Albert Park Through the Year: February 2025

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Before we get any further through our year in the Albert Park, can I remind you of the Park Rules:
* No Golf Practice
* Dogs to be kept under full control – Kindly place foul   matter in bins provided.
* No fires, fireworks, or BBQs.
* No cars, motorcycles, or cycling.

Today, the last day of February, began foggy. A man on a mini tractor did the rounds, replacing litter bags in Albert Park, and helping keep order.

The Prince Albert memorial can be seen among the trees in this picture.

Christs Hospital of Abingdon, the charity that run the park, have a tree map and a list of trees at http://www.ch-of-abingdon.org/albert-park/natural-history/. From the map I can see this tree, much admired for its early blossom, is called Pissards Plum or Prunus cerasifera ‘Pissardii’ in Latin.


Lots of people walk in the park. St Michael and All Saints Church can be seen behind in this picture.

Robins are to be heard around the park, with their clear rapid song. Here is one near a less vocal but more aerobatic Blue Tit.

There are also magpies in the park. One for sorrow, two for …

After the fog, there were blue skies and sunshine. Crocuses opened.

Daffodils stood tall.

Conduit House (once used for conduiting spring water) and Trinity Church in Conduit Road can be seen in this picture near the park entrance. In older postcards there was a longer view, along the east path of the park, of Trinity but that sightline is now hidden by evergreens.

St Helen’s Churchyard

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St Helen’s closed churchyard is a space thousands of people walk through every day from South Abingdon to the town centre and back. The churchyard itself is fenced off, and people do not normally wander among its graves.

At present, in late February, white blossom softens one corner by the church.

The neat doors and windows of the Almshouses stand in contrast to the worn, leaning gravestones. Some of the gravestones seem to have been left as ornaments, while others appear to have been removed to make maintenance easier. Most of these stones are too worn to read. I am not sure when the last burial took place or when the churchyard was officially closed. The Town Council is now responsible for maintaining it.

Elsewhere in the churchyard, old tombs have been left undisturbed, covered in moss. Light filters through the trees, casting shadows on the stones, while dry leaves gather in the corners. Some names are still legible here, such as Mary Jenner and Richard Messenger Jenner. Mr. R. M. Jenner was a manager of the Savings Bank in Abingdon, according to the Berkshire Chronicle of 20th May 1843.

Shop Window Screens in Bury Street

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Shop window screens, like these on Bury Street in Abingdon, are becoming more common as businesses look for ways to catch people’s attention.

Shops have used screens for decades. Back in the 1970s, in Bury Street, the Cathode Ray Tube TVs in Radio Rentals and Wigfalls Television would sometimes show live TV. In the 2000s, plasma and LCD screens made digital displays more practical, and by the 2010s, LED technology bought in bigger, brighter, and more flexible screens.

In Bury Street, Newbury Building Society and Oxford Vapours both use screens to promote their services.

Oxford Vapours are not only standing up against unlicensed vape traders, and promoting their own products, they also show their charity of the year: My Life My Choice – an award-winning charity run by and for people with learning disabilities in Oxfordshire.

Local Government Shake-Up

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Local government in Oxfordshire currently operates under a two-tier system. Four district councils and one city council manage services such as planning and waste collection, while Oxfordshire County Council oversees education and roads. However, the government is encouraging the creation of unitary authorities — one-tier councils that combine these responsibilities.

On February 24, 2025, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils wrote to West Berkshire Council, proposing a forum to explore the possibility of a new unitary authority. This follows public meetings where the idea received positive feedback.

At the same time, discussions are ongoing with other Oxfordshire councils about an alternative single county-wide unitary authority. West Berkshire are already a unitary council but not big enough. They will consider the Vale and South option as well as the option of combining with other Berkshire unitary councils.

Some Abingdon residents could well welcome this proposal, as it could revive historical ties to Berkshire. The Vale of White Horse was North Berkshire until 1974.

Typically, new unitary councils should serve populations of at least 500,000.

West Berkshire: 161,448 (2021)
Vale of White Horse: 138,913 (2021)
South Oxfordshire: 151,820 (2021)
Total population: 452,181 (2021)

The total population will have increased in the four years to 2025 but it would need to increase by almost 10% to be 500,000.