Category Archives: Events

Abingdon Autumn Craft Fair – Week 1

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Craft Fair
The Abingdon Autumn Craft Fair is held in the Medieval Abbey Buildings, off Checker Walk, in Abingdon. We have just come to the end of the first week.
Craft Fair
A Craft Fair was first held in the Medieaval Buildings in 1970. During the 1970s the craft fairs got larger and from 1980 until very recently were organised by Mrs Pauline Burren, on behalf of the Friends of Abingdon who own the buildings.
Craft Fair
Pauline still organises volunteers to man the Friends of Abingdon stall at the Craft Fair, but the organisation of the fair has passed on to the Abingdon Craft Fair and Design Limited. You may have seen their van.
Craft Fair
The Craft Fair, and other activities like weddings, help to pay for maintenance and improvements to the Medieaval Abbey Buildings.

There is another Craft Fair next weekend, from Thur. 27 – Sun. 30 October, and the weekend after – Fri 4th Nov – sees the first new Folk at the Unicorn – in the Unicorn Theatre alongside the Medieaval Abbey Buildings.

Long Distance Bible Reading in Abingdon

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I see in the Abingdon Herald, and now on BBC Local, that as part of Christ Church’s 50th anniversary celebrations the bible is being read aloud in 4 days. Many people are taking part including our Mayor, MP and Bishop, and lots of people who go to Christ Church.
Long Distance Bible Reading
This feat has been attempted before in Abingdon. That was back in September 2003, at Trinity Church.
Long Distance Bible Reading
On that occasion one young lad attempted to read through the bible in 24 hours.

It quickly became apparent that 24 hours would never be long enough. The going got tough as he entered the books of I and II Chronicles – where there were long lists of people begetting other people with no other narrative.

At that point the audience of young friends started drifting away, and the young reader jumped forward a few pages to something more interesting. He then started taking requests. The highlight turned out to be the Song of Songs with piano accompaniment.

I look forward to going down to Christ Church to listen for a bit. I’m sure there will be no skipping any difficult passages there – and 4 days sounds more possible.

Farewell Sisters of Mercy

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The Sisters of Mercy first came to Abingdon in 1860. There was a great need at the time to educate the children of Catholic familes, and also – as it turned out – to provide education for the children of the poor – irrespective of religion.

You can see memorials to individual sisters in St. Edmunds Churchyard.

There is also a living legacy in St Edmunds Primary School, and Our Lady’s School, and the many thousands of people who have the Sisters to thank for their education.
Sister of Mercy
These pictures were taken last Friday, and show the last two Sisters taking their leave of Abingdon.
Sister of Mercy
Father Jamie, the Parish Priest at Our Lady and St. Edmunds, Abingdon, was there to thank them for their work here among us – A GREAT WORK. I wrote more about their history back in abingdon2006.blogspot.com .

Digital Switchover Day 1 – worries remain

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Digital Switchover Day 1
The digital switchover help van was on the Market Place today, but I did not see queues of worried BBC2 viewers climbing the ramp to seek assistance.

Today the BBC2 analogue signal vanished for ever. BBC2 can now only be watched on digital in Abingdon
Digital Switchover Day 1
In order to watch Champions League football tonight I had to switch back to ITV analogue. For some reason ITV digital has never been strong enough to hold a picture together in our house.

In two weeks time, on Digital Switchover Day 2, the remaining analogue channels, including ITV, will be switched off for ever in Abingdon. The bandwidth released should be enough to allow them to boost the ITV digital signal so we can watch more Champions League football in our house – but the worry remains.