At 12:05 sharp the unveiling ceremony of Abingdon’s third blue plaque began as the town crier rang his bell and read out the citation to Daniel Turner.

Revd Michael Hambleton , the predecessor of the current minister, Revd David – just to the right of the picture, has done a lot to keep the memory of Daniel Turner alive through his book “A sweet and Hopefull people – the story of Abingdon Baptist Church” which is to be reprinted round about Heritage Open Weekend.

After a short speech, Revd Michael unveiled the blue plaque, the fifth on this building, 35 Ock Street (the other four are there to keep the wall together). I jest… There are now 62 real historic blue plaques in Oxfordshire and this is the first to celebrate a non-conformist Minister. Abingdon has a great history as a hot bed of non conformity which Abingdon Baptist Church still carries on to this day.

In his own day Daniel Turner was well known as a preacher,  pamphleteer, hymn writer and poet, although few of his hymns are sung today. His most lasting legacy today was that he preached tolerance and understanding in an era which was marked by sectarianism and division.

In many ways Daniel Turner was a century or more ahead of his time. But locally he was also loved as a saintly man and a fine pastor, and was known throughout the town as “Good Mr Turner.”

Our current Mayor, Mike Badcock, was also the Mayor of Abingdon 21 years ago when Revd Michael Hambleton was first ordinated at Ock Street Baptist Church. Mike did one of the readings at that service 21 years ago.

Many thanks to Martin at The Strowger Appreciation Site for letting me share a couple of his pictures.

What first drew me to his website was Mastervision. It was an early experiment in cable television, that was tried and failed in Abingdon. This was in the early 1970s, many years before Comtel dug up all our pavements.

There was a tall receiver by the Mill Stream and “ over 7 miles of cable, distributing 8 channels of television and radio, to 1300 homes in Abingdon.”  The target to become profitable had been more like 4000.

The Office of Mastervision was next to The Black Swan in Bath Street. This picture was taken after the demolition of the heart of Abingdon and before Woolworths was built. More of that at Martin’s page about 1960s Destruction of Abingdon.

The main selling point of Mastervision was the clear TV picture in a time of fuzziness, and no need for television aerials. Martin has a much much fuller explanation at Mastervision Cable TV.

I suspect most people on the Internet will know that the digital switchover is to happen in this area during September. Before then you will be sent an information booklet. But if you are 75 or over, or living in a care home, you can get FREE installation and retuning. Visit helpscheme.co.uk.