The Eben Lark has Flown from West St Helen Street

West St Helen Street
The Eben Lark has flown, having spent the summer here, and now the shop is To Let.
West St Helen Street
However, some things in West St Helen’s Street never change: St Helen’s Church has been there as a focal point through the centuries.
West St Helen Street
Traffic is often unpredictable. I arrived back near home on Thursday evening and it took 15 minutes to do the last few yards. Traffic queues were merging from St Helen’s Wharf and East St Helen Street, and somebody said it had taken 2 hours to get from Harwell to Abingdon.
West St Helen Street
Shelves are being cleared away from the Abingdon second hand CD and DVD shop.

What was Frend & Co has been repainted ready For Sale; and the big banner saying new flats coming soon, where the solicitors offices used to be, has gone. Building work is almost complete – all part of the changing picture of West St Helen Street this autumn.

P.S. Hester sent me this picture to go wth her comment “Frendโ€™s Jewellers have moved to new premises next to Bella Napoli, near the Charter (where Tick-tock used to be till the owner retired recently).” …
Frend and Co

11 thoughts on “The Eben Lark has Flown from West St Helen Street

  1. Houdini

    Oh tell me about it ….. I was in that same queue Thursday evening. Took me 40 mins to get to North Abingdon from Ladygrove, then only 15 mins into the centre of Oxford.

    And they want to shove in yet more houses?

    Beggars belief……..

    Reply
  2. rolf

    that eben lark was only there 5 mins!
    the traffic is at breaking point, I totally agree with Houdini, it makes no sense to just build more houses without upgrading the infrastructure.

    Reply
  3. Hester

    For those who don’t know, Frend’s Jewellers have moved to new premises next to Bella Napoli, near the Charter (where Tick-tock used to be till the owner retired recently). That corner of town is becoming quite interesting now with the two clothes shops, the Shoe shop and Masons – not to mention the Lounge cafe when you need a cuppa!

    Reply
  4. Kennys hat

    Thursday night showed yet again how one problem on the a34 (a car broke down by Drayton) can have a huge knock on effect. Shame mr nimmo smith doesn’t notice

    Reply
  5. Daniel

    …did I hear on the news that The Vale is dropping plans for housing in areas like Hanny, or whatever…for yet more, in fact, for Abingdon?

    There isn’t enough “Town” for what we have…let alone enough “Town” for even more!?

    The best ‘consultants’ that our money can be thrown at, the best town planners, the forward thinkers, the innovative drivers of change….are all sadly unavailable, and we will be at the mercy of those that are left.

    Abingdon deserves development, and all the positives such necessary change can bring. But we won’t get that. We will get ‘building’ instead. Building, dressed up as development…at the expense of real, proper, future guided ‘development’. What a shame.

    Take the storming idea of the Didcot/Culham link road and river crossing. Great idea. And I even hope it goes ahead. But please bear in mind it’s ‘sense’ and working aspiration is built on the shakiest of foundations….no, not the ones the cat…did I heat on the news that The Vale is dropping plans for housing in areas like Hanny, or whatever…for yet more, in fact, for Abingdon?

    There isn’t enough “Town” for what we have…let alone enough “Town” for even more!?

    The best ‘consultants’ that our money can be thrown at, the best town planners, the forward thinkers, the innovative drivers of change….are all sadly unavailable, and we will be at the mercy of those that are left.

    Abingdon deserves development, and all the positives such necessary change can bring. But we won’t get that. We will get ‘building’ instead. Building, dressed up as development…at the expense of real, proper, future guided ‘development’. What a shame.

    Take the storming idea of the Didcot/Culham link road and river crossing. Great idea. And I even hope it goes ahead. But please bear in mind it’s ‘sense’ and working aspiration is built on the shakiest of foundations….no, not the ones the cardboard homes are built on…but on the misguided, out of touch assumption that the only people who buy a house there (and not a cheap, social house), will work at Culham! How they plan to restrict ‘anyone’ and market forces dictating who buys a house near that ‘route’ beggers belief!

    Not to mention….that link may be all well and good….but will do nothing to alliviate ABINGDON’S traffic woes…EXCEPT take away ANY possibility of sensible traffic measures for the town as we would have already had our turn at the trough.

    If I was only half as cynical as I fear I am ( and so, only very very cynical), I would think that this nonsense idea is along the same diversionary tactic as “tunnels under Oxford” and that us dumb electorate will remember how proactive the various councils were in trying to alleviate the traffic in the last few months, after years and years of seeming inavtivity.

    My heart already sinks at the likelihood of the fruitless fight ahead, for Abingdon will end up getting lumbered with non joined up, sporadic, out of the box, short term, profit driven ‘building’ at the expense of what Abingdon needs, and deserves.

    And then finally…if that wasn’t enough….when the ex-sperts come up with their crazy figures for required housing targets…based on things like ‘in creased employment in agriculture’ – despite such employment dropping year on year….goodness knows how good their other assumptions are, when those mad figures are set in stone by the gutless Vale…we’ll them be held to them…and then, whether we want it, or even need it, …the floodgates will be swung so far open, developers can jump in, build their poky cardboard houses wherever they like to meet that (false) demand!

    However, the flowers have looked great in town this year, and I look forward to the pop up cinema in the guildhall.

    Good night Abingdon, god bless.

    Reply
  6. rolf

    the work on Stert Street starts mid November, so we should see those horrible barriers finally come down at some point.
    Watch this space.

    Reply
  7. Mr Had - E -nough

    This town has been ruined and it will never return . The precinct is rubbish the road system is a joke and the houses over priced . I do not know anyone who thinks Abingdon is a good town any more unless you happen to be rich and live in Private estate . The traffic is utterly horrendous and parking is even worse my family have live in Abingdon for over 70 years but we are considering moving .

    Reply

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