Temporary Bridge

After engineers declared the medieval Thames bridge unsafe and closed it to traffic, the main route from Abingdon towards Culham, Dorchester and London was cut. Local businesses complained of lost trade and delayed deliveries as traffic was forced onto lengthy diversions. To restore this connection while the stone bridge was rebuilt, a temporary bridge was constructed alongside the existing crossing.

An Abingdon Bigamist jailed after claiming pension allowance for his “wife”
40-year-old salesman John Lorenzo Marquee Umbandeni Thorburn appeared before the Berkshire Assizes at Reading. Thorburn admitted bigamy and was also convicted of obtaining money from the Ministry of Pensions by falsely claiming he was supporting his wife. In reality, he had married at Windsor in 1915, deserted his first wife after only five weeks, and then went through a second marriage ceremony in Abingdon with Miss Gwendoline Ellison in 1917, with whom he had a child. A veteran of the Royal Field Artillery, he suffered from shell shock and neurasthenia, which drew sympathy in court. When challenged by Ministry officials, he reportedly said: “I think the best thing I can do is commit suicide.” The judge sentenced him to nine months’ imprisonment, remarking that taxpayers should not be expected to support “a man’s mistress”. Thorburn collapsed in the dock after hearing the sentence and had to be carried to the cells by warders.

East St Helen Street couple celebrate their Golden Wedding
Mr and Mrs G. Staniland of 49 East St Helen Street celebrated fifty years of marriage, having been married at St Helen’s Church in June 1876. Mrs Staniland was the daughter of the late Edwin Blagrove of Clarke, Sons and Co. Mr Staniland had spent sixty years working for the Abingdon solicitors C. A. and F. H Pryce and their predecessors. His long list of civic duties included serving as treasurer to the Church Council, election borough auditor, secretary to the Abingdon Provident Institution and secretary of the old Philanthropic Society.

Abingdon Town Band wins prize at Henley contest
Abingdon Town Band travelled to Henley to compete in the third annual Henley-on-Thames Band Contest. The band achieved second place in the march contest in Section Two with its own choice of march, Divisional Command, and finished fifth in the test piece competition.

Long-service medals awarded to Abingdon firefighters
At a meeting of the Abingdon Voluntary Fire Brigade, the Mayor, Mr J. D. Godfrey, presented long-service medals to Chief Officer J. Gibbens, Chief Engineer and Second Officer H. Humfrey and Fireman West. Gibbens had joined the brigade in 1892 and became chief officer in 1923, while Humfrey joined in 1904. Fireman West had served for fifteen years and also acted as brigade secretary. The Mayor praised the brigade’s efficiency and the reputation it had built throughout the district. Members of the Milton Hill Fire Brigade also attended the ceremony.

Territorial soldiers hold musketry camp at Churn
The Abingdon platoon of the Royal Berkshire Regiment joined comrades from Wantage and Wallingford for a weekend musketry camp at Churn. Around sixty officers and men attended under the command of Captain W. D. Gale. Military training was combined with social activities, including an impromptu concert in the canteen on Saturday evening. The men left looking forward to their next camp in early July.

Radley College servant convicted of watch thefts
Reginald Surman, a servitor at Radley College, appeared before magistrates charged with stealing two silver wristwatches belonging to pupils Roger Owen Williams and Ian Standish Wylie. The watches were valued at £3 10s and £1 15s respectively. Surman was fined £1 10s on each charge.

Babies Welfare Party
The annual Babies’ Welfare summer party was held on Friday at the Wesleyan Schoolroom in Conduit Road. The address was given by Miss Kitty Fry, and was followed by the prize-giving and tea.

The prizes were given on attendances made at the weekly weighing-day (Fridays) during the past year. There were over 50 mothers present.

Miss Fry, in her address, emphasised the importance of regular feeding and of never feeding infants between meals. Babies should not be fed at night except when absolutely necessary, but drinks of water could usefully be given when the child cries. Water was necessary for children of all ages, and should be boiled to make sure of its purity. ‘Dummies’ should never be used.

The Health Visitor, Miss Nurse, was presented with a breakfast service by Mrs Beasley on behalf of the mothers and helpers of the Infant Welfare. Miss Nurse is shortly leaving Abingdon to get married.

At the Borough Police Court, Christina Emily Trigg of 4 Thames Street, Abingdon was summoned by Caleb Welch for assaulting him. The complainant stated that he had to push Mrs Trigg’s door shut as he passed on 30 May at 8.30 a.m.. He heard defendant using threats, and when he came back she rushed out, scratched his face, and used obscene language. Mrs. Trigg said the door slammed shut and knocked some ashes she was carrying on to the floor. Witness asked Welch what right he had to bang the door, and he then spat in her face and banged her on the arm. Defendant was fined 10s., including costs, and bound over in the sum of £5 to keep the peace for six months.

Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the British Newspaper Archive for access to the Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette; to the North Berks Herald microfilm at Abingdon Library for additional stories; and to the Oxford Journal at Oxford Library for the photographs of the bridge, golden wedding and fire brigade.

The Great Strike – First Two days in Abingdon

Abingdon was unusually quiet, with little traffic passing through the town. People employed in Oxford found there was no railway service, but were conveyed by motor bus instead.

The Mayor, Councillor J. D. Godfrey, called for the help of members of the council during the strike, and a joint food committee was set up for the Borough and District. Recruiting for Special Constables began at the Municipal Offices, where twenty-six names were handed in during the afternoon; the volunteers were sworn in the following day. The Mayor said that whatever people’s view on the strike, law and order must be maintained.

