The churchyard wall at St Helen’s Church is the home for many plants. In the first picture the purple flowers of woody nightshade are followed by red berries.
From underneath the concrete cap that protects the brick wall from the weather a bushy plant has taken root and grown.
Ferns grow from small cracks … There seems no end to what nature can grow on the dry landscape of this churchyard wall.
Scaffolding is now going up higher round the new build at the Old Gaol.
The view through to the County Hall scaffolding is no more. It would be good to have an exhibition about what was found in the archaeological dig – particularly for local archaeologists and historians who were not allowed near.
I followed these two horses up West St Helen Street, along Lombard Street, up East St Helen Street (contra flow like a lot of push bikes seem to do), and then down Bridge Street to the show ground on Rye Farm. Most horses came from further afield and needed transport but it is good to see local horses riding through town.
The annual Abingdon Horse Show went on throughout the day. There was a cool start to the day, when I looked in, but by afternoon it was getting quite hot. A loudspeaker commentates on the jumping which usually seems to end in 4 faults, but from time to time they will announce that a xxxxxxx coloured horse next to a van with registration number xxxx xxx is acting a little agitated. Can the owner please return and tend to it!
The owners do devote such a lot of attention to their animals and quite rightly. They are wonderful animals. I’m just glad to see them all come to visit Abingdon once a year.
Here are a few more pictures from the Fairtrade event on the Market Place …
Mike Moon, the secretary of the Abingdon Chamber of Commerce, was the man who organised the day, along with the Chair Paul Townsend.
Dame Alison Rooke and Dame Lesley Legge were helping to promote Fairtrade products, with free samples. Skinny Hippo also had some things on display alongside.
I was there with a stall called Go bananas for Fairtrade. With a little help from friends I gave away 5 crates of nanas – thanks to Waitrose who did the Fairtrade group a deal.
There is evidence that bananas make you happy, so we could have made a lot of people happy.
It took a few goes but Duncan Brown eventuallly adapted to the flight characteristics of Fairtrade bananas.
Waitrose were there providing free samples of Fairtrade products, and information about the Waitrose Foundation – a partnership created in 2005 to help improve the lives of the farm workers and smallholders who grow their produce in Africa.
The Co-op were also there and a friendly rivalry developed between the two. Co-op were raffling a hamper for Mencap and giving away Fairtrade chocolate.
African Children’s Fund were there ….
Pizza Express, who do some Fairtrade products, were giving out samples.
Traidcraft have been doing Fairtrade, and promoting Trade Justice, in Abingdon far longer than anybody else, apart from maybe Oxfam.
There was also Face Painting near the Added Ingredients and Choose Abingdon stalls.