Trinity Church has always operated a no-smoking policy, but now in order to comply with the new law, appropriate signs are displayed at various points, like this one on the door of the choir vestry.

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A man came into church and lit up a cigarette. There were mutterings, then a steward approached him and said “You cannot smoke here. Didn’t you see the sign?”

The man flicked ash across the carpet. “Ah ha,” he said, “Today is national smoking day and I can smoke wherever I want.”

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Just a dream.

At Harwell ( a few miles south of Abingdon) there was an Open Day at the doughnut shaped building called the Diamond Light Source.

It is what is known as a synchrotron, a series of super microscopes using a incredibly bright and intense light. It is the biggest civilian scientific project in the UK for thirty years. The first seven super microscopes in the synchrotron have been working since earlier this year and many more will follow. They all take light from the central core.

The tour involved film shows, displays and experiments.

In the inner area we saw a series of electro-magnets – used to accelerate electrons, and then on the outside the shiny precision equipment that beams the generated synchrotron light ( x-ray, ultra-violet or infrared) at whatever is to be studied.

This display of textile art shows microscopic forms like viruses and pollen done with needles and thread, rather than super-microscopes. The synchrotron technology itself is kept simple at times. They use pin hole photography techniques to ensure the beam of light is in line.

Anyway, having learnt something, we emerged from the doughnut with bags full of information sheets and free gifts. The lucky ones even had yellow hats.

This stone face beneath the Abbey Gateway decorates one of the roof supports. The surrounding leaves suggest that he is a Green Man about to pour more foliage from his wide open mouth. Either that or he has a medieaval tooth-ache.

Abingdon does not have as many cycles as Oxford, where students stack cycles three-deep along some college railings; but bicycles are still a popular way of getting around, and would be even more popular if the cycle paths were integrated.

Bike with dogs on East St Helen Street.

Cycles on St Helens Wharf.