Practising photography skills at Dalton Barracks

Zac and Ted were practising their photography skills earlier in the week from near Dalton Barracks military base, near Abingdon

Below Martin’s calendar of photographs of Abingdon for 2022, Masters of the Air, a book about world war two, can be seen in the window of the Bookstore in Abingdon. It is being made into a TV series at Dalton Barracks.

Lots of people can practise their photography skills at Dalton Barracks on 11th September when the The Abingdon Air and Country Show takes place. I would be glad to feature pictures that people send me at backstreet60@gmail.com as I am working that day and will probably not get there.

Little Tea Room closing

The Little Tea Room in East St Helen Street closes on 28th August.

This is so that Claire, Louise, and the team can spend more time with family members. Covid has also made the future very uncertain and tough for small independents. During the lockdown, they adapted by selling takeaway boxes.

Many customers visited the Little Tea Room for the last time and booked in advance, and so places have been limited in the last week.

An example of what was on offer is shown above. This is just one of 6 menus. There are a huge variety of sandwiches and teas.

New boardwalk on the Thames Path

Contractors have created a new boardwalk on the Thames Path in Abingdon in the last week. The path becomes very wet at this point, near Barton Fields, during the winter months. The recycled plastic boards will not rot in damp conditions.

There have been signs warning of the pending work since last October but it must be easier to do the work during these dry summer months. The contractors have also filled in a few other sections with gravel.

(Thanks to Martin for letting me know).

Abingdon Lock walk returning by Kingfisher Barn

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We saw Frank and other volunteers at Abingdon Lock today. Frank said that every day he sees somebody or a boat, that he has not seen since the first lockdown.

Salter Steamers are no longer running the daily Oxford to Abingdon service. They only come to Abingdon if they get a party booking. The Salter Steamer website says they only run the Oxford – Abingdon service if they get Pre Booked Groups of 40 or more. They seem to be running more round trips centered on Oxford including the Alice in Wonderland Cruise – a 2.5-hour round trip taking in views of Iffley Lock and Port Meadow.

There are lots of boats passing through Abingdon Lock. Last weekend they had 19 boats meeting near the Lock – all of the same boat type. Frank did say but my memory is not sure. It could have been Fairline.

Upstream from Abingdon Lock, a boat that sank over nine months ago is still there as a floating island.

Walking back along the track towards Abingdon the harvest happened early in August and the straw has been baled and taken away.

A crop of beans has been left unharvested. There is probably a very good reason for this. Beans help fix nitrates in the soil for the next crop.