New Free Newspaper

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Oxfordshire Guardian
The Oxfordshire Guardian was launched a week or so ago, with a local edition covering the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire, and another edition for West Oxfordshire. It is published by TriMedia, an independent company who also publish the Oxford Journal, the Property Weekly, and Basingstoke Observer. Tri Media took over most of the old Courier Group.
Oxfordshire Guardian
They are located in Abingdon town centre, in West St Helen Street.

Browsing their 3rd edition, I see the following Abingdon snippets and articles…

Grab a Grant – pg 2
Rehab Facility – pg 6
Volunteer Call – pg 8
Parks Award – pg 12
Residents consulted on Town Centre proposals – pg 12
Car giveaway helps raise money for permanent World War II memorial – pg 12
Abingdon fail to find a path through City’s defence – pg 31
Abingdon Vale’s promotion hopes take a battering – pg 31

The online edition is at oxfordshireguardian.co.uk .

Essential Drainage Work in East St Helen Street

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Hole in East St Helen Street
A diversion is now in place for the drainage works down East St Helen Street. A large regular hole was cut today next door to Philosophy, the hairdressers. If it had been much wider it would have connected to the Philosophy cellar. Most properties down East St Helen Street have cellars.
Hole in East St Helen Street
A pile of soil and debry now lies nearby – all ready for when the drains are sorted – probably next week – and the contractors can fill the hole in.

It is rumoured, here in West St Helen Street, that the drains of East St Helen Street are clogged with cooking fat. Clearing that will get rid of the puddle that often forms outside the Punchbowl Public House. Anybody who has been splashed by a car near the Punchbowl will probably agree the work is essential, whatever the cause.

Thames (known locally as the Isis?)

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Flood Damage
Down the Ock Valley Walk there is still evidence of flood damage over 4 years after the 2007 floods. Dead trees like the curly branched variety in the picture have been left as a reminder.

A planning application has recently been put in on land near St Amand Drive, close to the River Ock, with an attached flood risk assessment by a firm based in Burgess Hill, West Sussex and I quote “… Running near the northern boundary of the site is the (bifurcated) River Ock, which flows east to the Thames (known locally as the Isis.) …”

At that point I started to doubt the flood risk. I have never called the Thames the Isis even when I lived in Oxford. Perhaps there are some in Abingdon that do.

A Nostalgia Bus

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Leyland Bus
There was a Nostalgia Bus outside St Helens Church yesterday afternoon – hired for a wedding. It was build in 1966.

In 1968, production of this particular Leyland Titan PD3 model ceased in Britain, but was restarted and adapted by Ashok Leyland in India, and carried on for many years. Ashok Leyland continue to make buses from Chennai which took as their engineering start point the Leyland Titan PD3, but have gone some way beyond. I see on wikipedia that they are now developing the iBus.