Monthly Archives: January 2019

Progress on old Bellinger Site

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Bellingers Site
Bellinger, the car dealer, moved from their Ock Street site on 7th October 2016.
Bellingers Site
Churchill Retirement Living then put in a planning application during February 2017 for 39 one and two bedroom apartments on the site.

The application was initially turned down by the Vale of White Horse District Council planning committee. The council officer judged that the benefits outweighed the concerns, but Councillors disagreed. Reasons for refusal were ‘…the scale, bulk and close proximity of the proposed building to existing dwellings, the proposal will cause an undue loss of light, sunlight and privacy to neighbouring properties…‘
Bellingers Site
So the site has had a couple of years to return to nature. I once took a picture of a young fox on the site.

The plan was then granted on appeal on 3rd October 2018 by a planning inspector, and so building work cannot be far off now.

Abingdon Lions Club – Serving the local community

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Abingdon Lions Share
This evening at the Northcourt Centre in Abingdon, the Abingdon Lions Club were giving out cheques and prizes to other local community groups. The Abingdon Lions organise Santa’s Sleigh going around Abingdon during December. Other groups help by providing elves. So of the £4,300 raised, the Lion’s share will be used for a new defibrillator in the Abbey Gardens, to go with the toilet block when complete. The rest was shared between other groups for their own projects. They included:
Abingdon Lions Share
Abingdon Sea Cadets,
Abingdon Lions Share
Friends of Abingdon Community Hospital, Lowland Rescue (who find people who are lost), Abingdon Autistic Society, Kennington Memory Club, 2 Guide groups, and Thomas Reade School PTA.
Abingdon Lions Share
The Lions originated over 100 years ago in the US with the mission To Serve, which they largely do by fund raising for projects and helping other community groups at events and with funding. There are 1.7 million members worldwide, and The Abingdon Lions are one of 46,000 local clubs. In recent years the Abingdon Lion’s have provided 11 defibrillators. They also provide the message in a bottle and message in a wallet which holds important personal information in case of emergency.

The Mayor of Abingdon, Councillor Margaret Crick, was there, and thanked the Lions for all their hard work for the local community. For more information about other projects visit Abingdon Lions Club.

Church in Abingdon Quiz

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Church in Abingdon Quiz
The Church in Abingdon has been holding a number of joint events over the current week. There have been prayers at St Nicolas church each lunchtime throughout the week taken by different church leaders. Tomorrow (Sunday 27th Jan 2019) there is a joint service at 3pm at Christchurch. And last night the annual Church in Abingdon Quiz was held at St Helen’s Church. Thankyou to them for an excellent quiz.
Church in Abingdon Quiz
Money raised at the event will go towards The Abingdon Bridge, a charity that supports young people in difficult situations.
Church in Abingdon Quiz
In the quiz there were a couple of questions on local Abingdon history. John Mason appeared in the picture quiz, and we were asked the reason and the date for the first ever Abingdon bun throwing.

Two new bars

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Two new bars
Two new bars are coming to the High Street, Abingdon, and both now have coloured vinyl displays on the windows. The Old Chemist’s green vinyl advertises books, cocktails, and gin, and food. It was Smiths the Chemist, and contains the old Abingdon library reading room.
Two new bars
Then directly over the road, where Stan James the bookmakers was, the blue vinyl says Mercer Bar is coming soon. The building is already looking much smarter without the big pigeon nets covering the top floor.

The two new bars join The Narrows, and The Grapes on the High Street.