Bryan and Tim were letting people know that the Abbey Buildings have reopened and had a special open day.
Bryan has been working hard on the lottery bid to improve access to the Abbey Buildings. The Town Council have given a grant of £25k towards the project.
Tim has been curator for 4 years and is returning to the USA next week. There is an interview with him in the video at the end of this post. Also in the video are Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers, and Oxford Waites.
The Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers started under the County Hall.
They then made their way to the Abbey Buildings like Pied Pipers, leading the crowds.
In the garden at the Abbey Buildings was a beer tent and a cake stall. There was free ice cream for children.
Here are Bryan Brown, chairman of trustees of the Abbey Buildings Trust; Cheryl Briggs, The Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames; and the Town Crier.
Members of the Studio Theatre Club were near the Unicorn Theatre where they will be performing Terry Pratchett’s Murder In Ankh-morpork from 17th-20th November. (16th November 2021 marks 50 years of Terry as a published author.) Tickets go on sale on 14th September. They will go as fast as tickets to the Truck Festival.
Performing in the Long Gallery were the Oxford Waites.
On the Markey Place was the first Local Excellence Market since legal Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.
The Love Beer brewery, from nearby Milton, had a stall for the first time.
Martin Wackenier also had a stall and sold over 20 of his 2022 Abingdon-on-Thames Calendars. Martin has just won the award for best photographer in Bucks and Oxfordshire in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2021. Other Abingdon winners were The Tipsy Mercer (for best Bar), and Mostly Books (for best Bookshop). 3 winners is better than any other place.
Good luck to Tim and his wife on their return to the USA.
Minor question: Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine foundation and community, so why is Franciscan habit featured?
Artistic licence, There was a “Benedictine monk” on the beer stall!.
I could say that the Benedictine monks sometimes wore brown when working in manual tasks even though the main robe was black. They were even known to wear white on holy days for services. But the real reason was that it was the only color available at the time in a heavy wood robe. -Tim
However, Benedictines do not wear the three knots.
Enjoyed the videos you did about the abbey, with the bald explorer on you tube, Tim. Best of luck to you on your return to the USA.