Oxfam and Guttering

Langford & Sons Corn & Coal Merchants, now houses Oxfam.

And a short length of guttering. The down pipe could be original.

Liberty Protected or Caged?

I think Carl is going back to the States in the next few days, and since he has given me free access to his online photo album I'm going to use a few of his pictures over the next few days.

First "Liberty Protected or Caged?"

Abingdon's very own Liberty is less than a stone's throw from the Market Place but do you know where it is?

Britain's Oldest Town

The letters from the MUSIC PRACTICE have been peeled away revealing an older impression, FARM SEEDS, on the window of 25 Bridge Street.

In the room next door, formerly the Tourist Information Centre, there resides a cabinet from an earlier time - that once held Garden & Farm Seeds. This was once the shop for Harris and Matthews, Corn and Seed Merchants of Abingdon, and the Old Gaol behind was the grain store...

With posters in position, the doors were again locked.

"Choose Abingdon - Britains Oldest Town - Continuously Inhabited Since The 'Iron Age'."

New Bus Stop

A new bus stop has appeared near the new buildings (The Tanneries) on Drayton Road. Nothing wrong with that: except that the council has just built, nearby on the Marcham Road, a bus layby so that buses do not impede the traffic flow. As you can see this new bus stop has no layby.

Kitsons

At one stage these buildings were part of the Lion Hotel - demolished in the 1930s to make way for shops and the Red Lion Pub (which closed in 1987).

The upstairs area was then used for storage until being transformed into the Kitsons Restaurant. The original interior beams have survived, and been restored, and added to, and look beautiful now.

P.S. Due to circumstances beyond the organisers control the Medieval Banquet, at the Old Abbey Buildings, has been cancelled. Apologies to everybody who had already made their costume and were looking forward to it. Maybe the nearest you will get to it now is Kitsons with another 14th Century Roof.

Abingdon Horse Show 2009

Rye Farm Meadow, by the River Thames, was filling up with horse boxes from early morning.

By afternoon the clouds were gone and there was very little shade for the horses.

This annual event has something for all horse enthusiasts: Show Jumping, Ridden and In-Hand Showing, Fun Children's Ring, Fancy Dress.

Watching to see whether the horses can do a clear round is also fairly interesting to people like me who wouldn't know a Hock from a Fetlock.

NB: You can see the Old Gaol in the back ground here just to prove it really is Abingdon and not Blenheim

Fire Engines on the Market Place

On the Market Place there were two Abingdon Fire Engines today.

Fire fighters do a lot of training for all the the emergencies they can be called to.

In turn they try to train the public to reduce the risk of fires, which is partly why they were on the Market Place, that and raising money for charity, and showing off the red fire engines.