Back from holiday, and I see the first small stretch of the Wilts and Berks canal has been opened. The previous post in August was when the canal was under construction.

The first stretch runs from the Thames and ends at this circular widening, just short of a lake used by a fishing syndicate. Peep-o-day lane has been cleared of undergrowth by Sustrans. But it looks like it has been windy as the path is newly strewn with leafy twigs, acorns, and crab-apples.

Lock Keepers are similar to Light House keepers. They live in a remote place away from civilisation, and care for boats.

Lock Keepers also sell ice creams and post cards in the summer , and appear to compete with other Lock Keepers to have the best display of busy lizzies.

High water and flooding can be a problem. In 1947, the Lock Keeper at Abingdon had to get another high-water mark sign fitted to show that it had been almost the equal of 1894. That was before this cottage was build by The Thames Conservancy.

This is the little shack from where the Lock keeper sells ice-cream and post cards to us land lubbers. He serves the boating fraternity by keeping a water point, refuse disposal, elsan/sewage disposal and maps and information.

The Lock makes this boat and the swans, passing through, look small. But it is a much smaller lock than Iffley upstream. The current Lock was rebuilt by Thames Conservancy in 1905

Here the swans float out, with the boat, towards Abingdon a half mile away. The day generally begins at 9, and ends at about 6 for the Lock Keeper. Most boats have moored for their evening meal by then.

The Lock machinery is hydraulic and does not need brute strength anymore.

Not far away, in swift ditch ,are the walls of one of the earliest chamber locks on the Thames – built in the 1600s. Perhaps the earliest surviving remnant of a chamber lock in Europe.

Stratton House in Bath Street is another of the large 18th Century houses build by the Tompkins family. They must have built well, given the number that survive (this one is from the 1720s).

It is the Office of Challenor & Son, Solicitors.

Looking through the book ‘The origins of the street names of Abingdon.’ by John McGowan, there are two streets in Abingdon that have been named after a well known Challenor & Son from the past.

There is Norman Avenue which runs between the Oxford Road and the Radley Road – a proper tree-lined Avenue – named after Norman Challenor, who used to own the land. It is pictured here.

And there is Challenor Close, near the marina, named after Norman’s father: Bromley Challenor. Bromley was Abingdon town clerk, Workhouse Clerk, solicitor, churchwarden, benefactor, author of ‘Selections from the Records of the Borough of Abingdon from AD 1555 to AD 1807′ etc etc.

And on the subject of street names, Stratton Way is named after Stratton House. Stratton Way is the central road that is to become two way at the end of September 2006…

This Ordnance Survey explorer map covers: Abingdon, Wantage & Vale of White Horse (and also includes the Thames Path and The Ridgeway).

The map is pictured, for effect, on the worn surface of The Ridgeway – a prehistoric high road above the Berkshire Downs.

The closest section of the Ridgeway to Abingdon is approached through East Hendred, and along a straight tree-lined road that ends at a little shadey car-park with a warning about not leaving valuables in your car.

The rolling view of the ridgeway is seen walking east. Looking down you can see the Diamond Light Source. (Acknowledgements to The Diamond Light Source for the picture.) Very soon it will be operational and experimentation can begin.

Abingdon itself is built on an area of Kimmeridge Clay and the Berkshire Downs are largely chalk. The Diamond Light Source contains