Thanks to Ben for sending this…
The Progress Pride Flag is fluttering proudly outside Abingdon School during LGBTQ+ month.
The Progress Pride flag was created in 2018, based on the mainstream Pride flag but with the addition of a chevron which is comprised of black, brown, blue, pink and white to emphasize the inclusion of Black, Brown, and trans people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Thankyou to Daniel for this view of Abingdon’s Abbey Meadow open air pool.
The L-shaped pool had a £1.3 million refurbishment and was back open in 2018 and 2019 and very popular.
Like other open air pools it did not open in 2020.
The White Horse Leisure & Tennis Centre is open, as is the Hinksey open air pool, in Oxford, but the opening date for the Abbey Meadow pool is yet to be announced.
So we are trying to be patient.
Meanwhile the play area is open and very popular and people have been using the space of the park.
There has also been a litter bug detective trail.
Four cygnets feed on the pond weeds in the Mill Stream near the Abingdon Sword Bridge.
Seven Moorhen chicks on a log on the Mill Stream pick for passing food.
Near where the Mill Stream rejoins the River Thames by Nags Head Island, the island is covered by daisies and the young geese feed naturally on the grass.
The patron said ‘Use my own features for both
Jefforye Barbur and John Howchion –
my rugged chin and chiselled cheek.
Have them dressed as merchants in gowns,
passing a bag of gold, tenderly, so all is done
as God commanded for the advancement of Abingdon.
Master Painter, with your art, show how their munificence
transformed the muddy treacherous River Thames,
bringing masons and skilled artisans from afar
to cut rocks, mix mortar, and fix stones
to create the many arches from the Causeway
to uphold the Burford and the Abingdon Bridge.
Show St Helens and St Nicolas Church, where we worship.
Show the Long Alley Almshouses, recently transformed,
with the bright cupola that our gold has wrought,
bringing light upon the panelled meeting room
where this painting will hang in perpetuity,
beside Sir John Mason, Thomas Tesdale, and Edward the King.’
Note: Abingdon Bridge was built around 1416-17. The Bridge Builders painting is from about 1607. The print above is taken from Christ’s Hospital Abingdon by Arthur E. Preston. All Right Reserved. A colour image, without the historic frame, can be seen on the Town Council Website.