Thanks to Janet, who sent me a poster to say that the Abingdon Horticultural Society Spring Show is this Saturday at the Northcourt Centre.
There is a lovely show of spring flowers outside the offices at St Helen’s Church. The lady who maintains that small garden keeps a colourful display all year round.
The Trinity Table Top sale was held on Saturday and raised £979 (and counting) towards church funds. It also brought people together. There was a Carswell P.T.A stall, Abingdon Baptist stall, and guides stall, among others.
Margaret Horton had an art stall and brought her picture of the venue, Conduit Centre (Trinity church hall).
35 Ock Street provided the home for Baptist ministers between 1720 and 1968. It now provides an open space with a cafe and usually has a small exhibition by a local artist. This week there are painting by Judith Payne.
The latest exhibition at Abingdon Museum features trains that once ran on the Abingdon branch line,
planes that flew from RAF Abingdon,
and automobiles made at the Abingdon MG works. The exhibition has interesting display boards and a series of films about the different transports. I have not seen them all yet but found the film about the closure of the branch line very good.
The exhibition is from 7th January to 26th March 2023 on the museum’s first floor, up 37 steps. Find out more at https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/event/exhibition-planes-trains-automobiles-7-01-to-26-03-2023
Abingdon Museum will be closed during the Christmas Holidays.
This afternoon was the last chance to see the ‘Common Land’ exhibition by Kate Hammersley.
A film called ‘Convalescence’ recorded an area of common land throughout the year. The film was recorded as Kate recovered from cancer treatment. Another film called ‘Roam’ followed deer tracks through a wheat field on the farm where she grew up.
In cabinets were sketches of the 360-degree scene of the common land as she stood and turned and drew. This was reproduced on a square block in the museum. There were also framed drawings from the Alps, showing huge mountains in miniature.
The 23rd of December was the eve of Christmas Eve. On the Radio Oxford travel news, I heard of long queues at the Orchard Centre in Didcot and Banbury town centre. By comparison, Abingdon town centre was calm. There was a star over the County Hall Museum.