Category Archives: Events

Open gardens

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Open Gardens
An Open Gardens passport cost £5 and gave entry to 6 gardens in Abingdon – a fund raising event by the Abingdon Museum Friends.
Open Gardens
East St Helen Street. A colourful display with lots of hollyhocks and St Helens Church behind.
Open Gardens
Galley Field.They began with a garden of brambles, rough grass, and a wide concrete path. They had no alternate than to clear the area and start again.
Open Gardens
Caldecott Road. 20 raised beds. They rotate the crops each year to keep them and the soil healthy.

Yeah Baby! 2

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Play Bus
The Play Bus had to make a couple of circuits of the town centre before it got the correct angle to turn successfully onto the Market Place.
Our Friends Electric
This is the second time that the Yeah Baby Free Rock Festival has happened in the centre of Abingdon. Thy are raising money for the John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.The group in the picture are called “Our Friends Electric”. They performed music from the 1980s round about lunchtime.
Pylon High
My wife came back at about 4 and said she had just seen Madness – or a band very like them – playing on the Market Place. So I dashed out, but it was too late…

Instead the crowds were just milling about, and I took this picture of face painting instead. I did see Madness once. They were part of the 2-Tone tour in 1979. The concert included them, The Specials, and The Selector. It cost £2 and was well worth it.

2010 – Abingdon ???????????

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Possible Pictures For Heritage Open Day
I need to design the Heritage Open Day leaflet in the next week or so in order to get it printed and out for distribution by the end of July and have started gathering pictures in a folder.

The Wilts and Berks Canal trust are taking part this year as it is their 200th anniversary, and Salters could well have a boat for people to ride. There will also be lots of buildings open for free.  There will be a family competition involving finding things in shop windows, a guided Victorian walk, various old vehicles on display, Morris Dancers and other traditional dancers. It all happens on September 11th

Can anybody out there think of a good title for this year’s leaflet. In previous years there has been…

2003 – Explore Abingdon
2004 – Abingdon Uncovered
2005 – Abingdon On View
2006 – National Heritage Open Day
2007 – Abingdon Unveiled
2008 – Abingdon – Past, Present, Future
2009 – Abingdon revealed
2010 – Abingdon ?????????????

Thames Street

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Thames Street
This view on Thames Street could well look familiar because of a picture by Peter Bellingham. The notice says  ‘Abingdon Abbey’, and these buildings – the Bakehouse, Checker Hall, Checker and Long Gallery – were once part of the much larger Abbey. They are cared for by the Friends of Abingdon and open until September 30th  (except Mondays) between 2pm and 4pm.
Thames Street
Over the road, the area fronting the Abbey Millstream would also have been inside the Abbey. At this time of year there is a display of flowers along the railings as part of Abingdon in Bloom. The Britain in Bloom judges usually come round during July.