The Christmas Lights are down, and floods are abating. So what else has been happening. It appears that The Harp, (formerly Plough) on Stert Street, has closed and the Cross Keys has re-opened.

The Harp’s loss is the Cross Keys’ Gain. The Proprietors have moved from one to t’other.

In the latest edition of the Oxfordshire Drinker six pubs were nominated for the best CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) pub in Oxfordshire. Two were in Abingdon.

I hear that the winner is The Nags Head in Abingdon. They are yet to have their 1st Anniversary, when there will be a beer festival (1-3 Nov).

Meanwhile, the Loose Canon brewery have two winning beers (Abingdon Bridge, and Gunners Gold) in the SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) competition for the Midland area , and are now through to the national final.

I can’t remember a new pub opening in Abingdon before. But JD Wetherspoon are opening a brand new pub and have chosen to open on a day when the town will be packed – Tuesday 8th October – the second day of Abingdon Street Fair.

Many people passing by have a look in at the new interior – excitement is mounting.

The bar is not where we used to queue to post parcels and get car tax disks. The old sorting office has been opened up, and the building has been transformed into something much bigger.

The new edition of the Good Beer Guide puts the Nags Head in Abingdon in the top 10% of pubs in the UK – some achievement given that the pub only re-opened its doors in November 2012.

The Nags Head is situated on Abingdon Bridge and has four regular beers, including ‘Abingdon Bridge’ from the Loose Cannon brewery in Abingdon, and four guest beers.

The Nags Head re-opened in November 2012, having been closed for almost a year – at a time when other pubs were closing for good, 2 taken over by Tesco.

The Abingdon Street guide of 1869, in the local history section of Abingdon Library, shows what businesses have survived 144 years. There is one shop, Smiths The Chemist, a few churches, and several pubs including the Nags Head. I wonder what gives pubs such longevity?