1. What is the date of St Valentine’s Day?

2. How many millions of pounds are spent on flowers for St Valentine’s Day in the UK each year?

3. Which English Monarch declared St Valentine’s Day to be a holiday?

4. Which Roman Emporer had the original St Valentine put to death for defying the rule forbidding young soldiers from marrying?

5. What is a Valentine Rant?

(questions 1-4 from “Perfect Pub Quiz” by David Pickering.)

Answers …
1. February 14th
2. £22m
3. King Henry VIII
4. Cladius II
5. Find out this evening at the Royal British Legion but possibly along the lines of “… And as for all those stupid “Roses are red, violets are blue” poems… Violets are purple you idiots!….”

The best thing about giving blood is the cup of tea and selection of biscuits afterwards.

There are not as many people pre-booked as usual this Friday at Preston Road Community Centre so blood will be gratefully received.

For many of us this is a chance to give something back: I am only alive because I had a blood transfusion at birth.

It is the start of the road to the Abingdon Passion in 2016 and the first fundraising event took place on Saturday evening at St Nicolas Church …

1) There was a concert including 4 pieces by French composers culminating in the ‘Quartet for the End of Time’ by Olivier Messiaen, written and first performed when Messiaen was in a prison camp in the Second World War.

2) Tuesday March 24th, 7.30pm in Christ Church, Northcourt Road there will be a performance of “Inheritance” by the Riding Lights Theatre Company. A Passion play with a difference! Tickets £10.

3) Saturday March 28th, 7pm in St Helen’s Church there is Come and Sing Fauré’s Requiem.

4) Antiques evaluation day on May 9th.

On Saturday 31st Jan 2015 (2.30 – 4.30pm) Caldecott Meadow, behind South Abingdon Children’s Centre, will see the revival of wassailing in Abingdon. Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers will lead the festivities round the new apple trees.

You are asked to bring along:

• your pots and pans and wooden spoons to make a lot of noise 
• ribbon and wool to dress the trees 
• a plastic bottle to make your own shaker 
• a jar to make your own fire lantern

In other towns and villages the tradition of wassailing the Apple Trees – some time in January – still continues, and was intended to produce lots of apples the following season by pouring some of last year’s cider on their roots. Read more at Here We Go A-Wassailing.

On this occasion the cider will be apple juice because it is an alcohol free family wassail.