McColl’s Newsagent and Post Office at Gainsborough Green will be closing in early October. A lot of people will be upset by this closure as it leaves South Abingdon without a post office, and the closest alternative is in town.
The notice in the window blames staff shortages for having to close at 5pm rather than later.
P.S. Didn’t get my facts right first time round so have updated this post.
Back in Abingdon after a week away in Cumbria. The flag over the County Hall has returned to the Union Jack after the Police flag was up there for a couple of weeks.
The former Superdrug shop in Bury Street is to be used for a Heritage exhibition – Coming Home, Moving On from 14th to 21st September. There is no longer a Community Shop / Free Space for use by Clubs and Societies.
Some windows have been mended after being boarded up. There had been a spate of broken windows.
There was some work being done on Stratton Way this evening which involved work personnel with Stop and Go lollipop signs trying to control the traffic. It did not look easy. Tail backs in either direction quickly overlapped traffic light controlled junctions.
Were there any stories that I missed while away that would be worth investigating?
Daphne has been enjoying the last of the summer in Abingdon-on-Thames. While watching from the Wilsham Road river bank she saw a visiting narrow boat,
a hire boat,
a rower,
and a paddle boat.
On the far bank, she saw caravans and campers on the cricket pitch,
and a balloon taking off at first light from the meadow.
I should be back to resume coverage of Abingdon events from tomorrow or Wednesday. I did see Princess Anne today. Crowds were gathering near the Save The Children shop in Ulverston, Cumbria. Princess Anne arrived a few minutes later. She has visited Abingdon twice during the lifetime of the Abingdon Blog.
When I say I come from Abingdon it often brings back a memory in people. At breakfast yesterday we met a man and his wife from Ontario in Canada. He had once been in the RAF as a parachutist and did some of his training at RAF Abingdon around 1952. During his time there he did some parachuting as part of the making of the film Red Berets, partly filmed at RAF Abingdon.
The film starred Alan Ladd as an American who enlists in the British Parachute Regiment in 1940, claiming to be a Canadian. The RAF Parachute Training School was at RAF Abingdon from 1950 to 1976.