Dragon Boat Racing

2 Replies

Dragon Boat Racing
The annual Rotary Dragon Boat Day was being held on the River Thames at Rye Farm Meadow in Abingdon-on-Thames.
Dragon Boat Racing
The day was sunny with a cooling breeze and large crowds gathered.
Dragon Boat Racing
There were lots of other things happening including funfair, BBQ, tea tent, real ale beer tent, music and community stalls.
Dragon Boat Racing
Lots of people dressed up.
Dragon Boat Racing
There is no chance to practice before the day, and dry land coaching is given before teams get into their boats.
Dragon Boat Racing
Teams raced against each other to get a good time and progress to the semi finals and finals, raising money for their own charities and the Rotary charity.
Dragon Boat Racing
A good time was had by all. Some teams had better times than others.

Victorian Abingdon Exhibition at Community Free Space

1 Reply

Victorian Abingdon Exhibition
At the Community Free Space (previously known as the Community Shop), in Bury Street, there is a picture exhibition about Victorian Abingdon. It will be open for a week.
Victorian Abingdon Exhibition
As always people are fascinated to look at old photographs of Abingdon, and this time there is also a large scale map of Abingdon in Victorian times. The displays were created by Elizabeth Drury who co-authored the Abingdon Past and Present books.

Also instrumental was Hester, who arranged the rota of volunteers and did the admin.
Victorian Abingdon Exhibition
Meanwhile, a group of cyclists came through town today, on their way from Didcot, on a 100-mile  ride, raising money for good causes. Causes were: Prostate Cancer UK, Helen and Douglas House, and the Oxford Centre for Enablement at Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.

Dragon Boat Racing tomorrow – one of the biggest events in the Abingdon Calendar.

Pure Marie and The Breast Walk Ever

1 Reply

Thanks to Hollie, from Pure Marie on Bath Street, for this ….
Pure Marie
For the second year running we will be taking part in the Breast Walk Ever on Sunday 6th September 2015 to raise money for the Abingdon based charity, Against Breast Cancer, and we would really appreciate your support!

This 13.5 mile half marathon will take us along the River Thames across all sorts of difficult terrain!

Last year we managed to raise over £700 and this year, with your help, we would love to smash that target!

Donating to our JustGiving page is easy – just follow this link and click Donate: http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/TeamMarieBoutique

JustGiving sends your donation straight to Against Breast Cancer so it’s a quick and safe way to donate.

Abingdon History Portal contains 100 entries and is still growing

1 Reply

Abingdon Portal History 100
At the Old Abbey Buildings, this evening, local historians and dignitaries gathered to celebrate the first 100 Entries of Abingdon People and Buildings on the town history portal.

The Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames, Helen Pighills, cut the cake, and Manfred Brod told us how the project had been initiated,  researched and edited by members of Abingdon Area Archaeological and Historical Society.
Abingdon Portal History 100
Many people helped in the project. Pictured are Michael Harrison, who takes a lot of the photographs, and Ruth Weinberg who cooked the ABP 100 cake.

Ruth will also be doing a talk for Heritage Open Days at St Nicolas Church ‘Victorian Abingdon in pictures‘  on Thursday 10th September at 12:30.

If you can’t make that then there is another talk  ‘Albert Park – The Development of a Victorian Suburb‘ by Jackie Smith on  Friday 11th September at 19:30. Both are free as are all Heritage Open Days events.
Abingdon Portal History 100
All articles are peer reviewed before they are published on the web – to ensure they are well researched, and read well. The first 100 articles contain Historic Buildings from Abbey Gateway to 48 West St Helen Street, and Abingdon People from The Ackling Family to William Thomas Garrett Woodforde.

Find out more at abingdon.gov.uk/partners/history.