Inbetween the brochures and the fire extinguishers, this wll known view of the Thames in Abingdon takes up much of the side wall at the Nationwide Building Society in Abingdon.

Do they do this in all towns?

There are a number of old pubs in Abingdon, although few of them have Ye Olde-Worlde feel. The Black Swan on Bath Street has been trading under that name since at least 1854.

It was sold to Morland in 1869. Back in the 1869 Abingdon directory there were five pubs in Bath Street:

• The Blue Boar (considerably older and still trading)
• Black Swan
• The Cow (no more)
• Three Tuns (no more)
• Horse and Jockey (also older but recently converted to housing)

The Black Swan is near to the shopping precinct. It is a distinguished building, but with an undistinguished supply of billboards advertising Sky Sport big screen, karaoke and the like. A notice in the window says “smoking throughout.”

Like most “Black Swan”s it gets called “Mucky Duck”.

For more on Abingdon pubs there are various pub guides.

The cranbrook was done by a local enthusiast. There are also stufield and beerintheevening and one where the Black Swan management give their own view and lots of information: pub-explorer.

By the time you see this sign at the top of Bridge Street it may well be too late.

There have been some long queues over the last two days. Somebody got out of their car outside our house and asked “Is it always this bad?”

This evening, looking across to The Dil Raj on Ock Street, there is a brand new surface to the road, and not just bits and pieces as has happened up to now while utilities were positioned and islands recreated.

At the junction with Stratton Way, the new tarmac meets unfinshed road. So there looks about as much to do again.

If you have been to Perth in Western Australia then you may well have seen this village. It was first opened on 1st March 2003 and since then is continually being added to.

The Abingdon miniature village web site says “Abingdon Miniature Village is named after the town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, 10 klms south of Oxford on the River Thames and is the oldest continually inhabited town in the UK. Buildings such as the Abingdon County Hall, Church of St Nics and Old Anchor Inn pub have been meticulously reproduced in miniature.”

All three are pictured here, but if you are down that way you will also discover many more buildings including Anne Hathaway’s Cottage – the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

It is rather like the miniature world created at Pendon museum six miles from the real Abingdon in the village of Long Wittenham. In the museum buildings from all over the 1930s Vale of White Horse have been built on one huge Railway layout. Opened in 1954, it is still growing.