It may take a bit longer to clear away Christmas this year. The tree in the Market Place is still there even if the lights and baubels are gone.

The sign outside St Edmund and our Lady in Abingdon still has the joy of Christmas.

On the church noticeboard a poem says the work of Christmas begins when the Kings have gone home and the shepherds are back with their flocks. Peacemaking is never complete.

In Abingdon, the Workhouse Estate and South Avenue are both part of the community advent window phenomenon and are collecting donations to Helen and Douglas House. The Fitzharris Manor Estate also had 24 advent windows.









In total that makes 3 * 24 windows = 72 Merry Christmas Wishes.

Father Christmas returned for the second week in a row on the Market Place. It is not all public appearances. Research is an important part of his job. He remembers 1998 when he, and a lot of parents, got caught out with no Furby. By 1999 Furbys were easy to get but children had moved on to Gameboys and Pokémon.

Carol Singers were on the Market Place for the second day in a row. Here is a short extract of both the Saturday and Friday carol singers …

There was Carol singing in the Farmers’ Market today (Friday) – with help from the Abbey Brass. The carols were organised by the Abingdon Christian Aid group and a collection was taken for the work of Christian Aid, very much focused on the urgent Afghanistan crisis appeal.

On Saturday from 11 am – 12 noon more carol singing is planned by the Church in Abingdon in the Market Place. They asked people taking part to pre-register because of the need for a Covid risk assessment.

There will also be actual and virtual carol services at some of the churches if you visit their web pages. They are all listed together on the blog’s links page.