Drayton Road Bridge

The Drayton Road Bridge divides Abingdon in two. To the south of the River Ock about a third of the population live in an area traditionally known as Caldecott. Some born and bred Caldecott residents consider it to be a place with it own separate identity.

The strange thing about the arches underneath the bridge are that they are arched one side, and round the other. The bridge does act as a bottleneck for traffic coming from the south, and the bridge has been widened on a couple of occassions, most recently in about 1970. There have been calls for it to be widened again, but this has been rejected by the County Council who control the roads budget. The bridge can also act as a blockage to water flow, and may one day cause floods.

Looking up inside the bridge, it is layered like the growth of a tree. On one side the bridge is arched, in the middle the circular arch is made of stones, finally the most recent bridge widening uses prefabricated concrete.

Jewels in The Crown

We have a campaigning local newspaper in The Abingdon Herald. This year they are campaigning to save our local Community Hospitals.

The Mayors of the five towns, (Abingdon, Didcot, Henley, Wallingford and Wantage) have got together to fight for a common cause. Any of the five towns could loose out if the community hospitals are restructured.

The Mayor of Abingdon was out and about campaigning on the issue today, as was the deputy mayor and a number of other local councillors.

There was a similar campaign two years ago, and ten years ago. Both times the hospitals were saved. One phrase used recently by a nurse, about community hospitals, was " We must not let these jewels in the crown disappear." One of our local councillors stand next to a poster with these words

Banner Homes near Blacknall Road

The previous blog for this development between Blacknall Road and Caldecott Road was back in January when boards went up to say that the site was acquired by Banner Homes. They are the company that are building Deer Park near Wootton.

The clear up after the demolition of Kingfisher school has been completed, and work has begun in earnest. Plots have all been marked out, and concrete is being poured to make foundations.

Twitty's

Near the church of St. Helen is an almshouse, erected in 1707 by Charles Twitty, for the maintenance of three men and three women;

to which John BEDWELL in 1799, and Samuel CRIPPS in 1819, bequeathed £200 each.

BEDWELL, and CRIPPS, and TWITTY
Demonstrated great generosITY...

Tidying up St Edmunds Lane

Now that Neaves Mews is complete. The St Edmunds Lane road surface has now been put to rights. The first picture was taken recently.

And the second one today.

Abingdon Stone and Marble

It is good to see that the ancient trade of stone masonery is still going strong at Abingdon Stone & Marble Limited, on Ock Street. They were established in 1846.

One of the greatest workers in stone during medieaval times was the renowned Alexander of Abingdon - a sculptor and maker of memorials. It is likely that he worked extensively at Abingdon Abbey on memorials.

Abingdon Stone and Marble get involved in repairs and restorations of ancient monuments. They restored the statue of Queen Victoria back to her former glory and have worked on many a medieaval archway in Abingdon over the years.

Many of us might not think of using their services until looking for a final resting place...

Movie Going

The Movies Video Rental on Ock Street is to close for good on 30th April. "The Movies" has been around for at least fifteen years. It means we have lost two video /DVD /Computer games rental shops since the start of the year.

More recently, and only a few hundred yards down Ock Street, a new rental outlet "Movie Zone" opened and closed within the year. The owner said when he opened the shop that there were a lot of people living in easy walking distance of his shop - because of new housing. But it didn't work out .

Charter Carpark - work begins

The multi-story car-park is a recent (1970ish) addition to the town centre skyline. The Vale has decided to give it a £320,000 refurbishment and prolong its usefulness.

I expect level 8 will get a touch of paint.

Outside, the carpark is unlikely to change much. It will retain the same redbrick facade as the other Charter buildings - all built about the same time: library, Malthouse surgery, day-centre, and social services.

Currently the stairwells are rather grim and dark, open all hours and subject to vandalism. It is planned that new gates will be put up so that only the lower two levels are open for 24 hours, and the place lightened up, and car parking levels re-organised.

The top floor already gives a good view of the surroundings, and is the one part that is almost scenic. This too will be given a new protective surface. Even concrete and steel erodes if left to the elements.

St George Day Parade

There was a man in town today with a large St George cross on his front. He complained that Abingdon had no St George flag flying above the civic buildings, on England's special day. There were some flying outside a couple of the pubs, and a house in Saxton Road had two flags. Anyway, the man cheered up when he heard there was a parade.

It was a very impressive parade. I would estimate there were thirty different troops of scouts, guides, cub, brownies, sea-scouts and air cadets. The marched round Abbey Close from the Cattle Market Car Park to the Guildhall where they saluted the Mayor and the Chair of the Vale.

My son was in Oxford, and told me that a parade of Oxford scouts coming over Magdelene bridge were stopped by the police and after arguments sent back.