One of the Lime Trees along Caldecott Road, near the lodge at St Amand Drive, was being felled today.

The lodge itself can be seen (minus the tree) here surrounded by a wall that was built about fifteen years ago. The original wall was flattened when a builders van failed to notice it. I expect the wall and the lodge are the remnants of the once great Caldecott House.

The tree rings were difficult to count because the saw erased the outer marks. There were eighteen near the centre, but I would guess there were three times that amount.

South Avenue Numbers

There are 5 roads in Abingdon with House Numbers that go over 250:

* Radley Road – 279
* Wootton Road – 277
* Ock Street – 274
* Saxton Road – 254
* South Avenue – 253

All the other high numbering roads follow a straight line, but South Avenue is not what most people think of as an Avenue – that is a wide tree lined boulevard or driveway. It is situated off the Oxford Road.

Roadsigns with numbers have been put up to try to help visitors, and an attempt has already been made to rationalise the numbers. Originally when these houses were built from about 1946 to 1948 much of this area was called South Avenue Estate with numbers 1-160. In 1962 the estate was renamed as South Avenue and the current numbers adopted. Number 253 had been a lowly number 23.

South Avenue has never been adopted by the County Council