These houses stood in West St Helen Street in the town of Abingdon-on-Thames until the late 1970s. This picture was sent to me by Steve King and says ‘my old house, where your house is now’.

These new houses, including ours, built around 1980 are viewed from about the same spot.

There are references to ‘le Westseynthelene Street’ (with varying spelling), or in vico occidentali beate helene, from before 1250. I can only guess how many times a dwelling on this site has been pulled down and rebuilt.

West St Helen Street is now one of the two highways leading north from South Abingdon, and the villages beyond, and can become busy at times. During the last three months of the Coronavirus lockdown it has been much quieter. We have even seen several neighbours, out at the same time – standing on doorsteps, when people applauded hospital workers and other key workers on Thursdays at 8pm.

This is my entry for the Theme Day at City Daily Photo. Visit neighbourhoods around the world at Theme Day at City Daily Photo.

There are five entrances into the Albert Park in Abingdon. The entrance at the bottom – held open by a metal arm, gives a view to the Albert Memorial at the top of the park.

Albert Park is landscaped with trees and bushes – no flower beds. There is a pathway inside the perimeter and grass lawns at the centre, including the super perfect lawn of the bowls club.

There were people seated in small groups on the grass. The lockdown is easing and life is speeding up in Abingdon. Let us hope it does not go back to the complete Helter Skelter of before.

Year 1 and 6 went back to school yesterday or today, with smaller cohort groups and different entrances and separate playtimes to try to keep social distancing. (picture shows marking at Entrance 2 at Carswell School near Albert Park).

There were still a lot of children about in the park.

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria had nine children, five girls and four boys. For those who have been home schooling you can read Prince Albert’s Parenting Tips at https://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/prince-alberts-parenting-tips/.

Albert devised the children’s demanding curriculum, and closely monitored the day-to-day running of the schoolroom with the governors and governesses. 

See more parks round the world at City Daily Photo bloggers.

Most people in the UK are following the rules to stay at home during the COVID-19 outbreak to protect the NHS (National Health Service) from being overwhelmed.

Thameside School has remained open with a skeleton staff for some of the children of key workers. Children of key workers have made a rainbow now displayed on the school gates. The rest of the children are working from home using books and internet resources. Those working from home are also putting rainbows in windows at home.

The first day of the month is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community. This month the theme is School. You can see other members’ contributions at the CDP Theme Day portal.

The first of the month is Theme Day at City Daily Photo and this month’s topic is Municipal Buildings

Staff of the Vale of the White Horse District Council (VWHDC) first moved into the new red brick HQ, Abbey House, over the weekend of 27th-28th July 1991. Before then the 251 staff had been housed in five locations in Abingdon town centre: Old Abbey House (previously called Abbey House), The Charter, Bridge Street, Bath Street and Roysse Court. Staff brought with them 3,500 containers, 900 filing cabinets, and 140 items of computer equipment. The Abbey House in Abingdon was officially opened, some time later, by the Duke of Kent on 30th November 1992.

Abbey House continued as the HQ of VWHDC until 2013 when staff moved in with colleagues from South Oxfordshire District Council at their offices in Crowmarsh Gifford. The reason given was that the two councils increasingly worked together and shared core staff.

VWHDC then decided to let part of the ground floor of Abbey House and the whole of the first and second floors to Oxfordshire County Council. Abbey House continues as joint accomodation for both councils with a help desk for both. However both councils have their HQs elsewhere.

In January 2015 the Crowmarsh Gifford offices were extensively damaged by an arson attack. Abbey House was used for some emergency services, and even Old Abbey House was used a little. The VWHDC staff then moved to temporary offices at Milton Park.

The decision has recently been made to rebuild the offices at Crowmarsh Gifford. Last month designs went on display.

Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council was in another Municipal building, Old Abbey House, for many years. That building has been mostly empty since they left in 2014. There has not been a lot of news about what VWHDC will do with it. Before the local elections in 2019 there were plans for it to be used for Social Housing. That was when the Conservatives were in charge. But I am not aware of any new announcements by the new Lib-Dem administration of its new use.

The Town Council is now in Roysse Court.

Today is October 1st, and the theme day for City Daily Photo is orange.

Whenever I walk up West St. Helen Street, in Abingdon, there is a large vinyl print of oranges and lemons in the window of the Co-op. Then at the junction of the High Street is Crumbs Sandwich Bar – painted orange. Spoilt for choice!!!

Each 1st day of the month is the “Theme Day” of the City Daily Photo Community, and September’s Theme is Red.

The cylindrical design of the British pillar box first appeared in 1879, and has changed very little since. Pillar boxes (or post boxes) are almost all red. Just a few were painted gold after the Olympics held in London in 2012 to celebrate local Olympic gold medallists.

This post box is on Abingdon Market Place.

See other red pictures at the September 2019 Gallery – Red.

My entry for the City Daily Photo theme day of yellow is speed camera. The one pictured above is sited just before John Mason school, in Abingdon, where there are also speed bumps, on the Wooton Road.

When speed cameras were introduced in Abingdon back in 1992 they were grey. A change in the law in 2001 meant speed cameras were given a yellow vinyl sheet to ensure they can be seen.

There are four fixed speed cameras in Abingdon – all yellow:
Drayton Road – 30 MPH
A4183 – Oxford Road – 30 MPH
Wooton Road – 30 MPH
Audlett drive – 40 MPH

Speed cameras use radar technology to measure how fast a vehicle is travelling and to trigger the camera to take two photos in quick succession. A powerful flash will illuminate the registration plate. It is rear facing so as not to blind drivers. There are also white calibration lines (5mph apart) on the roads surface. So there are two forms of detection: radar, and calibration.

The City Daily Photo group of bloggers have the theme of Green for the start of March. They have a different colour each month in 2019. Green was quite easy in Abingdon …

Green is the colour of the grass in front of the remains of Barton Court at Sherwood Avenue. The remains of Barton Court are featured in Abingdon People and Places. The protective fence is also green.

The Abingdon coat of arms shield has a green background and the town’s bus shelters used to be all green until the new ones arrived coloured black. Not all of the shelters have been painted black.

Green is the colour of a lot of the public utility cabinets. In some places you can see the old and the new green together. Green is also the colour of red roof tiles when lichen and moss have taken hold.

For how others have taken pictures of green, round the world, see City Daily Photo – Theme Day Green.

Without the musicians Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers could have no dancing . Here are three of their accordion players.

City Daily Photo Bloggers are celebrating the first of August with a music theme. To see music from around the world visit here.

The Abingdon company Morland and Co Limited (brewers, maltsters and spirit agents and manufacturers of aerated, mineral, and other waters, hotel keepers, licensed victuallers etc.,) no longer exist. However their memory lives on in Abingdon in the converted brewery buildings (now houses and flats), plaques, and engraved windows. The window above is to be found in the Brewery Tap public house, situated at the entrance of the former brewery. The Tap have a large range of beers and are currently Oxford CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Town Pub of the Year 2017.

The Tap is also known for its spirit range with plenty of whiskys, rums, and gins. Spirits are the most powerful alcohol drinks, where distilling brings the alcohol content way above what is possible by fermentation of yeast.

On July 1, City Daily Photo bloggers are sharing photographs on the theme of “SPIRIT.” Click here to see more.