For Chinese New Year (Tuesday, 5 February) a lovely window display was put up in the Community Free Space by the Oxfordshire Chinese Brush Painting Group, many of whom live in Abingdon. The display is still there a week later.

Anybody interested in one of the oldest and most beautiful of artistic traditions in the world can join the group.

The Ashmolean museum in Oxford has a dedicated gallery for Chinese paintings with changing exhibitions. It currently has a centennial exhibition for the Hong Kong artist Lui Shou-Kwan. Then the Oxfordshire Chinese Brush Painting Group will have an exhibition at Oxfordshire Artweeks.

The Chinese display is likely to be the last in the Community FreeSpace’s present premises. FreeSpace has been in its present location for over 5 years, but because a commercial tenant has been found for that unit, it will shortly be moving, probably to the empty unit next to the British Heart Foundation shop. The space is provided rent free by the Shopping Centre landlords and is managed by the Friends of Abingdon to provide a “free space” for community groups and not-for-profit organisations to demonstrate and promote their activities. If all goes to plan there will be another spectacular window display in the new premises at the end of February.

Abingdon Artists had an exhibition last week in the barn next to the Barns Cafe at Christchurch. There were pictures on a variety of themes and locations. The Abingdon Herald has a feature in this week’s paper: Eclectic exhibition as Abingdon artists given free rein.

Here are the pictures where I could identify Abingdon landmarks …

County Hall – by John Rawling

Abingdon Bridge – by Mike Brain

Old Gaol and Bridge Street roofs – By Caroline Harben

St Helen’s Wharf and Abingdon Bridge – by Barbara Payne

To find out more about Abingdon Artists visit www.abingdonartists.org.uk.

Thanks to David for the first two pictures

On Monday the Abingdon Mayor, Jan Morter, opened the Abingdon Cuts Plastic events at the Community Shop. She awarded two 5 star certificates to The Mouse Hole Café in the Abingdon County Hall Museum and to the Barns Café at Christchurch Northcourt Road for their achievements in reducing plastics in their catering.

Abingdon Cuts Plastic displays and lunchtime events are on all this week (16-21st April) at the Community Shop in the Bury Street Precinct 11am to 4.30pm (10am to 4.30pm Fri & Sat). Drop in and learn how to cut your use of plastics!

I visited the exhibition on Tuesday lunchtime and saw the company that allows you to re-fill your own container with detergents; looked at what plastic can be recycled and what can’t; and saw the pile of un-rotting plastic on the floor.

The Oxfordshire Home Guard were at the Community Free Space in Bury Street, Abingdon, and will be back tomorrow, with an exhibition called ‘Doing Their Bit.’

They came armed, and fully equipped, but on this occasion they were not expecting an enemy attack.

Instead they were meeting the public in the year 2018 to show what life was like on the home front during WWII.

The Home Guard had posters recruiting women volunteers to assist by performing non-combatant duties similar to those under taken by the Women’s Auxiliary Serviced for the R.A.F. . That is in addition to all the work women were doing at home, in factories, on the buses, and wherever else they are needed during the war.

The Oxfordshire Home Guard have also generously promised to turn out as a body to guard Abingdon Lock on Sunday 8th April 2018.