1
The Fabulous Bakers (2), Unit 4, Avenue Two, Witney, Oxon
This is part of the large bakery of the Fabulous Bakers, who specialise in muffins, oat bars, popcorn bars and the like. The firm used to be the Fabulous Bakin' Boys but that company went into administration in 2014. The original founders left and it was bought out of administration by Dutch bakers, Daelmans Group. In 2015 the UK company was renamed The Fabulous Bakers.
Image
Image: © P L Chadwick
Taken: 28 Mar 2016
0.02 miles
2
Avenue Two, Witney, Oxon
Avenue Two is one of the roads on Witney Trading Estate and is a turning off Station Lane. This view is looking in the direction of Station Lane.
Image
Image: © P L Chadwick
Taken: 13 Mar 2016
0.02 miles
3
The Fabulous Bakers (1), Unit 4, Avenue Two, Witney, Oxon
This is part of the large bakery of the Fabulous Bakers, who specialise in muffins, oat bars, popcorn bars and the like. The firm used to be the Fabulous Bakin' Boys but that company went into administration in 2014. The original founders left and it was bought out of administration by Dutch bakers, Daelmans Group. In 2015 the UK company was renamed The Fabulous Bakers.
Image
Image: © P L Chadwick
Taken: 28 Mar 2016
0.03 miles
4
Avenue Two, Witney
The building belongs to The Fabulous Bakin' Boys.
The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys was launched 14 years ago by CEO and founder Gary Frank, but its story began much earlier, when Frank, who was working as a Wall Street trader, lost everything in the stock market crash of 1987. Moving back to the UK and finding himself “unemployed and unemployable” for a year, he had a dream in which he was told to “Go and make doughnuts”. In 1989 he founded Delicious Doughnuts on funds supplied by friends, family and the bank.
In the first year he made a £15,000 loss on a turnover of £45,000 – the Brits weren’t quite ready for American-style doughnuts, he says. But the company moved into muffins, flapjacks and cakes, dropped the doughnuts, and by 1996 was turning over £4 million. Following a rebranding, The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys was launched in October 1997.
Since then, the company has experienced rapid growth. The first major turning point came in early 1998 when Sainsbury’s decided to stock its products in stores nationwide. Other retailers quickly followed suit and, thanks to the supermarkets, over the next decade the company grew to a £12m business.
The second turning point came in 2007 when the company’s main supplier went bust. Though the business plan was never to have gone into manufacturing, the company decided to buy the supplier’s assets, which included a manufacturing plant, from the administrator, and it became a full-blown baker as well as a sales and marketing business. It was a great decision: as an integrated business Frank had much more control over the whole operation, and it gave him the opportunity to further grow and develop the business.
Like everyone in the food business, the company was hit by sharply rising commodity prices in 2010. Nevertheless, it continues to grow and today the company, which is still family-run by Frank and his brother Jon, has an expected turnover of £20m for the year ending 2011, employs over 150 people at its 75,000 sq ft bakery and supplies the big four supermarkets as well as independent stores and food service outlets across the UK.
I photographed the reserve parking places where each registration plate ends in FAB.
Image: © Dave Hitchborne
Taken: 14 Jun 2013
0.03 miles
5
The southern end of Avenue Two, Witney, Oxon
Around the corner, at the bottom of this road, there is a footpath/cycleway which passes through a tunnel under the A40 road and leads to Witney Lake.
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Image: © P L Chadwick
Taken: 13 Mar 2016
0.05 miles
6
Footpath & cycleway connecting Avenue Two to Witney Lake, Witney, Oxon
The footpath & cycleway go through a tunnel under the A40 road. The entrance to this can be seen in the distance.
Image: © P L Chadwick
Taken: 13 Mar 2016
0.06 miles
7
Witney station, with an Oxford - Fairford train
View eastward, towards Oxford: ex-GW Oxford - Fairford branch. The 12.44 from Oxford, headed by '7400' class 0-6-0PT No. 7412 (built 12/36), which is taking water while the driver exchanges the single-line tablet with the porter-signalman, has a sizeable family with pram as passengers. The service was withdrawn soon after on 18/6/62, but goods continued to come from Oxford as far as Witney until 2/11/70.
Image: © Ben Brooksbank
Taken: 24 Feb 1962
0.06 miles
8
Entrance to tunnel under A40 road, Witney, Oxon
This tunnel leads to Witney Lake, the circular footpath running around it and links to other paths and cycle routes.
Image: © P L Chadwick
Taken: 13 Mar 2016
0.06 miles
9
Emma's Dike, Witney, Oxon
Emma's Dike is the name of this stream or watercourse which connects with the River Windrush. On at least one modern map it is named Em's Ditch, which seems rather unlikely. Here is it passing between units on the Witney Industrial Estate. The name appears to come from a prominent historical Royal figure of the 11th century. Queen Emma was first married to King Ethelread ("the Unready" and following his death, she was married to the Dane King Knut (Canute). One of her sons by her first marriage became King Edward the Confessor.
Queen Emma owned land in Oxfordshire and in 1044 she granted the Bishop of Winchester an estate in Witney and this was confirmed in the Domesday Book. There is a street in Witney named Queen Emma's Dike.
Image: © P L Chadwick
Taken: 13 Mar 2016
0.07 miles
10
Graffito in the Emma's Dike foot tunnel under A40
I don't know when this was written but I'm guessing it was while David Cameron was both MP for Witney and prime minister.
Image: © Chris Brown
Taken: 30 Aug 2017
0.07 miles