The shop that was Hathaways for many years, and has been a number of things since, will next become Abingdon’s fourth Traditional Turkish Barber.
Meanwhile the first restaurant to open in the Old Gaol will be a Costa Coffee shop, run by the same people who run Costa on Bury Street.
Same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. More of the same.
Now all we need is an estate agent opening and we’ll have the full set. I can’t see how Abingdon can support 2 Costa coffee shops so close , makes little business sense. Also I can’t believe there is that much hair in Abingdon, amazing !
And if the demand isnt there, then they will fail…
I’m sure we’d all like Abingdon to be a beacon of retail diversity, with dozens of artisan retailers pandering to our every whim..
However it seems all people actually want to pay for is coffee and hair cuts.. so that’s what we get.
Personally I like both, but prefer my coffee ‘non chain’ and my hair cut the old fashioned way, so neither of these new ventures will get my custom, but as Daniel says, the flowers look nice.
If it doesn’t make business sense to have two Costas in Abingdon then they won’t both stay open for long.
So far there seems to be a good market for coffee shops, as well as for estate agents, opticians, independent restaurants and a few other things. That’s why we’ve got several of each.
Costa does very well in the market place – i’m sure they’ll also do well by the river
Another Costa to discharge litter around the town – what a mess Costa makes of the precinct and Market Place with the litter they produce.
Just a pity the developers of the old gaol were allowed to deviate from the original plan where Turn-Again lane was to be a parade of shops and restaurants and not the overpowering blot that’s taken its place?
That said I suppose Abingdons fate was pretty much sealed by two major impacts? One was to build the dreadful precinct in the first instance and secondly was to route the A34 to the west ? If the east lobby had won we would have had our second river crossing and imagine all the shops in the precinct being dispersed around the four main streets?
Henley and Marlow are very similar to us, they also have some very expensive chimney pots surrounding them, so it is perfectly possible for us to go up a gear,and sustain more big names and indies too,
Abingdon will be a town of well groomed men then ……. let’s raise our coffee cups to that 😀
I have never worked out the geography of the public access to the Old Goal; I never succeed in finding a way in!
But from the picture above, the position of the Costa does not seem to have a riverside location…..there will be no outdoor seating with river frontage I presume? I moved to Abingdon after the Old Goal development was settled but I had the impression that there was going to be some sort of riverside ‘leisure quarter’ with restaurants etc actually opening out on to the river bank. Am I mistaken?
Get a grip, backstreeter … we need you sane.
How marvellous. I think it is plainly obvious – the Guildhall needs to have a Turkish barbers in it!
Captain, we could have been like Marlow or Henley, but we missed out by a whisker. It was a close shave.
Do Marlow or Henley have a BID?
Thanks Lyle – as you say…we shouldn’t grumble about any of this. The flowers look lovely.
This also highlights the shockingly bad parking around Abingdon, making it harder to walk or cycle. Can’t imagine how tough it must be for people in wheelchairs or with push chairs. This forces more people into cars and a negative feedback loop continues.
Cassandra/Capt K – the original proposal was for shops in the Bridge Street properties and restaurants in the ground floor of the OG; at a fairly early stage this changed to restaurants in all of those (although if the retail market picked up I dont think it would be hard for CH to get planning consent to change back to shops). That is still the plan as far as I know, but they dont seem to have been able to let the riverfront units.
Until they do, the question of access is a bit confusing – in brief you can get in to the site a) from East St Helen St through Twickenham House archway (use the small gate, not the big one b) from Bridge Street/Turnagain lane into the front courtyard and c) from Bridge Street, immediately before crossing the bridge, along the frontage in to the garden. You should also be able to walk right round the OG building, but I am not sure if that route is open yet. The gated bits are only open 9-5 Mon-Sat at present.
Another Turkish barbers. How about an English one..if we need another? These are tacky unsightly places which do not fit in with the surrounding area of Abingdon.
Melissa,
I’m pretty sure its the customers who are causing the litter, not Costa. After all, how hard would it be for people to put their rubbish in the bin, they’ve paid for it after all ?
DM,
thats right, Turkish barbers are definitely not in keeping, what with them not being pound shops, or vacant lets..
…I guess The Veil has simply had to implement cuts; and this is them.
Out of interest, is any one actually, properly, and fully accountable” for Abingdon? Is it the [various] Councils? Is it the councillors? Is it the Council officers?
Does anyone out there have any legal savvy? I think Abingdon has suffered enough. The shopping offer, the dysfunctional and nonsensical development, the planning let downs, etc etc etc (not the flowers though)…Does any one else think so? Is it time that “some one” or some ‘body’ was bought to book? A vote of no confidence etc? What is ‘our’ legal position on this? What is the legal position of The Veil (or others) *not* delivering? What *should* we be expecting? What if those expectations are not being met?
I don’t think Abingdon “wants all this”, so what is it that is being delivered upon us – on whose say-so, based on what remit or mandate?
In all manor of ‘small’ areas of life you/we wouldn’t put up with it…so why is such a far reaching area – the running of, the future of, our town, going so unchallenged?
It is baffling.
