Albert Park Through the Year: December 2025

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Frosty start to the last day of 2025 in Albert Park, Abingdon. One of the smaller oak trees is still clinging to its leaves, while the larger oaks have let theirs fall.

The giant redwoods (Wellingtonias) cast long shadows, keeping the frost protected from the sun after it has melted elsewhere.

There seem to be a lot of birds about, mostly high up in the trees, but some coming down to the ground.

Not just birds: there are signs of early growth too, with snowdrops pushing through.

A couple of trees are even in blossom, and despite the earlier cold, bumblebees are visiting their flowers. The mahonia is also popular.

Albert has seen many changes since being erected in 1865. There were no big trees then. No jet trails. Another year is over, and Albert at 160 years is a fixture in a park that changes around him.

2026. Happy New Year. Year 161 for Albert.

New trees planted on Appleford Drive

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New trees have been plated along the grass verges at the top end of Appleford Drive in Abingdon. Each tree is tied and protected with a wire cage.

This planting was done by Oxfordshire County Council as part of a wider tree-planting programme, which aims to increase the number of trees to help both with climate change and make streets more pleasant.

The council’s Tree Policy aims to get ‘the right tree in the right place’. Grass verges have limited space, possible underground services, parked cars, pedestrian use, and there is a need to keep sightlines. Young trees can also suffer deliberate or accidental damage in their early years.

Some of the newly planted trees are labelled. One that is already familiar locally is sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), well known in Abingdon town centre for its autumn colour. Other labelled species include field maple (Acer campestre), plum-leaf hawthorn (Crataegus × persimilis ‘Splendens’), tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), silver lime (Tilia tomentosa ‘Brabant’), and Italian alder (Alnus cordata).

Appleford Drive has some much larger trees which could have been there before the housing.

Abingdon Town Centre Shop Changes in 2025

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Key Changes in 2025
2025 roundup
This annual roundup provides a snapshot of Abingdon’s changing town centre shop fronts. The map highlights key changes using colour codes:
Green: Vacant at the start of the year, now occupied.
Yellow: Business or name change.
Red: Occupied at the start of the year, now vacant.

Changes from 2007 to 2025
(Press on the year in the table below to see the larger picture for any year.)

Year	Green (New Openings)	Yellow (Business/Name Changes)	Red (Closures)	Net Change
2007	6	5	10	-4
2008	10	8	13	-3
2009	9	6	6	+3
2010	9	6	5	+4
2011	2	8	5	-3
2012	6	1	7	-1
2013	6	8	6	0
2014	6	8	6	0
2015	6	8	6	0
2016	10	5	5	+5
2017	3	6	7	-4
2018	7	6	4	+3
2019	4	3	7	-3
2020	6	1	8	-2
2021	6	1	8	-2
2022	4	2	5	-1
2023	9	6	3	+6
2024	4	5	6	-2
2025	4	5	7	-3

Welcome Back
* Added Ingredients

Welcome to New Businesses
* Boots Hearing Care
* Cay Khe (Vietnamese Restaurant)

* Delicatessen Cafe
* Elite Barbers

* Gathering Space Cafe
* Habibi’s Lebanese Grill

Goodbye to Businesses we Lost

Another High Street bank, the Nat West Bank closed their branch last year.

The others lost businesses are:
* Abingdon Supermarket
* JHoots Pharmacy (although a notice in the window says the closure is temporary)
* Lounge Cafe (owners retired and replaced by another cafe)
* Pablo Lounge
* Pappy’s Back A Yard closed because they were under an unstable building. Perhaps it will return.
* Santina’s Grill

Change to Existing Businesses

W H Smith became T G Jones
Utopia Beauty Salon moved to West St Helen Street
Mezzah House and La Baguette moved in with Cafe Aroma

(let me know of any mistakes in this annual roundup)

Plans for NYE and New Years Day in Abingdon

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There are posters for New Years Eve celebrations at four of the Abingdon pubs, but most pubs have something on. Some pubs are walk-in, but there are also ticketed nights which need booking.

The Blue Boar, which reopened on 21 December after a change of ownership and a refurbishment, will have a New Year’s Eve experience with DJs and lighting. Entry is free before 9pm, with a £5 charge after that.

New Year’s Day itself begins with some traditional and community events.

There is the annual New Year’s Day Boundary Walk, led by the town crier and a guide, tracing as closely as possible the historic Abingdon boundary as it was set out in the 1556 charter.

In addition to the usual Sunday junior parkrun, a special New Year’s Day junior parkrun is also being held. Organisers say they would love to see as many runners and volunteers as possible to help make it a memorable start to the year. The event takes place at Southern Town Park, Lambrick Way, with the briefing at 8.55am.

In the afternoon, Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers will be welcoming the New Year with dancing at the Punch Bowl and the Broad Face.

Please let me know of any other events that mark the start of the New Year in Abingdon. Some communities, such as East St Helen Street, have traditions of their own, including meeting and greeting neighbours in the street after midnight. The Abingdon Blog will turn twenty, and I plan to begin its twenty-first year with the Boundary Walk in 2026, as I did in 2006. I originally intended the blog to run for just one year, but then the Radley Lakes protests got quite exciting in January 2007 with the Greenpeace sit in and I carried on blogging.