There were quite a few shops open today in Abingdon. But it was Sunday and there were not so many people.
There were still the same number of pigeons.
I saw one getting chased out of Greggs. The open door, with warm smells, was too much of a temptation.
Pigeons congregate wherever there is the chance to co-operate, or find food, every day of the week. They don’t have a rest day.
Organised by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council, the Winter Weather Exhibitions will give you information from experts about protecting your home this winter whether it brings flooding, snow or severe cold.
There are two such exhibitions: 6th January at Long Furlong Community Centre and 8th January 2015 at Preston Road Community Centre. Both run from 5.30pm to 8.00pm.
In town this morning there was also a reminder that the Town Council will recycle your Christmas Tree next Saturday on the Market Place.
The library was open and a good place to get dry, on what was a very wet morning.
I read in the Herald from 100 years ago, that there had been 6 inches of rain in December 1914 and there were floods at the start of January 1915. The removal of the canal bridge near the Drayton Road and inadequate drainage led to Tithe Farmhouse being badly flooded. The overflow of water from the River Ock, where it meets the Thames, meant the lawns of the Long Alley Almshouses were under water, and water had been forced up through the floor of the Anchor Inn. But Thames Conservancy were praised for managing the floods much better than 1894, twenty years before.
The Abingdon Walks website has postcards of The Great Abingdon Flood of 1894.
Thanks to Jane E for sending news and pictures of the intrepid Abingdon walkers who turned out at 10am on New Year’s Day to walk 8 miles to raise money for Christian Aid. This year the walk started from All Saints’ in Abingdon, walking to Boars Hill via Bayworth then back to Abingdon via Sunningwell.
At the half way point they were welcomed for tea and home made cakes at a house among the tall trees on Boars Hill.
Googling ‘abingdon boundary walk’ I read it started at 11:30am, but failed to notice the date was 1 Jan 2014.
The walk really set out at 11:00am, as advertised on the posters round town, and I found them by walking the reverse direction along the Ock Valley Walk.
We then crossed the ancient Ock Bridge, peeped in at the MG Gardens, and then crossed the road at the Marcham Road lights.
The Town Crier, John Crowley, greeted people at various halts along the way on behalf of the Mayor and Town Council, wishing people a Happy New Year, as he woke some from their slumbers.
He did say he hoped that those indoors would grow a skin like a rhinocerous in 2015 and be able to join the Boundary Walk next year.
He also announced to those ‘waking with the hideous realisation of the new year’s resolutions so sincerely made last night‘ that he hoped ‘the resolutions will last longer than the hangover.‘
He introduced the ‘infinitely informative and lavishly loquacious‘ Patrick Bird who led the walk, and described the 1556 Abingdon boundaries.
At Abingdon Lock, where the two hour walk finished, Patrick showed us a boundary stone, marked with ‘A’ for Abingdob, and handed round pictures of other Abingdon and Parish Boundary stones.