Abingdon Honours Local Hero and Gears Up for Poppy Appeal

Leave a reply


This photo is a reminder of June and the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. There was the unveiling of the Abingdon Royal British Legion’s bar, named after 20-year-old Abingdon airman Ray “Bunny” Belcher, one of the first casualties of D-Day. Club members, in vintage dress, hosted a cream tea party for veterans and raised £500 for the Poppy Appeal through badge sales and donations. Pictured are veteran paratrooper and poppy collector Alan Calver, and club member Lou Hayden (photo by Geoff Smith).

Now, Clare Oldfield, organiser of the Abingdon Poppy Appeal, sets her sights on the October 24th Poppy Appeal launch. She is looking for passionate volunteers to join the team, raising vital funds to support the Armed Forces community.

Clare also mentions that the RBL bar is not just for ex military people. It is open seven days a week and welcomes everyone. Enjoy activities like darts, pool, snooker, Aunt Sally, crib, and music nights.

Contact abingdon.poppies@gmail.com to volunteer or learn more.

Sunny September Day at Abingdon-on-Thames

1 Reply


Temperatures soared to about 28 degrees Celsius today, making it a warm start to September.

Earlier this week, Frank spotted the Canal Boat Diaries crew passing through Abingdon Lock. The lock was busier today. I was interested by a narrowboat, called Helios, powered entirely by the sun.

There were free cooking apples on offer at the lock. I took three and after cutting out the bad bits had the equivalent of two.

The Mill Stream swan family has expanded, and now number two adults and nine cygnets. I wonder if the five cygnets spotted without a parent last week have joined them.

St Ethelwolds Garden – August 2024

Leave a reply


Two weeks ago, I saw John Killick at the Climate Emergency Centre offering Biodiversity tours of St Ethelwolds Garden. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time then, and have popped down since but not found him again. Maybe I’ll do a report on Biodiversity in September.

I noticed that some parts of the garden, once vibrant, are now ripening with lots of seeds.

The south facing orange yellow border is a bright as ever

as is the border of white flowers with pots of Cosmos along the side of the house.

The herb garden has the refreshing scent of mint and chives.

There aren’t many birds, probably because people are usually around. There are lots of bees and flies and spiders, but few wasps. There have been more headlines about the disappearance of wasps. “Where have all the wasps gone?”

The other noticeable feature of August are the maturing fruit such as these apples.

Visitors don’t usually pick the fruit themselves but are welcome to the windfalls and teasle cuttings.

Swan Injured Near St Helens Wharf, Abingdon

3 Replies


At approximately 4:00 pm today, I saw an adult swan with five cygnets. The adult had blood on its back.

Concerned about the swan’s welfare, I searched for a swan rescue organization and landed on swansupport.org.uk and they answered immediately. Upon mentioning my location in Abingdon, the call handler said they were already aware of the injured swan and rescuers would soon be there.

Later, I saw the five cygnets alone, without the adult swan. The injured adult was probably receiving treatment, and the cygnets were fending for themselves for the time being. Some people speculated a dog attack might be the cause of the injury but we didn’t know.