Author Archives: Backstreeter

75th Anniversary of the end of WWII

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At 11am, to remember the end of the war and all who had died, ‘The Last Post’ and the ‘Reveille’ were played by Alison Rich of Abingdon Town Band.
VJ-Day
Wreaths were then laid at Abingdon’s War Memorial by the Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames, Councillor Charlie Berks, and the Chair of Vale of White Horse District Council, Councillor Margaret Crick.

The tenor bell tolled at St Helen’s Church followed by the chime of the tenor at St Nicolas Church, 75 times between them.

Here is a short video of the ceremony and the bells.

Street Lights in the oldest town

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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.
Lights on 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’

Chamber of Commerce
P.S. Greg and Rachel used to run BlueDoor Lettings in Stert Street and were very active in Abingdon town life. They had an amusing blog – the confessions of a letting agent. Greg was the front man, and is seen here with Mike Moon in 2011 at a local event.

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