Donkeys, The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail, and Santa

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Monty and Mr Crusty were on the Market Place this morning – thanks to the Island Farm Donkey Sanctuary. One of their donkeys will be back next Saturday for a Nativity Play for under 5’s at St Helen’s Church.

This morning at St Helen’s Church there was Christmas Storytelling and crafts for children 3 – 9 years.

Outside St Helen’s at 11am was the official opening of the new heritage boards with the Mayor

On each board is a QR Code that you can scan with your mobile to listen to the audio tour of the new Heart of Abingdon Trail. The Mayor and the historians who worked on the boards did the tour before returning to the Market Place,

where Santa was in a gazebo grotto.

Window transformed

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The window at The Beaconsfield has been hidden behind scaffolding for almost a year. The Beaconsfield Working Mens Conservative Club once occupied part of this building.

The window has been transformed.

The Earl of Beaconsfield, the Marquess of Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote look much the same as before.

More Abingdon heritage trail information boards

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People are stopping to look at the new heritage trail information board that appeared in West St Helen’s Street yesterday.

The first picture on the board is a drawing of St Helen’s Church and shows the Half Moon pub of 1755, and next door – Hyde’s Draper, Grocer and Ready made Clothes’ shop.

Ready made clothes must have taken off because the next picture on the board shows Hyde’s (later Clarke’s) clothing factory dominating the street near St Helen’s Church

The board is one of five new heritage boards at our end of the town centre. They were organised by Ann Berkeley, researched by members of the Abingdon Archaeological and Historical Society, and financed by The National Lottery, Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council, and Choose Abingdon.

Old Gaol Progress – December 2013

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A year after the first residents moved into the new apartments next to the Old Gaol, work has begun on refurbishment of the buildings on Bridge Street …

including: the Old Police Station, the one time tourist office and music centre, and some cottages.

The Old Gaol itself will then be converted into 10 rented apartments, with groundfloor restaurants and riverside gardens for the public.

The Abingdon Bridge young people’s centre will move into part of the Old Police Station from one of the cottages.