Community Events and a Tribute in Abingdon this Saturday Morning

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Scout jumble sale
At Abingdon Baptist Church on Ock Street, the Scouts held a jumble sale to raise funds. Tables were filled with bric-a-brac, books, clothes, and more.
Planet Abingdon food stall
On the Market Place, One Planet Abingdon were offering free vegan food and handing out recipes and leaflets. They were raising awareness of the environmental benefits of plant-based diets, highlighting the lower resource use and reduced methane emissions compared to meat production.
Bike tuning at County Hall
Under the County Hall, volunteers were offering free bike checks and minor repairs — encouraging greener travel by helping people keep their bikes roadworthy.
Flag at half mast
Overhead, the town flag above the County Hall flew at half-mast. It was a mark of respect for the Oxfordshire firefighters who lost their lives tackling the recent business park blaze near Bicester.

Swan Numbers Rise as Breeding Pair Disappears

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More swans than usual gather near the Wilsham Road railing, where people throw bread to the birds. I counted ten today. Someone I spoke to had counted fifteen another day. In past years, a breeding pair drove others away, but they are absent this year. Without them, juvenile swans gather.

I watched two moorhens with five chicks cross the river.

They passed in front of three swans. One swan tried to peck at a chick.

A moorhen flew at the swan and the swan thrashed away in surprise. The other moorhen led the chicks into cover.

Without the breeding swan pair, the balance has changed this year.

Welcome to Cay Khe

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A new Vietnamese Café and Noodle Bar on Stert Street opened for a soft launch on 26th April. After a few small adjustments, it’s now been open for a couple of weeks and is doing well.

There was once a Vietnamese café called Ha Noi on Stert Street — named after Vietnam’s capital city.  The new cafe’s name Cây Khê is more rural and poetic and means starfruit tree.

Art on Show and Under Repair

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The Town Crier had been out promoting Artweek and stopped by St Nicolas Church to see the art and jewellery on show by the Abbey Group.

Inside the church, artworks were arranged at the back, over some of the pews, and round the pulpit.

At the far end of the church, a scaffold tower was in place as the lights were being replaced with energy-efficient ones. More scaffolding surrounded the Blacknall’s tomb, which was built for John Blacknall and his wife, who died ‘at one instant of time’ in August 1625 — four hundred years ago.

Two restorers were at work, repairing missing plaster and touching up the paint round the monument. A special service is planned in August to mark the 400th anniversary.