Abingdon

The Captain pushing up the ZZZZs last night!

 

Some early morning swimmers going downstream.

 

Approaching Shillingford Bridge

 

Culham Lock at 7'11" is one of the deepest on the Thames

 

Three into one will go!

 

Massive repairs to Appleford Railway Bridge

 

Approaching Abingdon

 

After finding a lovely mooring just after Abingdon Bridge we discovered that the town had a launderette. Shall we or shan't we?? Well it was only just past 2pm so a quick Google for the location and off we set. 45 minutes later we finally arrived! A visit to the Tesco Express next door helped pass the time.

 

The Fruits of the Launderette

 

There was a bus stop right outside so we made use of our bus passes to get back to the waterside Nags Head for a well deserved beverage.

Whilst we were enjoying the passing of all sorts of boats we were fortunate to witness a flotilla of Swan Upping boats being a culmination of counting the number of swans between Sunbury and Abingdon. This is a tradition that has been carried out since the 12th C during the third week of July in double sculling skiffs to ceremonially mark the swans. The men wear colourful uniforms and 'round up' the swans which are then checked, weighed and tagged. The day culminated in the boats assembling by Abingdon Bridge, all standing dinking a toast to the Queen with a supply of 'tea' (an intoxicating mixture of dark rum and milk).

 

The Queen!