The view looking down the river has hardly changed since 1981. But 25 years ago (give or take a week):

• The Old Gaol was closing for three months to be redecorated (In 2006 it has been closed for three years looking for a new use)
• Personnel from RAF Abingdon paraded past the County Hall to celebrate 41 years since the Battle of Britain (this year we will see two army parades)
• The County Council told the District Council that if Abingdon continued to expand so quickly it would have to get developers to fork out more towards creating new roads and infrastructure (In 2006 the County Council recoups some money by selling off the Kingfisher site on Blacknall Road to private developers.)
• Local people presented a petition protesting about the proposed building of 1,000 new homes on the land of Long Furlong Farm (Assuming this was the Long Furlong Estate ,people were given a say in that development and in 2006 we can see it turned out very well. )
• The new Cross Roads garage had opened on Drayton Road and promised alongside the cars, pleasant floral displays to brighten up the road ( the garage closed this year but Abingdon still has lots of blooms)
• 60,000 people went to the RAF Abingdon air show. The high point was a display by the red arrows. (this year the RAF return-show did not quite come off but we are told it will happen next year, and we do have Abingdon Fayre – a runaway self-generated success)



• Animal rescuer, Albert Honey, was appealing in the Abingdon Herald for people out fishing to be more considerate towards swans (Last week in the Abingdon Herald we had “Plea for Anglers to take care of Swans” this time from animal resuer Diana Davies.)
• In 1981 Barratts were building riverside homes (They are back doing the same thing)

This is not the new seat on the Ock Valley Walk. It is the seat nearest the town end of the Ock Valley walk. Strange objects often appear next to it. Usually they are the cast-offs from drinking or smoking or eating activities, but this time we have a single child’s shoe.

Neither is this the new seat, although it was recently given a new coat of black paint to hide the postbox red beneath. It is situated just past the little weir and pool area near Meadowside. It looks better black, but as you can see the paint can be scratched off to reveal the red beneath.

These seats are new, and like much of the River Walk are the idea of our current Mayor Peter Green. They are recycled willow trees trunks, and form a small theatre area for visiting school children.

Finally, here is the new seat on the Ock Valley Walk. It is black like the first, stylish like the first, and donated by a chap who loved the walk.

The open air pool has already closed for the season, and today was the last day that the kiosk was open – to hire out golf and tennis equipment. The man in charge said that August had been fairly quiet, but that today was fantastic. Perhaps, a combination of lots of sunshine, and this being the last chance saloon.

This group are teeing off for the first hole. The youngest lad took three or four swings before hitting the ball, but then hit it well enough to end up in the mill stream – thats the shade in the distance.

The play park and water jets were also popular, and beside the victorian lake, a large game of rounders was happening.

Over the other side of the river, it was heaving with boats. I’ve not seen many busier days all summer.

The Friends of Abingdon have given four days free entry to the Abbey Buildings, coinciding with heritage weekend.

You may wonder what these medieaval ladies are doing in the Abbey. Well, lady visitors were allowed to the Abbey. The Abbott was a power in the land, and his quarters became a hub of entertainment, and saw many Lords and Ladies and Royalty.

The oldest part of the remaining Abbey Buildings is the Undercroft – a stone vaulted area. Today, were displayed, large black and white pictures of the buildings in various states of repair. And a table with bread and cheese and grapes had been laid for a very authentic lunch.

The cheeses were bought yesterday from the Normandy Market. In the times of the Abbey people from the continent would bring wares to trade at important places like Abingdon Abbey. So French cheese was perhaps not too far fetched.

I just love the long gallery, but still struggle to get a half-decent picture. The passageway on the right would have given access to a number of rooms on the left, but nowadays it is just one big space – already featured in an earlier post as an exhibiton venue.

I know there were medieaval wall painting in yesterday’s post, but I did not want to leave out these wall paintings.

Lastly can I thank the Friends of Abingdon for all the help and information. They were really nice friendly people. Abingdon is well befriended.