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.

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.

New Government rules requiring customers to wear face coverings in shops came into effect today – 24th July. Mostly Books, and some other shops had reminders in their windows. The gov.uk webpage has the full details.

From about 30% of people wearing face coverings in shops yesterday in Abingdon it looked like everybody had one today, and many people were not taking them off between shops, or were leaving them dangling round their necks.

If you cough (or breath out) and have Covid-19 and are asymptomatic, the face covering protects others.

The covering should also provide some protection from Coronavirus in the air, but anybody wearing it round their neck can contaminate the inside of the covering.

On any other late May Bank Holiday Monday the sunny weather could not have been more perfect.

We went out fairly early for a walk – before the bank holiday crowds arrived in Abingdon-on-Thames.

In any normal year the Open Air Pool would have been open by this bank holiday weekend and people queuing to get in.

At the weir and elsewhere coloured origami boats had been hung.

A message said Covid-19 has changed our lives. What would people like to carry forward into their lives post lockdown? Write it on a boat!

There were some cannoists at the weir but not a lot of surf. On a normal bank holiday people could have stood on the path over the weir to watch them. This year I took a quick picture and hurried across because people might be waiting to come across from the far side.

We saw swans with cygnets like other years.

At Swift Ditch there were balloons.

The lockdown was recently eased by the government. Now we can drive to take our walks and even relax in the sun. Rye Farm car park was filling up as people headed for the sunny wide open spaces near the river banks in Abingdon.

Bank Holiday Motorbikes roared through town, and people watched with their takeaway coffees.

And here is a video of Abingdon late in the evening with a walking talking commentary about night life during the shutdown.