This is Jamie on his way to the Brewery Tap last Sunday lunchtime. Jamie was dragging his owners – he was so keen to get to the Tap and possibly a few morsels of Sunday Roast under the table. He enjoys going to all the Abingdon pubs, especially those that do good traditional food.
I met Jamie and owners coming through the Brewery housing development – near the Barrel sculpture.
I had been taking a picture of the magnificent building behind.
As I walked out this evening the sun had already gone down, and the air was quite smokey from one of the boats moored by the Abbey Meadows.
Over the lock, and heading back along the far bank an orange halo still showed behind the distant steeple of St Helen’s Church. Two runners came the other way.
Getting nearer Abingdon Bridge and the lights of Nags Head Island made quite a show.
Inky blue clouds were reflected in the River Thames all around.
The clocks go forward this weekend so there is every chance the evening walk next week will be in daylight.
On Saturday morning I caught the start of the 5km Parkrun that starts at Rye Farm Meadow at 9am. The race director welcomed runners from lots of different places including Didcot, Oxford, and the University of Birmingham. He also gave an update on the course conditions, and a notice about lost property.
Then he lined them all up
and they were off …
The runner with the fastest time, from Headington Road Runners, came in at 17:46. The last and 349th runner to finish had a time of 51:37.
Also there watching the race was Paul Gustaffson, the author of the Eggbert’s Adventures books. I saw him later that morning at the Charter where the Abingdon Community Hospital Friends had a fund raiser. Paul has been organising the World ‘Eggbert’s Adventures’ Egg and Spoon championship on 15th April in the Abbey Meadows. He was scouting out the 5km run at Rye Farm in case the venue needed to be changed to somewhere bigger.
On the Market Place yesterday there was a single gazebo publicising the ATOM Festival of Science Technology.
Next Saturday there will be a dozen, possibly eighteen stalls, with free science activities in the open air. There will also be a variety of talks and science activities from 22nd to 26th March. All can be seen on the ATOM Website.
Meanwhile down on the River Thames members of the Abingdon Rowing Club were out checking the course for the upcoming Abingdon Spring Head on Sunday 9th April. It is a great spectacle when rowers race the 2000 metres from Culham Reach to Wilsham Road in a mass time trial. They start at the following times:
Division 1 – 09.30
Division 2 – 11.45
Division 3 – 14.00
Division 4 – 16.15
You can watch from either bank.