Author Archives: Backstreeter

Staying cool on a hot day in Abingdon

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Monday is typically the busiest day in Abingdon. The prospect of high temperatures today meant the Monday Market in Abingdon was quiet. Some stalls didn’t open, and people mostly stayed away.

The fish van came down from Grimsby with its built-in refrigeration.

The bread stall braved the rising temperatures.

St Nicolas was a cool place to be with the thick stone walls and small windows keeping it cool. The Co-op was another. The chiller cabinets kept the aisle temperature well below outside.

The Open Air Pool has been filled with water but will not open until the 25th of July. Exams are over for many young people, and some were swimming in the River Thames nearby. By the afternoon, there was more of a breeze.

As forest fires endanger life and property in France, forecasters forecast more heat in Abingdon tomorrow. The museum will be closed, and there will be no Preston Road Community Centre Bingo. A few town centre shops are closing early today and tomorrow.

Refuse plastic, jumble sale, and England’s women

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There was a stall on Abingdon Market Place this morning. Abingdon Carbon Cutters have the slogan ‘Refuse, Reduce, Refill and Re-use.”

They want to encourage people to refuse and reduce new plastic, and where that is impossible, re-use many times, and finally recycle.

For activities on the stall, Busby’s beeswax with cloth was being made into an alternative wrapping. There was also a quiz to take away and find out what Abingdon businesses are doing to reduce plastic.

Also, in town, The Salvation Army had an all-day jumble sale with bric-a-brac and clothes.

The England Flag is flying over the County Hall museum during the Women’s EURO 2022 football tournament. The England women’s team started well, winning all three group matches scoring 14 goals with 0 against.

From the County Hall museum roof, there is no sign of the Abingdon Bridge repairs.

The view of Didcot Power Station shows three chimneys.

Farmers’ Market – 3rd Friday of the Month

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The Abingdon Farmers’ Market was held today (Friday 15th July) from 8.30am until 1.30pm in Abingdon Market Place.
I counted fifteen stalls. The Farmer’s Market is held on the third Friday of each month, so the 15th is the earliest day it can be.

One well know stall is Busby’s Bees. Here are two Busbys. The younger one runs Busby Dance classes, and the older one runs Busby Bees.

I saw these two books next to each other in the library and, hoping to learn more about bees, borrowed them.

The Steam Plough and steam ploughing

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The pioneer of the steam plough was John Fowler of Leeds, according to wikipedia, who used steam engines and a winch from 1850 to mechanise agriculture. One steam engine pulled a plough across a field using a wound cable, and another steam engine pulled the plough back. In the early twentieth century, steam ploughs were superseded by tractors, powered by internal combustion engines. They are more like horses or oxen.

The Steam Plough pub in Abingdon was opened around 1873 and closed in the 1920s. The pub’s era fits within the age of steam ploughing.

The Steam Plough’s extrovert brickwork wants to be noticed. The Victorian-era brick patterning off Broad Street in Abingdon is called Victoria House and is at Number 10 Broad Street.