Monthly Archives: July 2024

Two Art Exhibitions in Abingdon this weekend

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There were two art exhibitions this weekend in Abingdon. One exhibition in the Roysse Room took visitors on a journey through the art and craft created by Abingdon and Witney College’s part-time students. There was a colourful display, walls adorned with paintings and drawings, easels with canvasses, and central tables with more art, and craft.

This wasn’t just a showcase of individual works; it showed the styles from different tutors and courses, such as these from museum drawing at the Ashmolean.

There were newspapers with all the Abingdon and Witney part-time courses on offer, and people from the college to discuss the courses.

The other exhibition was the work of some local Abingdon artists in St Ethelwold’s Garden.

Most of the original art was in the larger River Room. Out on the lawn, under gazebos, cards and prints and a studio clear-out were for sale.

Rain or Shine, They Danced On: Mr Hemming’s Abingdon’s Day of Dance

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Mr Hemming’s Abingdon Day of Dance kicked off at 10:30 am today, but for the Hastings RX Morris side, the day began much earlier. They came from East Sussex to join Mr Hemmings Traditional Morris and 10 other teams, and when they got here rain forced them to seek shelter most of the morning. There was cover under the County Hall.

There was cover inside the Broad Face pub. Here are Abingdon’s own Ashnah Tribal Dancers.

There was cover under the tarpaulins at the Nags Head.

It did brighten up by the afternoon to allow dancing at other locations before another downpour soon after 4 pm.

These are Masons Apron Morris.

The Chiltern Hundreds Clog Morris from near Watford.

These are the Stroud Morris.

I must apologise that I didn’t even get any pictures of Mr Hemmings Abingdon Traditional Morris dancing. By the afternoon I had to be elsewhere. So congratulations to Les Badcock and his team for attracting so many visiting teams to Abingdon. Abingdon is a historically important centre of Morris Dancing.

Abingdon on Election Day

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Today, the polls were open for the 2024 general election. From 7 am to 10 pm, power shifted away from the Houses of Parliament and Abingdon Street SW1, returning to the people in communities like ours. Here in Abingdon, after providing a name, address, and photo ID, people could mark an X next to their chosen candidate. The sunny weather should have encouraged a good turnout. People thinking the result a foregone conclusion could have kept people at home.

In Oxford West and Abingdon, the race is typically much tighter, with the constituency frequently swinging between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems. But you could get 12-1 betting odds on a Conservative victory this time around. The Liberal Democrats were not taking anything for granted. They were the one party with volunteers stationed at polling stations to record voters’ polling numbers. This strategy allows them to call and remind known supporters to cast their votes.

Here are the results:
Social Democratic Party, Anni Byard: 259
Green, Chris Goodall: 3,236
Reform UK, James Gunn: 4,164
Liberal Democrat, Layla Moran: 23,414 (elected)
Independent, Josh Phillips: 168
Conservative, Vinay Raniga: 8,520
Christian Peoples Alliance, Ian Shelley: 256
Labour, Stephen Webb: 5,981
(Turnout: 64.5% – 45,998 valid votes were counted from an electorate of 71,318)

Congratulations to Layla Moran!

Abingdon Events: From Morris Dancing to Puppet Shows

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I sometimes get asked the best place to find out what is happening in Abingdon. While the official council website (https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/events ) has a listing, it can sometimes miss some gems or repeat regulars. There are also posters around town. Here are some of this week’s posters.

Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Dancers have their annual day of dance on Saturday 6th July 2024 and will be dancing with guest teams in various places around the town from 11am.

On the same day is the annual South Abingdon Play and Activity Day organised by the Oxfordshire Play Association.

Wantage Academy Brass will be playing at St Michael’s Church on Saturday. Proceeds of the event are to be shared with The Abingdon Bridge (TAB), TARIRO (Hope for Youth in Zimbabwe) and St Michael’s Church.

The Oxford Waits perform at the Unicorn Theatre on Thursday 4th July. They take their name from a band of Oxford musicians, known as ‘waits,’ who played in Oxford during the 17th century.

Abingdon Drama Club presents Calendar Girls from 10th – 13th July (Evenings) as part of their 80th year.

The puppet barge is back in Abingdon, by the open air pool, with a new show called The Insect Circus. Forget reality and become immersed in the strange and beautiful world of insects!