The Horse & Jockey public house closed in 2002. It had looked in a run-down state for some time, with threadbare curtains, dusty windows, and the paint on the sign of horse and jockey peeling away. It looks much smarter now that it has been converted into flats and renamed as Gosling Court. It should have been ‘Gosing’ but the l got added somehow.

On the other side of Bath Street is another interesting building, now used as a teaching block by Abingdon School. It reminds me of the split-level barn used in the BBC production of Thomas Hardy’s “Mayor of Casterbridge“.

The Vale of White Horse District council intends to build a new skatepark in Abingdon.

There is already a BMX track at the Radley end of Abingdon off Audlett Drive, but young people have petitoned for something more suitable, and been heard.

Problems with the existing BMX track are: it is on the far edge of Abingdon; the track is prone to flooding and is breaking up in places; the half-pipe has been removed .

Anyway over to some real skaters comments taken from a petition website.

Come on people we need a skatepark. please sign the petition their ent nutin good roung abingdon we need somethin to liven the place up!

Yeah, we definatley need a skate park, keeps us off streets! Matt rules, he needs somewhere to show off his talent! 🙂

Get oneee! sum ppl dun like to spend all their spare time just hangin around shops n lazing around. a skate park is what everyone needs!

Better than getting into a fight each night, count me in, i know it sounds stupid but introduce a cheap membership type thing, otherwise all the rudeboys around abingdon are just going to ruin it for everyone come on council! we need this park so much! and its not just going to be for “kids”, its going to be for everyone (im 19), so its got to be a good park,. not one of these “bought out of a catalogue crap parks that are a waste of money and dont get used”

A skatepark is needed. Preferably a brilliant one with miniramp, decent funboxes and some kind of speed ramp and a halfpipe like the newest one at iffley!!!

heya they shud blaitently make a skate park but no one shud tell n e chavs where it is!!!!!

Need some decent flat bank rail combinations Is this Abingdon Viriginia USA? I live there!

A few years ago there used to be a pop band called Wet Wet Wet. This building had three cards slotted in three different front facing windows. Each one looked like the word Wet to me. I finally realised many years after that it said “Net Net Net” not “Wet Wet Wet”.

More recently local bands played here in a regular event: the Abingdon battle of the bands. They played against each other to see which is best by popular acclaim. This event seemed very popular, although I never went myself.

There is also this grotto overgrown with ivy. It is a 19th Century Folley. On developing the Net it was used to hold an oil tank.

From the outside this unassuming shop at the top of Bath Street looks like a toy shop with little trinkets and prizes in the window, but go inside and you will be see banks of gaming machines.

Its between Honeyz the Bangladeshi /Indian restuarant and Smarts Fish and Chip shop,