Hester, apparently the Old Gaol residents association ( or whatever they’re called) have voted against and voiced strong objection to the developer installing any river side restaurants ? Wouldn’t mind betting the Costa thing (which is in the old Harris & Mathews building with no river frontage) is a way of partially satisfying planning obligations while in a minute we shall see a change of use application from restaurant to residential?
Well, hope at last captain…we all know how bothered The Veil is by what any ‘residents’ might have to say!
You can indeed walk through between 9-5 as I do so quite a bit. Don’t be put off by the gates. The simplest way to find your way in is from the small side gate in East St Helen Street. It was never meant to be a gated development and I’ve never understood how they got put in.
I guess the gated community thing is all part of the elitist nature of the development or so CH would have prospective purchasers think.
Could come in handy when the Zombie Apocalypse comes as long as it’s between 17:00 and 09:00 🙂 Amusing also that as a Prison the aim was to keep people in and now as a redeveloped ex-Prison the aim is to keep people out… how times change.
Four Turkish barbers? That is curious. Even in Luton, which is ten times the size of abingdon and far more ethnically diverse we only have two that I know of.
Irony Kyle? What if I opened a traditional english barbers in Ankara? Or a Cornish Pasty shop in Nicosia?
Would the locals accept it?
DM…you mean 4 English barbers within 100m of each other, or 4 Cornish pasty shops within 100m of each other?
Yes exactly!
Oh dear you have got it all so wrong. 2 Costas and 4 Turkish barbers is nothing, When Abingdon was a fraction of the size we had over 120 pubs!!
Well DM, I think that would be equally odd.
But I also think it equally odd (as in a shame for Abingdon) that we have umpteen opticians and hairdressers and estate agents.
According to the local press the new town centre manager employed by the B I D has entered Abingdon in the best high street if the year comp ?
Yesterday it was possible to access the riverside at the Old Goal via the small gate just before the bridge … right-hand side of Bridge Street going out of town. There was also a covered cut-through from there to behind where the new Costa is being prepared. On enquiry, these access points will only be opened during weekday ‘office hours’.
Why? Well why not if the developer can get away with it ….
On closer examination Hester’s portal is even more hideous and will only be improved when surrounded by discarded Costa coffee litter.
Looking over the side of the platform (?) that’s been built on the riverside the riverbank is a stagnant mess, but the stump of the willow tree is still there to remind us.
It’s quite a soulless little enclave.
How commendable captain, but surely the first stage on the road to Recovery is awareness! Not blind faith!
“A stagnant mess”, well that just about sums up most modern development newcomer. Still, turns a profit I guess.
newcomer- You are correct regarding the Portal, it is a low-resolution modern sculpture, from a distance it looks ok (personally I’m unimpressed) but up close looks roughly assembled and tacky, poorly welded and coloured Perspex inserts. The theory is that it only operates as a Portal to another realm when the access gates are locked and the thing is illuminated at night (yes, it lights up!).
A waste of money better spent on something more in keeping with the location like a replacement tree, flower bed or similar.
Perhaps, Badger, the Old Goal could sell the portal to the forthcoming Turkish barber in the High Street as, evidenced by the other Turkish barbers in the town, they will favour a Blackpool Promenade aesthetic. The Old Gaol could then purchase something more fitting like a replacement willow.
According to Abingdon First freedom of information article..the willow tree MUST be replaced and should have been by now?? (with a mature tree). So why hasn’t it been…or are cranbourne sticking two fingers up once again to the planners/Vale/town. Why is no-one enforcing this? On another note…i quite like the “portal”…not seen it up close to coment on build quality, but as you drive past at night it is quite innovative. But maybe I’m the only one..
Julian, your reputation as a man of impeccable taste is now totally down the pan.
Me with a reputation for impeccable taste, Newcomer… ? Heaven forbid…never!
Now where did i put my croc shoes and my lederhosen?
@Daniel was asking about public accountability for Abingdon:
Well until 1974/75, there was something called Abingdon Borough Council which seemed to serve the interests of Abingdon very well, by and large.
Then came local government organisation (designed by the Tories, implemented by Labour, so both are to blame). Then Abingdon (along with Faringdon and Wantage and all the villages within that area) came under the Vale of White Horse District Council, and we also moved from Berkshire to Oxfordshire.
A new Council was created: Abingdon Town Council which only has the status of a parish council, and little power, although it does have some influence.
The Vale of White Horse District Council does not speak for Abingdon, because it’s not their job to, and perhaps that is the problem, since they have the most important powers, e.g. planning.
If anyone speaks for Abingdon, it might be the Town Council but they don’t have the power to put things into effect, although they might be able to influence District Councillors (and of course, some councillors sit on both councils).
But nothing is fixed forever, and there are plans afoot to change it all again, and create a unitary authority, either based on the existing county council, or perhaps with VOWHDC joining up with SODC, or something entirely different. Whether the Town Council will still exist is not 100% certain (but if it did, then it wouldn’t really be “unitary” would it?).
It seems the powers that be can’t agree about what to do. It would be nice (wouldn’t it), if they ask us, the people who pay for it all, but I don’t suppose they trust us, what with what happened in the last referendum, and all….