The Town pays tribute

The town pays tribute
As the Queen led the national tribute at London, we like many other cities, towns, and villages gathered at our war memorial at 11am this morning to remember those who have fallen in conflicts, and those serving in areas of conflict. Many people were there to pay tribute.
The town pays tribute
Abingdon Town Band led the parade followed by serving soldiers from Dalton Barracks.
The town pays tribute
Many uniformed organisations followed, and veterans from WWII.

Reverend Charles Miller led the prayers at the start. At 11 the last post was played, and two minutes silence followed, at the end of which a glider flew over. Wreaths were then laid, first by the Mayor and Royal British Legion, then by other organisations – as Abingdon Band played solemn music. Finally we sang God Save the Queen.
The town pays tribute
It was significant this year that Remembrance Sunday coincided with Armistice Day – 11/11. It was also significant that two visitors representing our twin town Schongau, in Germany, were there. Also significant was that so many young people took part. I was struck by the quiet dignity of many of them during the service.

The Future is Yellow. Let The Force be with you.

The Future is Yellow
Last week the gas mains work moved from East St Helen to St Helen’s Wharf – black pipes are still being replaced with yellow.
The Future is Yellow
Sorry to have missed Darth Vadar today at the Abingdon BookStore signing copies of the book “Straight from the Force’s Mouth”. Thanks to @loagsmum from Twitter for the picture. Let the Force be with you.

Abingdon Hydro Plans now on the planning portal

Abingdon Hydro
The planning application for Abingdon Hydro has been published this month on the district council planning portal.
Abingdon Hydro
The foreward says The generation of hydro electricity from the River Thames using two Archimedes screws. In addition the site will have publicly accessible observation platform an information centre for visiting groups, and a fish pass in the form of a meandering stream. The land has a public footpath (which will be retained) but it does not currently have any other use.

The end of consultation is 5th December and the expected decision is 27th December.

** As with the application for 160 homes it includes a bat survey. There must be money to be made for surveying bats.

Ash Trees to Treasure

Ash Tree
This group of Ash Trees on the other side of the River Thames look wonderful at the moment on their soft blanket of fallen leaves.
Ash Tree
But no ash tree however big or small is safe. National new stories say that the Chalara fraxinea fungus, which causes leaf loss and crown dieback and leads to the death of ash trees, has spores borne on the wind and could soon blow our way. So I have started treasuring the ash trees while they are still with us. More ash tree pictures in the spring.