There are a lot of fish to be seen in the River Ock.

I believe they are attracted by the faster water when they are spawning. For the last few weeks, possibly tailing off about now, large numbers of fish could be seen shoaled together in a short stretch of shallow water.

There is no fishing from March 15th to June 15th because it’s the Close Season.

Sailing boats are often to be seen out on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings on the River Thames in Abingdon.

But there were no sailing boats out on the river this Wednesday evening. I saw only a couple of canoeists paddling back to base as the rain swept in.

Inside the Sailing Clubhouse the lights were on. It had turned into a social evening rather than one for tacking and jibing.

By the way, they did tell me, there is to be an Abingdon Watersports Activity Day at the Sailing Club at Wilsham Road on 11th July, between 10 and 3. It is a chance to try out sailing (with the Abbey Sailing Club) , rowing (with the Abingdon Rowing Club ) , and canoeing (with the Kingfisher Canoe Club ). The three water sport clubs share this area of riverbank off Wilsham Road with the army.

The plot of land fronting Penlon Place looks like it is completed.

The delay was reported by the Herald back in March – one company went out of business and after some legalities, the sister company, Barretts, completed the work.

It has been two years since the work started.

During the floods in 2007 this play area was under water, and again this year.

Late last summer the project began to put in new equipment. The site got cleared. The contractors – for whatever reason – took longer than planned. It may have been recession related. When they did put in the equipment the ground was wet and the matting did not lie flat.
So there has been a wait for warmer weather so that the ground can be levelled. It finally opened a few weeks ago with a new style information sign.