Monthly Archives: May 2013

Comedy at the Guildhall

Comedy at the Guildhall
Last Thursday of every month there is “Out of Bounds” Comedy at the Guildhall.

Johanna, who puts on these events, created such a warm ambiance in the Roysse Room with the decor. It was a long way from being the school room that it once was.
Comedy at the Guildhall
Rudi Lickwood, the headline act, was real class. He took us out of bounds with some of his jokes.

Comedy at the Guildhall suggested to him a grand venue. There was a good audience, and it worked well, even if the microphone did fail at one point.

I look forward to the July event when two prominent acts come to Abingdon before starring at the Edinburgh Fringe.

P.S Abingdon Blog will be unavailable from 7pm this evening (31/05/2013). This will last about 6 hours. Host Servers are moving.

1-3 Ock Street – First Visit

1-3 Ock Street has its own blog – written by Chris Wilshurst of Kemp & Kemp.
1-3 Ock Street
In July 2012 he wrote “Who would have thought it. 35 years ago I was involved in the acquisition of an office building in Abingdon, on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council and today that very same building is now owned by my business partner and me.”

1-3 Ock Street
Chris writes about the building “Over the years the building has become institutionalised with fire doors, signage, security doors and systems, anaglypta wall paper, magnolia paint, surface wiring and general neglect. We cannot ignore safety and other regulation but we do want to return the building to its former glory, restoring some of the original features as well as rendering the building ‘fit for purpose’ as a modern office environment.”
1-3 Ock Street
This week Chris shows the stripping away of plastic trunking and some recent discoveries.
1-3 Ock Street
This is not just a blog about restoring a fine old building, it is also an exploration of the people who once lived there. We learn about R D’Almaine whose name is on the war memorial in the Square down below.

Children from Rush Common School visited to find out about the history of the old building and some of their pieces are included in the blog.

Visit 1-3 Ock Street Abingdon to find out more.

Abingdon-on-Thames Portal Launched

New Town Portal Launched
There was some criticism last year that there are far too many different websites trying to represent Abingdon and they are not joined up or giving the same picture of the town.

Today the Abingdon-on-Thames portal was launched. For the first time Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council, Guildhall and Museum, and Choose Abingdon are brought together in one website. There are also additional pages for history – with a section on people and places created by Abingdon Archaelogical and Historical Society.

Then there are also sections for businesses, events, places to visit, and clubs and societies.
New Town Portal Launched
The first town council web site, that I remember, ran from 2000-2001. It looked good but, as I understand it, turned out to be a problem to maintain.
New Town Portal Launched
For a while a temporary web site was used which could at least be maintained.
New Town Portal Launched
That was replaced by a web site that ran from about 2005-2008. It was built on a standard package used by lots of local councils and similar bodies.
New Town Portal Launched
A redesign from the same company was used until yesterday.

The new portal looks the best yet. It just needs people to make sure all the content is there and updated when it changes.

Planting a Bee Friendly Flower Bed in the Abbey Grounds

Flower Bed for Bees
Next to the public toilets in the Abbey Meadows, the Abingdon Carbon Cutters have planted bee friendly flowers.
Flower Bed for Bees
Plants chosen are easy to grow and full of nectar to feed bees, and are chosen to flower at different times throughout the season.  For more about how to plant to attract bees, and other things the Carbon Cutters do, see Abingdon Carbon Cutters (Bee Friendly Flowers can be found under the food menu on their site.)