Sunday Sunshine

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Sunshine
The bank holiday weekend continued on Sunday with more sunshine at Abingdon-on-Thames.
Sunshine
The Kings Head & Bell has been closed for refurbishment. It is a very old building and seems to need a lot of maintenance.
Sunshine
Other pubs were open and attracting visitors. The Nags Head had jazz and the Crown and Thistle had something much louder to entertain people who do not need to go to work on Monday.
Sunshine
There was an important ashes cricket match happening. In the past we could have watched matches like that on BBC or ITV  but, never mind, it was a lovely day and we could watch the highlights.
Sunshine
The sun was dazzling and it was a lovely day.

Make hay while the sun shines

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There was good hay making weather in Abingdon today.
Make hay
On Wednesday Tony Tyler from the Old Farm Shop at Rowstock brought a tractor to mow the grassland area at Barton Fields. On Thursday the Barton Fields Green Team raked the hay.
Make hay
Then today Abingdon Green Gym and the Green Team completed raking and stacking the hay.
Make hay
The toad in the picture was more easy to see with the hay cut, but well camouflaged. Grass snakes are attracted to piles of hay as they provide a warm ambient temperatures during the winter months.

Kingfisher Canoe Club progress

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Kingfisher Canoe Club
As many of you will have read in the Abingdon Herald, the Kingfisher Canoe Club has been granted permission to put up a canoe storage hut on the land near Abingdon Lock – owned by the Environment Agency (it is the grassy area surrounded by trees indicated).

The Canoe Club had to leave their previous base on land owned by the army at Wilsham Road. The army will be demolishing and rebuilding their buildings on the site. Then a year or so ago the Vale of White Horse District Council backed out of a plan to allow the storage hut on meadow land near the lock.
Kingfisher Canoe Club
So this plan is the last chance for the canoe club to carry on. They have a strong record of helping local residents get active on the river for over 40 years. They also do a lot to inspire and train young people.

There is still paperwork needs doing by the Vale to ensure the lease with the EA goes through. So that could still potentially hold up the project.

In the meantime , the canoe club are looking for grants and company sponsorship to help them with funding. They are a registered charity and are run entirely by volunteers with members. Please contact David Surman via davidsurman@hotmail.com or www.kingfishercanoeclub.co.uk.

A very recognisable corner of the Market Place

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Phone Box
Diana asks if anybody can identify the artist, or maybe even the couple, in this painting of a very recognisable corner of the Market Place. It is the corner where the phone boxes were removed last week! Diana picked it up in a charity shop in town recently and says “sadly this is just a reproduction that has been trimmed to fit it into the frame so no signature or other identifier.” She is curious to know if it was by a local artist. She has checked with the museum but they have drawn a blank.
Phone Box
Here is what the telephone boxes looked like.

According to the Guardian “At their peak there were 92,000 payphones across the UK, and queues in the street were a familiar sight at the busiest ones.“. In 2019 they are almost obsolete.