The new skatepark has been built in time for the summer holidays. At long last the BMXers, and skaters, can do stunts at places other than the disability ramps and stairwells and boundary walls of Abingdon’s public buildings.
The Skatepark, made from reinforced concrete, can be found next to the Vale leisure centre off Audlett Drive. The Sophos office can be seen in the background.
Coming home tonight, after three muddy days at a festival of World Music , I was suprised to find ‘world music’ happening in the courtyard of the Kings Head and Bell in Abingdon.
There were a group of north country clog dancers called ‘The Old Speckled Hen North West Morris Dancers’. There were also a group of belly dancers in the pub courtyard.
The clog dancers hadn’t come down from Lancashire, nor were the belly dancers Turkish.
The clog dancers said they practice at the Milton Heights Community Centre from September to April at 8 pm, and would welcome new members. The belly dancers meet at the Abingdon Dance Studio off Swinburne Road.
The Abingdon Herald appeared today with five pages of flood pictures.
There has also been the national coverage:
On Tuesay the Daily Telegraph said ‘The Thames in Abingdon, Oxon, rose 3ft in less than 12 hours to a “perilously high” level’
In the Independent yesterday ‘There was an apocalyptic feeling in the town of Abingdon …’
There are still sandbags in the centre of town, some way above the current level of the river. But town people know there is the third town centre river to consider: the River Stert. It runs through an old culvert, and might run awry if pushed back by a high River Thames. Earlier, it too broke its banks upstream.
The River Thames is still high today. Water was washing back up the River Ock towards St. Helens Mill – one of the first places to be evacuated at the weekend.
Last weekend the Ock was full of foam and fury. But not now it flows calmly, draining its flood plain.
The River Thames is also expected to go down in the next couple of days.
This Environment Agency Map will need to be redrawn. It is the map people are shown when doing local area searches before moving house. The River Ock reached further than places shown as ‘extreme flood’ on this map, in areas such as: Ock Street, Spring Road, Marcham Road, Mill Road, Wordsworth Road, Coleridge Road, and all round the Ladygrove Estate. Fortuneately, the Thames and Stert did not get to their pale blue extremes.
The trouble is the pattern could be different next time. So the instant reaction is to improve the River Ock defences. Perhaps the re-built Wilts and Berks canal could act as a drainage channel from the Ock to other farmland and the Thames. Who knows? But what if next time a flash flood causes more problems from the River Stert?
Many of the houses on the Ladygrove Estate have a pile of soggy carpets in the garden. 
Not just soggy carpets, but electrical appliances, sofas, cupboards…
As Anonymous commented yesterday ‘…the sun was out today and the water had receeded a great deal – the ock was now obeying the rules and sticking to it’s own course, leaving behind just a few pools of water to soak into the ground. however, on my walk through I could see many people piling up former possessions in black bags, and the high water marks were all too visible on the houses. the very thought of being flooded out is surreal but for the last 3 nights I had fully expected it. at least I know that my home was safe from some of the worst flooding ever…‘
The army continue to fill sand-bags, and the Vale District Council brought round some more sand-bags today to these people in Francis Little Drive, on Ladygrove. The driver first said it was a precaution.
One woman said “You’re not lieing to us are you. I’ve heard the radio warnings.”
He said, “I can’t say for sure, but you can probably store them away in your garage for next time they’re needed.”