On holiday in the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake District we will sometimes walk miles to view a recommended waterfall.
But on a day like today Abingdon Weir creates, over a few feet, more power and fury than many of those tourist destinations.
The River Thames can be wild.
I see from the front page of the Abingdon Herald that the Abingdon Arts Festival 2013 is Off. Not enough money! A quick look at google images (above) brings back some of the memories.
I am always impressed by the Abingdon Arts Festival Brochure (above). The website is equally good. Both are the work of Mike Ward. Mike has given his services for free for the town of Abingdon. As has Malcolm Ross who has co-ordinated the arts festival for 14 years. As have many other volunteers.
Over the years, The Abingdon Arts Festival has given this blog much to report on at the start of Spring. Next Spring could get a slower start without those two weeks of: art, theatre, films, big crazy community events, photographic competitions, music, and celebrities.
There was an exhibition of memories from the 1940s and 50s at the Abingdon Resource and Wellbeing Centre on Saturday. It included pictures, videos, and art work. A number of the stars of the exhibition were there to answer questions …
Stella Coulling had signed up to become a bus conductor at the start of the war, and then went on a two week training course to become a bus driver, which she passed.
She said it was not easy driving a large bus in blackout conditions – particularly in the rain when hundreds of workers were leaving the Morris Motors plant on bikes with no lights.
To read more about this excellent exhibition visit Sharon Woodward’s Blog . There are links to a number of films shown at the exhibition: the first one is about Stella. Another shows John Mason School students who had a go at making cakes with war time ingredients. The Brownies were helping at the exhibition, serving teas, and are also featured on the films.
Progress up above the shopping centre is looking good. But today the heavy rain caused some leaks in the shops down below.
There also seemed fewer Market Stalls than usual as the rain kept some stall holders away.