There’s a new shop on the High Street selling fresh food. It’s where Abingdon Sports used to be, and it seems popular already.
They’ve got lots of fruit and veg, most without packaging (you can use paper bags if needed). They also have a butcher’s counter, bread and pastries, cheese and wine, and other groceries on shelves.
The shop is open every day from 7am to 8pm.
People who have commented on the plans for building a new care home and nursery (Plan P23/V2861/O on Land north of Copenhagen Drive, Abingdon) are worried that there might be problems with draining the water away from the site.
Abingdon Town Council commented, ‘The town council is also concerned about the risk of flooding as excess water will use the drain installed by Aldi and will end up in Larkhill stream. There has recently been flooding around Larkmead School, which may have been exacerbated by pressure on Larkhill stream, which runs close to the site. This is likely to be worsened by the proposed development.’
In the Aldi plan it was proposed ‘to discharge surface water from the development to the watercourse on the far side of Wootton Road, via a new connection.’ The new development is planning to do the same and drain surface water into what it calls ‘Watercourse A’.
“Watercourse A” disappears underground near Wootton Road. Then, another stream called Larkhill Stream appears from under the same road, but I’m not sure if they’re connected.
More rain last night caused more flooding in North Abingdon! Farm Road and the Peachcroft Play area were underwater again. The Larkhill Stream (pictured above) also overflowed its banks.
About half way along the length of the Larkhill Stream is a flood holding area (at Rawlings Grove) , and that became a pond overnight.
The Larkhill Stream (pictured on the left) is cloudy with dirt (silt) compared to the clear stream from Shippon (pictured on the right). Both streams meet near Larkmead School. I wonder if the dirt in Larkhill Stream came from “Watercourse A.” Anyone know? A friend is worried about this and trying to find out more before the plans go through.
Last year, Tim sent some pictures of bulb planting by Appleford / Compton Drive residents. He says they went up a league last week and planted three trees on the verge for all the excellent reasons trees get planted. It was a multi-generational event with everyone from toddlers to dodderers joining in. Tim says they plan to continue to manage the space for the community and the environment by encouraging wildflowers and maintaining the grass for wildlife. They’ll mow paths through it that many children love to run through.
Change.org is a global website enabling anyone to start, sign, and share petitions for various social causes. I have listed the top ten community concerns from Abingdon-on-Thames in terms of number of signatures, as of 16/02/2024.
A) The derelict Upper Reaches Hotel is a disgrace to Abingdon (2615 signatures)
B) Save Old Abbey House for the people of Abingdon (1781)
C) Preserve the Historic Name of Our Local Public House (1599)
D) Make Greene King change the name of its pub ‘The Midget’ (845)
E) Speed Camera on Ock Street, Abingdon (553)
F) Save Abingdon Juniors’ Football Pitch & Historic Conservation Area (525)
G) Build a nature reserve instead of housing and an Aldi next to Wootton Road (397)
H) Change the unfair Abingdon Community hospital visiting rules (349)
I) Moderate excessive noise from Abingdon Airfield (320)
J) Change the Golden Kitchen’s chips back to chunky chips! (71)
(C) and (D) are two competing petitions about changing a pub name.
(D) Greene King pub “The Midget” offends with an outdated term. Though named after an MG car, the term’s history in “freak shows” makes it hurtful. Change the name while respecting local car heritage.
(C) Changing the name erases local heritage and disrespects patrons’ memories.
There have been even more petitions for Abingdon, Virginia. Two concern a possible name change:
K) Rename Abingdon, VA to Slawville (61 signatures)
Petition to change Abingdon to Slawville to honour local heritage, not British colonialism. The current name disrespects Appalachian culture.
L) Rename Abingdon, VA to Flavortown (21 signatures)
Abingdon’s dull name does not attracts tourism. “Flavortown” would be a more exciting, attention-grabbing answer.
P.S. I have got the pictures in the wrong order. Can anybody out there help put them in order of importance?