The wheel and cross were joined in the ancient celtic cross, and more recently, in Abingdon, they were brought together when two schools merged.

St Katherine School from Wantage (wheel) and St Helen School from Abingdon (cross) merged in 1938 to form St Helen & St Katherine School.

The first pupils moved into the current school building (the one-time St Helen School) in 1906, 100 years ago. St Katherine’s started a little earlier. Both were initially taught by nuns and gave the girls a fairly strict religious education, in keeping with the times.
There is a recently redesigned drive across the front of the school. At one end of the entrance is the Chapel of the Holy Cross from the 1920s. The Holy Cross is a reference to St Helen finding a relic of the Holy Cross. Inside I believe there is a statue of St Katherine.

The School hymn “St Katherine’s hymn” is about the life of the saint who gave her name to a firework (the Katherine Wheel). The final verse brings the saints together…

“Martyr Katherine, Empress Helen,
Called in different ways to share
Faith and hope and love that ventures
All to give and all to dare…”
More modern buildings have been added including science laboratories, a modern language block, a Performing Arts Centre, an exhibition gallery and two sports halls. And any differences of tradition forgotten as this has become a school which according to the school website has: ‘an excellent academic record, being placed in the Premier League by the Daily Telegraph for both its 2005 GCSE and A-level results.’

The Abingdon Over 70s Christmas Party is held every year at the Guildhall. It is hosted by the Mayor and the Town Council.

A lot of the councillors help during the morning to lay tables, put food on plates, and fill gift bags. The Over 70s arrive for the start of the party by about 2 PM.
There are performances, food, and a raffle… The first performance was from St Nicolas School performing, among others, their now well known Bun Throwing Song. The mayor said their musical about the school and Abingdon’s history was for him a highlight of the 450th Anniversary year.
There were also performances by Our Ladies Convent orchestra, the Abingdon Choral singers, and these belly dancers from Swinburne Road dance studios..
The food was served. The advantage of the bag is that anybody who is not hungry there and then has a ready-made doggy-bag.
After the food, the deputy mayor, announced the arrival of a very special guest to present the raffle prizes (the deputy mayor is the one holding the microphone).
Then on the way out everybody got a gift bag. Most made their own way, but there was a coach for anybody who needed it.

This morning it rained and it rained. I’m sure Winnie the Pooh would have thought up a clever little song about the rain. The camera does get very disorientated by rain and didn’t manage to focus very well. Maybe:
I’m a giddy little camera.
I can’t work in the rain.
My works will all get spoiled –
And that would be a shame!
I brought a Christmas tree home yesterday. The lady in the garden centre, who netted it for me ,suggested sawing off the end of the trunk, which gets hardened over , and putting it to soak for 24 hours in a bucket of water. That done, we put it up and decorated it tonight.

Now a few night-shots in town to show that Abingdon is getting geared up for the big event. First is The Book Store with their moving polar bears. Above the snow-scene they have a new book about Abingdon – The Changing Face of Abingdon.

This window is from the Stroll-in shop. The see-saw was going up and down…

After this years revamp, the Woolworths front window is up there with the best…

and the Finishing Touch.

These pigeons hardly moved as I walked by.

For anybody interested in Abingdon pigeons there have been two previous posts on Jan 22nd 2006 and 31st May 2006.

There is more variety in the colour of feral pigeons than most birds. I would guess that is because mankind has had such a hand in breeding them. This group include two whites, and a variety of light and dark greys with and without darker wing bars.

The first group of 2 + 8 are pictured looking upstream toward St Helens Wharf,
and the second group of 5 are looking downstream toward Didcot Power Station. The boat is accompanying a boat with eight oarsmen, just out of sight.