How the Swan Uppers beat the clock

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There are quite a few visitors wandering around Abingdon at the moment — cameras at the ready or following the treasure trail that includes a clue near our house in West St Helen Street. But the bigger town events are missing — no Excellent Markets, no festivals filling the Market Place with music and colour.

The Swan Upping came through Abingdon eight days ago, but anyone who went down to the river at 5pm on Friday 18th July — the time announced by the town crier — will have missed it.

For those unfamiliar, Swan Upping is an annual ceremonial event in which swans on the River Thames are counted, checked, and marked by a team in traditional uniform, travelling in skiffs.

What I heard is that David Barber, the King’s Swan Marker, didn’t give the crews time to order a pudding at the Barley Mow in Clifton Hampden. The menu there includes choices like Salted Caramel Sundae, Rose Petal & Pistachio Panna Cotta, and Sticky Toffee Pudding. As a result, the flotilla made good time, and by 5pm they had already raised a tot of rum to the King at Abingdon Bridge and were safely inside a local pub.

Graffiti Cleaned from Historical Mural

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The mural in the Stratton Way underpass — depicting episodes from Abingdon’s history — has been defaced with black spray paint for some time. Today, the underpass was closed off for cleaning.

This evening the black spray paint had been removed. The mural was re-painted in 2007 with an anti-vandal coating, which helps make graffiti easier to clean off without damaging the artwork beneath.

Thanks are due to the Town Council for arranging the removal. One curiosity remains: a patchy white accretion, like hard foam, still clings to parts of the mural. It’s also been there for a while — possibly the result of vandalism or another phenomena.

For now, though, the figures of Abingdon’s past are again clearly visible.

Update on Reservoir Near Abingdon

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There’s a proposal to build a huge reservoir near Abingdon. It would cover farmland, roads and buildings between Drayton, Steventon, East Hanney and Marcham. The road from Steventon to East Hanney would be diverted and farmland and wildlife habitats lost.

This week, campaign groups (CPRE and Safer Waters) who tried to challenge the plan in court were unsuccessful. They are now hoping to take their case to the Court of Appeal.

The reservoir is being promoted as part of the solution to future water shortages. The reservoir would store enough water to supply 15 million people across the South East. But some local people and campaign groups are concerned it will damage wildlife, take away farmland, and change the local landscape and cause flooding.

Earlier this year, after years of local opposition to this and earlier proposals for a reservoir, the rules changed when Steve Reed, the UK’s Environment Secretary, approved the project and made it a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. That means local councils no longer have the final say. Instead, Thames Water can submit its plans to the Planning Inspectorate. After a public review, a government minister would then decide whether the project can go ahead.

The full planning application is likely to go to the Planning Inspectorate in 2026. If approved, construction could begin in 2029, and the reservoir could be ready from around 2040.

The wild side of the Abbey Meadow

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This morning, along the wilder edges of the Abbey Meadow, blackberries were ripening. On one side of a bramble bush, beside the cycle path, people were picking and tasting as they went — “That one’s lovely!” “Ooh, that’s sour!” “We’ll need a stepladder to get those.”

Across the other side of the brambles, near the long grass, there were plenty of juicy blackberries. Wasps flew past the firmer ones, drawn to fruit that had gone soft and squishy.

Ladybirds were also out in numbers on the berries (I though they ate aphids). Bluebottles and other flies landed on blackberries, and blackbirds flew to pick off the ripe fruit.

Where wild clematis threaded through the brambles, a Gatekeeper butterfly rested, its wings frayed at the edges.

And in the wildflower circle, bumblebees were busy on the scabious, bumbling from flower to flower in search of nectar.

Children played in the playground nearby.