On the Market Place I span this wheel to see how trade justice treated the winners and losers. Apparently, I am very well treated by world trade, and consequently a winner, wheras people in some of the developing countries are losers.

The church of St Nicolas, next to the Market Place, is one of the oldest buildings in the town and one of the few remaining from Abingdon Abbey. The church was used by lay people connected to the Abbey, and dates from 1170 AD. The doorway has round norman arches.

In the 15th Century, the Abbey rebuilt the Abbey Gateway, which you can see alongside , and also added the church tower.

In the North Wall of the church this narrow lancet window survives from the original 1170 church.

You can see how thick the wall is, and how dimly the church would have been lit by such narrow windows.

Other windows have been replaced in later styles to let in more light.

The communion table was at one time the dining table of John Blacknall, an important benefactor of the church. The eagle was his motif, and the initials IB are on the bottom of each leg (latin has no letter J. The letter I is = J. Therefore IB probably stands for Ioannes (John) Blacknall.)

In the screened off vestry area beside the alter can be seen this carving, thought to have been rescued after the destruction of the Abbey. It depicts the crucifiction of Jesus Christ.

For a long time St Nicolas has been kept open for people who wish to go in and pray, or escape to a quiet place. However, it is now only opened when there is a volunteer to supervise. This is because, last year the organ was vandalised, causing £2,000 of damage. The lady who was supervising gave me a guided tour, and pointed out all the features pictured here. I hope I haven’t got too much mixed up.

On the choir stalls, etched into the wood, are various images of Green Men – a pagan image that the victorians liked and associated with resurrection. A Green Man is also to be found at St Helens.

Town Councillors were taking it in turns to man this table outside Waitrose. This was a cross party campaign organised by the Mayor.

They were collecting signatures on their campaign to save Abingdon Community Hospital from being downgraded.People do worry that it offers a prime site for development, and people are worried that with the local PCTs (Primary Care Trusts) being in such a poor financial position, could see the site as a money spinner.

One man lamented that everything got sold off in Abingdon. Soon every building would be private. He remembered Abingdon in the 1960s having its own Concert Hall at the Corn Exchange. Now concerts took place at the Amey Theatre owned by the private Abingdon School.

One elderly lady remembered when the current hospital served as an isolation unit in the 20s and 30s, and another hospital in the Warren was for general nursing. She said she had lived in Abingdon all her life, as had her parents, and considered herself to be an Abingdonian through and through. Abingdon had always had a hospital, and a town like this should always continue to have one.

Its the reception at Abingdon and Witney College.