Author Archives: Backstreeter

St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s Birthday in Abingdon

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St George’s Day (April 23rd) is being observed by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council with the flying of the St George’s flag.

The Sue Ryder shop are also observing the day with a display of red and white clothes, wool, handbags, and St George’s Flags.

The exact date of William Shakespeare’s birthday is not recorded, but it is most often observed on 23rd April. He did die on 23rd April 1616.

In Abingdon Virginia, the Barter Theatre has found a way round the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic. They have performances at an abandoned drive-in movie theater – the Moonlite Theater on the edge of Abingdon. Currently playing at the Barter Moonlite is The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

From the Skies – squares and circles

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Daniel has been filming, from the skies, the new development off the Dunmore Road. The outlines of the first properties are visible as squares or rectangles.

He has also been flying over South Abingdon where the sewage treatment works are next to the Drayton Road Allotments which are next to a quarry.

When I walk or cycle round the sewage treatment works the overwhelming impression is the fizzy sulfurous smell, but from the sky you see circles.

Abingdon Market Place falls silent at start of Prince Philip’s funeral

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The bell of St Helen’s Church tolled for fifteen minutes. Then a minute’s silence was observed on Abingdon Market Place at 3 P.M in remembrance of H.R.H Prince Philip.

The Town Crier, Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames, and Town Clerk led the silence in Abingdon, an event held throughout Britain.

At the same time, at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, members of the royal family surrounded Philip’s coffin. The coffin was then taken inside the building for the service, as organ music played.

There were also tributes in the window of the Sue Ryder Charity shop nearby, and Waitrose.

From the Farmers Market to browsing books

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The Farmers Market was on the Market Place in Abingdon today.

It was my first time inside both independent bookshops since the reopening. The Book store is in Bury Street precinct.

Two shops have closed in Bury Street during the shutdown. The Gift Centre has closed – probably deciding not to renew a lengthy lease. Also Peacocks went into administration and is now closed.  200 of the 400 Peacock stores will be re-opening as the chain have been brought out out administration. I don’t know about the Abingdon shop.

Mostly Books were also open. On display there is Trinity by Frank Close. Trinity was the code name for exploding the test atomic bomb in 1945. This well researched story is about Klaus Fuchs, a communist sympathiser, who passed atomic secrets to the Soviets during the race for development of the nuclear bomb. The book has both spying and science.

The library is also open and there I saw another book by Frank Close called Neutrino. Frank Close is a nuclear physicist who lives in Abingdon and often helps at the ATOM Science festival