Sunday in Abingdon seems to be a lot quieter than Saturday. We’ve been quite surprised by the small number of people in the park here, and the relative lack of boats going past. This morning Adrian went out for a walk while I put together yet another podcast episode. After lunch we all went for a walk, doing a big loop. We started by going down through the meadows to the lock.
We crossed over the weir and into Abbey Meadows. There’s a big children’s play area at the far end, and an open air swimming pool. We turned into Abbey Gardens though, and had an ice cream from a van in the car park. The gardens are where Abingdon Abbey used to be; the formal gardens have suffered from the drought almost as much as the rest of it.
The way back to the boat passes lots of pubs. One is called the Broad Face, and there’s an explanation on the corner of where the name might have come from.
The Nag’s Head is on Nag’s Head island, and has a huge garden facing onto the river and the backwater.
0 miles, 0 locks, free mooring. (74 miles, 27 locks, £124.50)