Diana asks if anybody can identify the artist, or maybe even the couple, in this painting of a very recognisable corner of the Market Place. It is the corner where the phone boxes were removed last week! Diana picked it up in a charity shop in town recently and says “sadly this is just a reproduction that has been trimmed to fit it into the frame so no signature or other identifier.” She is curious to know if it was by a local artist. She has checked with the museum but they have drawn a blank.

Here is what the telephone boxes looked like.

According to the Guardian “At their peak there were 92,000 payphones across the UK, and queues in the street were a familiar sight at the busiest ones.“. In 2019 they are almost obsolete.

There is a new temporary exhibition in the County Hall Museum showing photographs and paintings of Abingdon – thanks to the Abingdon Museum Friends.

The Abingdon Museum Friends helped to pay for some of the exhibition including a copy of Turner’s painting The Thames at Abingdon from 1805. There are also some stunning large reproductions of Francis Frith photographs.

A lot of visiting artists came to Abingdon and portrayed well known views of Abingdon’s historic buildings and the River Thames , in their own way. There are more intimate pictures by Oswald Couldrey who knew the town well. He painted the cattle market shown above. Couldrey left Abingdon to establish an art school in India. Deafness forced him back to Abingdon where he read, wrote, painted, and played a soundless piano.

There are also lots of paintings and photographs from the museum’s own collection playing on a loop on the monitor. It took about twenty minutes to view them all and many I had never seen before. In the cabinet below are picture by Harry Lucy who, after retiring from working for Amey in Abingdon, became involved with Abingdon Artists.

There are also pictures by Fetherstone Robson who travelled the country in the 1920s and painted many popular scenes which were mass produced as prints. His output included several paintings of Abingdon.

This makes a very interesting exhibition, and a good way to pass a half hour.

Earlier this year there was graffiti on the Abingdon underpass mural which has now all been cleaned away or touched up.

Behind Henry VIII is Thomas Pentecost, the last Abbot of Abingdon, who with his twenty-four monks received pensions after surrendering the Abbey to the King. Unlike the Abbot of Reading who was imprisoned and executed for not being so obliging – who became a martyr.

Facing them through the tunnel is the cleaned up St Edmund of Abingdon, and a picture of The Egyptian Vase coming to this town. I cannot remember what that story was all about.

The mural starts with pre-history, runs down one wall, and then back along the other.

It end in modern times with mummers, morris dancing, and town crying.

From 13th to 18th June there has been an exhibition of art work by GCSE and ‘A’ Level Art Students at John Mason School.

There were several rooms full of artwork like the one above. It was amazing to see so much creativity all together. Very colourful and interesting. So many talented people at one school! It seems such a huge advance on what we did at school in my day.

On Saturday Morning the exhibition was very popular with lots of friends and relatives looking at their student’s art work. There was also people like myself who saw the banner in front of the school and went in.

Work included some fantastic dress creations and a portrait of Churchill.

There is still a chance to visit from 3.30-4.30 pm Monday and Tuesday. You need to bring a photo ID and report to reception.