile, a group of cyclists came through town today, on their way from Didcot, on a 100-mile ride, raising money for good causes. Causes were: Prostate Cancer UK, Helen and Douglas House, and the Oxford Centre for Enablement at Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.
Dragon Boat Racing tomorrow – one of the biggest events in the Abingdon Calendar.