News from Abingdon

The County Council has resurfaced Lambrick Way near the Marina.

The County have added these little chess pieces in the road approaching the Guildhall. Just beyond, some of the blocks in the road supplied for the recent Abbey area redesign are chipping. Tests are being done to see if they are a sub-standard batch. The district council are in discussions with suppliers and contractors to get them replaced.

There is a new Polish Delicatessen about to open in Stert Street. Importing Polish food has become big business of late. The signs in the window are in both Polish and English.

Work continues on the Market Place, and it looks like the workers have done a smooth job with the surrounding York Stone slabs.

Chancellors won't be there much longer. Their new premises on the High Street was having the carpet tiles fitted today.

Colours all around

A sky blue casement window at the Nags Head overlooks one of the smaller arches of Abingdon Bridge.

Forsythia is in bloom and behind it can be seen the Upper Reaches Hotel.

At the top of Bridge Street, a face peeps through a sea-side peep-hole, grinning madly, with colour all around.

Monthly Auction

A new monthly auction started today at Preston Road Community Centre. It is run by the same group who do the auction at Drayton. The profits go to charity.

Amber Nectar Trail

In the window of a local Off-Licence, Foster's (AKA the Amber Nectar) is on offer .

At the top end of the park, near Prince Albert, the bin was full to overflowing with empty cans.
Even a long way away on the rise up Fitzharry's Motte, a lone straggler could be seen.

A well beaten path

Under the arch by the church...

It goes on

for between the Abbey Vale cricket grounds and the river, a tree has fallen

and shortly afterward a neighbouring tree also fell. Their roots shared the same ground. They leaned together through many a cold winter. They fell together just before leafy spring.

Nearby the daffodils are still in flower

and everything is alright with the world. As Auden might have put it:

"... In Abingdon's Rookery for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; as two trees fall
The daffodils dance gayly on, hardly noticing a momentary shudder,..."

PFAving PARADISE

"They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
No, no, no, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot"


These swans float among the flotsom and jetsum of tree parts fallen in the lake.


They swans will need to find another home when the lake is paved with ash.


300+ people came to protest.


and lots and lots of frogs... pa pa pa pa pa
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot

Fair Trade - Broad Face

The Broad Face pub near the bridge has been serving Fair Trade beveridges for many years. Mellie Ferrier, who runs the pub, is the spokesperson of the Abingdon Fair Trade Group, who have helped get Abingdon Fair Trade status.

But really it is due to all the people out there who buy Fair Trade and encourage the shops and businesses to stock Fair Trade.

Fair Trade - The Big Brew

This morning there was a stall, and coffee and tea available for The Big Brew at St Nics Church. The picture is of Chris Caddy who has been out and about over the last two weeks doing Fairtrade assemblies and talks in the Abingdon Schools.

Fair Trade - Guildhall

I went to the Guildhall recently for a meeting about the reservoir. There was tea and coffee and biscuits, and they all had the Fair Trade marque. Here is a display on the Guildhall noticeboard a while back.

Fair Trade - Waitrose

The front page of Waitrose.com is devoted to Fairtrade fortnight. They have fairtrade recipes, a podcast discussing the Fair Trade debate, and highlighted products.

The Abingdon shop also gives Fair Trade an important place, with a billboard advertising pink Fairtrade roses from Kenya, and this display as you walk in.

Fair Trade - Tesco

Tesco are into Fair Trade in a big way. They currently have extra clubcard points for buying Fair Trade products. The Tesco corporate website says "Tesco strongly supports Fairtrade which guarantees that developing world farmers are paid a price that covers the cost of production, plus a premium to be spent on community projects such as better healthcare, sanitation, education"

Fair Trade - Traidcraft

Tha Abingdon Traidcraft group have been selling Fair Trade goods from this charity shop in Bath Street for about seven years. But they are no longer there and apologise saying" "We regret that owing to a drop in sales in the last six months, we will cease to sell Traidcraft products from the Bath Street shop from the end of February."
But they are carrying on elsewhere, at 35 Ock Street, and at various functions and fetes, and from most of the churches in Abingdon. Here they are at Trinity, as advertised on the screen

and seen here. Or see their website for a full list.

Fair Trade - Oxfam

I went into Oxfam and got myself a red nose. Red nose day is not until March 16th but I'm sitting here with it on, trying to do this post, and it hasn't helped ONCE yet.

Next to the red noses, there was a huge range of Fair Trade goods on one side.

and on the other side of the red noses were even more Fair Trade chocolates and bars and biscuits and jams and more serious things like coffee, tea, fruit juice, and leaflets explaining about Fair Trade. Oxfam were also giving away free samples, like little sachets of Fairtrade tea coffee and sugar, and broken bits of biscuits.

Fair Trade - Frugal Food

Frugal Food are giving away a Fair Trade hamper. Just go on inside for more details....

Reservoir Drop Dead Date

The computer image of the Upper Thames Major Resource Development (Reservoir) is an idealised view from the promotional DVD from Thames Water. We have had their hard sell for some months now.

Today was the last day to send in a response to the Thames Water Stage 2 Consultation on the look of the new reservoir near Abingdon. So I sent a few hastily scribbled notes on their form and popped it into the post box.

Yo may remember that in Stage 1 last year, Thames Water tried to put the case why a reservoir was needed. The Environment Agency says "We have responded to Thames Water’s Stage two consultation even though the questions from Stage 1 are not resolved. We have done this to make sure that if the reservoir is built we get the best for people and the environment."

If you add up all the proposed new reservoirs and other water resource measures in the South of England then there would be too many. And it is us the consumers who have to pay for their construction through our water rates. So we should not be paying to increase Thames Water's asset holding if that is not a neccessity, or not the best option for the country.


A group from the Vale District Council visited Rutland Water recently and came back with some views. The Reservoir would be comparable in size to Rutland Water. However the UTMRD would form a raised expanse on a flat landscape wheras Rutland Water is a flooded Valley.

Rutland Water has about 800,000 visitors a year. That is a lot of car parking and extra traffic. (Thames Water are talking to national yachting and sailing bodies about the UTMRD reservoir so who knows. It could draw in the crowds for lots of leasure activities. )


The rip rap rocks proposed by Thames Water as the internal protection was said to be the ugliest feature at Rutland Water.

People from Rutland said you that need to be in there early, persuading the Water Company what you want at this early stage (even though you don't agree there should be a reservoir) otherwise it will be too late to change the plans. So that is what the District council are doing, like the Environment Agency.

The next thing from Thames Water will be a Compulsory Works Order, which will appear probably next year. The Compulsory Works Order (or CWO) exists under the Water Industry Act 1991 for large schemes like this, but has not been used before. It allows a Minister or two to decide on the plans. The whole planning and scrutiny time will is shortened by such a process and out of local control.

The Smoking ban is coming

The smoking ban is coming in July and The Grapes in Ock Street have declared themselves the first non-smoking venue in Abingdon. In Scotland where this has happened already, it has hit the Bingo business harder than most bars and restaurants. About 50% of Bingo players smoke, and the number of people going to Bingo has dropped off by about 15%.