Healthy Abingdon – New “Green Spaces” Website Pages

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Healthy Abingdon — the group behind the annual HealthFest on the Market Place — have added a new section to their website all about Green Spaces in Abingdon. The aim is to encourage people to enjoy local parks and open areas to boost both physical and mental wellbeing.

Today I visited Boxhill Woods by the River Stert.

There are currently 13 green spaces featured on the site. Each one includes a map, directions, a short description, photos, and links to health walks that connect them. More spaces will be added soon.

The organisers say: “We still have more to do, but are giving you a chance to see what we’ve done so far and to share your comments or ideas to help us improve.”

The project is funded by Active Oxfordshire, who aim to make it easier for people to discover and enjoy local green areas.

You can explore the new pages at: https://www.healthyabingdon.org.uk/green-spaces

The week ahead in Abingdon

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The week ahead in Abingdon brings fireworks, remembrance, concerts, and a local football derby.

Thursday 6th November
Chris Fox brings his mix of folk guitar and live looping to the Unicorn Theatre, joined by Wednesday’s Wolves. The Unicorn always makes a good setting for folk concerts.

Friday 7th November
There’s history in the Roysse Room, where Gareth Howell gives the final talk in his WWII series – 1945: The End of the Third Reich. Please book your tickets at the Museum Reception
or online at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/abingdon-museum (+0.84 booking fee applied)

Under the floodlights at The Northcourt, Abingdon United take on Milton United in a local derby. It’s part of the Combined Counties League Premier Division North, a league made up of clubs from Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and west London and west Surrey.

Saturday 8th November
The St Michael’s Christmas Fair runs from 10am to 2:30pm with crafts, books, cakes, a raffle, live music, children’s stalls, and those famous bacon butties. Proceeds support church funds and Emmaus Oxford.

As darkness falls, there’ll be fireworks behind Long Furlong Community Centre. Gates open at 6pm, and fireworks start somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45. It’s a family-friendly evening organised by the 2nd Abingdon Scouts, complete with a BBQ and hot drinks.

Other displays will be happening around the town: some at schools, one at the Nags Head, and a big event at Dalton Barracks next week.

Abingdon & District Musical Society perform Mozart’s Requiem and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 at St Helen’s Church on Saturday evening.

Sunday 9th November

On Remembrance Sunday, there will be the traditional parade from the Guildhall to St Helen’s Church for the 10am service, and then the parade on to the War Memorial for the act of remembrance from 10:50am.

A smaller gathering will also mark Armistice Day on Tuesday 11th November at 11am beside the War Memorial.

On Sunday afternoon, the Pavlova Wind Quintet join Glynne Butt on piano at St Michael’s for Mozart and Glinka.

A Welcome Return to Stert Street

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Added Ingredients is moving back into its old home – bringing with it a wide range of wines and food.

Ove the past couple of years, the premises has been home to two different beer sellers, each running their own bar. The most recent, time-shared the space with Martin, who displayed and sold his photographs of Abingdon and other subjects.

Now Jill and Added Ingredients are back in the shop, selling wines and food once again – at least until the new year, possibly longer.

All Saints’ Day and Saint Edmund of Abingdon

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All Saints’ Day was marked in churches today. At Our Lady & St Edmund of Abingdon Church, the celebration – normally on 1 November – was transferred to Sunday 2 November this year, with All Souls’ Day to be celebrated on Monday 3 November. All Saints’ honours the saints of every age, known and unknown.

Abingdon has a particular connection to Saint Edmund who was born here around 1175. His childhood home stood near West St Helen Street. His mother, Mabel, was remembered for her faith and her care for the poor. Her influence shaped Edmund’s life. He studied and later taught at Oxford, and in 1234 became Archbishop of Canterbury. He was respected for his learning, integrity, and efforts to bring peace.

His name lives on in Our Lady & St Edmund Church in Abingdon, St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School in Abingdon, and St Edmund Hall, the Oxford college.

In the church notice at Our Lady & St Edmund of Abingdon church, they recognised that Abingdon may have more than one or two saints: Today we honour in a special way the “little” saints – those who will never be officially canonised. Think for a moment of people you have known. What was it about them that impressed you? To be a saint is to be Christ-like …