A new takeaway/restaurant at Number 3 West St Helen Street offers Afro-Caribbean Cuisine. They have been open for about a week and had a trial run during the Abingdon Fair. I enjoyed my first meal this evening. The Curry Goat was tender, and the rice and peas were flavourful. Good luck to them in their new venture. Check out their menu at pappys.co.uk.

Mostly Books has Ruffles by local author David Melling featured in their window at the moment.

The Bookstore has reindeer in the snow in their window and a selection of books. If you are wondering what to buy book lovers you know for Christmas, then both shops have selections on tables and more on the shelves.

Annabel from Abingdon has been writing a blog reviewing books since 2006, possibly earlier. In 2023, she has reviewed 116 books and aims to read and review 125. I often check out her reviews before deciding what to read. See https://annabookbel.net/.

Steve King also reminded me that his book ‘Now I grow oranges’ is still available. Martin Wackenier has copies on his Monday Market stall.

There are even a few copies of ‘Ten Poems about Abingdon’ available at the Bookstore and the Abingdon Museum. Most of the money from this book which I helped produce goes to the Abingdon Bridge charity.

The Barclays branch in the Square, Abingdon, is scheduled to close in February 2024. This closure follows the closure of the town’s other Barclays branch on Marcham Road in January 2020.

The decision to close the branch in the Square is attributed to the availability of alternative banking methods for most customers, with 94% of customers now using online and mobile banking services.

Barclays has stated that only 15 customers regularly rely solely on the Square branch for their banking needs. Additionally, 23% of the branch’s customers have frequented alternative branches within the past year. They say customers can use the Post Office to pay in cash and cheques and withdraw cash.

The Barclays branch in the Square, Abingdon, has existed for over a century. The 1907 Abingdon Directory lists Barclay and Company Limited in The Square, Abingdon.

For more information see https://home.barclays/content/dam/home-barclays/documents/citizenship/Reports-Publications/Reason-for-closure/Reasons-For-Closure-Abingdon-The-Square.pdf.

Spruce Dry Cleaning, an Abingdon institution for 30 years, closed its doors on November 30th 2023 and has ‘Closing Down’ signs in the window. However, the outgoing message on Google suggests this will not be forever. ‘Spruce will open again under new management at some stage in the future,’ the message reads. ‘In the meantime, we’d like to thank all of you for using Spruce over the years, and we wish you well in the future!’

Dry cleaning isn’t as dry as the name implies. Water was avoided to prevent fabric damage, and a liquid solvent was used. But nowadays, a range of different techniques are available, including a dry cleaning system that uses water (ref 1).

ref 1: https://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/market-research/sector-trends/dry-cleaner-sector-trends