Monthly Archives: July 2014

Abingdon (Borough) Roll of Service

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Roll of Service
In the Local Studies section of Abingdon Library there is a copy of the August 1914 to June 1919 Abingdon (Borough) Roll of Service, on top of the filing cabinet.

It names all the Abingdon men who served in the First World War. Those in bold type were killed. Those with an asterix were wounded. The roll shows address, rank, and regiment. The picture above shows the As and some of the Bs.

Mike Badcock was on the front page of the Abingdon Herald this week saying that The Roll will be read as part of a special ceremony on August 4th 2014 – 100 years after the start of the First World War. He is looking for family members to read.

Organisers of Abingdon Heritage Weekend (September 13-14) are looking for pictures of those on the roll, and Abingdon at that time. The Roll of Service, together with pictures, will be displayed over Heritage Weekend, in tribute to those who served in the war. If you have a photograph of an Abingdon relation who was involved in WW1 in any way please bring it along to Abingdon Library. The photograph does not have to show the person in uniform. The staff at Abingdon Library are happy to scan original photographs

Grounded

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Thanks to Tony and Steve who sent me pictures of different boats grounded opposite Wilsham road.
Grounded
Tony says “Walkers watched as a young man jumped into the Thames and tugged on a rope, trying to pull his boat free after it had beached (on the wrong side of the green buoys) opposite the Ferry Boat House on Wilsham Road. His efforts were in vain.
Grounded
A friendly boat tried to tug the boat free and failed.
Grounded
Some other Good Samaritans clearly knew a thing or two about boats, and tried a different tactic. They pulled the stranded boat’s nose round at right angles to the bank, and she was free! …. and able to resume her journey – on the correct side of the channel this time.”
Grounded
Back in June, Steve sent me a picture of “a cabin cruiser stuck fast on the sand bank opposite Wilsham Road with another just about to tow it off.”

The Narrows Re-opens

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Narrows Open
The Narrows was forced to close because of _______ earlier this week but is open again this evening. The big windows that open onto the High Street are a great design feature on hot summer evenings.

Land for houses in North Abingdon

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610 houses
This evening at the Long Furlong Community Centre, in Abingdon, about 120 local residents went to hear about the Vale of White Horse (VWHDC) Draft Local Plan.

Councillor Sandy Lovatt was there to explain the plan, and to take questions from concerned residents.

The draft plan involves building 610 extra houses (with possibly 900 cars) in fields between the peripheral road and the A34 in North Abingdon. This is because more houses are needed across the VWHDC to meet house building targets.
 
The video above shows the fields that are affected.

The main concern for residents was the extra traffic, and need for better infrastructure. One resident said it was very difficult getting out of their estate roads onto the peripheral road at peak times. It was a serious accident waiting to happen.

Another resident said that Abingdon had a very poor record in council led traffic changes and asked that any changes to the peripheral road be the subject of an independent traffic study.

Another resident said that the recent changes to the Wootton Road roundabout had made things worse. It had become a new bottleneck.

Approval of the plan will be in 2014 and adoption in 2015. 400 of the 610 houses could be built between 2015-2019, and 200 from 2020-2031. The consultation period for the housing plan is already over and 2,700 replies have been received by VWHDC. As a result some alterations could be made. Then the plan will go back to Councillors for approval. So there is a last chance to write to your County Councillor (for North Abingdon that is sandy.lovatt@oxfordshire.gov.uk) to influence that decision. Later on, residents can petition for the right infrastructure to be put in place when developers submit plans.

For More Information.