In town there are displays in shop windows with a spring or Easter theme.
The Finishing Touch have flowery Wellington Boots, rabbits, yellow flowers and eggs.
The Easter reflective space in the Community shop has a sunrise.
There have been Easter Eggs on sale in the Co-op for some time.
At Oxfam there are Divine (Fairtrade) Eggs, and the chance to give a charity gift for somebody to buy a chicken, or a goat and start a new life.
Symbols of new life. Happy Easter!
A tad off topic but I was invited to the new Wildwood restaurant and I have to say it’s a much neede addition to the towns eateries. The chain is operated by Sam Kay, brother of Adam Kay who launched the ubiquitous ASK chain and so it was no surprise to discover Wildwood to be a very professional, something for everyone operation.
Decor could be described as leaning toward contemporary with no expense spared, wine list is small but comprehensive and it’s refreshing to find the house red to be a simple 12% French red at £16, choice of about 6 starters ( we had a sharing platter at £11) the mains had a good variety, pasta, fish, steak etc all sensibility priced, staff were good and well trained, all in all its a good experience. One thing the Vale ought to take note of is that management were dissapointed to discover the multi story car park closed at night, on Sunday’s and bank holidays and more often than not West St Helens car park and Abbey house are usually full with town residents, lack of car parking is giving them some serious concern !
Not so much a tad off topic, more a lurch into the wildwood, its right about the car parking though, maybe some one should do something about it.
On topic I think the shop displays have been looking lovely. I thought the Easter reflective display in the community shop was fantastic & very thought provoking. A lot of hard work has gone in to that. Off topic I think Wildwood has made that end of the precinct look much better & more welcoming. I will look forward to trying it. I’m not sure even if the Charter car park was open people would use it as its so dark & depressing at night there & the surrounding walk to it!
Even more off topic Ali I’m appalled to see the Turkish barber open on what is supposed to be our most sacred day ! It’s against the law and I hope they get prosecuted
If the disabled parking on the ground floor of the car park was available in the evening, I would certainly use it. The council have to sort this out.
The connection to ASK is a bit worrying; I had a meal in their local branch, it was the one of the worst I’ve ever had in England!
If the turkish barber is a small shop – less than 280 square meters – it can open legally on Easter Sunday, or any other day of the year.
Steve – maybe you should show a little more tolerance on the most sacred day of your year
Iain, if only tolerance, compassion and respect for our Christian way of life was more forthcoming from those who’ve chosen to live here then perhaps, just perhaps I may be a little more ( and I won’t use the word tolerant ) understanding ? Have you seen the news this afternoon ? Belgium rocked by far right marches and riots? A fast growing campaign in Germany so they can regain control of their borders? In the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury it’s not racist to express concern about the erosion of Christianity !
Are you suggesting any of these things can be ascribed to the seemingly very pleasant people who run the turkish barbers?
There’s nothing wrong with Christianity but equally there is nothing wrong with people who dont sign up to that particular faith or indeed dont have any particular faith. We live in a cosmopolitan world and i for one welcome diversity and wish we had a bit more in Abingdon
Iain, I ain’t gonna rise to your bating, happy Easter and may your God go with you !
Steve, you don’t seem upset that Tesco express, Londis, spar and the shop by the round abouts on Ock Street were open today? Is it just barbers that are supporting terrorism?
Oh I am Adam, but it appears the big boys can get away with it, bet you if some of Abingdons independents opened up they’d soon get a visit from trading standards, or trading double standards !
We are very lucky in this country to have freedom to practice any religion. It is great to live in a secular society. Muslims can practice Ramadan and other religions can have their ceremonies. However, we have to guard against religious intolerance. In Glasgow a Muslim shopkeeper was brutally murdered by another Muslim for wishing his customers happy Easter. . Yes smaller shops are exempt from the Sunday law.
There’s seems to be shall we say a bit of an inconsistency in the points being made in posts 4 and 12.
Just spotted that Patisserie Pascal were open from 6.30 on Easter Day – isn’t that shocking!
As indeed was every pub in the town. On the sacred day.
As were restaurants, including (probably) Wildwood…….
Ah Hester, I new you couldn’t miss the opportunity of having a pop especially on the subject of Sunday trading, although your comments are expected coming from a Corbynite you are of course
merely supporting Andrew what’s his name, the labour guy who’s advocating abolishing all trading restrictions no matter what the consequences will be to family life or to the independent businesses you’re always spouting about who would end up working seven days a week! Brilliant idea eh ?
Greasy Lake, you can now add comment 18 to your growing list of inconsistencies.
Yes, funny how the author of post 4 has morphed the theme of his post into one about Sunday trading generally, rather than his original theme. Mealy mouthed, anyone?
Completely off topic. I was always impressed by how nice, mature and thought provoking the comments on the abingdon blog were. Even when people didn’t agree there was pleasant discussion…
…Perhaps as people contine to be let down and disappointed by what goes on, they can’t help but get angrier and more frustrated and passionate about the issues…
Being passionate about something is a powerful source of energy. It would be refreshing to hear more people being passionate.
If we are continuely told how everything is OK, and we should be grateful….things will never change.
Abingdon deserves change.
Hi Daniel – I doubt if anyone else is reading this thread now, but guess you are so thought I would reply! I couldn’t agree more about the value of being passionate – I certainly wouldn’t have the energy to do what i do without that passion. As you say, what we need is more people to feel like that – and act on it. So long as only the same old people put themselves forward – whether for council roles or voluntary ones – the chances of change are small; also, getting just a little bit political, when it comes to election time, the people of Abingdon don’t actually sow much inclination to vote for change…
Also, I don’t think many people who comment on here are saying “everyhting is OK” – I certainly am not – but as you know i do feel that we need to publicise the good (not just the flowers!) as well as the bad, othwerise we get in a downward spiral of negativity and even fewer people come to town.
So – i was in town this morning and there were loads of people around – mostly having coffees but that’s not a bad way to spend a sunny spring morning!