Children in Need Supporters in Abingdon

1 Reply


I’ve lost track of the years this intrepid collector has been at his post at Coxeters in Abingdon, doing his bit for Children in Need. In the summer he’s there in his shorts, tanned like he’s just stepped off the plane from somewhere far more sunny. And when November brings rain, and ‘it’s horrible out there’ – like today, he is there to lift the spirits raising money for BBC’s Children in Need.

The Kings Head and Bell also have something lined up. They say: ‘Join us this Friday for our Children in Need Charity Night in support of a great cause. Enjoy an evening of entertainment with our live DJ, a raffle, and darts.’

The White Horse Reservoir Consultation

5 Replies


The South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO) – now renamed the White Horse Reservoir rather than the Abingdon Reservoir – is currently the subject of a Statutory Consultation. Yesterday there was a display in the Guildhall in Abingdon given by Thames Water, working with Affinity Water.

The Roysse Room, featured models of the reservoir and embankments, and a 3D ‘drive-round’ video.

Information boards were set up in the Magistrates Court.

There were more design documents and appendices for those who need more details.

The large reservoir proposed near Abingdon has been progressing through the national RAPID “Gate” process, which reviews major water-resource schemes at 5 gateway stages to ensure the scheme is viable and affordable and wanted at each gateway before progressing.

At Gate 1 in 2021, the project was confirmed as technically feasible as a concept.

By Gate 2 in 2022, Thames Water had fixed the preferred size at 150 million m³ and estimated the delivery cost to about £2.2 billion (Ofwat SESRO Case Study).

Now at Gate 3 (2024–25), after detailed site and engineering work, the projected cost has risen sharply. The consultation documents suggest a range of £5.5–£7.5 billion. (It will be paid for by customers of the water companies over about 100 years.)

This led Vale of White Horse District Council in October 2024 to warn of ‘spiralling costs’ and call for a rethink, questioning whether such an expensive scheme is the best long-term solution for the region’s water supply (VWHDC statement).

Inside the Guildhall, the case was being put for the reservoir. Outside, a representative of GARD (Group Against Reservoir Development) handed out summaries of the case against.

New GARD objections, alongside long-standing environmental and community concerns, involve the escalation in cost and the expanding size of the scheme. The reservoir area now requires 38 km² of land – not only for the reservoir itself but also to restore lost biodiversity, relocate solar farms (some will float on the reservoir), mitigate flood risks, and reroute watercourses.

The consultation materials are available online at SESRO statutory consultation 2025. The consultation runs to 13th January 2026.

Gard material can be found at groupagainstreservoirdevelopment.org.

Strictly Stonework Inspection

Leave a reply


If you were drinking coffee outside Throwing Buns this week, you’d have overheard the theories about the rope-dangling antics above the County Hall Museum. Are they human pigeon scarers, a new art installation, rehearsals for ‘Strictly Come Dangling’ or what?.

More likely, they are inspecting the stone façade up close, checking the carvings and mortar.

One of their tools looks like a moisture meter for detecting damp within the stone and mortar, finding any problems before time and weather can do more harm.

Armistice Day in Abingdon – 11th November

Leave a reply


At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Abingdon once again paused to remember.

The Armistice was signed at five o’clock on Monday morning, 11th November 1918, bringing an end to WWI hostilities at 11 am, after what was described as ‘the cruellest and most terrible war that has ever scourged mankind.’ Since that day, people across the world have honoured the moment with a two-minute silence.

This morning, the community gathered at the Abingdon War Memorial. The Mayor and local councillors, police, and the Royal British Legion were in attendance, along with a class of pupils from Thameside School. The children placed wooden crosses in the turf beside the memorial. Clare Oldfield who runs the poppy appeal in Abingdon said, ‘The children of Thameside School have shown amazing support for the Poppy Appeal over the past few years and today’s appearance at the cenotaph in Abingdon to mark Armistice shows the importance of today to them. They are the new generation making sure that the act of remembrance continues.’

Among those present was also a former soldier holding his six month puppy, Winnie, who brought the children and people together once the silence had ended.