This picture was taken at 6:50 AM as the stall holders were setting up on the Market Place for the first time since February. The Market Place work is nearly complete and they have returned from their temporary residence at the Civic Car park.
At Preston Road Community Centre there was a gathering to open the new kitchen.
Julie Mayhew Archer, chairman of the Vale of the White Horse District Council, was there, as were representatives of groups like WREN which also gave grants.
There was the Mayor, Lorraine Oates and the Deputy Mayor, Pat Lonergan, and local people.
Mick Busby, the chair of the community centre, asked Councillor Mary De Vere to cut the ribbon, because of all her hard work on fund raising for the project.
The community centre and kitchen are there for the use of the community,whether that be community groups, or people who hire the hall for functions. For more information visit the Community Centre Webpage.
Its like a village hall: for the southern part of the town. Elsewhere in Abingdon are community centres such as :Hadland Road, Long Furlong, and Peachcroft,(and I am reminded by the comment Northcourt. Sorry Northcourt!).
In the centre of this typical Hathaways window display there is a yellow notice:
“Hathaways” formerly owned and run by Mr A. C. Rogers (known to us all as Con.) will cease trading at the end of business on
His children have taken the decision with considerable regret and they would like to thank the staff for managing the shop since their father’s death in December 2006.
They would also like to thank all the customers past and present for their valued custom.
The closure is rumoured to be because of inheritance tax.
The dove (or perhaps it is a pigeon) has returned from flying over Abingdon surveying the water level.
The level of the River Thames has gone down several steps from last week’s high.
The River Ock now flows at a much lower level beneath the Drayton Road.
BUT the Ock Valley Walk has been eroded and patched up, trees have fallen and caused mud slides into the river, a lot of the work the Green Gym did wood chipping a second path is washed away…
And people are still in temporary accommodation. The elderly people who live in these homes are likely to have quite a long wait until they return home.
No olive branch quite yet.