A New shop, called Clockwork Dragon, opened this morning where the Abingdon Shoe Shop once was, on Bath Street.

The Mayor of Abingdon, Cllr Helen Pighills, cut the ribbon to open the shop officially at 11am.

Peter, sporting the latest in Steampunk ‘Victorian’ fashion, has previously traded on markets, selling Fantasy, Gothic, Steampunk, and Sci-Fi products. A shop, in his home town of Abingdon, is the next step up.

The new Polish Delicatessen at the top of West St Helen Street seem to be doing well since they opened about two weeks ago.

The last Polish Deli, called ‘PolDeli’, was on Stert Street, and closed in 2008 – soon after the Banking Collapse.

The shop previously known as Mary Brooks will be opening soon as Re-Style, a Traditional Turkish Barber. There is already one very successful Traditional Turkish Barber at the other end of the High Street – opened in June 2014.

Throwing Buns has a fresh new front.

Work is ongoing in the shop that was the OX14 Deli, so there is every chance a new business will be opening there in the months ahead.

There has not been much activity at the local skin treatment specialist, in West St Helen Street, for some time now.

Notices have appeared in the windows that there is a planning application to change the building’s use to residential.

So too late to get a Botox, or dermal filler.

The new Polish Food shop at the top of West St Helen Street has started to stock the shelves. I am not sure how many Polish people live in Abingdon, but as always we locals are up for giving it a go.

Using Google Translate I see:
Polish Food Shop = Polski Sklep Food
You’re Welcome = Serdecznie Zapraszamy
Opening Soon !!! = Wkrótce Otwarcie !!!

Some other useful vocabulary:
Yes: Tak (as in tick-‘tack’)
No: Nie (as in ‘nyeh’-nyeh-na-na-na)
OK: Dobrze (‘dough’ plus a ‘b’ then ‘she’)

Good day: Dzien dobry (‘jean’ and ‘dough’ plus ‘bree’ like the cheese)
Hi: Czesc (use this one on friends only: ‘che sh ch’ but run it all together as one sound)
Bye: Czesc (works like ‘aloha’ or ‘ciao’ or ‘salut’, making informal comings and goings easy)
Good bye: Do widzenia (‘dough’ and ‘wid zen ya’ comes close enough)