Some upcoming events

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Nicola tells me there is a piano recital fundraising event at St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Abingdon, on Saturday, 25th March 2023, at 7 pm. Locally brought up professional conductor Guy-Bernard Davis will be at the church to play beautiful music by Beethoven, Brahms and Rachmaninov.

Here is a second reminder of the Abingdon Clubs and Societies Day. This event is usually held every two years, but this will be the first since 2019 (if my memory serves me right). There will be stalls for many of Abingdon’s clubs and societies.

The community board in Abingdon Library has a display for Dear Brutus by the Studio Theatre Club. The play was written by J.M Barrie ten years after he wrote Peter Pan.

Abingdon Artists’ Spring Exhibition

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The Abingdon Artists’ Spring Exhibition is at St Helen’s Church from Monday, 13th to Saturday, 18th March 2023 (10 am – 4:30 pm).

There are over 100 original works of art by over 40 members of Abingdon Artists, most of which are for sale. There are also cards and many unframed works available for purchase. There is a raffle to win a painting of Abingdon Bridge.

This evening there was an Artists’ Evening for members and spouses/friends.

Entry is free, and all are welcome.

From ‘No Mow May’ to ‘Let It Bee’

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The  Vale of White Horse district council (VWHDC) has a new biodiversity project called Let It Bee , which reduces mowing of some council sites to allow more wildflowers and help bees and other insects. This follows on from the No Mow May trial last year.

Councillor Sally Povolotsky, VWHDC Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency and Environment, said: “When lawns and other grassy areas are kept short through very regular mowing, wild plants don’t get the chance to grow, flower and seed and thrive. In addition to increasing insect life to the area, the Let It Bee project should make the plants and the soil better able to withstand periods of extreme weather, as we had last summer.”

This will involve six VWHDC sites in Abingdon:

Abbey Meadow
Fitzharris Estate
Oxford Road
Rye Farm
Tilsley Park
White Horse Leisure Centre

Atom Science Festival

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The ATOM Science Festival was on today and included about twenty interactive stalls on Abingdon Market Place.

The Science Market included many companies with local facilities. This company was demonstrating how some chemicals grow into crystals. They research and develop chemical compounds that treat disease.

This company was demonstrating how the PH or acidity of a liquid could be changed by adding dry ice.

One Planet Abingdon was there, warning of the climate crisis and giving people practical steps to help. They had a pledge bag where people could pick out a pledge somebody had left and then leave another for somebody else.

This stall was a Science education company and had lots of interactive activities.

There were also activities in the museum and talks at the Guildhall.

A two-part talk was at the Amey Theatre at Abingdon School in the evening. David Miles spoke about some of the forgotten heroes in the development of vaccines.

Then Professor Frank Close spoke on the discovery of the Higgs field and the Higgs Boson particle. Peter Higgs (and others) proposed the existence of the field and particle in 1964, which was demonstrated by the CERN particle accelerator in 2012.  Professor Close has written a book, Elusive, which details the elusive Higgs Boson particle that is behind the Higgs field, and the elusive character of Peter Higgs, who went missing when it was announced he had won the Nobel Prize in 2013. (As I understand it, the movement of elementary particles, such as electrons and quarks, through the Higgs field gives such particles mass, without which they could not combine to make atoms. Higgs Boson particles are behind the Higgs field and have been detetected by smashing particles at CERN to produce very high temperatures.)

There is a further talk on Wednesday by Professor Jim Al Khalili. See https://www.atomfestival.org.uk/2023-programme/.