In September 2011 this blog showed the efforts of some locals to clear the path at the side of St Michael’s Church. The path had been once kept clear by Hugh Randolph, who took great pride in the appearance of his neighbourhood.
In recognition local residents have renamed the path, formerly known by Oxfordshire County Council as ‘path 16’, as Hugh’s Path.
Read more about Hugh, who passed away in 2006, in the Aaahs Spring 2006 newsletter (a word doc).
(Thanks Iain for the story)
I am a relative newcomer to Abingdon (three and a half years). I attend St Michael’s and had heard a little about Hugh. Thanks for the link; it filled out the story.
What a nice touch! Hugh looked after this path as well as the churchyard and made friends with people as they passed. He would also have been happy for people to use the churchyard (tarmacked) to pass by and save their shoes!
No offence. But why place a sign at the bottom of the pillar? Surely this is the right height for children to see and for male dogs to widdle up. It is a nice gesture… But I would think about moving the sign towards the top of the pillar!!.
No dog widdle yet you’ll be pleased to know. There is a very low wall next to the sign and it looks odd if you place the sign higher – starts to look like a name plate for the house next door. We could have erected a dedicated sign post but it then gets complicated and expensive as you need more permissions from various councils etc, maintenance and liability have to be agreed. This solution is much simpler 🙂