The quarterly Local Excellence Market is in town today. This is a chance for local food producers, craftworkers and retailers to sell their goods.

There are three stalls there for the first time, adding variety to the evolving market

Others such as the Country Market are now there now as regulars. The Country Market also host their own market at the Charter on the 2nd Saturday of the month.

There are also a couple of stalls promoting up and coming events:

There were fitness people promoting a new gym that will open in two weeks time on the Fairacres Estate, opposite Furniture Village. They are called Anytime Fitness.

And Oxfordshire Artweeks runs from 7th – 30th May. Most of the Abingdon events will be in the second week as artweeks moves to South Oxfordshire. The first week centres on Oxford, and the third week North Oxfordshire.

This morning I was suprised to hear loud music coming from the Market Square … old songs like ELO’s Mr Blue Sky, and Slade’s Merry Christmas Everybody.

A band called ‘back to square one’ were performing. They describe themselves as ‘North London’s No 1 Party Band’, and this evening are playing at The Fox in Steventon. They make regular appearances at shopping centres promoting themselves in order to get more gigs at weddings, anniversaries, birthday parties, charity fundraisers and the like.

I also visited the library where they have some new computers, and spoke to Rosie who retires on Christmas Eve. She began work at the library when it was still in High Street back in the 1970s – the era of ELO playing ‘Mr Blue Sky’, and Slade singing ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’.

The Craft Market – postponed from last week – took place yesterday. Most of the stalls were able to make the rebooking at short notice. There was rain early on but it soon cleared.

Break4Cake, with Christmas Stollen, and other continental cakes, was there.

The Mayor of Abingdon was also visiting.

There were also reindeer, but no sign of Father Christmas.

The Abingdon Lions have been taking him on a nightly journey round most of Abingdon. The journey will soon be complete. Then he will be allowed back home to prepare for his biggest night of the year.

Bradley Taylor must have an early start bringing fresh fish from Grimsby to the Monday Market in Abingdon

Traffic may have been running ok near Abingdon, but he tweeted ahead from Peartree, where there had been a collision, “Plenty of variety on board this morning, currently stuck on the A34, hopefully will arrive in Abingdon soon.”

I see in the British Online History of Berkshire that The Monday Market in Abingdon has a long history, and was run by the Abbey from at least 1328.

The 1556 charter granted the Monday market to the newly established Abingdon corporation. A table of fees for stalls in 1557 shows linen-drapers and woollen-drapers, tanners, ironmongers and smiths, ropers and ‘colle-makers’.

Nowadays market traders bring: fish from Grimsby, olives, bread and cakes, fruit and veg, clothes, carpets, and bags, batteries and watch straps, Hoover Bags …

a pop up toy shop, pottery, picture frames, dairy and meat products, eggs and pet supplies, cards and stationary, outdoor plants etc…