This picture was taken looking up New Street towards the Vineyard.

I was looking at the Abingdon Area Archaeological and Historical Society website yesterday, reading the transcript of a document called The ABINGDON I REMEMBER which describes Abingdon on an almost house by house basis around about 1920 and will be very interesting to lots of Abingdonians. It speaks of a short street on the left of the Vineyard called New Street, “locally known as ‘Little Hell’. This is owing to the belligerent character of the inhabitants of the 15 or so cottages which are, incredibly, packed into this tiny street.”

At the junction of The Vineyard and New Street I read of a local character called ‘Paddy’ who was “in the habit, when he had the wherewithal, of taking too much ale and roaring challenges in the direction of New Street, opposite.  The challenge was rarely refused, and some lively Saturday nights were a feature of local life.”

Can anybody put a name to the author of this description of 1920’s Abingdon?

At the weekend I took this picture of the railing of the Hub youth centre in Abingdon …. “By Entering This Site You Are Agreeing To Have you Photo Taken.”

The previous weekend there was a fun day at the Hub where local young people were playing music and DJing. There were also information stalls from support groups. I forgot my camera that day.

After six months of negotiations with Spirit pub company a lease agreement was finally signed on 1 August 2012. Dushan Salwathura, currently Landlord of The Broad Face in Bridge Street, is to be the new Landlord of the Nags Head.

The Nag’s Head refurbishment plan had been ready for weeks and, following the hand over of the keys,

clearing up began.

Currently the grounds are a closed area to the public for health and safety reasons and Salters steamers are having to find elsewhere to disembark their passengers.

Local tradesmen, tree surgeons and garden clearers set to work creating a safe place for customers to enjoy the island before the actual pub opens in October.

It is hoped that The Bridge Café, Bar and Grill in the beautiful riverside gardens will be running by the end of August with porta-loos available.

Meanwhile work will continue on the interior and exterior with Qi-Decorators – a Simon House community project supported by A2Dominion , under the supervision of their workshop tutor, Mike Higgins. Mike said “this is an ideal opportunity to integrate the newly skilled workshop members into the outside workplace and this experience will be a valuable exercise in helping them gain further employment.”

Week one has been full on with the lovely weather helping to speed up the stripping out process.

The team discovered what could be an 18th century fireplace in the lounge area, and what could be 16th century interior window apertures. Dusham would love to get hold of some pictures of the public house in days gone by.

All the ceilings, walls and wood panelling have now been prepped.

Next week will see the flooring, stripped, prepped and finished in traditional walnut stain.

The scaffolding will then go up and renovation of the outside will follow.

I asked Dushan if he had managed to watch the Olympics, but he said he had been far too busy. The Nags Head was his Olympics.

In the Roysse Room at the Guildhall this evening Oxford University Hospital NHS Trust came to do the first of a series of consultation events as they plan to become a Foundation Trust. Next consultation is at Faringdon on Tuesday.

Last November the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust merged to form this trust with four hospitals: John Radcliffe, Churchill, Nuffield Orthopaedic, and Horton General.

Becoming a Foundation Trust will give the trust more control over their own affairs within the NHS but they need members – some of whom will be staff, and some members of the public. It is easy to become a public member. Just go to Oxford University Hospital NHS Trust and fill in the form. Members of the public will elect most of the people on the board of governors. Members can even stand to become governors if they have the time.

It was an interesting evening, with some interesting questions from members of the public.

I did not see any councillors there but the town council had their own meeting at the same time to discuss the proposed reduction of the number of district councillors in Abingdon from 14 to 10. That will mean ward boundaries will need changing and possibly the number of town councillors will need reducing from 21 to 20 or 15. The town council also discussed The Guildhall in a secret session.