Author Archives: Backstreeter

Street Lights in the oldest town

Lights on Earlier
The air has cooled down since the thunder and hail storms of Wednesday afternoon.

I went for an evening walk at 8:20 pm and found some street lights were already on; cars already had their lights on.
Lights on Earlier
At St Helen’s Wharf, Plain Trees shade the Victorian-style street lamps, and as a result they are fooled into turning on even earlier.

Thankyou to Rachel at BlueDoor (now in Southampton) for sending me a link to a piece called Don’t call Abingdon ordinary. It is about Abingdon-on-Thames – a town that has been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age and has innovated to survive. The article is written by a Historian on a website called Unherd. Their mission is ‘to push back against the herd mentality with new and bold thinking’

Outdoor Pools in Oxfordshire stay closed in 2020

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Open Air Pool Staying Closed
The outdoor pool in Abingdon has stayed closed this year. The Covid-19 pandemic has shortened the outdoor season and only the indoor pool in Abingdon has reopened now that leisure centres have been allowed to reopen.
adjoining alley
I met Paul Gustafson in town today and he said that other places have managed to open their outdoor pools. Why not Oxfordshire?

The Abingdon outdoor pool is on the banks of the River Thames and Paul said the river is not a safe or clean place to swim. He said that people are using the river in ignorance, and putting their health at risk. Weil’s disease, spread by rat urine in the water, can destroy a person’s health. Boats are finding it difficult to reach places to empty their toilets properly this year, and more human effluent can be seen in the River.

Alley adjoining Pizza Express

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Michael says the manager of the Pizza Express restaurant in Stert Street has just had the vegetation in the adjoining alley cleared up. Michael says It was awful.

Pizza Express reopened the Abingdon branch on August 6th with a physically distanced layout inside, and hand sanitisers.

Barton Fields in August

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I walked round Barton Fields, cared for by the Abingdon Naturalists, today – a hot day in the middle of August. There was purple loosestrife growing in colonies round the ditch that runs near the Thames, and in wetland areas at the centre.

Bees and butterflies were attracted to the loosestrife and also the water mint growing on the wetlands. The smell of mint was refreshing on such a hot day.
Barton Fields
Apples, and hips, hoars, and various berries are nearing maturity. Apples had fallen in some areas.

Blackberries are being harvested by people and birds.

The lower half of the fields, where bindweed tangles with other plants, is lush and green.

The upper half of the field has turned pale gold.
Barton Fields
Despite the heat, runners and cyclists exercised along the cycle path along the top of the meadow.

Hoover Bags and Silhouettes

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Today was another day of blue skies and summer heat. Hoover Bags have a prominent position at the Monday Market in Abingdon.

An ambulance had blocked a FedEx Lorry. Life-saving was making commerce wait – like during the lockdown.

This evening was warm and muggy. I went for a walk and became aware of the bright clouds and silhouettes as I passed the railings near Waitrose.

I started taking pictures of silhouettes – including this silhouetted tree without leaves in the Albert Park.

Another tree had an early autumnal look because of the heat.

It led me to my final silhouette down Spring Road by the cemetery.

The sky bloomed orange for some time after that.

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