Monthly Archives: November 2014

David Mitchell Thinking Out Loud in Abingdon

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Mark Thornton from Mostly Books was interviewing David Mitchell at the Amey Theatre in Abingdon this evening.

David, a very well known actor, comedian, and writer, has put together the best of his writings from his Observer column into a book called “Thinking about it only makes it worse, and other lessons from modern life.” It covers the last 6 years from the banking crisis when Labour was in power through the resulting Con-Dem coalition years.
  
David attended Abingdon School, where he enjoyed debating and theatrical productions, and was very good academically. He spoke with honesty and humour on lots of topics including Private Education and its Charitable Status, The Internet, and Madame Tussauds.

He signed a lot of books.

The queue stretched at one stage  from the stage out  through the foyer.

I agreed totally with what he had to say about Private Schools but not about Madame Tussauds. It is more than just an antiquated wax works,

The New Sign above the The Cross Keys Pub

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Plannning
From the new sign above the The Cross Keys pub it can be seen that the company that bought the pub from Greene King are looking for a developer to take it off their hands . They have planning permission for conversion to 6 flats.
Plannning
There was another meeting of the Vale of White Horse planning committee this evening at Wantage. The plans to demolish The Abbey Court Offices in Stert Street, and replace them with flats were back for further discussion because of amendments received from the architect on 30 October 2014 … “to reduce the depth of the third storey to reduce the impact of the proposal on the properties in Vintner Road and to create a more harmonious relationship between the buildings. The sizes of the units have also been reduced so the proposal no longer incorporates any three bedroom units.”

I don’t know the outcome yet.

Announcing the 20p Christmas Card Postal Service

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20p Christmas Post
5 Scout Groups and 2 Guide Companies from the Abingdon area run the 20p Christmas Post in Abingdon, Northcourt, Radley and Shippon.20p Christmas Post
Last year they collected, sorted and delivered about 6400 cards.

They have been running the service for 20 years.

They have 2 ‘sort’ evenings, the first about a week before the closing date and the other on the closing day.   Around 30-50 people help with the sorting.  They don’t deliver any cards until after the second sort.

Each group is allocated an area of Abingdon, Northcourt, Shippon or Radley to deliver. They then split their cards into rounds of about 50-100 cards. This means that about 100 youngsters, many accompanied by parents, deliver the cards before Christmas.

Remembrance Sunday in Abingdon 2014

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The Remembrance Sunday commemorations are always an important event for our town, but especially so with this year marking a century since the start of the First World War.

Abingdon Town Band led dignitaries from the Guildhall for a Service of Remembrance and Reconciliation at St Helen’s Church at 10.00 am. There were guests from our twin town Lucca at the service, and one lesson was also read in Italian.

That was followed by a Remembrance Service at the war memorial. People began to arrive soon after 10.00 around the outside of The Square, leaving room for the uniformed organisations and dignitaries.

During this service Colonel Jon Asbee from Dalton Barracks read the exhortation …“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old…”

A bugler sounded the last post. There followed two minutes silence (to remember the fallen) at 11.00.

Then people sang “O God our help in ages past” during the laying of the wreaths. Not many veterans remain now from the 2nd World War.

In Italy, soldiers who died for the nation are remembered on 4th November, or the nearest Sunday, when the ceasefire that followed the Armistice of Villa Giusti in 1918 began. A lady from our twin town Lucca laid one of the many wreaths here in Abingdon.

The Minister then  said “Let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service:”

“Will you strive for all that makes for peace?” People responded “We will.”

“Will you seek to heal the wounds of war?” People responded “We will.”

“Will you work for a just future for all humanity?” People responded “We will.”

After the singing of the National Anthem, the crowds cheered the parade of uniformed organisations. The Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames, Angela Lawrence,  and the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Nicola Blackwood, were among those taking the salute.

Wreaths are there to view for a few weeks more at the war memorial in Abingdon, if you can’t get to the sea of poppies round the Tower of London.