Congratulations to The Bookstore on its 25th anniversary!

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The Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Abingdon-on-Thames, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. Thanks to Ian and his staff, and the shop’s commitment to providing excellent service and promoting local concerns, The Bookstore has continued for 25 years, even as Amazon and e-books have changed the landscape of the book industry. Ian said that their first-ever customer still visits the shop.

Two highlights for me, writing this blog, are the long queues that stretched down the precinct each time a new Harry Potter book was released and the long queues when Terry Wogan came to visit, not once but twice, and being able to meet the man.

Today was quieter, with rain falling.

Ian also features in one of Geoff Dunbar’s cartoons in the Abingdon Museum Exhibition. Geoff had drawn an Abingdon bookseller from his youth and wanted to show him next to a contemporary bookseller.

Early Christmas Lights

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Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council’s contractor has started installing the Christmas lights, including the Market Place candles, which have been a tradition for many years.

This year, there are also new lights, including a new tree outside the Guildhall. This conical plastic structure is an eye-catching addition to the town’s Christmas decorations, with a large windmill-like snowdrop at the top and snowdrops around the base.

We will have to wait until the Christmas Extravaganza on Saturday, 2nd December 2023, to see the new tree in all its glory.

New Abingdon Hub Offers Support for Mental Health

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The Abingdon Keystone Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub celebrated its official opening today, with a wide range of people attending, including local councillors, support staff at the hub, and people from the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust who provide the service. Meridian News was also present to cover the event.

The hub offers a new approach to supporting people with ongoing mental health problems by bringing care and support close to people when they need it most. Members of the public can drop-in from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to learn more about the services available, and how to access them.

I spoke to a staff member who provides support to help people stay in work or return to work. I also spoke to some peer support workers who have used mental health services and now provide peer support to others. I took away a leaflet about the Psychological Therapies provided at the hub.

The hub is in the centre of town on Bury Street.

Real and imagined dangers

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The long-standing ‘material containing asbestos’ notices outside the former Chemist shop have been joined by jokey notices outside a lot of other shops in town. Caution tape says, “Enter If You Dare”, and cobwebby strands and orange pumpkins and spiders and skeletons and ghosts are there to give you a scare.

But beware, brave trick-or-treaters, for the greatest danger of all lurks near Abingdon Lock, among the leaves.