Monthly Archives: November 2011

Magazine – Christmas in Abingdon 2011

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Christmas in Abingdon
Paul and Mike from the Chamber of Commerce were handing out their new glossy magazine: Christmas in Abingdon 2011. Get a copy at ER Goffs and many other places.

In it I see that coming up to Christmas there are the following Market Place events…

1. Abingdon Extravaganze Evening – Thursday 1st December (from 5pm) – Theme Kings and Queens
2. Abingdon Christmas Craft Fair – Sat 3rd December (10am to 3pm)
3. Reindeer (and Santa) in the the Market Place – Sat 10th December (from 10:30am) – Two hours Free Parking will have started by then
4. Nativity in the Market Place (with donkeys) – Sat 17th December
5. Gift wrapping and  shopping advice service – Sat 24th December

(Text the word Abingdon to 64546 and get these dates direct to your mobile).

By the way, Hester and myself have stopped maintaining abingdondiary.co.uk after two years as we feel there are now better sites available.  Abingdondiary.co.uk will now redirect you to the Choose Abingdon What’s On where you can add your own events. I hope that will happen and it will take off. Also very good, and with more events at the moment is the Abingdon Town Council’s What’s On. To get info added to that email: enquiries@abingdon.gov.uk .

The Harp Opened Last Night

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The Harp
The Plough re-opened last night – renamed as The Harp.

Looking back at the 1869 Abingdon Who’s who in Abingdon Library I see that it was called The Plough as far back as 1869 (run by S Shewry) – and was near the Railway Hotel (run by C Wyatt).

Other pubs to be found along Stert Street at that time included…

Lamb and Flag (W Dyer)
The Bear (William West)
George & Dragon (Tomothy West)
Butchers’ Arms (Frederick Wiblin)
Two Brewers (W Atkins)
Roebuck Inn (Mrs Valentine)
Bee hive

There was also John Trip, a beer retailer.

Hot Dog Eating Contest @ Kings Head and Bell for Children in Need

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Hot Dog Eating Contest
There were two teams – each supplied with ketchup bottles – at the start of the Kings Head and Bell pub’s hot dog eating contest – part of their weekend’s activities to raise funds for Children in Need.
Hot Dog Eating Contest
The Landlord is seen here bringing out a few of the hot dogs. Two judges and the Landlord were there to ensure fair play.
Hot Dog Eating Contest
Plenty of tomato ketchup seemed a good tactic…
Hot Dog Eating Contest
The tie round the forehead showed how serious some people took the contest …
Hot Dog Eating Contest
After a while the judges joined in helping the team they were watching to eat all the hot dogs.

Finally it was the team who enlisted the most people who won the prize – a bottle of champagne.

That prize was then donated and auctioned for Children in Need.
Hot Dog Eating Contest
Here are the judges with the couple who made the winning £20 bid for the champagne – Ken and Cathy.

By that stage a total of £1500 had been raised by customers of the pub for Children in Need. I look forward to hearing the final total.

Quiz Venues X 3

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Quiz Night X 3

Last night there were three quizzes I knew about in the town centre. There was the special Mayor of Abingdon’s Charity Quiz Evening.
Quiz Night X 3
There was a Quiz and Auction at this venue which raised hundreds of pounds  for Children in Need. There will also be a hot dog eating competition at 8:30 tonight and raffle – also for Children in Need.
Quiz Night X 3
And there was the usual Thursday night quiz starting at 9 PM at this recently refurbished venue by the Rover Thames.

Name the venues …