Newcomer reported that, on Thursday Morning, he saw a lot of water birds on the slope of Abingdon Weir at 9 am. They were enjoying the slow water flow and eating the water weed from the flow. He did not have his Apple phone with him.
Hoping for a picture, I went there this morning. Instead of many birds, a family of ducks was resting on the weir substructure,
and thousands of small fish were nibbling at water weed near the surface just below the weir.
The Environment Agency announced today that the Thames area, including Abingdon, has moved into drought status. Drought status means that the Environment Agency and water companies can start implementing drought plans, including a hosepipe ban. Some Councils have implemented a splash park turn-off.
At Abbey Meadow, a new fence has been erected to stop young children from falling into the river. The fence could deter geese from entering the splash park, although they were still there today.
“… a new fence has been erected to stop young children from falling into the river”
Don’t parents supervise their offspring these days ? A fence will only transfer Darwinian Selection to another time and place.
What a rude and unsympathetic comment. Of course they do. But if you’re there on your own with several young children it only takes a moment for one to shoot off. Thankfully this hasn’t happened with any serious consequences (as far as I know), but this is added security and I welcome it.
Not sure it will deter the geese though!
It’s a major reduction of amenity for users of the Riverside.
Why ? There is a gate to allow river access so how does this fence , which seems to help young Parents worry less and also as far as I can see over the last few days has reduce the goose poo problem too , be a MAJOR reduction to amenities
Can’t see how. Except, possibly, for the geese.
The fence is an unsightly intrustion onto the view of the river. If children in the splash pad need protecting why didn’t the council put a barrier around the splash pad instead of restricting the river bank access for everyone else? A small gate isn’t the same as open access.
The fence covers a very short length of the river, there are miles left for an uninterrupted view. How selfish. You’ve clearly never been to the area with children. Exactly where would you put a barrier around the splash pad? Families sit around it, at varying distances depending on how busy it is. Children play, have fun, run about, have a picnic. They don’t just go in the splash pad then go home, they stay for long periods.
Our lovely open view of the river is now through a grill fence. The geese are trapped in the splash pool field as they cannot access the river front via a route they have used for years, we saw this on Saturday. The sign asking people not to feed them as they ‘mess’ the grass in there, but it is happening anyway as they can’t get out of that area easily. The boats that moor up on this stretch of riverbank set up camp on the other side of the railings, dogs are off the leash in that area and it is treated as a private space. I will not be surprised when the day comes where towels are hung up to dry etc – where is the common sense here? For years as a community we have self monitored children in that area, they are made aware of the danger of water very quickly and learn fast. The view is the whole appeal for visitors, watching the boats go past and sitting on the grass (the splash pool is only open for a small part of the year). As a previous comment says, there are wide stretches of riverbank not fenced off. Children and families walk and play all along it anyway.