Both pigeons and gulls seem to like standing in line together. This gull was standing with some pigeons on the Wilsham Road fence. What was it thinking?
The moment I got near, the gull flew off, and the pigeons remained standing. That helped sort the gull from the pigeons.
RAF Abingdon opened 90 years ago on 1st September 1932, and Elizabeth Drury has made a display in Abingdon Library to remember the date. The RAF base was initially home to bombers. From World War Two, bombers on active service were transferred to the east of the country, and training of bomber crews happened at RAF Abingdon. In 1948, RAF aircraft flew from Abingdon to West Berlin to drop food supplies around the clock to break the siege.
The Queen and Prince Philip visited RAF Abingdon in 1968 for the RAF’s Golden Jubilee.
The RAF Abingdon base closed as a result of Glasnost (Russian for openness), the peace dividend following the opening of the USSR to democracy, on 15th December 1992.
(Picture of the Queen’s visit from The Reading Evening Post – 4th July 1991 – thanks to www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. The RAF badge is part of the display at Abingdon Museum.)
The second day of the fair was sunny, and here are pictures of a few of the rides. This is Formula 1, at the junction of Stratton Way. Policemen directing traffic was once an ordinary sight and is remembered on this ride.
The vendor of balloons was outside The Grapes and is not a ride unless you are a very small person and get carried away.
This is Extreme Power outside the Fire Station, and it swings high from side to side and has light effects.
Extreme was nearby. It goes round, at a slight angle, while the seats twirl.
Super Trooper was outside Pizza Hut and it goes up and down and round.
A view of a helter-skelter and Storm near Reeves Fish and Chips. Storm is like a huge propellor with people in baskets at each tip.
Body Count by St Nicolas Church goes around and tilts from horizontal to vertical.
They were all here today and will be gone by the early hours of tomorrow.
The Abingdon Michaelmas Fair opened this Monday with blue skies. Back in Victorian times, and before, this would have also been a hiring fair where farm workers could have found employment for the next year but these days it is a fun fair
with rides from the Market Place
through the Square
to the end of Ock Street
with burger and sweet seller stalls
with restaurants offering street food
and amusements throughout the day
and into the night.