Category Archives: anniversary

Royal British Legion – Centenary

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This week marked the centenary of the Royal British Legion – 100 years providing support for the armed forces, campaigning for their interests and promoting Remembrance.

Saturday, May 15th, has been designated RBL 100 and special commemorative badges with the poppy on them have been designed, wreaths will be laid and there will be a Battle of Britain memorial flypast.

Abingdon has long held the poppy close to its heart and the Legion has been a presence in the town since at least 1933. In the past five years Abingdon has donated almost a quarter of a million pounds to the Poppy Appeal – an incredible jump on the £20,000 raised annually a decade ago.

Clare Oldfield, Poppy Appeal Organiser, said: ‘Support in the town is humbling, awe-inspiring and collecting is always an emotional experience. Remember this money comes from donations, nothing has a price on it. This is what people want to give. It is not uncommon for them to give £30, £40 and £50 for a single poppy. Or hundreds of pounds for a wreath.’

The Poppy Appeal in the town is organised and run by the RBL social club in Spring Road, Abingdon – drawing together veterans, cadets, schools, college students and dedicated collectors.

And not even a pandemic was going to stop the town raising thousands of pounds once again when house to house, supermarket and street collections were banned last year.

Covid restrictions meant the club remained closed for this weekend’s RBL 100 celebrations.  It reopens on Monday May 17th to members and their guests. Membership is not limited to the armed forces and Stuart Jackson, club chairman, said: ‘We look forward to being at the heart of the community once more, to celebrating the centenary, to welcome old friends back – and maybe even some new ones.’

If you would like to become a poppy collector or to share your Legion story contact Clare Oldfield on legionclubabingdon@gmail.com

To find out more about the Royal British Legion go to: https://www.britishlegion.org.uk

Pictures show one of the RBL 100 badges, and veteran Bob Strachan, a long-term poppy collector.

Europe Day – 9th May

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Thankyou to Brian who sent this picture celebrating Europe Day! It shows the European Flag flying above the County Hall Museum in Abingdon.

Brian says, ‘It has been the flag of the Council of Europe since 1955. The UK is a founding member of the Council and, of course, is still a member.’

‘Much later, in 1985, the same flag was also adopted by the EC.’

Happy 100th Birthday

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Thank You to Tony for this piece …
Betty Gordon
Betty Gordon raised a glass of bubbly to thank neighbours, friends and carers who had come to wish her a happy 100th birthday at her Abingdon home. They all observed strict social distancing outdoors and cheered as Betty, with obvious delight, cut the cake and showed her birthday card from the Queen.

Other cards came from friends far and wide. Neighbours had provided balloons and streamers, scones and cupcakes and a pile of presents including smoked salmon for breakfast and a T-shirt saying “Betty, the wee Scottie” with a picture of a Scottie dog.

Betty was born on 21 July 1920 in Caithness on the northern tip of Scotland. She remembers walking to primary school through snow that was knee-high. ‘That made me tough,‘ she said. She lived with her parents in Edinburgh after that but when her father died her mother went to London to find work. Betty stayed on at school until she was 16 then went to join her mother in London. She loved looking after children, and had a job with one family for seven years, stopping only when her own son was born.

Betty and her husband Charles moved to Abingdon from Kennington in 1978. They attended St Helen’s Church and did Scottish Country Dancing. They had a son who was tragically killed in a car accident at age 18. For 10 years Betty nursed Charles who had Alzheimer’s disease, pushing him to church in his wheelchair until he died in 1997. Betty then moved to St Nicolas Church which was closer to her home. She helped as sacristan from 2006 to 2012. In 2015 she suffered several strokes and could no longer go to church.

VE Day 75 in Abingdon – continued by correspondents

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Thank you to Martin and Hester and Roger for some further pictures of VE Day 75 and my Dad for a memory of VE Day …
VE Day 75 in Abingdon
This house was voted best display by the residents of Pickler’s Hill. This was also a history exhibition as well as celebration.
VE Day 75 in Abingdon
This picture has the caption ‘Together we will finish the job’.
VE Day 75 in Abingdon
George Haslam regularly plays during the Clap for Carers on Thursday evening on the Workhouse estate.

The houses on Abbott Road, Thesiger Road and 4 – 42 Oxford Road have long held their own identity because of their location on the site of the former workhouse. They have been brought together by the Abingdon Coronavirus Community Response group (ACCR), set up in the wake of the Coronavirus, and now have a Whatsapp group to coordinate what they do. They are making vital PPE, have set up flour, rice and plant hubs and came together for a socially-distanced VE Day commemoration in their front gardens and drives.
VE Day 75 in Abingdon
There was a multicultural look to some of their displays
VE Day 75 in Abingdon
There were historic displays.
VE Day 75 in Abingdon
Some people were thinking of peace not war.
VE Day 75 in Abingdon
From Roger, here is a corner of Windrush Way, Radley Green, celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE day.

Although not Abingdon, my Dad’s memory of VE Day brings the time to life ‘All workers and school children were given a day’s holiday to celebrate ‘Victory in Europe’ Day (V.E. Day) on the 8th of May 1945.  In recognition of V.E. Day the rather drab street of terraced houses, where we lived in Leicester, was transformed overnight. 

Our neighbours produced long ladders and between them they strung up a series of colourful banners across the street.  Union Jack flags, gay pennants and balloons hung from the banners high above our heads and many doors were decorated with gaudy coloured crepe paper.  An upright piano was pushed out from one house into the middle of our street.  Halfway through the afternoon, a variety of tables appeared and scores of parents and children tucked into sandwiches filled with lashings of salted dripping, jam and cheese.  When these were eaten jellies, macaroon cakes, buttered slices of malt bread and lemonade appeared on the tables.  Mahogany coloured tea was served continuously from a steaming urn with a built in calor-gas heater.

Although we were not allowed to take part in any of the street parties, we observed the non-stop celebrations, in a clandestine sort of way, from our parents’ front bedroom window.  As it grew dark, the blackout curtains were torn down from windows all along the street.  For the first time in five years the pavements were flooded with light.  The revellers danced to the accompaniment of the old, out of tune, honky-tonk piano.  Bonfires were lit in the nearby park and on the allotments.  We also heard the distant peel of church bells and the sound of fireworks.  Everyone seemed to be waving flags and as the evening wore on an impromptu procession formed and weaved all over the street.  Groups of neighbours held hands and danced in circles to the music of the piano, swaying as though in a hypnotic trance.  Younger children sat on the doorsteps watching the dancing and eating lemon curd and peanut butter sandwiches from plates in their laps.  All of these festivities were entirely appropriate because the nightmare of war, that the community had endured for so long and with such fortitude, was at long last over.