A new sign has been erected on the other side of Tilsley Park from the Kingsgate development. It say Coming Soon – Abbey Fields. In reality, what are coming soon are houses – not fields.

Abbey Fields will be built on the field next to the A34, seen here from the footpath to Sunningwell . The footbridge over the A34 is a good viewing point, but not as good as Daniel’s drone. Daniel has managed to get another drone after the loss of the previous one.

Traffic was queueing back in the Oxford direction as I stood on the bridge.

After Kingsgate and Abbey Fields,  the next field for development, off the Dunmore Road in North Abingdon, is the large field rising to Lodge Hill. At the moment that field has an entrance and metal fences all the way round.

This drone shot was taken from Daniel’s last video of the Kingsgate development, filmed two weeks ago. Since then the drone has been lost in the Oxford Canal.

I did ask Daniel how much a new drone cost and he said ‘too much’.

I cycled by the Kingsgate development this evening and was surprised how quickly and how green the grass has grown mid summer.

Traffic lights are still in place while the slip lane to the new entrance is laid.

The interactive sales map of the development shows that unit 5 is the first one to be sold. Units 1,2,4,6,7, and 192 are ‘For Sale’. The rest are for the future.

Daniel has been flying over the Wootton Road development. The land between the development and the Wootton Road has been levelled and placed outside a wooden fence.

The main entrance to the estate has been laid. Two houses have roofs and that white block looks like a sales office. The first homes are already becoming available. You can take a virtual tour at https://player.vimeo.com/video/566655790.

About half the area has not been worked on very much yet.

The estate is called Kings Gate. With a name like that it could be anywhere.

Lidl and Costa at the Fairacres retail park have been open since early in May. The Gym will be open to view on 10th July and fully open from 26th July. They have an offer for people joining early.

Homebase will be opening from October 2021. They were at the other end of the previous row of retail units before demolition.

Work continues on converting the area at the side of the new Homebase to an outdoor and garden area. Over the road is the Hilton Garden Inn, rebuilt much higher a couple of years ago.

The Monk of Abingdon, on his traffic island, has seen a lot of changes in the last few years. Around him the wild plants grow, buildings are demolished and built back again, and the vehicles flow.