‘I am Felicity’s hat …’

At the Abbey Buildings today, an exhibition showed clothes with stories attached, written by their owners, often in the voice of the clothes. The exhibition also highlighted the fashion industry’s environmental impact and encouraged sustainable fashion practices.

This exhibition now moves to the Council Chamber in the Guildhall, Abingdon, where you can catch it from 11am to 3pm until December 2nd.

There was also a workshop on saving the planet and some exciting baking. Participants pulled apart and shared the ‘Fashion shouldn’t cost the earth’ multi-cupcake.

The current exhibition at Abingdon County Hall Museum is a fun one, featuring the cartoons of Geoff Dunbar, a local artist and animator who has received national acclaim, including a BAFTA. The exhibition includes a video about his work and his fascinating recollections of Abingdon.

The video helps to explain some of the cartoons, such as the one of the joke shop. The Artist tells of a second-hand clothes shop in Stert Street, which during the summer holidays, was transformed into a joke shop, and which became a firework shop with Guy Fawkes in the window before November 5th.

The exhibition also features cartoons of present-day Abingdon, and the fun is to see how many caricatures you can recognise. The Artist sez, ‘any resemblance to any person living or otherwise, is purely coincidental…’

Some of the coincidental persons were invited to the opening of the exhibition on October 7th. Others staffed it. The exhibition runs until December 23rd.

Abingdon County Hall Museum is run by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council.

Farmers Market on Friday, August 18th, from 9am to 1pm in the Market Square. Local farmers and producers will sell their fresh produce, meats, cheeses, breads, and other goods.

Big Summer Coffee Morning at Abingdon Baptist Church on Saturday, August 19th from 10:30am to 12:30pm in the church car park. Enjoy homemade cakes, teas and coffee, plus stalls selling cards, jewellery and crafts. Second-hand books are also on offer, and the JAM band will be playing throughout the morning. All proceeds go to the church’s development project.

MGs on the Market Place on Saturday, August 19th. The MGV8 will be celebrating their Golden Anniversary starting with a display from 9.30 – 12.00 before heading off to the Dog House for lunch.

Women’s World Cup Final between Spain and England at the Abbey Cinema on Sunday, August 20th at 11am. Tickets are £0 at the Abbey Cinema

Pick your own sunflowers at High Lodge Farm, on the road to Culham, until early September https://www.highlodgefarm.com/.

The County Hall Museum is usually closed on Monday but was open today because it was a Bank Holiday, giving visitors a place to look around out of the wind. As well as the permanent exhibition, there was the Abingdon Alphabet exhibition.

Nineteen quilters from the three local quilting groups (Abbey, Fitzharrys and Barn Cafe) have produced an A-Z of Abingdon Quilt.

Q X Y Z are the more difficult letters in any A-Z. Q is for Quilt.

X for the Market Place X of paths

Y for Yoke. The museum has a permanent yolk.
Z for Zebra Crossing featuring characters from the Abingdon underpass mural

There were also individual quilts in the exhibition.

What would you have done for your X Y Z of Abingdon?