I was walking around Nags Head Island when somebody asked whether I had seen the otter. He said one visits there.

What I did see was a sunken boat called Wreckless, with a notice fixed to the cabin that began: ‘NOTICE TO REMOVE SUNK, STRANDED OR ABANDONED VESSEL.’

Beneath Abingdon Bridge the water was swirling – dull brown with carried mud. The river is running higher than yesterday and has spilled over the banks in places.

I was also told this evening that Abingdon Bridge is to close for a few days in March. For some, that will mean finding another way to work at Culham that doesn’t involve driving across the bridge. The structure has already seen long restrictions: first with a lane closed during the Covid shutdown, and later when strengthening work was carried out on one of the arches. This time, I understand, inspection work is planned for the other arches.

Water was flowing through the central sluice gates of Abingdon Weir today, but not over the sloping spillway. Often the flow is all the way across.

The footpath across the weir is currently open. It was closed for much of the spring and early summer for safety reasons. People were stopping to watch the large foaming cascade through the gates as they crossed.

The Environment Agency said in early October that the walkway will remain open until river flows increase, but the supporting structure still needs strengthening. Because of this, the walkway remains at risk of temporary closure during high flows or when construction work begins. Once contractors are able to start the strengthening work, the path will need to close again for the duration of the repairs.

If you passed Abingdon Lock today, you may have seen an excavator on a floating barge, pulling mud from the river with its grab.

Silt collects below the weir and has to be cleared to keep the channel deep enough for boats. The spoil is swung either out of the navigation channel or onto the bank that has built up near the lock. That bank seems to grow larger each year and is now a favourite spot for geese. It may also help to keep the silt from drifting back into the channel.

A local passer-by said they remembered the same work being done last summer. The Environment Agency has plenty to do, with flooding sometimes and silt at others. Although this summer has been dry, the river level does not look unusually low on the gauge downstream of Abingdon Lock. However, a notice at the lock warns boaters about shallows along the left bank before Abingdon Bridge.