Abingdon army Cadets are here helping to put up some of the show tents first thing this morning in the rain.
The horse show has been going since 1974 at Rye Farm meadows. From this year the organisers have changed to the Berkshire Downs Riding Club, a club with 250 members centred around Wantage. The show raises lots of money for charity.
Inbetween the horse trucks, people were getting themselves and the horses ready for their big moment.

One strange thing was that although I saw lots of horses, they were all being ridden by girls and young ladies – no boy riders.

These brightly coloured fences look fun. There were two other jumping rings further along the meadow.

Here is the finishing jump and the commentators’ van. This horse had jumped clear until the last fence. Unfortunetaely, it was clipped. Four faults.

‘Age quod agis’ the motto of Our Lady’s Convent School translates to “Whatever you do, do it well “.

The first picture show the graves of the Sisters of Mercy who have died while serving at Abingdon.

The Sisters of Mercy first came to Abingdon in 1860. There was a great need at the time to educate the children of Catholic familes. Back then there was no Roman Catholic church, but with help from people like Sir George Bowyer , who wanted to see the Roman Catholic faith re-established in his local town Abingdon, things were happening. Not everybody liked the nuns coming to Abingdon, but Sir George gave them the land for a convent. People sang that for Sir George “There is no place like Rome.”

But the introduction of a community of nuns dedicated to “Our Lady of Abingdon” was also the re-continuation of the monastic tradition of Abingdon Abbey. The first convent building (this one facing Oxford Road) was built in 1862 with an entrance from Oxford Road.
It was called “Our Lady’s Convent.”

The triangle of land between Oxford Road, Radley Road, and St Johns Road was soon to see Our Lady and St Edmunds Church dedicated in 1865. In the same area St Edmunds School was built for children in the parish. The triangle was like a Catholic enclave. In those days the Sisters sometimes got pelted with eggs by some citizens of Abingdon who saw the nuns as a threat.

But this new threat, energised the established church, and non-conformist churches who also began to set up schools for local children. The work of the Sisters of Mercy with the poor was also a leading example.

Today the Convent School is a successful fee paying school. St Edmunds primary school has moved to a modern site on the other side of the Radley Road, allowing the Convent to continue to build and expand, and now rated one of the top schools in Oxfordshire. In 1925 this poem was written in the Convent School year book:

Dear Abingdon, scene of our happiest days,
Dear Alma Mater, where we’ve learnt to gain
That true success, which lies not in the maze
Of earthly praise, nor yet of worldly fame,
But in our purpose firm, and effort strong
To put our best into the work we do;
To strive for right, and ever shun the wrong,
To be not useless dolls, but women true…

A chap today layed out lots of posters for sale in front of the two empty shops (what was Sketchleys and what was Clays the butcher.)

But behind the posters, inside the shop, are paint pots and new units, and the chipboard has shrunk to cover just the sign area.

So what will the sign say? It could be the green of “Holland and Barrett” But I thought they were delaying opening a store in Abingdon until next year.

The last time the Peachcroft Christian Centre got pictured here was back in June and now the outside is nearing completion. Just a few tiles and windows to sort out. Inbetween whiles there has been a arson attach – minor and no evidence.

The nearby shops are very busy on a Friday afternoon. The carpark packed, and the rain had just stopped. Its been a rather dull and rainy August after the brilliant July.

The row of shops also includes a Smarts fish and chip shop and the Blockbuster Video shop shown, a car spares shop, Thresher Off-licence, newsagent, beauty and hair place, and restaurant. This shopping centre has no shops “To Let” so it looks like it is doing well.