Mr Fred Evans of Saxton Road in patriotic attire today, going to a fancy dress darts tournament.

Many thanks to Bob for another great picture.

In September 2011 this blog showed the efforts of some locals to clear the path at the side of St Michael’s Church. The path had been once kept clear by Hugh Randolph,  who took great pride in the appearance of his neighbourhood.

In recognition local residents have renamed the path, formerly known by Oxfordshire County Council as ‘path 16’, as Hugh’s Path.

Read more about Hugh, who passed away in 2006, in the Aaahs Spring 2006 newsletter (a word doc).

(Thanks Iain for the story)

On the Market Place in Abingdon today there were balloons, leaflets, and a well being tree to promote Mind‘s current initiative, Five Ways to Well being. The Mayor and Town Clerk were also there to show their support. The five ways are …

1. Connect with people around you
2. Be active (we did have a quick game of handball after this picture was taken).
3. Take notice. Be Curious.
4. Keep learning. Try something new.
5. Give. Do something nice for somebody. Thank somebody …

Today was also world mental health day, an annual chance to raise understanding, and reduce stigma around the 1 in 4 people who suffer some sort of mental health problem some time in life. For example Depression affects 10% of new mothers, and depression is treatable.

Mark from Mostly Books picked up Colin Dexter from his house, and was regailed with witty stories in the car as he drove him to Abingdon. The stories continued on the stage at St Helen’s and Katherine School Hall before an audience who had come to hear an informal talk entitled ‘A Perfect Crime’ by the author of the Inspector Morse murder mystery stories.

But when after some chat Mark tried to guide the conversation towards the perfect crime, Colin changed the subject. Instead he read the worse letter he had ever received, followed by the best.

Colin Dexter used to teach Greek and Latin at a school in Leicester but was forced to give up the profession he loved by loss of hearing.

The secret to a perfect crime is to leave no clues – something incompatible with writing murder mysteries where the purpose is to leave a trail of clues and create a book.