Archive

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Pair sentenced for roles in Banbury park incident

TWO 20-year-olds have been sentenced for their part in a gang attack in a Banbury park that left a man with axe wounds. Martyn Brough, of Portway, Banbury, and Jamie McDowell, now of Thetford, Norfolk, had earlier admitted affray in relation to an incident

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Sister fears missing woman may have killed herself

THE sister of a 49-year-old woman missing from the Warneford Hospital in Headington fears she could have killed herself. Sophie Coats believes her elder sister Emma, from Sutton Courtenay, who is suffering from depression, may have taken her own life

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Budding author hooks up with old friends thanks to the Mail

an author has hooked up with old friends and put the finishing touches to his first book thanks to an appeal in the Oxford Mail. Roger Thomas, 67, decided to write a book about his happy childhood on the Barton estate between 1942 and 1957 as a keepsake

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Police seek help to trace wanted woman

POLICE tonight renewed an appeal for information about a woman who failed to appear at court to be sentenced for causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Adelle McColl, formerly from Didcot, was convicted of violently assaulting a man in Northbourne

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GREYHOUNDS: Friday's Oxford runners

11.03: Risky Annie 2, Oakleaf Ciara, HALSTERS BOY, Prima Star, Gorbals Maize, Smile On Sveta 3. 11.19: Maribel Lad, Tha One Show 2, Wiltshire Zig 3, Maldini Diamond, FERDIA BILLY, Lemon Joe. 11.34: Sparkys Fawn 3, RATHMULLEN BILLY, Killishin Shadow,

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FIXTURES FOR THE WEEK STARTING JULY 3

CRICKET SERIOUS CRICKET HOME COUNTIES PREMIER LEAGUE Div 1: Aston Rowant v Henley, Banbury v Radlett, Welwyn Garden City v Oxford. Div 2 West: Thame Tn v Dinton. MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Div 1: Buckingham v Challow & Childrey, Cumnor

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TENNIS: Brown is back down to earth

Oxford's Lucy Brown was thrilled to play at Wimbledon with her good friend Laura Robson in the girls’ doubles this week. Robson has risen to become an international star, winning the Wimbledon Junior Girls’ Championship at the age of 14. She has also

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All Hail The Prince of Darkness...

ALL hail the Prince of Darkness! Yes, tonight sees one of Oxford’s most bizarre musical occasions – a set by Brummie metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne. The Black Sabbath frontman-turned Hollwood reality show star plays the Oxford O2 Academy as one of only

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Ogre and Out

SHREK FOREVER AFTER (U). Family. Featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Walt Dohrn, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Jane Lynch, Kathy Griffin. Director: Mike Mitchell. The fourth and final

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Great Escape

RICHARD BELL loves what they’ve done with the place at Escape in Oxford High Street. The reason that a great many people spend their nights chasing down cocktails with endless rounds of Jager Bombs while eyeing up the prettiest girl they

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Young At Heart

Singer Will Young tells TIM HUGHES why he’s looking forward to performing on opening night at the Henley Festival. I’M so hungover! Last night I had a fitting for some clothes, some friends came over – and it all got a bit excited!”

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Oxford students tackle 'emergency'

A ROYAL helicopter crash, the risk of chemical contamination, and an anti-war march — all in a day’s work for these Oxford pupils. Students from across the city got a taste of a day in the life of the emergency services this week, starting with an imaginary

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Eat Up This Great Offer

How would you like to beat the Budget with an exclusive 2-for-1 Dining Card? Or banish those Budget blues with an equally irresistible offer of dinner AND drinks while enjoying a tasty 25 per cent discount? And do it all year? Well, now you can because

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The Master of The Twist

Our new book of the month is the first novel ever penned by master thriller writer Harlan Coben – ANDREW FFRENCH finds out more. THE BOOK: WHEN you sell as many books as thriller writer Harlan Coben, there’s no shame in publishing

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King of The Congo

Kanda Bongo – they love him in the Congo… and so will you. Tim Hughes meets the ‘King of Kinshasa’, star of Oxford's Fiesta in the Park. IF you’re hoping for a peaceful sit down in the fresh air, you might want to stay clear of the city

