Monthly Archives: April 2013

Navy Medics carrying stretcher 360 miles for charity

1 Reply

Royal Navy Medics carry stretcher
Two days ago members of the Royal Navy Medical Service started to carry a stretcher from the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham (where injured personnel are first received) to Hasler Company recovery centre in Plymouth via Headley Court in Surrey , a distance of 360 miles in 14 days. This traces the route of injured service personnel on returning to the UK.

Last night they stayed at Chipping Norton and were welcomed by the Prime Minister.
Royal Navy Medics carry stretcher
Tonight they stayed in Abingdon. Tomorrow they stay at Henley.
Royal Navy Medics carry stretcher
They were welcomed to Abingdon by a number of town councillors, The Mayor, and The Chair of the Vale District Council …
Royal Navy Medics carry stretcher
Nicola Blackwood MP, and Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, were also there to show their support.

For more information about the ‘360 mile stretcher carry’ which is raising money and awareness for service charities that support injured service personnel see www.rnmsstretchercarry.org.uk.

Any Questions and Man Lab from Abingdon

3 Replies

Any Questions from Abingdon
The BBC Radio 4 panel show ‘Any Questions?’ was broadcast live from Our Lady’s Abingdon at 8pm this evening.

Jonathan Dimbleby, in the chair, was joined by former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Heseltine, commentator Peter Hitchens, Labour shadow public health minister Diane Abbott, and Liberal Democrat care minister Norman Lamb.

Jonathon began by saying that Abingdon claims to be oldest occupied town in Britain … then added there are other towns making similar claims. He went on to say that Our Ladies Abingdon opened as a convent in 1860. It now is an independent Catholic co-educational Foundation that welcomes pupils from all faiths and none.

Questions were:
1) Was Osborne guilty of a cheap political jibe in linking welfare & Philpott?
2) What punishment should be handed out to the former bosses of HBOS?
3) Is North Korea a real threat to the UK & would this justify the replacement of Trident?
(During the discussion Jonathon asked the audience and the overwhelming majority were against a Trident replacement.)
4) Should hate crime be renamed crime of prejudice?
5) Where do you fit into the 7-tier class system & is it representative?
Any Questions from Abingdon
Interesting to see that although Dr Evan Harris is no longer our MP, having lost the last election by 176 votes, he is still a significant voice nationally, and appeared on Any Questions five weeks ago in Swansea.
James May's Man Lab
The next time Abingdon is on the BBC nationally will be James May’s Man Lab next Thursday at 8pm on BBC2 where “James travels to an Oxfordshire town where a royal tradition desperately needs his help. Can he find a way of feeding thousands of locals to save their diamond jubilee celebration using ballistics and hot crossed buns?”

Looking forward to 2029

15 Replies

Abbey Shopping Centre
It may look as if the Abbey Shopping Centre has taken a risk building new retail space in the middle of the longest economic downturn most of have known …
Abbey Shopping Centre
but a study done for the Vale of White Horse Council, predicting what retail is needed in the longer view up to 2029, says the space is needed, as well as a new large supermarket in the town centre.

Last week the vale published the additional papers underpinning the main Local plan Document to 2029. The retail study says “High street national multiples have increasingly sought larger modern shop units (over 200 sq.m).”

We will all be glad to get some news about how the new retail space is to be used. Some rectification work has happened during the first three months since the main work was completed.
Abbey Shopping Centre
The study also looks at the viability of cinemas, theatres, bowling alleys, and bingo halls in the Vale area. It says a 2 screen 400 seat cinema could be viable, anything smaller would not be.

Local people can respond to the plan with their own views of what will work and be viable.

Scrap Yard at Rye Farm Commercial Car Park

12 Replies

Scrap Yard at Rye Farm
A scrap yard has appeared over Easter at the Rye Farm Commercial Car Park – that is the one over Abingdon Bridge and behind Rye Farm Car Park.

This evening the car park was full of caravans and other vehicles. In the middle were three open top lorries full of scrap metal, and a small crane that was breaking up an old car and some white kitchen appliances. It looked as if anything that was not metal got discarded in a ditch.

Children were playing on rope swings suspended from the chestnut trees by the causeway, and one small boy was getting a ride on a quad bike. I also saw dogs, and some hens pecking round in the dirt.