Abingdon 100 years ago – May 1923

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DROWNING. About nine o’clock on Thursday evening, several young men were walking along the towpath on the Oxfordshire side of the river when one noticed something pass in the centre of the water. He called Mr F T Buckle of 55, East St Helen Street, assistant to Mr Bottrell, who was on the landing stage and rowed out and recovered the body of a boy named Arthur Bevis of No 1 , Court 7, West St Helen Street. Artificial respiration was tried by a number of willing volunteers for about an hour and a half. Dr Scott, however, pronounced life to be extinct. An inquest will be held.

BOROUGH POLICE COURT. Four Abingdon lads, Bert Taylor, Sidney Elleton, Frank Carter, and Daniel Dix of West St. Helen Street, were summoned for playing football in the street on April 26th. Each pleaded guilty and was discharged with a caution.

FOOTBALL. On Saturday, the Abingdon Minors met Wantage on the R.A.F. ground in Milton in the final of the North Berks League, and were victorious, winning by four goals to nil. The Abingdon Church School team played Northbourne at Radley on Saturday in the final of the Berks Elementary Schools League. The Abingdon boys lost by one goal to nil.

DISTRICT NURSING.—The Abingdon District Nursing Association will be affiliated with the Berks County Nursing Association, providing increased benefits. Two nurses from the Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Institute will be working with the local association, which has now been formed on a Provident Society basis for sick nursing benefits.

MAY FAIR.—The May Fair was held on Monday, giving the Market Place the appearance of the Michaelmas Fair, with roundabouts and other attractions. The fair closed by order at 11 p.m.

CRICKET SEASON.—The Abingdon Cricket Club commenced the season on Saturday when they hosted St. Edmund’s Hall, Oxford. After declaring for nine wickets, the town team lost by two runs.

BAPTIST CHURCH.—The recent rummage sale held on behalf of the Church Renovation Fund raised £15 8s. 9d.

GOLF CLUB.—The Abingdon Golf Club, with links at Shippon, has been honored with the presentation of two challenge cups by the new Abingdon alderman, Mr. A. E. Preston. One of the challenge cups dates back to George III (1815) and is a handsome fluted cup. The gifts are highly appreciated by the members.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.—The annual meeting of the congregation of this church was held in the schoolroom, The Square, Abingdon, on Thursday evening, with the minister (Rev. C. H. Gill) presiding. The meeting was preceded by a tea. The report of the Ladies’ Working Party, given by Miss E. Cox, and the report of the Sunday School work, by Mr. W. P. Gillingham, testified to activity and success. The report of the London Missionary Society showed that £16 19s. 6d. had been subscribed. The financial statement by Messrs. J. H. Gillingham and J. A. Greenwood showed an increase in the weekly collections. Mr. Greenwood (church secretary) mentioned that their pastor (Rev. C. H. Gill) had received an invitation to the pastorate of Morley Congregational Church, which the reverend gentleman then accepted.

EARL OF ABINGDON. The Earl of Abingdon, High Steward of Abingdon and heir presumptive to the Earl Lindsey, will receive many congratulations on Sunday when he will attain his 86th birthday, which will be spent at his Oxfordshire residence, Wytham Abbey. The founder of his family was Sir Henry Norris, who was created Lord Norreys by Queen Elizabeth for his services as British Ambassador to France from 1572 until 1597. Lord Abingdon, despite his many years, is very active and makes frequent visits to London during the season.

ABINGDON. MUNICIPAL ELECTION.—The vacancy on the Town Council has been caused by the elevation to the bench of Councillor A. E. Preston. There was only one nomination – Mr. A. E. Woodley of 33 Bostock Road, Abingdon, who is accordingly elected. Mr. Woodley belongs to the Berks and Bucks Football Association and is also the treasurer of the local branch of the Y.M.C.A.

WHITSUNTIDE. Whitsuntide was duly observed on Sunday at the churches of St. Helen, St. Michael, and St. Nicolas, each of which was tastefully decorated. There was a large number of communicants at the several early celebrations of the Holy Communion. The preachers during the day were the parochial clergy.

CONCERT AT THE UNION. A splendid program of music, etc., was given at the Abingdon Union to the inmates on Wednesday last. The concert was arranged by Mr. J. Sandalls, an old member and humorous entertainer at the Abingdon YM Social Club and popular concerts of the past. On this occasion, he was assisted by Misses Ivy Page, May Sandells, A. Broughton, E. Spiles, and W. Howard, as well as gentlemen performers. Miss Williams presided at the piano.