The gas works had a good stock of coal, and no men were on strike there, nor at the Electric Light Works. Bakers were being supplied with fuel by the local authority, and yeast had been obtained from London. Supplies at the coal merchants, however, were low, and households were limited to one cwt of coal per week.

Meanwhile, GWR men on strike at Didcot organised a cricket match, followed by a concert at the Red Triangle Club.

About forty men were laid off at the Concrete Brick and Tile Company in Abingdon because supplies of cement were unavailable. A restricted train service began between Abingdon and Radley.

Abingdon Bowling Club – Opening of New Pavilion
The Great Strike did not interfere with the opening of the new pavilion of the Abingdon Bowling Club, and there were a large number of members and others present when Mrs. A. E. Preston declared the building open.

In asking Mrs. Preston, the wife of their president, to open their new club room, Mr. C. Johnson said it had been their ambition for many years to possess a home like that one. He claimed it would be an ornament to Abingdon Park and would be no discredit to the Borough of Abingdon.

The pavilion, which has cost over £200, has been built by money raised through loans, free of interest, entirely from the members, and has been built by Messrs. Blake Bros. of Abingdon.

Congratulations to Lord Abingdon
A letter was sent by the Mayor and Corporation of Abingdon to the Lord High Steward of the Borough, the Earl of Abingdon. It read:

Dear Lord Abingdon –

The Corporation joins me in tendering the heartiest of greetings to you on attaining your ninetieth birthday.

We would couple with our congratulations the very sincere hope that a kindly Providence will continue to sustain you with health, happiness and peace, whereby you may be able to yet prolong your extended term of office as High Steward of the Borough.

Believe me, yours very truly,
JOHN DENNIS GODFREY
Mayor

Another Lodge Hill Accident
The accidents that occur at Lodge Hill, the dangerous S-bend on the main road between Oxford and Abingdon, are becoming increasingly notorious. On Wednesday, there was yet another mishap at this spot, though fortunately no one was seriously injured.

Mr James Jacques, of Bournemouth, was driving home from Northampton when a lady cyclist riding ahead of him suddenly swerved. To avoid striking her, Mr Jacques steered off the road, resulting in an accident.

Strangled by Shirt Collar
The District Coroner, Mr Normley Challenor, held an inquest at the Chinese Camp, RAF Depot, Milton, into the death of Percy Picton, an Air Ministry warden.

Mr Picton had been seen the previous evening in good spirits and was described by one witness as a happy-go-lucky man. As he passed, he waved his hand, and called, “Hullo, Tom.”

The following morning, Mr Picton failed to report for duty at 6 a.m. A colleague went to awaken him and, looking through the window of his cubicle, saw him lying on his bed. There was no sign that anyone else had been in the room. The cubicle was locked and was opened using a spare key.

The deceased was fully dressed in uniform, apart from his jacket. Dr Richard Rice was summoned but found that the man was already dead. The deceased’s collar was fastened with a stud, and when it was released an indentation was revealed around his neck.

Dr Rice expressed the opinion that death was caused by asphyxiation resulting from pressure exerted by the shirt collar. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.

Abingdon Man’s Death from Lockjaw
Walter William Stimpson, 26, of 7 St Helen’s Street, Abingdon, died in the Radcliffe Infirmary from tetanus after injuring a finger while engaged in pile-driving work at Iffley Lock.

An inquest heard that on May 10 he caught his hand between a pile and a “monkey”, the heavy weight used in pile-driving operations. After receiving treatment at the Radcliffe Infirmary and later attending Abingdon Cottage Hospital, his condition deteriorated. Dr Challenor ordered his removal to the Radcliffe Infirmary, where he died.

County Hall Repairs and Cemetery extension
At the Borough Council meeting on 28th May, a report was submitted that said repairs needed for the preservation of the County Hall estimated the cost as £2,000.

Consideration was also given to extending the cemetery. The council approved the acquisition of the necessary land and an application for a loan to cover the cost.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the British Newspaper Archive for access to the Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette. Additional thanks to the North Berks Herald microfilm in Abingdon Library for stories, and to the Oxford Journal in Oxford Library for the pictures. Also thankyou to the Borough Council Archives in the Library.

Greene King has sold the Old Speckled Hen brand to Damm UK, the British arm of Spanish brewer Estrella Damm. Brewing is expected to eventually move from Bury St Edmunds to Bedford as a result. It will also mean a change to the Greene King distribution centre in Abingdon where the lorries currently wear the Old Speckled Hen livery.

For the national press, this is a business story. For Abingdon, it is part of the afterlife of two of the town’s best-known names: Morland and MG.

Old Speckled Hen was first brewed in Abingdon in 1979 by Morland Brewery to celebrate 50 years of the MG factory being based in the town. The original logo had a chain connecting MG with the town crest. The Old Speckled Hen was not a bird but an “MG Featherlight Saloon” with cellulosed fabric stretched over a wooden frame, which became an MG factory runaround. Identified by its mottled appearance, it was pointed out in the Abingdon accent by the phrase, “There gus the owd speckl’d un”.

The beer created to commemorate MG’s presence in Abingdon became a multi-national success after the factory closed.

This timeline tells the story:

1979 — Old Speckled Hen first brewed in Abingdon by Morland
1980 — MG factory closes
1999/2000 — Greene King acquires Morland (their interest in Morland was driven in part by the success of Old Speckled Hen beer). Brewing leaves Abingdon for Bury St Edmunds
2026 — Greene King sells the brand to Damm, with brewing expected to move to Bedford

Greene King kept the MG octagon and Morland name on the beer.  Damm appears keen to market Old Speckled Hen as an “iconic British ale brand with a rich heritage”. The acquisition appears to cover the Old Speckled Hen family of beers and not the Morland brand, so I don’t know whether the Morland branding will continue on the beer.