It is the late May Bank Holiday Weekend and the Salter Steamer river services between Abingdon and Oxford have started again.

At Abingdon Lock, River Banksy has created a couple of new sculptures for the new boating season.

The Open Air pool has opened. There were some bands playing at the Crown and Thistle. And Bank Holiday Monday will have free walks put on by the Friends of Abingdon.

There will be guided walks leaving the Market Place at 10.30 and 14.00. Morning walks are:

1556 Boundary Walk – with a Town Councillor and a Town Crier
Lost Abbey Tour – with a member of the Twin Towns Society
Alternative Flowerbeds – with Abingdon Carbon Cutters
Rivers of Abingdon – with an enthusiast from the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust

and in the afternoon there will be:

A Wildlife Walk to Radley Lakes – with Abingdon Naturalists
Abingdon’s Industrial Past walk – with the Town Archivist
Art About Abingdon walk – with the ‘Backstreeter’ (the Abingdon blogger)

When it comes to the ‘Art About Abingdon walk’ I will not have all the answers. Blacksmith artist Jon Mills created the railings near Waitrose but I cannot work out what he had in mind with that rectangle with holes.

That animal on the left is very familiar too but, as I write up my notes for the walk, I cannot remember why.

There was plenty going on today on Abingdon Market Place today. There were stalls (quite a few of them with chilli).

Some were serving hot food (Indian and Wood fired pizza). There were not as many BBQ stalls as hoped for, but then the main caterer dropped out at the last moment.
Hedges, the Abingdon Butcher (normally to be found along Queen Street) had a selection of meats for the home BBQ.

There were fun stalls and rides.

There was also a bar, and music including Tom Hingley and the Kar-pets. Tom was born in Abingdon, and left to find fortune in Manchester where he became the lead singer of the 90’s group the Inspiral Carpets.

The event was organised by Yummy Events who also organise the Abingdon Chilli Festival.

The young lady who organised it was upset that her BBQ caterer could not make it, and about letting some people down, but there was sunshine and excellent music. It was another good day on Abingdon Market Place thanks to her.

There is a lot on this week in Abingdon for Dementia Action Week. The full list is http://www.healthyabingdon.org.uk/dementia-action-week.htm. I went into the Roysse Room on Monday where there were a number of interesting stalls. Omni have a motion activated projector which allows people to interact with lots of different images and games. It can be used in care and educational settings.
The Alzheimer’s Society had a stall telling of their support and research.

Today I attended a very interesting Dementia Awareness session at 35 Ock Street. We learned more about what it is like to live with dementia and looked at ways to turn that understanding into action, recognising there is more to a person than the dementia. See Dementia Friends to find out more.