RACING SUCCESS. The first race of the Abingdon Flying Club, under the rules of the National Homing Club (PIgeons), was held this month. From a race flown from Salisbury, Mr. J. Hemming of Ock Street secured first place with a velocity of 994 yards per minute, and the third place at 979 yards. The second place was secured by Mr. A. H. Dockarty’s bird at 966 yards. The following week, in a race flown from Bournemouth, Mr. Hemming secured first and second places, with velocities of 1,004 and 1,092 yards per minute, respectively.

FOOTBALL. NORTH BERKS FOOTBALL WINNERS. Here is a list of the winners in various North Berks football competitions last season:

Berks and Bucks Mid-Week Cup: Reading Wanderers
North Berks Junior Cup: Abingdon Juniors
North Berks Charity Shield: Didcot R.A.O.C.
North Berks Memorial Cup: Wallingford Minors
North Berks League Division I: Abingdon Town
North Berks Junior League: Jointly held by Drayton and Childrey
North Berks Minor League: Abingdon
Abingdon and District Schools Cup: Abingdon Church of England School
Abingdon and District Schools Shield: Northbourne School

The Borough Council decided that a sum not exceeding £300 should be lent to the Fire Brigade to complete the purchase of the new fire pump which has been under trial.

The Borough Council resolved that the Governors of Christ’s Hospital be informed that the idea of taking over the Park and Park Roads did not commend itself to the Council.

The Railway Company to be asked to control the nuisance caused by mud and dust being carried from the Station Yard into Stert Street.

The vacancy for the Town Clerkship to be advertised at a salary of £300 per annum with offices supplied by the Corporation. Applicants to be qualified solicitors who can engage in private practice if it does not interfere with official duties

Thank you for the news extracts and adverts from the Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette in the British Newspaper Archive. Thanks to Chat GPT for removing some errors from the text generated from the newspaper archive. Council news is from Liversidge’s Borough Council records. The picture of the New Fire Pump in 1923 is from The Abingdon Fire Service by John Hooke.

Abingdon’s new mental health hub

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The Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust are opening Keystone Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs throughout Oxfordshire. The hubs are in the heart of communities and will make it easier for people experiencing ongoing mental health challenges to find the services they need.

The first hub was opened by Frank Bruno in Blackbird Leys in November 2022. Yesterday, workpeople were decorating the front of the Abingdon hub in Bury Street, where Pandora used to be.

There is more information at https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/news/new-high-street-hubs-keystone-to-mental-health-care-in-oxfordshire/.

Where dogs can party

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The dog boutique has opened today in Abingdon High Street. The main and back room has a boutique, and spa. A pink sign says ‘Every dog has its day’.

The second room is open as a café that serves dog-friendly Ice Cream. It is a place where dogs can party.

Special Town Council Meeting – Cinema

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There was a special Town Council Meeting this evening to consider the lease of the Abbey Cinema, which, if not renewed within 25 working days, would lead to the closure of the cinema.

Given the slow progress in negotiations over recent months, this might have seemed a Mission Impossible before the meeting.

This is the first time a Town Council meeting has been held in St Nicolas Church. Many townspeople were expected to support the cinema, so the venue was moved from the Old Magistrates Court to the church.

The new Town Council faced the audience and listened to questions and statements from the audience for about 25 minutes. Ian Wiper, the cinema owner, began by saying that since starting the cinema in 2018, it has been given three short-term leases, and they need a long-term lease to allow investment in the building and the cinema to continue. Since a meeting in August 2022, little progress has been made in negotiations, and since February 2023, the Town Council lawyer has been waiting for instructions.

A number of groups who used the cinema then stood up to support the cinema. They included ATOM, The Arts Society Abingdon with 350 members, and The Abingdon Film Club (which uses the Roysse Room).

One person said that the cinema was a big draw to the town centre and without it, more people would go to Oxford and Didcot. Another person said that The Guildhall had been empty before the cinema arrived and could be empty again without a cinema.

Councillor Jim Halliday responded for the Town Council, saying they all wanted the cinema to continue. But, as a council, they needed to be careful entering into a long-term lease for a community asset when negotiating with a commercial organisation. He mentioned the Upper Reaches as an example of a long-term lease that ended badly. He said that after the public meeting, the council would discuss a Guildhall Property Report in a confidential session. The Guildhall needed big investment for energy efficiency requirements as a public building and possibly needed a new roof, which would be expensive.

Councillor Halliday said he would propose that a team of councillors with knowledge of the cinema meet the cinema owners on Friday, having agreed to the property report. His proposal was applauded. An agreement could still be possible in time.

The meeting was well managed by the new Mayor, Councillor Gwyneth Lewis, and the audience left at that point, happier than they had come in.

There was then a matter of council business. The Mayor then proposed that councillors attend main council and committee meetings in person from now on. Since Covid, there have been some hybrid meetings with councillors attending virtually. After some discussion, this was agreed.

The council then went into the confidential session to discuss the property report.