Abingdon Marina Park – wind battered with lone swan

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When I walked round the Abingdon Marina Park late this afternoon there was still debris from the Sunday morning winds. Willow branches with leaves were thrown around. One larger branch lay across the path and had been wound with hazard tape.

In other places it did not look so bad in the late afternoon sun.

The park is between the River Thames and the Marina and has a view across to where Swift Ditch rejoins the Thames.

A lone swan was there. Swans are usually seen in pairs or family groups or teenage gangs. Perhaps the family had gone off somewhere and this one was just waiting for their return.

November 1st on St Helen’s Wharf

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Strong winds on October 31st have blown down leaves. Today, November 1st, all was calm and sunny.

The water of the River Thames looks blue from this angle.

The works at St Helen’s Wharf have all been completed and the benches are back. The ‘Happy to Chat’ bench has moved down a tree. The ‘Happy to Chat’ bench is not just an Abingdon thing. Such benches are used in many places and are intended to combat loneliness and isolation.

Great Big Mess – Theme Day

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There were strong winds and rain yesterday morning and it blew trees over. There are a group of large trees, still with their foliage, on the walk from Abingdon Bridge to Abingdon Lock.

Two of them are snapped on the main trunk, and a couple of others have been torn apart higher up.

This is how they look from the other bank of the River Thames. They are not the only ones. Other trees are broken and torn, but this group are the most dramatic.

A lot of leaves were blown into the MIll Stream. It looks a great big mess.

For November the City Daily Photo theme is Great Big Mess. Have a look at other examples of this theme at the Great Big Mess Gallery.

Happy end of Halloween

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Halloween is over for another year. Apart from the shop window displays, it passed us by as we don’t have young children.

In the town centre we are not visited by Trick and Treaters and no longer buy a supply of Haribo Tangfastics. I would end up eating them in any case when nobody came to the door and would regret it.

This year we haven’t even bothered with a pumpkin and candles.

Shop widows will change from Halloween to Christmas on November 1st. Some shops, like Finishing Touch, are already there.