Swan Upping 2011

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Swan Upping
Many Thanks to Stephen Gray, an artist based in Culham, for this picture of him with his own painting of the Swan Uppers.

Today was the day the Royal census of swans, or Swan Upping, came to Abingdon – the final stop in the journey up the River Thames.
Swan Upping
I found them first at Abingdon Sailing Club where they had caught two adult swams and six young.
Swan Upping
This has not been a good year for swans – a virus has killed many. The Swan Uppers only found three familes, today : one at Wallingford, another at Clifton Hamden, and this one in Abingdon.
Swan Upping
The swans were weighed and ringed, a spike was extracted from the webbed foot of one of the adults, and then they were released to swim off as if nothing had happened.
Swan Upping
The Swan Uppers continued their journey to Abingdon Bridge where they drank the traditional toast to The Queen.

They then went to the Broad Face for more drinks. Once the local brew had lubricated their vocal chords sufficiently the Swan Uppers treated the other people in the pub to a traditional Swan Upping sing song.

From fields of wheat and barley

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Fields of Wheat and Barley
Wheat and barley grow in the fields to the south of Abingdon.
Fields of Wheat and Barley
Here the ground rises above the houses of the Tithe Farm Estate. A couple of buildings stand out above the trees from this vantage…  There is the white control room of Abingdon Police Station …
Fields of Wheat and Barley
and the bell tower and steeple of  St Helen’s Church.

The Oldest House in Abingdon …

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Oldest House in Abingdon
I was listening in to a conversation. The subject got onto old houses, and one chap said to the other…
Oldest House in Abingdon
‘The one with the timbers and removed brick infill on Stert Street says 1470. Do you think it can be?‘
Oldest House in Abingdon
The other one considered the matter, ‘Its possible’ he said, ‘But I think there is one older in East St Helen’s Street.
Oldest House in Abingdon
The one with the plaque..’
Oldest House in Abingdon
There are certainly some very old houses in Abingdon.  Many of them are down East St Helen’s Street.
Oldest House in Abingdon
But the Long Alley Almshouses, originally built in 1446, would be hard to beat.

Or do you know better?

Seat expected to follow

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New Tree
The poster on the bus shelter is to advertise the Alice in Wonderland Maize Maze at Millets Farm. The street furniture at this point of the Marcham Road, outside the Community Hospital, does have an Alice in Wonderland-ish look. The seat is so very far removed from the bin and both are so very far from the bus shelter.

When the bus shelter moved, as part of a road improvement, over a year ago, people might have expected the seat to follow.