Water everywhere and the reservoirs are not full yet

1 Reply


The level of the River Thames has continued to rise across the floodplain near Abingdon.

Today the weather was brighter with some sun and clear reflections. I was among the ‘flood tourists’ out with phone cameras.

The Thames Valley Croquet Club were able to play on the raised part of their green above the flooded area of Hales Meadow.

The end of Nags Head Island was awash.

Rye Farm Meadow was mostly underwater. At Abingdon Weir, the lock keeper has been busy – not only with his usual duties of flood control but also putting out warning signs to show that the weir path has had to close again.

These snowdrops are just above water.

The Thames Water performance web site says that Farmoor Reservoir was 80% full at the end of January – below the average for that time of year. It looks like the rain is needed.

More Rain Brings Further Flooding

Leave a reply


There was a significant amount of rain on Thursday and Friday, which caused some surface flooding, and further rainfall has continued over the weekend.

The River Stert spilled over its banks near the Motte mound, as it winds through Boxhill Woods.

Meanwhile, the River Ock rose again, once more flooding and closing the Tesco path. The Ock Valley Walk was also under water in places

Another yellow metal plate has been fitted to the wooden bridge near Tower Close to cover the hole highlighted in an earlier blog post.

By-elections to be held in Abingdon Abbey and Northcourt

4 Replies


By-elections will take place in Abingdon on Thursday 12 March 2026, following the resignation of Green Party councillor Cheryl Briggs. Cheryl served as Mayor of Abingdon from 2021 to 2022 and had been a councillor since 2019. In 2025 she was Vice-Chair of the Environment and Amenities Committee and a member of the Community Committee. She was also a district councillor

I took a picture of the Green Party candidate and supporters crossing the Market Place today. They and the Liberal Democrats have already been active. Nominations close on 13 February so we won’t know the full list of candidates until then.

What happened last time: Abbey ward (Town Council, 2023)

Elected

Liberal Democrat – 537 votes (40.5%)
Green Party – 485 votes (36.6%)

Not elected

Labour – 174 votes (13.1%)
Labour – 130 votes (9.8%)

The town council currently has 18 Liberal Democrat councillors and one vacancy.

What happened last time: Abbey Northcourt (District Council, 2023)

Elected

Liberal Democrat – 1,109 votes (34.3%)
Green Party – 948 votes (29.3%)

Not elected

Conservative – 389 votes (12.0%)
Labour – 299 votes (9.3%)
Conservative – 273 votes (8.4%)
Labour – 215 votes (6.7%)

The district council currently has 31 Liberal Democrat councillors, 3 Green councillors, 2 independents, and 2 vacancies.

At the 2019 and 2023 elections, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party each stood one candidate, even though two seats were available. The next full election of town councillors (and possibly district councillors, depending on local government reorganisation) is due in May 2027.

Abbey Gateway with the last of the sun

1 Reply


According to Agnes Baker (¹), access to Abingdon Abbey was once controlled by at least four gateways, of which the surviving Abbey Gateway was the principal entrance.

Above is the Abbey Room; straight ahead stands the Old Abbey House Hotel in Abbey Close; and to the right is the Abbey Hall, home to the Abbey Cinema. Walk on and you reach the Abbey Gardens, and beyond that the Abbey Meadows. Down Checker Walk are the Abbey Buildings that did belong to the Abbey. Even though most of the Abbey has long since vanished, the name Abbey is everywhere.

When I took this picture, on Wednesday, a broad band of late afternoon light stretched down the middle of the gateway. Since then, we have had two days of rain.

¹ Baker, Agnes. Historic Streets of Abingdon. Abingdon: The Abbey Press, 1957.