After a week away

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We are back in Abingdon after a week away. The X2 bus driver at Oxford Station said that a lot of petrol stations in the area have run out of fuel. He put it down to panic buying. The Vineyard Service Station was not selling fuel this morning.

There are signs in the Vineyard warning that the road will be closed on 4th October for the Womens Cycle Tour. The Cycle Tour begins in Oxfordshire on Day 1, starting in Bicester. The race will head south to Culham and Abingdon, then north to finish in Banbury. The route through Abingdon is Bridge Street, Stert Street (wrong way), Stratton Way,  Bath Street, and Wootton Road.

Also on 4th October, Abingdon Street Fair will shut High Street, Ock Street, and part of Stratton way. The signs, this year, make it the Longest Street Fair in the UK – 1½ mile !

Mass Performance on Abingdon Market Place

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Leanne sent me pictures from Abingdon Market Place on Friday.

Radley College have been going round primary schools as part of ‘Music Flood: Primary School Music Week’. This involved musical performances and workshops in primary schools in Abingdon, involving over 2000 students, to help get music making back into schools.

The final event was a mass performance on Abingdon Market Place.

Fabulous Flowers at Chelsea Flower Show

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Chelsea Flower Show – The results
21st September 2021 by The British Florists Association

Fabulous Flowers got a Silver-Gilt award in the Floral Installation category. You can see their fabulous installation as the first and best picture at https://www.britishfloristassociation.org/for-the-industry/chelsea-flower-show-the-results/.

The picture above is the Abingdon shop on Saturday.

Abbey Fish Ponds – September 2021

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When I visited the Abbey Fish Ponds nature reserve last week there were 20 volunteers from the Earth Trust cutting back grass, and some of the summer growth, using scythes, clippers, and rakes. At lunch time they all gathered for sandwiches.

It was a sunny day and, as I passed the ponds that are closest to the path, I could see more dragon flies than on any previous monthly visit.

They did not settle for long.

A pair were flying quite slowly together linked from tail to head.

This video shows an attempt to chase a flitting dragonfly with a camera phone.

There were still a lot of blackberries and other fruit such as these haws next to the spider’s web.

The stream, through the reserve, is culverted for a short way before emerging, under the Radley Road, into the reserve.

The stream is wider where it leaves the reserve, under Audlett Drive, having been joined by at least one spring.