The garland of leaves and flowers that has adorned the entrance to Our Lady and St Edmund Church in Abingdon for the last year of pilgrimage are now gone. Passing that way today I spotted something else on the first day of advent.

Welcome to Live Simply – ‘Laudato Si’.

I googled to find that Pope Francis’ initiative on climate change, ‘Laudato Si’, is an invitation to everyone on the planet to care for our common home.

Twenty years ago church goers would park their cars on Sunday in the Penlon factory over the road. The area over the road has become housing. Old Man’s Beard can be seen sweeping in front of the houses between Penlon Place and Jackman Close.