Monthly Archives: June 2018

Abbey Meadow Outdoor Pool Opening Ceremony

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outdoor pool
Today sees the opening of the Abbey Meadow outdoor pool at 1pm for swimmers. The pool and changing areas are looking very smart after the £1.3million refurbishment, and there are lots of balloons.
outdoor pool
The council held an official opening event this morning for invited guests. Abingdon Town Band were playing and refreshments were being served.
outdoor pool
I was told that the council would be putting some pictures on their website for the use of the press. But, for now, here are a couple taken over the fence by a backstreet blogger.

EXIT

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EXIT
The Abingdon & Witney Art Foundation course began their end of year show this evening at the Abingdon College. Called EXIT, the exhibition will be open from Monday 18th – Friday 22nd June 10am – 5pm.
EXIT
A suit called ‘queer’ looked at gender and dressing. Behind it somebody had done the ultimate in naval gazing.
EXIT
There was a video of the material on these dresses being burned to produce this effect, and another video of a student writing onto canvasses in the confines of a bus shelter to produce the rhythmic scrawls seen behind.
EXIT
There were some lovely images that one student made to illustrate a poem .
EXIT
There was also a dark area where you could walk from one art film to another, and some more architectural works.

There is a lot to see, and each work has a small card to say what the artist was trying to achieve. It is interesting to compare the concept and the art work, and is well worth a visit.

Kennington Memory Club

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Kennington Memory Club
Living well with Dementia – Planned opening September 2018

Kennington Memory Club is going to provide a new service for local people living with dementia. Until last year, Kennington residents were able to attend, if they wished, the Abingdon Alzheimer’s Club, which served all the villages around Abingdon. Although it had been of great help to people with dementia and their families over many years, that club was closed last August, and as the need for such a service is even greater now than in the past, a group of local residents has joined together to create a new dementia day centre in Kennington.

Plans for the club are well advanced, (we have had the benefit of advice from Age UK and a grant from Oxfordshire County Council). It will meet twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) from 9.30 to 3.30 in Kennington Methodist Church, and we are now recruiting for both paid staff and a team of volunteers.

Paid Staff Roles

Details of the two paid staff roles are recruiting for can be found here:
https://kenningtonmemoryclub.wordpress.com/jobs/. The closing date for completed applications for paid staff posts is Friday 6th July.

Would you be interested in becoming a volunteer helper at the club?

Volunteers will be an essential part of the staff team. They will welcome and encourage our club members to participate in activities and enable them to feel comfortable and included. They will join in with club activities and also the more mundane jobs like setting up the rooms and clearing up, if they are able. Training will be given.

For further information about volunteering, e-mail kenningtonmc.webmaster@gmail or phone Margaret on 01865 739539 or Gillian 01865 735590.

The website is: www.kenningtonmemoryclub.wordpress.com

The picture is of Alois Alzheimer, whose birthday is today. He was born on 14th June 1864. More of him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Alzheimer.

Fifty Golden RAF Years – 14th June 1968

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Thankyou Malcolm for this piece and the pictures,
Fifty Golden RAF Years
Her Majesty The Queen has made few visits to Abingdon during her long reign but she did carry out a Royal Review of the Royal Air Force on the airfield exactly 50 years ago on 14th June 1968. The occasion was a celebratory one marking the 50th anniversary of the RAF and included a flying display with tactical demonstrations together with a mass flypast of fighters and bombers. An impressive static display comprised many aircraft representing types in service during the first 50 years.
Fifty Golden RAF Years
The ’50’ formation took place the day of the Royal Review.

The day of the Royal Review was a closed event but the display was repeated the following day when the base was open to the public.
Fifty Golden RAF Years
On the public day the Jet Provosts increased in number to form the Queen’s Cypher.
Fifty Golden RAF Years
The Lockheed Hercules was new into RAF service in 1968 and is shown here carrying out an ultra low-level air delivery (ULLA) as part of the mock assault set-piece. The ULLA system was developed by the Air Transport Development Unit (ATDU) in conjunction with the Joint Air Transport Establishment (JATE), both units were based at RAF Abingdon at the time. I think the MoD has a liking for acronyms!

This year the Royal Review to mark the centenary of the RAF will take place at RAF Fairford on the first day of the Royal International Air Tattoo. Three days beforehand, on the 10th July, a mass flypast of one hundred aircraft will overfly The Mall and Buckingham Palace. Let’s hope the weather then is as good as it was in Abingdon in 1968!

Fifty Golden RAF Years
Last picture is for anybody who grew up in the 60s showing the BBC1 schedule for 14th June 1968 taken from The Birmingham Post in British Newspaper Archive – All Rights Reserved. The Newcomers, the soap opera to rival ITVs Coronation Street, was on at 7.05pm.