For over a year, the corner building on West St Helen Street has been supported by scaffolding and surrounded by sandbags after its side wall became unstable. This September, the old unsafe wall was finally demolished.

This October, work began to rebuild it. A new structure is taking shape — breeze blocks for the inside wall and a brick frontage to match the rest of the building.

It’s good to see such steady progress after such a long wait. Over the years, quite a few long-standing issues in central Abingdon, highlighted here and elsewhere, have now been tackled. One exception is the Upper Reaches Hotel.

Work at 3 West St Helen Street has been ongoing for two weeks now. The building’s end wall has been taken down and the scaffolding on that side removed, revealing the plastic sheeting that now covers the exposed section. This is the most visible progress on the project in a year.

Work has begun to take down the end wall of the scaffolded building near the top of West St Helen Street.

The scaffold was erected in October 2024 after widening cracks led the district council’s Building Control team to act on safety grounds.

The situation has affected many people. Pedestrian access has been restricted, which has been particularly difficult for disabled and elderly people. It has also closed off rear access and parking for some residents and blocked the rear access to the Grapes pub (currently under refurbishment). Residents of the flats above moved out, and Pappy’s Jamaican restaurant was forced to vacate the building.

No timescale for completion has been announced, although Pappy’s put up a ‘Coming Soon’ banner a few weeks ago.

At the Kings Gate development, most of the building work is now complete. Landscaping is progressing well, particularly along the new pedestrian and cycle path that runs parallel to the A34 at the northern edge of the estate.

This area includes Hasnip Mead, named in honour of Audrey and Keith Hasnip, who both served as Mayors of Abingdon—Audrey in 2002–03, and Keith in 2004–05.

Over on the Abbey Fields development, construction is still ongoing, but some of the new roads have recently been named in tribute to longstanding Abingdon businesses. Goff Way commemorates E. R. Goff, the Bridge Street newsagents, whose former premises are now occupied by the Abingdon Barber.

Other road names include Beesley Close, recalling Beesley’s clothing shop which traded in Abingdon from 1883 until its closure in 2001,

and Viney’s Close, named after one of the Viney’s businesses. In later days there was a well-known furniture store and earlier a drapery.

Bordering the A34 near these roads is a new play park. The dry weather of April and May has left the grass looking parched. With rain finally arriving in June, is it too late to save the grass?