There is a Garden Party at Stonehill House next Saturday 21st for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It is especially aimed at the older residents of the area, since it will be a simple old-fashioned afternoon of tea, cakes & music with some traditional skills on show. Furthermore there will be a talk by Mr Boffin (real name!) of Nuffield Place on the history of the Morris Minor and the man behind the name… William Morris, Lord Nuffield. All for £3! In aid of British Red Cross.

Take along grannies and grandpas!

The weather forecast had predicted thunder and heavy rain during Fun in the Park – organised by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council (Councillor Alice Badcock centre took on a lot of the organisation this year.) There was a downpour at the outset but very soon it cleared and there was sunshine in the afternoon. Many community groups took part in this annual event with stalls, sports demos, and performances on the stage.

Here are just a few …

One of the first acts on were Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris. The bagman thanked me for the interesting piece I’d done on Old Abbey House possibly being sold to a Pub Chain. As often happens I get the credit for a story that was in the Herald.

Yeah Baby were promoting their Market Place event on July 5th. There was a chance to make bunting on their stall, and they will be visiting 4 schools to make more bunting to decorate the big day.

Lesley Legge had a go on the Newbury Building Society Buzzer game. The building society are encouraging children to start saving, and have an outreach team that teach school children all about saving.

Abingdon County hall Museum were getting children to design and make badges.

The Mayor, Angela Lawrence, had a go on the Green Gym Treasure Map and stuck her pin in Radley Lakes.

The Church in Abingdon provided the Ingredients and the Carbon Cutters provided the pedal power as these two stalls collaborated on making smoothies.

Finally, I was very interested when I was told that there was a Water into Wine stall but discovered a Water or Wine stall. Every fifth bottle had wine.

Abingdon County Hall Museum stayed open late tonight as part of Museums at Night 2014 – an annual UK-wide festival encouraging visitors into museums, galleries and heritage sites by throwing their doors open after hours and putting on special events.

Music created a great atmosphere on a warm Friday evening. The Amity Wind Ensemble performed in the sessions hall, and a fine pianist played in Buns in the Basement.

Under the arcade, the Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers and Vale Islanders encouraged everybody to join in the dance. Museum revelers mixed with Friday night revelers near the punchbowl.

The late opening proved popular – attracting about 300 visitors, many of them new to the museum, and there was always a queue to go on the roof.