Last year we bought reusable cups so that we could stop the growth of the the single-use coffee-cup mountain. This year the mountain of coffee cups is growing higher again.
During lockdown the coffee shops are only allowed to serve takeaways and that has increased the quantity of single-use cups.
Reusable cups are bulky and easily forgotten and we don’t always have them with us at the moment we visit: Coffee Aroma, Costa I, Costa II, Java, R&R, or Throwing Buns in Abingdon.
There are more places using Click and Collect during this second lockdown. In Abingdon town centre there are notices outside:
Fabulous Flowers,
Mostly Books,
and Abingdon Library. The library also allows pre-booked access to computers.
The Pandemic did not stop people gathering round the war memorial to remember Armistice Day. At eleven o’clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, people stood and traffic came to a stop for the two-minute silence at Abingdon War Memorial.
The giant poppies have been switched on for the last few days near the war memorial.
The lights in Bury Street have also been on.
This afternoon, and evening, the rest of the Christmas lights came on unannounced in Abingdon Town Centre.
In normal times, hundreds of people would have gathered around the Market Place, after a day of entertainment, to watch as a celebrity switched on the lights.
Many local businesses cannot get the full benefit until the 2nd December, when they can fully re-open.
Barclays have sent letters to customers of the Abingdon Marcham Road branch to say that the branch is closing on the 10th February 2021. They are closing other branches including those at Botley and Didcot. The Barclays at The Square in Abingdon must still have enough visitors as it is kept open.
The main reasons, given by the bank, why the Abingdon Marcham Road is closing:
• Customer visits have gone down over the last 2 years
• 82% of customers have other ways of banking, and this percent has increased
• 57% of this branch’s customers have been using nearby branches
• 29 customers use this branch exclusively for their banking
At the Fairacres retail park, across the Marcham Road, a new planning application P20/V2809/FUL requests that the 3 remaining units (of the phase 2 development) will need an exterior garden centre. The application mentions Homebase. So if this goes ahead, in late 2021, it will mean Homebase are returning with a brand new store taking the last 3 new units.