Abingdon Abbotts – two minutes silence and new mural


At the Abingdon Town football ground this afternoon, the home team Abingdon Abbotts lined up before the game for a two minutes silence. The last post was played over the loudspeakers.

Many of the team have a military background, and the Oxford Graffiti Crew decorated the stand with a mural to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. There are plans for another larger graffiti along the front fence with a footballing theme.

There is a game most Saturdays, either the first team or the development team. The first team compete in the Oxfordshire Senior Football League. The club website and fixtures can be found at https://abingdonabbotts.wixsite.com/abingdon-abbotts-fc 

They still have some challenges after what happened to the previous owners. They are UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT and are looking for people’s support in football and in events promoting good causes like good mental health.

Armistice Day with some poppy displays around Abingdon


Abingdon marked Armistice Day with a two-minute silence at 11:00 GMT on 11 November to mark the end of World War One in 1918. The Mayor of Abingdon joined veterans and schoolchildren from Thameside School at the war memorial.

School children from Hawk Class at Kingfisher School have been learning about Remembrance Day and made a display of poppies and Acrostic poems that can be seen inside the Royal British Legion (RBL) HQ in Abingdon.

Also, inside the RBL HQ, somebody has made a poppy out of leftover enamel badges from 2014 to 2021.

Outside the RBL HQ is another display of poppies with two cutout sentries.
And the giant poppies are lit up behind the war memorial.

Mick Herron at Abingdon Library


Mick Herron was at Abingdon Library for a question and answer session about: his books, the spin-off TV series, and writing generally. The event had a sell-out audience and could have been sold out three times. Mick says that he likes to do events in libraries. He used libraries and read a lot when he was young and wants to support libraries for future readers.

Upcoming Remembrance events


Armistice Day is remembered with a gathering of Royal British Legion, civic leaders and members of the public at the war memorial on the 11th of November at 11 am.

Remembrance Sunday involves a church service at St Helen’s, then a more extensive gathering of Royal British Legion, civic leaders, armed forces, uniformed groups, and members of the public at the war memorial on the 13th of November from 10:50. That is followed by a march to the County Hall to salute the Mayor of Abingdon-on-Thames, Cllr Andy Foulsham, the Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire and the Commanding Officer of Dalton Barracks.

There is also a tree in the Abbey Meadows, planted by the Abingdon Peace Group, in memory of all victims of war. The Ukraine war has had many victims, some of whom have come to Abingdon. There are also people from Syria.