Monthly Archives: August 2017

Lock Keeper of the Year

Lock Keeper of the Year
On visiting Abingon Lock today we saw the Esme Dowling shield. Richard Hawkin, and Frank Jordan have been awarded the prestigious Lock Keeper of the Year award for Abingon Lock. There was a big presentation a couple of weeks ago.
Lock Keeper of the Year
At Abingon Lock a lot of boats were passing through the lock gates on the hottest day since the start of the school summer holidays.
Lock Keeper of the Year
The Esme Dowling Award for Lock Keeper of the Year is voted for by members of APCO Hotelboats. The award is for outstanding customer care and performance and is open to all lock keepers on the UKs inland waterways.

300th anniversary of the Freemasons

2017 marks the 300th anniversary of the Freemasons in this country. That makes Freemasonry older than the American Republic. George Washington, the first President of the USA, was a Freemason.

To coincide with the anniversary there was a five part documentary on Sky TV giving an insight into the ancient rituals and practices of the this band of brothers.
300th anniversary of  the Freemasons
To mark the anniversary the three different Abingdon Freemasonary lodges joined together for an outreach event on the Market Place today. A lodge is the basic organisational unit, and the three Abingdon Lodges are:
* Abbey Lodge
* St Edmund Lodge
* St Swithun’s Lodge

They had a sign the read ‘Don’t wait to be asked’, and were there to tell people more about themselves, and why they had joined. They told me that they do a lot for charity, not collecting from the general public but raising money through their own events. One recent event was a charity horse racing night. One charity they currently support is the Abingdon Bridge who offer help for Abingdon young people living through difficult circumstance.

At the end of the day they had met eleven people who expressed an interest in finding out more, and met with a large number of people.

I was also asked  to mention an upcoming concert in aid of the Abingdon Bridge. It can be found at https://www.abingdon.org.uk/future_events on November 3rd. The Abingdon School Big Band will perform,  and be joined by Joe Stilgoe, an internationally acclaimed singer, pianist and song writer.

Sunset over the Marina

Sunset over the Marina
The swan, and two cygnets, caught by the swan uppers about three weeks ago have not been scared away from the Marina by the experience. They were back again this evening.
Sunset over the Marina
A little way behind was the other parent swan, keeping a distance.
Sunset over the Marina
When they were gone there was just the view of a sunset over the Marina.

Spiders’ webs and water vegetation

River Walk
Some of us may be back at work but others are still enjoying their holidays – passing under Abingdon Bridge or through Abingdon Lock.
River Walk
I was struck by how many spiders there are on the framework of Abingdon Lock and Weir. Spiders’ webs join one another, sometimes in the most precarious of places.
River Walk
A rolling stone may gather no moss, but this year many plants have taken root above the water rolling over the weir.
River Walk
The mill stream is more overgrown than ever with trees and branches fallen down and water vegetation growing up.