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Heartbreak Has Never Been So Funny

HEARTBREAKER (15). Comedy. Romain Duris, Vanessa Paradis, Julie Ferrier, Francois Damiens, Helena Noguerra, Andrew Lincoln, Jacques Frantz. Director: Pascal Chaumeil. With its picture postcard Mediterranean locations and attractive

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Tempting Fete

Award-winning comedian Russell Kane tells KATHERINE MACLISTER about writing his first musical. I catch Russell Kane on the hoof when we speak. He’s buying a travel card to head up to London and continue his sell out stand-up comedy tour

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Classy Cornbury

TIM HUGHES and Cornbury Festival’s Hugh Phillimore, above, look ahead to this weekend’s musical bonanza. HUGH Phillimore is suitably upbeat. As well he might be. The director of this weekend’s Cornbury Festival has a lot to smile about –

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Gray Matter

ADAM WAKELING talks to David Gray as he prepares to play at Cornbury. The 2010 Cornbury festival might be your last chance to see David Gray perform fortissimo, following his sonically minimalist new album Foundling due in August. Since

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FOOTBALL: Letcombe to kick off trophy ties

Letcombe take on Shrivenham Town in the first round of Clanfield FC’s Ann-ual Jim Newman Memorial Trophy on Saturday, July 31. All the games will be played at Clanfield’s Radcot Road ground. The competition will consist of a first round, semi-finals

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'Everyone must help stop floods'

THE Environment Agency is urging local councils to find new ways of funding vital flood defences – three years after Oxford and much of the county was engulfed by floodwater. Agency chief executive Dr Paul Leinster said contributions towards flood protection

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Bicester could get new hospital by 2013

FRESH plans to redevelop Bicester’s hospital have been revealed. Seven weeks ago, NHS Oxfordshire shelved a proposal to rebuild the community hospital – 18 months into the tendering process – amid fears it could leave itself open to legal action. But

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Local shares (PM)

AEA Technology 16.4 BMW 3231 Electrocomponents 211.3 Nationwide Accident Repair 82 Oxford Biomedica 11.25 Oxford Catalysts 72 Oxford Instruments 277.5 Reed Elsevier 490.7 RM 174.25 RPS Group 173.7 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

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Dealmaker Baxter joins Withy King

OXFORD: Richard Baxter has joined the corporate commercial team at Withy King’s New Inn Hall Street practice from London law firm Rochman Landau. Mr Baxter’s career has seen him work on a number of key deals including large-scale mergers and acquisitions

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Tesco store creates 18 jobs

Eighteen jobs have been created thanks to the opening of a new Tesco Express store in Middleton Road, Banbury. More than 100 people have applied for positions in the mini supermarket, which opened at the former Buffalo Bills pub site on Tuesday. Store

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Town set for Hobby Horse festival

UNUSUAL beasts will be taking to the streets of Banbury for the town mayor’s Sunday and the annual Hobby Horse Festival. Children are being invited to pull their wooden horses out of the cupboard for their annual airing and join mayor Colin Clarke’s

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Youngsters could 'build their own home'

TWENTY unemployed youngsters could get the chance to build homes that ten of them will move in to. Councillors will decide this week whether to back the innovative project — the first in the county — to the tune of £324,000. The self-build pilot scheme

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100-year-old rail station steams into the future

PEOPLE may feel they have taken a step back in time on Saturday when a steam engine chugs into Bicester North station. But rest assured, the usual 90mph trains will still be running to London. At 10.30am a GWR pannier tank engine hauling

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Banbury schools consider academy plan

TWO Banbury schools are looking at taking the radical step of breaking away from local authority control and managing their own destiny. Banbury School, a secondary school in Ruskin Walk, and primary Dashwood School, are two of 14 schools across the

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Sibford flies green flag

Sibford School pupils have been celebrating after it was awarded a prestigious Green Flag in recognition of its commitment to helping the environment. The Eco-Schools Green Flag is presented to schools that can demonstrate excellence in the field of

