Abingdon Town Centre is mostly open for business

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The majority of businesses in Abingdon Town Centre have reopened since the lockdown.

Three Greene King pubs remain closed. Hearsay, on facebook, has it that new tenants will be managing them.
Pubs not opened yet
The blinds are down at the Black Swan. A full skip at the back shows there is work going on inside.
Pubs not opened yet
The blinds are down at the Punchbowl, although I saw lights inside
Pubs not opened yet
At the Broad Face there is not even the ghost of a hanged man in the dark inside.

A few shops remain closed. They include the large clothing shop, Peacocks, and the travel agents, Tui. Two charity shops, Oxfam and Sue Ryder, remain closed. Their risk assessments may well say that their elderly volunteers are still too vulnerable.

The Lounge Cafe has a notice saying they will reopen at the end of July.

Face Coverings required in shops from today

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Face Covering
New Government rules requiring customers to wear face coverings in shops came into effect today – 24th July. Mostly Books, and some other shops had reminders in their windows. The gov.uk webpage has the full details.

From about 30% of people wearing face coverings in shops yesterday in Abingdon it looked like everybody had one today, and many people were not taking them off between shops, or were leaving them dangling round their necks.
Face Covering
If you cough (or breath out) and have Covid-19 and are asymptomatic, the face covering protects others.

The covering should also provide some protection from Coronavirus in the air, but anybody wearing it round their neck can contaminate the inside of the covering.

Adventures in Eggland

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Eggbert
I saw Paul Gustafson in town today. His free children’s reading book Eggberts Adventures Delivering the Mail is available on the Royal Mail’s educational site Teacher’s post.

There are also activities to download on the revamped eggbertsadventures.com website. Paul hopes they will be useful during the summer holidays.

Paul is well know in Abingdon as a teacher (known as Mr G), campaigner, angler, and environmentalist. He brought the World Egg and Spoon Championship to Abingdon in 2017.

Here is a short extract of Paul reading Eggbert’s Adventures … .

Abingdon in Bloom 2020

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Flowers
Fabulous Flowers, on Bridge Street, had a magnificent display outside their shop when they prepared to open after the lockdown. Now there is a smaller outside display and the magnificent blooms are inside.
Flowers
Over the road is Roysse Court, and then a little further along the Market Place.

Sue Stevens had a letter printed in the Abingdon Herald today praising the red, white, and blue flower beds around the Market Place, and Roysse Court, which she says are ‘very apt for VE Day year’.
Flowers
The square planters elsewhere around the town centre, with the name Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council on the side, were planted later than usual but now have a variety of colours.
Flowers
The formal beds in the Abbey Gardens are the work of the Vale of White Horse District Council parks department.
Flowers
Along Stratton Way there are a couple of red and orange beds, and one in between with cooler pastel colours.

Despite the pandemic, the Town Council and VWHDC District Council and contractors have created some fine floral displays. What is different in 2020 is that the Town Council have no hanging baskets round the Market Place or planters along the river.  They do take a lot of water.