Category Archives: Events

Mid-January in Abingdon: A Week of Talks, Music, Quizzes and Christian Unity

We are halfway through January and more events can be seen on notice boards around Abingdon, including the following for the next week.

On 15th January, at Abingdon Baptist Church, Professor Richard Harding, Chair of the Oxfordshire branch of CPRE, will talk on light pollution and its negative impacts on wildlife (insects, bats, birds) and human enjoyment of starlit skies.

On 16th January, Dr Graham Twemlow, will be talking about a project, from World War II that employed artists to document the country’s landscapes and architectural heritage. The talk will highlight the art works created within Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire by artists like John Piper, Walter Bayes, Barbara Jones, Stanley Anderson, and William Fairclough.

The same evening, The Rosellys, a five-piece band from Herefordshire known for their blend of country, folk, and roots music, will be playing at the Unicorn Theatre. See Music at the Unicorn

Cllr Gabby Barody, the Mayor of Abingdon of Thames would be delighted if you would join her at a Charity Quiz night on Saturday 18 January 2025 at the Crown & Thistle Hotel, Bridge Street, Abingdon. Doors open from 17.00, quiz 19.00 – 22.00. and tickets are £5.00 per person, plus booking fee.

Tickets are available in advance from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/abingdon-town-council/t-dvrgveg. All proceeds go to the Mayor’s chosen charities; Abingdon Volunteer Service and One Planet Abingdon. Teams can have up to 8 people. Any individuals and teams with fewer than 3 people can be assigned to a team on the night.

Next week is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with the theme: Serving Others in our Local Community. The Church in Abingdon has talks from Monday 20th to Friday 24th at 12 noon with refreshments at St Nicolas Church (by the Market Place). Each day local organisations will talk about their work. There may also be some prayers.
Monday: Serving the bereaved (AgeUK, Footprints, Local funeral director)
Tuesday: Serving those who have had to flee their home country (HOST Abingdon, International Welcome Café, St Ethelwold)
Wednesday: Serving homeless/abandoned children (Homes4Good)
Thursday: Serving the hungry (North and South Abingdon Foodbanks)
Friday: Serving the lonely (Open Doors, Archway, Age UK, St Ethelwold)

There is also the interchurch quiz on Friday evening.

(Last image generated by OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com and modified by Backstreeter.)

Abingdon Church Twinning Quiz with DNAPQ

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Abingdon’s Church Twinning Group hosted a quiz night at the Conduit Centre, part of Trinity Church. Ten teams participated in the event, which raised funds to support the upcoming visits from guests from the twin towns.

Next year, 2025, will be the groups 25th anniversary since Jenny Goode established the movement to connect Abingdon’s churches with churches in the twin towns in Italy, France, Belgium, and Germany. The group will welcome visitors from the twin towns churches again next year.

The quiz was expertly hosted by Richard Kirby, a familiar face to many as the enthusiastic organiser of the popular “Definitely Not a Pub Quiz” (DNAPQ) events for Abingdon Rotary Club. With a large screen displaying film clips and visual questions, Richard kept the audience engaged and entertained.

During covid, Richard ran monthly, free zoom online versions of DNAPQ for the community. Richard is hosting a FREE online Christmas quiz on Wednesday, December 18th. Opens at 7:20 pm for a 7:30 pm start. Register your team by December 11th via email to dnapquiz@gmail.com with a team name. You can also join an existing team (mention this in your email).

One raffle prize at the quiz was a box of chocolates.

In which twin town are Guylain chocolates made?

Abingdon’s Christmas Extravaganza – 2024

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The day began with the Bath Street Christmas Market, featuring crafts, charity stalls, foods, and gifts. Meanwhile, in the Bath Street Performing Area, the Abbey Brass Band added to the atmosphere by playing Christmas Carols.

On the Market Place stage, there were performances from the Abingdon Dance & Fitness Studio, the Marion Flanagan School of Irish Dance, the Amanda Alder Dance Academy, the Strawberry Fayre Majorettes, and the Abingdon Rock Choir.

The Community Shop at 24 Bury Street, run by Girlguiding Abingdon, provided a space for Christmas crafts.

At noon, the parade marched through Abingdon’s town centre led by the Oxford Caledonian Pipe & Drum Band. The parade also contained the other performing groups (mentioned above),

the Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers,

The Mayor (Councillor Gabby Barody) and Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council,

and Father Christmas thanks to Abingdon Lions. He went on to sit in his grotto where there was a long queue to see him.

It was a mild and sometimes sunny day but Acreedo Tattoos provided a little snow with the help of a machine.

There was more snow and a reindeer at The Book Store. Next Saturday they have a book signing with Pam Ayres and her book ‘Doggedly Onward: A Life in Poems.’

As the sun set, the crowd watched FREE 4 ALL.

At some time before 6:00 PM the lights were switched-on. I wasn’t there for the actual switch on but got there soon after. I expect Duncan Brown, the MC, did the usual count down 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and everybody cheered.