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Digger death ‘accidental’

A 44-year-old groundworker was not wearing his seat belt when his dumper truck overturned and he was crushed to death, an inquest heard. Royston Dean, of Perrin Close, Banbury, was working with his brother Stephen at a new waste water management site

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New home for fertility pioneers

Tim Child is hardly Oxford’s only consultant to be spending time working in China. But when you realise that Dr Child is one of the UK’s leading researchers into the causes of infertility, whose fertility unit in Oxford has helped with the conception

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Trust and love the keys for Edna and Ronald

TRUST and love are the secrets of a successful marriage, according to an couple celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Pensioners Edna and Ronald Amos, from Aston, near Bampton, will toast 50 years of married life tomorrow. The couple met in

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Henry Starkey: Minister who helped start Oxfam

TRIBUTES have been paid to the Rev Henry Starkey, a former minister of Oxford’s Tyndale Church and early supporter of Oxfam, who died earlier this month. The 87-year-old, who passed away in Winchester, had lifelong connections to Oxford and

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DJ Ali Booker loses cancer battle

Oxfordshire broadcaster Ali Booker has passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. Radio station Jack FM, where Miss Booker presented the news, announced her death on air earlier today. It read: “It is with sadness today we pass

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GOLF: Results round-up

OXFORD CITY Tony Hopcraft Trophy: 1 C Paulley 42pts, 2 M Walker 40 (cb), 3 D Judd 40. Midweek Medal No 4: 1 S Stratford 91-25=66 (cb), 2 S White 89-23=66, 3 E Parker 95-28=67. OXFORD LADIES Stableford – Silver Div: 1 S Dudding 38pts, 2 S Wilson

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Hatchet buried over woods work

IMPROVEMENTS to fens and woods on the edge of Oxford, which bitterly divided a local community, have begun after a last-ditch compromise. Workmen arrived at the Louie Memorial Copse and Fenlands, near Matthew Arnold School, to start work on Monday.

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Local share prices (AM)

AEA Technology 16.4 BMW 3236 Electrocomponents 212.7 Nationwide Accident Repair 82 Oxford Biomedica 11 Oxford Catalyst 74.5 Oxford Instruments 281.25 Reed Elsevier 494.6 RM 179 RPS Group 178.4 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

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BOWLS: County's women battle in vain for England

Three Oxfordshire bowlers were unable to prevent England from relinquishing their title in the British Isles Women’s Championship at Woking. Oxford City & County’s Katherine Hawes plus Banbury Central duo Carole Galletly and Caroline Campion were all

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BOWLS: Headington's hot-shots go top in style

Headington A took advantage of Banbury Central’s rest week to go top of Division 1 of the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries, by hammering Carterton 6-0. Oxfordshire stars Craig Nicoll, Mark Charlett, Nick Rae-Welsh and

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Play Dead

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BOWLS: Big rink wins see off Sussex

Two crushing rink wins gave Oxfordshire a 137-98 victory over Sussex in the Home Counties League at South Oxford. The six rinks were shared, with both counties taking three wins apiece. But skips Mark Charlett and Robbie Clanfield, with 36-12 and 35

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The Great British Fete

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Heartbreaker

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Shrek Forever After

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Fiesta In The Park

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Cornbury Festival

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Oxford United snap up Baker

Oxford United today signed Richie Baker on a six-month deal from League Two rivals Bury. The 22-year-old central midfielder, who was at Manchester United as a youngster, joined the five other new faces at the club's first day of pre-season training this

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Ozzie Osborne

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Henley Festival

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BOWLS: Watts fires up Oxon bid

Skip Howard Watts’s rink led the way as Oxfordshire completed a hat-trick of wins in Middleton Cup Group 3B with a 122-92 victory over Middlesex at Finchley. Watts’s four of Lee Young, Nathan Lewis and Craig Nicoll stormed to a 32-9 success against skip

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MAGISTRATES COURTS: 'Don't turn justice into a baked bean factory'

