Wildlife and Climate Change on Display at Abingdon Museum

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There are a couple of new exhibitions at Abingdon County Hall Museum. Upstairs, in the attic, is a travelling exhibition about Warneford Hospital and the history of Mental Health treatment. In the Sessions Hall is an exhibition called ‘Wild Life – Abingdon in a Changing Climate’ which runs from 3 October to 23 December 2026.

The wildlife exhibition features large photographs taken by local photographers, most showing wildlife in the area. A few have a more obvious connection with climate change, including pictures of algae blooms and cracked earth.

One of the most remarkable items is a folder containing cuttings from John Killick’s contributions to the Oxford Times. He used to photograph and describe different plants found in Oxfordshire, and the collection runs to over 800 examples.

There are also films to watch. One, made by the Green Gym, shows wildlife recorded during their conservation exercises. Another, by Anonymous, called ‘By the River’ follows wildlife through the seasons in Abingdon. A speaker at the other end of the exhibition plays bird song recorded in Abingdon.

The exhibition includes paintings and other mixed-media portrayals of nature by Abingdon artists, including some younger ones. There is also information about the work of local wildlife groups, including how they monitor areas for wildlife, such as the River Ock. The exhibition has been created in collaboration with local groups including One Planet Abingdon, Abingdon Carbon Cutters, the Abingdon Naturalists Society, Abingdon Camera Club and the Green Gym.

The Museum is run by Abingdon Town Council.

Town Council Meeting – 7th October 2026

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The Town Council meeting began with a minute’s silence during which members remembered former Abingdon Mayor Councillor Nigel Trippett. He served as Mayor from 1980–1981. To commemorate the 80th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, he led a special Bun Throwing celebration before travelling to Clarence House to present the Queen Mother with one of Abingdon’s buns.

The current Mayor, Cllr Andrew Skinner, then spoke about his engagements and gave special mention to the volunteers’ day that he had started. It had been a success, and ARCh (Assisted Reading for Children) said they had got volunteers. The Mayor asked the council whether they would like to run such a day every year. He said it meets a different need from the Clubs and Societies Day. The council voted to hold a volunteers’ day annually.

Cllr Tom Greenaway, who is also a County Councillor, gave a report on what is happening at the County Council:
* Annual gully inspections and clearing have revealed a large backlog of maintenance which are being progressed.
* The temporary Oxford congestion charge has ended, and the traffic filters trial is now operating following the reopening of Botley Road. Botley Road is currently the only route into Oxford that does not pass through a permit point, making it the main unrestricted entry route for visitors from outside Oxfordshire.
* Oxfordshire’s SEND (Special Educational Needs) reform plan has been accepted by the Government. This brings in a grant that should help reduce the SEND deficit.
* Temporary traffic lights at the top of Lodge Hill have been removed after a trial. The County Council had allowed two roadworks to overlap in an attempt to reduce the disruption caused by the Oxford Road roundabout works.
* Cllr Greenaway encouraged residents to follow Cllr Nathan Ley’s newsletter for updates on local and national government matters: https://cllrdrnathanley.substack.com/p/abingdon-councillor-newsletter-september

There was also a report from the VWHDC District Council:
* Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) paused.
* Changes to planning decisions: Vale councillors have amended the council’s constitution to comply with new Government planning regulations. Councillors will now only decide in committee the larger developments; other developments will be decided by officers.
* The Vale has begun an initial scoping consultation for the second Joint Local Plan.
* New parking ticket machines are being installed in all 13 Vale car parks.
* Work to get the Chilton Close trash screen functioning properly is almost complete. This should alleviate flooding.

The Town Council then went through the minutes from the different Town Council committees.

Community Committee

The committee agreed some grants and partial grants, namely full grants for Abingdon Church Twinning and Trinity Learning, and partial grants for Abingdon Youth Club, Racial Equality Group, Spartans Elite ABC CIC, and Play2Give. Other grants were referred up to the Finance Committee because they were for larger amounts and might benefit from CIL funding grants (developer funding).

The council also part‑funds a PCSO and wanted to have regular talks with the local police inspector to discuss what the police focus on.

Environment Committee

The committee approved a ban on disposable plastic carrier bags for traders in the town marketplace and at Town Council‑supported events, effective 1 October 2026.

There was new play equipment at Boxhill and Caldecott playparks, and more is on the way, including a Ninja Fitness Trail and adult fitness equipment at Chilton Close, and a MUGA wall at Boxhill.

Bus shelter improvements: replacement of the shelter at Radley Road / Swinburne Road was prioritised.

In terms of public art, there was talk of progressing town entry signs and a proposed St Edmund’s statue in principle.

The Biodiversity competition involving use of school grounds and allotments were presented at the end of September.

Finance Committee

As well as looking at the council finances and progressing work on council properties (LED lights for the magistrates’ court and solar panels at the cemetery works depot), the committee decided four of the five grants sent to it from the Community Committee and gave funding to: Friends of St Edmund’s School, Northcourt Centre, North East Abingdon Community Association (NEACA), and Hadland Road Community Association from CIL funding.

St Etherwold’s £20,000 grant application was referred to Full Council for consideration of CIL funding.

It was at this point that the St Ethelwold’s grant for work on the riverside wall (of their community garden) was discussed. It needs repairing and access improvements. St Ethelwold’s have already raised £40K, and £20K from the council would help secure further grants. This was the second most discussed item during the meeting. The CIL money allocated for grants from the north Abingdon developments is down to £37K, and £10K of that is for the Abbey buildings, so using £20K would only leave £7K. After discussion it was decided to give St Ethelwolds £10K. Soon such larger grants from the town council will vanish.

