Celebrating Africa and Black History

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From 13th to 15th October in The Barn at Christ Church, Abingdon, people celebrated the richness and depth of African History.

In previous days there has been poetry, storytelling, drama and history. Today the Pearly Gates Church, Abingdon (who meet at Fitzharry’s School) gave a history presentation about Ghana and the Asanti Empire, followed by a drama where the Asanti King and Queen judged a dispute.

The King and Queen then watched the Adowa dance from Ghana. Afterwards, there was a chance for everybody to learn some steps and hand moves.

Alongside the stage was The Caribbean Living Room, showing how people lived in the 1950s and 60s after the Windrush and other ships brought people to the UK from the Caribbean.

The exhibition included biographies of great Africans, books, memorabilia, and African art and craft.

Reflections on Abingdon Bridge

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Water is reflected on the underside of the navigation arch of Abingdon (Burford) Bridge on sunny days.

In 1790, when Abingdon Lock was opened, one of the original arches was widened to ease navigation. After that, to allow larger boats, the river was dredged further down than previous bridge builders could have foreseen. Dredging and the greater weight of road traffic meant the original bridge became unstable, and around 1927 the bridge was again rebuilt to create the current 60-foot span of reinforced concrete.

The history of the rebuild in 1927 can be read about at https://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1937/leeming.pdf.

RAF Abingdon 1932 – 1992

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RAF Abingdon opened 90 years ago on 1st September 1932, and Elizabeth Drury has made a display in Abingdon Library to remember the date. The RAF base was initially home to bombers. From World War Two, bombers on active service were transferred to the east of the country, and training of bomber crews happened at RAF Abingdon. In 1948, RAF aircraft flew from Abingdon to West Berlin to drop food supplies around the clock to break the siege.

The Queen and Prince Philip visited RAF Abingdon in 1968 for the RAF’s Golden Jubilee.

The RAF Abingdon base closed as a result of Glasnost (Russian for openness), the peace dividend following the opening of the USSR to democracy, on 15th December 1992.

(Picture of the Queen’s visit from The Reading Evening Post – 4th July 1991 – thanks to www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. The RAF badge is part of the display at Abingdon Museum.)