Town Centre Shops – End of 2011 – Gains and Losses

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This is the state of the town centre on a mild Thursday at the end of 2011.

(Press on image for a bigger pdf version. Not a brilliant map and not to scale but it serves this yearly purpose.)

Key:

Green is a shop that was vacant at the start of the year which is now occupied.

Yellow means a change of ownership.

Red is a vacant shop premises that was occupied at the start of the year.

Change in 2007 ( 6 green, 5 yellow, 10 red ) – Net Loss 4
Change in 2008 ( 10 green, 8 yellow, 13 red ) – Net Loss 3
Change in 2009 ( 9 green, 6 yellow, 6 red ) – Net Gain 3
Change in 2010 ( 9 green, 6 yellow, 5 red ) – Net Gain 3
Change in 2011 ( 2 green, 8 yellow, 5 red ) – Net Loss 3

In 2011, there was the closure of Stroll In and the 90p shop who probably found competition with Poundland difficult. Thorntons also closed as part of a national rationalisation.

We said goodbye to Camino replaced by Bath Street Bistro, Salinas was replaced by the Lemon Grove, and Daddy’s Cafe was replaced by Zabb Thai.

Bucknell and Ballard were taken over by Davis Tate, and Abingdon Letting became Oxfordshire Estates.

Acreedo Tattoes moved from Ock Street to High Street. West End News moved and was renamed as Abingdon News Plus to make way for the imminent redevelopment of the Abbey Shopping Centre. And Property Weekly moved out of town soon after the launch of the Oxfordshire Guardian .

Azuri accesories closed. The Plough closed for a while then reopened refurbished as the Harp. And Newton Alexander closed for a while and was replaced by Utopia Boutique.

(I have not included the addition of the Christmas Shop as I assume it is temporary but have included Calendar Club which is more likely to carry on longer.)

Five new books about Abingdon published in 2011

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We are very fortunate to have three book shops in Abingdon, and there were five, possibly  more, books about Abingdon published in 2011 …
Abingdon Books 2011
The Abingdon Waterways Walk is a very recent booklet, describing an 8.5 mile circular walk, with text by Heather Brown, and pictures by Stuart Roper, produced by Choose Abingdon.
Abingdon Books 2011
“A sweet and hopeful people – a story of Abingdon Baptist Church 1649 – 2011”   is a book written and revised by Michael  Hambleton.
Abingdon Books 2011
Celebrating Abingdon’s History, is a book produced by Abingdon Area Archaelogical and Historical Society. The book comprises 9 papers first presented at St Helen’s Church in honour of local historian Mieneke Cox.
Abingdon Books 2011
52 things to do far from the madding beaches is a book about the Vale of White Horse, which of course includes Abingdon. The book grew out of a competition asking people to submit poems and prose, photographs and paintings about where they live in the Vale. It is a book to dip into and also gives ideas of things to do locally.

The final book called The Lost Abbey of Abingdon I have not even seen yet. I tried to get a copy today but both Mostly Books and The Bookstore sold out on Christmas Eve, and are currently ordering more. W H Smiths did not have the book on their system yet.  I will add the picture when I find a copy.

By the way… Have I missed any books you know about Abingdon from 2011?

Christmas Holidays extended …

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Swans Holiday
On a walk to Culham and back I took a picture of a swan and then an almost grown cygnet at the old Culham bridge where Swift Ditch rejoins the Thames.
Swans Holiday
They paddled upstream at a steady pace, met up with a larger group of swans, and then paddled past.

Some people are preparing to go back to work after the Christmas break. Other people, working on essential / caring services, have never stopped.

The company I work for asks employees to save three of their annual holidays to use at this time of year – so that the company can close down for the week between the Christmas and New Year bank holidays.  So I am now into extended Christmas Holiday.
Swans Holiday
As for swans, every day has its routine. They need to check out their territory, find food, and ward off any dangers, etc…  That routine cannot be called either work or leisure. Swans don’t get holidays.

Footway Work

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Footway Work
Footway work is to start in West St Helen’s Street early in the new year and continue for about 11 weeks. Footway must be the official term, as opposed to pavement .
Footway Work
All the coloured markings that were made almost a year ago are now explained.

Apart from a bit of disruption it will be good to have the pavements brought up to the level of the rest of the town centre – possibly even better if it is to take 11 weeks.