OXFORD Magistrates’ Court may not be able to cope with the extra workload caused by closing other courts around the county, lawyers and magistrates warned last night. John Howson, who is deputy chairman of the Magistrates’ Association of England and

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Students punt into the records

THIS is the moment a group of students yesterday broke the record for travelling 204 miles from Cambridge to Oxford – in a punt. The Cambridge University crew of four took 12 days three hours and 57 minutes to punt 204 miles between the cities, battling

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Spy arrest shocks Oxford don

AN OXFORD University professor has spoken of his shock after one of his contacts was accused of being a Russian spy. Prof Rafael Ramirez said he had been regularly contacted by Donald Heathfield — one of 10 people arrested in the USA on suspicion of

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COWLEY ROAD CARNIVAL: Anti-knife campaigners spread message

THE family of a 22-year-old man stabbed to death will be using the Cowley Road Carnival to spread the message about the dangers of street violence. Blayne Ridgway’s family have been campaigning against people carrying knives since the young

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GOLF: Pair are just ace

Two players scored holes in one in quick succession at Kirtlington. Derek Thomas aced the 11th hole during the Famous Partridge competition, while Terry Sykes scored his ace on the fourth hole in a seniors roll-up. DRAYTON Park’s Eddie

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GOLF: Voss shines

Justine Voss shot the best round of the day to finish second in the inaugural English Women’s Golf Association (EWGA) Grand Medal final at The Worcestershire. The Henley member and BB&O Golf Partnership county development officer carded a two-over-par

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GOLF: Duo into Audi final

Two Oxfordshire golfers have qualified for the Audi Quattro Cup regional final. John Cox, 55, from Great Rollright near Chipping Norton, and Tim Horn, 48, from Caversfield near Bicester, will play at The Belfry on July 9. Cox scored 36 points to finish

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Chiltern Line trains altered for improvement work

Chiltern Railways and Wrexham & Shropshire trains will be affected by engineering work on Saturday. Due to the closure of the line between Princes Risborough and High Wycombe, a reduced service will operate between Banbury, Bicester North,

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COMMENT: Hard to see success of NHS scheme

INNOVATIVE thinking should be encouraged to improve all Government services, but dishing out NHS cash to patients to sort out their own treatment will never work on a large scale. NHS Oxfordshire is one of nine PCTs trialling a scheme to give

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Old Jericho shop may be spared demolition

NEW plans to regenerate Oxford’s Little Clarendon Street would retain the facade of a landmark Victorian building, which had been threatened with demolition. Developers had originally wanted to demolish the shop, right, on the corner of Walton

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'Scheme will give power to Oxfordshire patients'

A SCHEME to hand cash to the long term sick to pay for their own treatment will be closely monitored to avoid it being abused. Earlier this week the NHS in Oxfordshire said it would road-test a scheme to give patients their own personal health

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Pot calling kettle

I WAS amazed to read the figure spent by Witney Town Council over the last five years to tackle the town’s problems with vandalism (Oxford Mail, June 24). It is such a shame that the rest of the community is paying for damage and disruption that a very

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No fig leaves here

AS other correspondents have said, there is absolutely no justification for the huge salary increases awarded to some Oxford City Council senior managers for actually doing the job they were employed to do. Which part of Labour’s Liam Byrnes “there’

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Don't raise salaries while making cuts

Many council tax payers will share my anger and indignation over the exorbitant pay increases to senior officers at the city council at a time when we are all to suffer cuts in services. I sympathise with other council employees who have been dealt a

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The Insider

Labour Party leadership hopefuls were in town this week hoping to woo the rank and file with their impressive credentials for the job. But CVs don’t always reveal every talent. Former schools minister Ed Balls must have been top of the class in home

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Finish the job

IT NOW looks as if work on the Wolvercote Viaduct has finally finished – with the (not-so) temporary speed restrictions removed and the removal of plant. But is anyone else disappointed, after such lengthy works, by the quality of finish to the new bridge

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Nutty comment

May I, through your newspaper, suggest councillor John Tanner withdraws his comments while defending the disgusting amounts of money that are to be paid to senior management at Oxford City Council (Oxford Mail, June 29). Particularly his statement “If

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GOLF: Frilford to the four

Ashley Walton and Ben Paterson continued their successful summers by teaming up to win the BB&O Clubs Foursomes Championships at Studley Wood. The consistent Walton and Frilford Heath Gold Medal winner Paterson took the scratch title by three shots.

