Monthly Archives: September 2013

Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council Meeting – Sep 2013 – Part 1

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Since the Mayor’s Chaplain, David Fleming, (seen above with wife Beth at their leaving do) has gone to Luton, other people are being asked to lead the start of council prayers. This time it was the turn of the Abingdon Muslims.

At the start of the Town Council meeting three former mayors, who are also Freemen, had the new freedom bar added to their past Mayor’s Badge in a small ceremony. This new accolade was given to the most recent Freeman Janet Morgan and is being backdated.

The Mayor announced some upcoming events:
6th Oct – Fair Service 8pm by the galloping horses
31st Oct – Freedom Parade with the army
8th Nov – Mayor’s Charity Quiz with meal and Paul Mayhew Archer taking the quiz. Always fun even in a loosing team.
6th Dec – Mayor’s Over 70s Party

Then it was down into the first real discussion of the evening. The Vale of White Horse District Council have reduced the number of district councillors and redrawn their ward boundaries, and so have asked the town council about the terms of reference for a new consultation on whether similar changes are needed for the town council.

This led to a discussion about whether Abingdon would be better off without the district council. Put to the vote, 8 town councillors wanted to investigate removing a third tier of local government so Abingdon could govern itself better, 7 didn’t want to pursue this option, and the others abstained – not quite what the district council were asking but a radical thought.

More from the agenda another day.

New Pub Opening in Abingdon on 8th October

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I can’t remember a new pub opening in Abingdon before. But JD Wetherspoon are opening a brand new pub and have chosen to open on a day when the town will be packed – Tuesday 8th October – the second day of Abingdon Street Fair.

Many people passing by have a look in at the new interior – excitement is mounting.

The bar is not where we used to queue to post parcels and get car tax disks. The old sorting office has been opened up, and the building has been transformed into something much bigger.

We Plough the Fields and Scatter

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At Trinity yesterday we had the annual Harvest Festival. Most of the food donations were loaded into a car and taken to ‘Asylum Welcome’ – who need all the food they can get. Refugee numbers are up because of the war in Syria.

Rev’d Richard said there had been a good harvest this year with a wet spring followed by a dry summer.

Round the church were far more flowers than usual as part of a Harvest Flower Festival. Each display had a text … “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

Walking in fields yesterday, after the service, we saw Maize in abundance.

But for the UK inshore fleet – fishing boats mostly under 10 metres in length which operate in coastal waters – fish stocks are at historically low levels.

Abingdon Business Promotion on the Market Place

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A number of Abingdon businesses could be seen outside their normal premises on the Market Place on Saturday. It is a chance to meet potential new customers. There was Dream Doors who can transform you kitchen, and Galaxy TechnO who sell electronic devices and accessories in East St Helen Street – and will buy your old for cash.

Can Do Martial arts academy also swapped their Dojo on Audlett Drive for a gazebo.

And among others The Complementary Health Care Practice had a day out from 94 Ock Street with their demo skeleton. Their practice includes a dazzling array of therapies: Massage , Osteopathy, Reiki, Bowen Therapy, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Reflexology and Aromatherapy.