Neighbourhood Plan – final three topics for consultation

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The people of Abingdon are invited to comment on three more topics for the neighbourhood plan. They are:
* Travel, access and movement (A 20 MPH limit has already been requested by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council. The neighbourhood plan has a map of proposed changes to encourage cycling and pedestrians along many of the town’s through roads. )
* Business and employment (Allow more integrated employment close to people’s homes. This is in addition to the current business parks, shopping areas, schools and health centres.)
* Families and young people (Encourage pupils to walk and cycle to school with play-on-the-way schemes and hangout places.)

People can still comment on the other three topics.

After this consultation, the neighbourhood plan will be submitted for an independent examination to ensure it is complete.

The plan would then be put forward to an Abingdon-wide referendum next year. If adopted, the plan would influence planning decisions and help set the agenda for council actions and decisions over the next fifteen years.

To comment on any of the topics, visit https://www.abingdon-neighbourhood-plan.org/.

Road reopens and harvest begins at Rye Farm

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The road to Abingdon Lock and nearby buildings and farmland reopened yesterday after a few weeks when the road was resurfaced.

The road is now available to tractors and other vehicles used to harvest wheat in the adjacent field where work began today.

The combine harvester cuts down the crop, separates the grain from the stalks and every so often shoots the grain into an adjacent tractor-trailer.

Low River Levels

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BBC News reports ‘England had its driest July since 1935, with parts having the least rainfall on record, the Met Office has said.’

The amount of water flowing over Abingdon Weir is the lowest I have seen. Sedges are taking over upstream from the weir.

Your bathroom taps create more white water than Abingdon Weir. More water is going through Abingdon Lock, as the gates open for boats, than over the weir.

The River Ock flows slowly, and sedges impede more of the stream.

Low river levels are bad for wildlife and agriculture.

Ajax Cricket Club touring Abingdon

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Today’s visitors at the Abingdon Vale Cricket Club were Ajax Cricket Club from Holland. The association between the two clubs began at least 63 years ago.

Dirk and Jaap have been touring Abingdon since the 1989 tour.

Jaap explained that Oxford and Leiden in Holland have been twinned for 75 years and sports exchanges are part of the twinning. The Ajax cricket team came over and played local teams, and the first verified competition between Ajax and an Abingdon team was the Ox Public House team, from Abingdon, on 3rd July 1960. There could have been earlier matches that nobody can recall.

Then the cricket team started touring alone. Ajax would tour Abingdon one year, and Abingdon would tour Ajax the following year. It is now every two years, so Ajax visits Abingdon every four years, and it is as much about friendship as cricket. They stay with host families.

The name Ajax comes from the mythological hero in Greek legend. The club was established in Leiden in 1892. Ajax Amsterdam, the football club, was founded in 1900 and must have asked permission to use the hero’s name, but Jaap said no letter can be found in the club archives. The club now plays in Oegstgeest (nearby Leiden) and has the name Ajax Sportman Combinatie, as it has cricket and football teams.

The tourist strip in 2022 has 63 on the back to represent the anniversary,

and Dirk on the front, possibly after their legendary player Dirk.

After the game, there were speeches and a time to eat, drink and socialise.