Planning Committee

The committee described some of its extensive work. The change to planning regulations will still mean the Town Council can give its view on planning applications to the Vale officer making the decision, and officers still values local input so long as it is specific.

The council then went into its longest discussion about the terms of reference for a new working party called the Community Safety & Inclusion Working Party. It had been set up after a resolution in a previous council. Its purpose is to help make Abingdon a place where all communities feel safe, welcome, and able to participate fully in town life.

However, some of the councillors thought its aim was too broad and open‑ended and that it should pick two or three things to focus on; otherwise it did not have the resources to succeed. There are only 8 months until the next town council elections. A debate went back and forth for some time without reaching agreement. The working party will go away and come back to the Community Committee, to which it will report, with updated terms of reference.

Caring for the Planet: A Local Perspective from Trinity

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Last Sunday at Trinity Church in Abingdon, the service was led by Philip Nalpanis of A Rocha UK, a Christian environmental charity that supports churches in caring for the environment.

Philip explored some of the biblical reasons why Christians should care about the environment. He also echoed Pope Francis’s words that destroying the environment is a sin.

Although Philip does not come from Abingdon, he had heard of the Abingdon Carbon Cutters, and had some some practical (One Planet Abingdon type) ways of expressing care for the environment:
* Reduce consumption and buy only what is needed.
* Repair things rather than replacing them.
* Borrow or share tools and equipment.
* Support environmental groups and take part in local conservation projects.
* Campaign for stronger environmental policies, including writing to MPs.
* Pray regularly for the environment and talk openly about environmental issues.

Trinity has already been awarded a Bronze Eco Church Award under A Rocha’s scheme. All Saints Church is on a similar journey, while Our Lady and St Edmund often have posters highlighting their environmental campaigns. Different churches in Abingdon are finding their own ways to care for the planet.

From Hiring Fair to Pleasure Fair: Abingdon Michaelmas Fair, Day Three

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The Abingdon Hiring Fair was depicted in The Graphic on 10 March 1888 as an example of a Statute Fair. Hiring is seen happening outside the Lion Hotel.

Part of the Lion Hotel was later demolished, and part of the site is now home to Dorindos and Coffee Aroma. Nobody today was looking for employment there.

I was asked when Abingdon’s Michaelmas Fair ceased to be a hiring fair. Looking through old newspapers, the short answer is: hiring was still happening at the Michaelmas Fair in the mid‑19th century, was becoming less important by the 1880s, continued in a small way for farm workers in 1907, and had disappeared by 1913. The long answer can be found in the postscript to this post.

What began as a Statute or Hiring Fair, for farm workers and domestic servants, became over time a Hiring and Pleasure Fair, and since 1907 has been a Pleasure Fair.

The greatest pleasure for some people is being terrified, spun about and turned upside down.

There are also stalls where people can try out skills that were once more common than they are now.

But it was not all pleasure. While most people were having fun, some youths were giving verbal abuse, and the police seemed more on the lookout this evening.

Today, Tuesday, there was more cloud, even a few drops of rain. But nearly everybody was having a good time, just as they did 100 years ago. This picture is of Abingdon Fair from the Oxford Journal in 1923.

P.S. The long answer

The last hiring reported at the Michaelmas Fair is from 1907, in the Newbury Weekly News:
“There appeared to be more doing in the hiring of farm hands this year, and no lack of eligible seekers of employment. The hiring took place outside the Lion Hotel when for an hour or two early in the day quite a crowd of men and youths were being interviewed by employers.”

By 1910, the Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette was still calling it the “annual hiring and pleasure fair”, although its report did not mention any actual hiring.

By October 1913, the Faringdon Advertiser said:
“Some years ago the Fair was a hiring fair, but this factor has altogether ceased at the present day.”

The actual practice of hiring appears to have been declining for several decades before that. In 1882, the Oxford Journal reported that the hiring of servants was waning:
“The business of hiring servants in husbandry and domestics appeared to be dull. No doubt, now-a-days, many and doubtless the best of the hirelings obtain their situations without attending the fair and making public exhibitions of themselves. The registry office is now the principal medium for obtaining situations of this description.”

Going further back, however, hiring of domestic servants was an important part of the Michaelmas Fair. In 1857, the Oxford Journal reported:
“’There was an observable improvement in the hiring fair. We have had to notice in previous years a falling off in the class of domestics of both sexes coming to be hired; this year, however, there was a more respectable supply. That of females was short, and, generally speaking, they appeared to be under 20 years of age; and such as were all right in their answers had no difficulty in hiring themselves at good wages. Those who had passed their twentieth year and were progressing towards thirty years of age, with several years of useful service to recommend them (and of these there was a limited number), were in great demand. Of men and boys there were multitudes (more than usual we should say), who quickly got engaged at such good and satisfactory wages as plainly indicated that the market at the present day is not glutted with labourers.”

And the tradition goes back much further. On 12 October 1805, the Jackson Oxford Journal reported:
“Great shew of dairy maids, who were hired at very low wages, owing to the late reduced price of cheese. The taskers went off briskly, and at high prices, the Farmers being in a hurry to get their corn thrashed out for market.”

Acknowledgements: British Newspaper Archive for the quotations about the hiring fair; Oxford Library Microfilm for the 1923 picture of Abingdon Fair; and eBay for the print of the Hiring or Statute Fair (currently for sale).