The second set of Abingdon Lock Gates were being lowered back into position today after their inspection and refurbishment at Sunbury.

Then began the work of connecting everything back together again so that the gates would open and close, and hold back water.

The lock keeper and volunteers are working hard to clear round the overflow channel that flows from upstream of the lock to rejoin the Thames by a culvert beneath the lock. This channel has been hidden for many years.

This channel was previously crossed by a wooden bridge, but in the 1960s a more solid path was engineered with a culvert beneath. The recent clearance has revealed the large rocks of a former rock garden – the work of a previous Lock keeper.

Steve sent me a picture of a yellow survey boat that he saw motoring up and down between Abingdon Lock and Culham Lock today. He did not say what it was surveying, but the colour indicates it is nothing Top Secret.