At St Nicolas Church a small exhibition has been put on, at the invitation of the Abingdon Peace Group, telling the stories of people, from both sides of the WWI conflict, who resisted the call to arms. There was also a talk this evening at St Nic’s church about these people.

On the way to the talk, I took a picture of a rainbow arching above the church and County Hall.

The first half of the evening got us talking together in groups, trying to discover the reasons why some people, as various as a Jamaican Carpenter, and a Huddersfield member of the British Socialist Party, resisted the call to fight for King and Country.

At the end we were asked to share an experience when we had stood up for something we believed in, when most people were of the opposing view. Listening to two members of the Abingdon Peace Group I realised they had stood up for their beliefs in self defining ways.

In the second half we heard three stories. One was of a Maori Princess, shown in the poster above, who led her people in a campaign of non violent protest against conscription.

To see the posters and read the stories visit St Nicolas Church over the next few days, or visit The World is My Country website.

The Abingdon Branch line, as it looked in 1948, was on display on Saturday at the 39th Annual Abingdon Model Railway Exhibition. The branch line has been constructed over the last 10 years with the help of hundreds of photographs (many viewable at www.abingdonbranch.co.uk).

Near The Abingdon Branch line was the Radley History Club, with their book “Radley People and the Railway”, together with railway memorabilia.

Abingdon Area Archaeological and Historical Society were also there with pictures of Abingdon Station.

The show was a mixture of railway layouts, modelling traders, and societies. There were 50 stalls in all. The cup for the best layout was presented, by Cllr Mike Badcock, Chairman of the Vale, to St. Ruth, which is based on Penzance station.

The St. Ruth model depicts a typical day in September 1965, with a beach in the foreground, and houses rising behind.

Abingdon Model Railway show hits town again on 28th February at the Tennis and Leisure Centre.

This year you can see a scale model of Abingdon Station – now a supermarket and a home for the elderly.

You can also see a model of Radley station (with a bit of modellers imagination added) so you could perhaps picture a ride on the bunk from Radley to Abingdon. Radley and Abingdon history clubs are there to tell you more.

Thanks to Mike for the poster and Elizabeth for the pictures.