The windows of the Blue Boar pub in Bath street have been covered with sheets from the Sun Newspaper. And a blackboard has been put up saying “Closed for Re…” I Couldn’t make out the remainder of the word, whether it was redecoration, repainting, restoration, renovation, or repair…

.. or even rest, recovery and recuperation. The Blue Boar is an old pub, over 500 years old, with an extension at the back. So sometimes you can experience
an olde worlde open fire, but at other times Big Screen Football or Saturday Night Fever. Perhaps the old building needs a rest and a chance to recuperate after the long summer.

Another pub going through a renovation is the Old Anchor on St Helens Wharf. In January, the pub was looking for a new landlord. The new landlords, who took over in March or April, seem to be doing well, and the pub is thriving again, particularly on Thursday evening when there is a quiz. In their case I can see that half the roof tiles have been replaced so they are re-roofing. The sign in the middle of the scaffold says “Open as Usual.”

The horse chestnut leaves are beginning to look ragged, and the conker cases are dropping to the ground.

They have had a difficult year. Horse Chestnuts are not that good at coping with droughts.

But despite that they have done their most important function and produced lots of conkers for school children. The odd ones might get missed and turn into new trees.

There is a particularly well set out avenue of horse chestnut trees near the top end of Audlett Drive. On one side of Audlett Drive the avenue leads to a style and then to Thrupp Lane.

And on the other side of Audlett Drive the trees lead towards the Radley Road. But before Radley Road you will see a road, appropriately named ‘The Chestnuts’.

Follow the Sustrans Cycle path, past the Science Park and Barton Meadows, and it eventually goes past some old gravel lakes. Some have already been filled in with fly ash from Didcot Power Station. But two at the far end, near where the Cycle Path emerges in Thrupp Lane(pictured here), are still intact as thriving lakes.

Since these two lakes are now about forty years old and fairly mature habitats they are important to Wildlife.

There is a lot of local anger that the largest will soon be fenced off, and pumped full of sterile fly ash. A long campaign and a huge petition has failed to stop RWE NPower. Oxfordshire County Council has allowed the planning application.

These pictures are of Thrupp Lake. I was down there this morning. There were flocks of long tailed tits. There were also many water birds.

In the same week as allowing the filling with fly-ash, the County designated the Lakes a County Wildlife area – a day or two too late to effect their planning colleagues.

Notices like this, are there, presumably to warn RWE NPower .

Yesterday the Save Radley Lakes campaign held an autumn fair in the Guildhall to raise money to help pay legal bills.

Adam Guillain was doing a very animated book reading at Mostly Books. If you are not six, or don’t have a six year old child, let me say: Adam writes and tells adventures about Bella Balistica who gets all over the world. Most recently she had a footballing adventure in Brazil.

Adam’s books were on display in the window, together with lots of Roald Dahl books. They fit well together as Adam works as writer in residence at the Roald Dahl Museum.

We are used to all sorts of book readings and book signings in Oxford, but now at Mostly Books it is also “happening” in Abingdon. Lets hope that it is the start of great things for both them and the Book Store who have a book signing in two weeks time.