MG enthusiasts gather on Boxing Day

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MG enthusiasts gathered on Abingdon Market Place for the Boxing Day social gathering, organised by Richard of the The Abingdon Works Centre MG Car Club.

MGs began gathering around 10 am, and some stayed until after lunch.

The sun shone, and many people enjoyed the fresh air and exercise.

The cars included an MG Midget made in the Abingdon works in 1977, with driver Roy. Bridget the Midget drove around the world in 2008/9 and then from Abingdon to Cape Town in 2011. Earlier this year, Bridget went across Europe to visit the west of Ukraine. Roy’s blog at http://www.bridgetthemidget.co.uk/ has details of their adventures, including how Bridget’s registration number causes interest at border crossings.

Midnight Service on Christmas Eve at St Helen’s

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At 10:30 pm on Christmas Eve, the bells rang to call people to the midnight service at St Helen’s Church in Abingdon. The choir processed at the start and led the singing. The rector, Revd Charles Miller, led the service, and he welcomed people from St Michael’s Church. Incense was also used, which is normal at  St Michael’s and less so at St  Helen’s.

During the second hymn, a candle flame was passed among people. The gospel reading was about Jesus coming as the light of the world. There was some lovely singing, thanks to the choir, and Revd Miller spoke about the real meaning of  Christmas and quoted a  Stephen Sondheim song with the lyric ‘Take me to a world where I can be alive’ and said that is what Jesus can do for us.

The church was packed earlier in the afternoon for the  Christingle service. It was fairly full at midnight, as the rest of the town was quiet, and many were asleep.

At St Helen’s, they call their  Christmas Tree a  Jesse Tree (The family tree of Jesus). Through advent, it is a way of journeying through the stories of Jesus’s ancestors.

The roof of the (Lady Chapel) has panels, painted about 1390, that also show the Tree of Jesse, where Prophets and Kings alternate, ending in Jesus Christ’s crucified.

Christmas and Easter are when candles are lit in each of the chandeliers in St Helens. There are hundreds to light and then extinguish.

Revd Miller was at the door afterwards to wish everybody a Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you.

Common Land

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Abingdon Museum will be closed during the Christmas Holidays.

This afternoon was the last chance to see the ‘Common Land’ exhibition by Kate Hammersley.

A film called ‘Convalescence’ recorded an area of common land throughout the year. The film was recorded as Kate recovered from cancer treatment. Another film called ‘Roam’ followed deer tracks through a wheat field on the farm where she grew up.

In cabinets were sketches of the 360-degree scene of the common land as she stood and turned and drew. This was reproduced on a square block in the museum. There were also framed drawings from the Alps, showing huge mountains in miniature.

The 23rd of December was the eve of Christmas Eve. On the Radio Oxford travel news, I heard of long queues at the Orchard Centre in Didcot and Banbury town centre. By comparison, Abingdon town centre was calm. There was a star over the County Hall Museum.

Tithe Farm / Poets Estate Christmas Lights and Advent Calendar

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The Tithe Farm Estate is called the poet’s estate because town planners used the names of well-known English poets and an American poet.

Robert Bridges was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930.

Samuel Coleridge wrote poems including the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet, and his poems include Paul Revere’s Ride, The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline.

John  Masefield was Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967

Alfred Tennyson was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria’s reign.

William Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until 1850.

This year the Tithe Farm Estate and the adjoining Ladygrove Estate have a joint Advent Calendar window display.