Abingdon was full of surprises. We discovered that Abingdon on Thames is Britain’s oldest continuously inhabited town. Recent archaeological finds have proved that people have been living there continuously for 2,600 years.  Abingdon was occupied by settlers of the Bronze and Iron ages and was a flourishing town in the Roman period, which in turn gave way to a Saxon settlement and when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, Abingdon Abbey was the 6th richest in Britain.

The bridge over the Thames (close to where we were moored) is over 550 years old. The Thames, which has always been an important part of the town, is a focal point for many recreational activities.

Mooring was plentiful and the town really makes boaters welcome with full boating facilities (such as water, refuse and sanitation point) at the picturesque Abingdon Lock. The well-kept river frontage faces open fields and sports grounds. Public facilities such as a self-cleaning toilet and refuse points are provided. Mooring is available for 5 consecutive days so we made the most of it and spent time exploring the town.

We were directed to a children’s splash park and entrance there was free! Fountains of different shapes and sizes pop up out of the ground and switch on and off at various intervals allowing children to run through them, so even tiny tots who can’t swim (and some who could barely walk) can join in the fun. We found it difficult to get Daniel out of the splash park; he wouldn’t even be bribed with an ice-cream! The only shadow was that he left his glasses there somewhere and although we searched all over and asked other people if they had seen them it was to no avail. They are well and truly lost.

Tanya and David joined us on Saturday. They had come to collect Daniel at the end of his week with us but they too found it so pleasant that they stayed most of the day enjoying the good weather.

On Monday 13^th we pulled up our mooring pins and moved on promising ourselves that we would return when we had our other grandchildren, James and Phoebe, with us. We continued upstream through Oxford. Above Oxford, near Kings Lock, the river bends to the left towards Lechlade while access to the Oxford canal is a right turn onto the weir stream and through Duke’s cut. We headed towards Lechlade and found pleasant mooring above Eynsham Lock. The day had given us some heavy showers and the sky was a brooding grey as we hammered in the mooring pins.Below is a picture taken from the Swanhatch on Winedown.

Since today promised variable weather, we planned a short stretch, mooring just outside Newbridge. We didn’t see much of the promised showers and enjoyed the sunshine, even taking in picturesque walk along the Thames path.