Two Oswald Couldrey Triolets about Abingdon

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Oswald Couldrey was an Abingdon artist and writer. Jackie lent me a book of his poems called Triolets and Epigrams , published in 1948. A triolet is a verse form with eight short lines. The first line is repeated three times (hence the name), and the second line is repeated twice.

Here are two which mention Abingdon or an Abingdon place. I have put back the date for selection of the Abingdon poems collection to the end of January 2022 in the hope of finding more. The picture shows five trees, in Rye Farm, felled in the last fortnight, after storm damage.

Rye Farm Elms
(felled 1940)

The summer we shall find again,
But not the elms of Andersea,
That could so proudly entertain
The summer. We shall find again
Elsewhere the turtle’s crooned refrain.
Bowers, that drench with melody
The summer, we shall find again –
But not the elms of Andersea.

The Burden of Abingdon

In fifteen years, or less,
You’ll find us in the maw
Of Oxford. What a mess
In fifteen years or less !
Already our skirts caress
That foul and ravening jaw;
In fifteen years or less,
You’ll find us in the maw !

Abbey Fish Ponds – November 2021

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The monthly walk round the Abbey Fishponds Nature Reserve shows a lot of leaves on the ground and far fewer in the trees.

Greens are giving way to duller greens, browns, and golds.

A lot of the reeds and sedges have been cut. The area is much wetter than I ever realised. Many more ponds than could be seen in other months. There is not just the stream running through the centre but there must be lots of irrigating springs.

The walkway across the centre of the reserve is not a green but a gold archway.

The Oak Tree still has some green.

I could only get the blurriest pictures of birds this month. Not a blackbird or crow to show on today’s walk.

Albert Park with golden leaves

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I walked by Trinity Church and saw a funeral was in progress. A Scottish piper was waiting outside.

In the Albert Park the leaves were golden.

They look even better when the sun is shining.

On the way back, the piper was still waiting, and I saw that 6 cars in Conduit Road had tickets for parking on the single yellow line. The new civil parking enforcement is catching people out, even funeral goers – which seems a bit sad.

Today road painters have  been repainting a lot of single and double yellow lines in the town centre. The lines need to be clear if they are to be enforced.

There were a few cars parked on single and double yellow lines and the road painters could not get all the lines done. They said they would return to do the rest another day.

Remembrance Day parade and service in Abingdon

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There was camaraderie as uniformed groups gathered at the Market Place and along Bury Street. Normally they gather in St Helen’s Church, but because of Covid it was thought better to meet outside.

Soldiers marched to the War Memorial, leading the parade.

The Mayor of Ock Street can be seen here representing Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers. Many of the Morris Dancers joined up in WWI and some were injured and one is known to have died. (See http://atmd.org.uk/ww1/ )

There was a large crowd gathered at the War Memorial. This is the moment when the flags are lowered before the two minute silence where people join in remembering those who fell in the wars.

We have seen pictures of WWI and WWII and footage of Afghanistan and Iraq. There are people in Abingdon who still live with the memory of wars where they served, or had to escape as refugees.

2021 is the centenary of the Royal British Legion and their flag was prominent as groups marched back from the War Memorial to salute dignitaries in front of the County Hall.

2021 is also the centenary of the Abingdon War Memorial.

Clare, who organises the poppy appeal in Abingdon, returned to look at the tributes before going on to the Royal British Legion club.

She sent me this picture of a tribute done by pupils of Our Lady Abingdon.

The cutouts feature names from the Abingdon War Memorial. Clare said ‘It has real wow emotive factor and it’s great to pupils get involved.’