On August 6, 1945 a 9700-pound uranium bomb destroyed the city of Hiroshima.
Sixty Five years later visitors from Hiroshima – on their way to Coventry – came to Abingdon to present a letter from the Mayor of Hiroshima to the Mayor of Abingdon.
During this week the former Adams shop has become a place of peace where people make origami cranes. Most only make one…
but these three children and their mum made forty paper cranes last night.
There is a japanese saying that one who folds 1,000 cranes is granted a wish, and Abingdon is making a 1,000 cranes for Peace in the shop.
Anne Dodd visited Hiroshima last year and the visit is partly a result of the friends she made.
Wikipedia has a fuller story of Sadoko Sasaki from Hiroshima who tried to make a thousand paper cranes while suffering from Leukemia – the atomic bomb disease as her mother called it.
(This Abingdon Blog is having a rest for a week – back soon. In the mean time visit How to Fold a Paper Crane.)
This is serious, backstreeter … a whole seven days without the essential minutia which helps give the town its character. It’s only the first morning without my daily fix and I’m into withdrawal already.
I have to agree newcomer, I too shall miss my fix. I can only offer (by way of a small crumb of comfort, and apologising for what can appear the height of rudeness by directing you off a blog in the comment section) the most recent post on the Mostly Books blog, concerning a recent architectural walk around the town. It’s full of lots of fascinating ‘Abingdony’ facts and photos, as well as links to other Abingdon heritage websites to slake your thirst in the meantime…hope this helps!
Best regards – Mark
PS. Is it just me, or are mayors getting younger these days?
That was a good link, Mark. I wish I’d known about the tour. Abingdon is an interesting place … as long as you’ve got an attention-span longer than a teenager! Preferably several centuries ;0)
PS. Duncan is really 73, but goes to Switzerland three times a year.
‘PS. Duncan is really 73, but goes to Switzerland three times a year.’
I’ve treated my in-laws to a one way ticket to Switzerland, the Dignitas hotel.
What happened to This Abingdon, hoildays?