Heritage Open Day is next Saturday. This display is in the library. There are the historic buildings open for free, and this year there is an odd object in the shop window competition.

Free entry forms to be found on the Market Place. Its really for the fun of taking part, but there will be prizes as well.

Elsewhere today there was a French Market in town. But do we need them now we have Patisserie Pascal?

and the Abingdon Community Church, who meet at Thameside School, were promoting an Alpha Course.

‘Every month each Waitrose supermarket will distribute £1,000 between three local projects. Customers will be encouraged to vote for their preferred project and the £1,000 will be split in line with the vote.’

This time the leader is the ‘Abingdon Alzheimers Club’, and last month the clear leader was ‘Friends of Abingdon Community Hospital.’

The Almshouses as you have never seen them before – unless you go by this way regularly. The charity of Christ’s Hospital of Abingdon, who look after them, dates back a long way. The new roof tiles will be chosen to last. Christ’s Hospital must think in decades while we think in days.

However in the day-to-day blink-of-an-eye the archway leading from the Almshouses to the river was, apparently, damaged by a delivery lorry.

I’ve just looked on the Ask website and Abingdon is not there yet on the drop down.

Ask, Abingdon opens today. The building, known as Pulpit House, was the one time Abingdon Congregational Church in the Square. Since then it has either been FOR LET, or an office. Vacated as a church in 1968 but not sold until 1980. A marketing company took it over and got a design award for the way they had one company on the groundfloor, and another on the balcony. That closed in 2006. The bushes grew and grew in front until Ask came along. They are owned by the same company who owns Pizza Express so they should already know a bit about Abingdon. Now the bushes are cleared away and …