In 1975 when the telephone exchange was relocated from the top floor of the old post office (bottom left) to the new building (middle centre), automatic switching equipment took over from the ladies who used to put you through. Pictures from the last day at the manual exchange, the last to operate in England, can be viewed along with other memorabilia at the Strowger Appreciation Site.

The new building has changed with the times.  As circuitry got smaller so the space on the upper storeys became redundant and has been given over to flats. It could well be the ugliest building in Abingdon, unless you know better.

This grade II listed building at number 6 East St Helen Street was converted to offices in 1981 for Pryce & Co Solicitors, previously of Roysse Court – where the registry office now is.

Pryce & Co were once known as Pryce, Carslaw & Lillies. Pryce & Co merged with another Abingdon solicitor in 2007 and since then the building in East St Helen Street has been empty, although the signs have remained.

There are plans now to convert the building into flats: one flat on the ground floor and basement, another on the first and second floor.

Reading the Abbey Shopping Centre and Charter Area development brief by the Vale of White Horse I was struck by the amount of criticism of Abingdon’s 1970s architecture. “At the time of its construction it was innovative and forward looking. Today, however, its environmental quality has declined and it seems dated.”

Spaces in the Charter Area are fragmented, underused and often lined by blank walls. The overhead walkways prevent sun penetration and make the area appear gloomy … the overhead walkways further add to the confused pedestrian routes in this area.

Of Broad Street … Currently the environment is of poor quality with many blank frontages giving the route an unsafe feel.

So the plan is to open it all up, let in the sun and have shop fronts down Broad Street. Find out more at Unit 33 of the Abbey Shopping Precinct on Thursday and Friday from 12.00 – 7.00pm.