The Newest Yeoman Warder at HM Tower of London

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Off to the Tower
Spike Abbott has moved from Abingdon to become the newest member of the Body of Yeoman Warders at HM Tower of London.
Off to the Tower
Before becoming a Yeoman Warder, Spike served for 35 years with the RAF, and is pictured above at his leaving event.

He was often to be seen at Civic Events in Abingdon – such as Remembrance Day and Freedom Ceremonies. A condition for becoming a Yeoman Warder – popularly known as a Beefeater – is to serve for at least 22 years with HM armed forces.

Spike lived in Abingdon from 1981, and his wife is here in Abingdon for a few months more. I think she still volunteers at Abingdon County Hall Museum.

Theme Day – June 1st, 2015 – Stylish

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Stylish
In the Abingdon Oxfam window a stylish ball dress, draped with boa, heralds the start of the Prom season. Proms take place after students have completed their GCSE exams, at the end of year 11 (age 15/16) .
Stylish
All that is needed to complete the Cinderella transformation is a gold stretch limo.

You can see other takes on this stylish theme, from around the world, here.

Saturday’s Local Excellence Market

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Local Excellence Market
Abingdon Country Market are now a regular at the quarterly Local Excellence Market.
Local Excellence Market
I was told by Paul, collecting rent from stall holders, that there were more stalls than ever before. The plant stall was doing particularly well.
Local Excellence Market
I expect some of the stalls, like Chillis 2 U, will be back in Abingdon next weekend at Miele’s, on 7th June, for the 2nd Abingdon Food Festival.  (You can pre-book Chef demonstrations, and Wine and Cheese tastings on their website.)
Local Excellence Market
Market Place events do seem to increase the footfall, and buggy fall, in Abingdon town centre.
Local Excellence Market
I did hear that there has been some systematic destruction of advertising signs on lampposts over the last 2 or 3 months in Abingdon. Signs worth around £800 have been ripped down. (Evidence of ‘sign vandalism’ should be sent to the proper authorities. We know it is not any of the councils.)

Bury Street Co-op to Cease Trading

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Bury Street Co-op to Cease Trading
A sign has been put outside 22 Bury Street to say it will cease trading as a Co-operative on 11/07/2015 at 13:00.
Bury Street Co-op to Cease Trading
Since the Bury Street Somerfield was re-branded as a Co-operative in October 2010, there have been two Co-ops in Abingdon Town Centre. In that time there has not been a lot of investment in the Bury Street store, and now it is to close. Staff have been told about redundancies.