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RACING: Frost lands Knight job

Promising conditional rider Hadden Frost has been appointed stable jockey for Henrietta Knight’s West Lockinge yard, near Wantage. Knight, trainer of triple Gold Cup winner Best Mate and the brilliant Edredon Bleu, has not employed a No 1 rider

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Two days of delight in the Welsh capital

Ivor Novello gazes from his plinth beside Wales Millennium Centre on the thousands of people milling beneath. “Did I tell you the story —?” “Yes,” Rosemarie interrupts. “Very musical . . .” Think of Sir Ivor and one generally remembers (assuming one knows

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The Bull at Burford

Digging through our library files to unearth something of the long history of The Bull at Burford, I came across my earliest review of its restaurant. It was written in December `1979, the final month of the ‘Decade that Taste Forgot’. The meal

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Recipe for fancy cup cakes (makes 12)

Cup cakes are versatile little cakes that can be made for any occasion. They are a real family favourite and regularly appear on village cake stalls at a quarter of the price you would pay at bakers or supermarket. The joy of making cupcakes is that having

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School teams up on cookery book

When the residents of Kennington stage a community event, almost everyone gets involved, including the children from the local primary school — because it’s that kind of village. For the past 40 years Kennington has staged a summer fete to raise funds

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Five centuries of Real Tennis in Oxford

People have played tennis in Oxford since at least 1450. In that year townsmen Thomas Blake, a skinner, William Whyte, a barber, and John Waryn, a glover, were brought before the beeks (literally in one case) — namely the chancellor of the university

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Shrek Forever After and Heartbreaker

series puts a fairy-tale spin on It’s a Wonderful Life, but Shrek Forever After lacks the heartfelt emotion of Frank Capra’s 1946 classic. The adventures of the jolly green ogre have been on a steady decline since the wildly imaginative 2001 original

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Preview of Oxford Gospel Choir Concert at the Cornerstone, Didcot

If you are looking for an evening of uplifting, feel-good music in these uncertain times, then the Oxford Gospel Choir’s Melodies from Heaven, at the Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot for two nights, might be just what you’re looking for. The programme

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We Are Scientists: O2 Academy

Few bands are regarded as fondly as the New Yorkers, We Are Scientists. From the moment they arrived on these shores in 2006, then the support band for the now massive Editors, they have been adored by everyone who’s seen them. This stems chiefly from

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A single residents’ parking zone should be established in city

Sir – The introduction of controlled parking zones in Oxford suburbs seems to cause ever more division among the residents, with increasing amounts of our council tax going out to fund consultants who then try to coerce us into accepting a particular

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The Gaslight Anthem: O2 Academy

New Jersey boys the Gaslight Anthem look and sound like the product of a lot of heavy labour. Having grafted away for years in the garden state without much success, they broke through in early 2009 with their superb second album The ’59 Sound. A summer

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Some change

Sir – I note without surprise that the Labour Party’s crocodile tears over the Con-Dem cuts are not matched by any clear statement of what the party that led us into this recession would have done. The cuts are indeed disastrous. They serve Tory ideology

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No regard for wildlife

Sir – Each year I have faithfully looked forward to enjoying the Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race on television in Scotland. Alas, yesterday on holiday in Oxford I had the misfortune to witness a ladies team at their practice. Children were swimming in the

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Salaries are deserved

Sir – The senior managers’ team at Oxford City Council (‘Obscene’ pay rises, June 24) are worth every penny. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. These well-paid managers have cut costs to the taxpayer by a quarter and improved services to the public

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COMMENT: Paws for thought

THE miraculous tale of Fudge the ginger tomcat will give all owners of missing pets hope. Fudge disappeared at the time of the 2007 floods and was feared drowned, only to turn up in Manchester living ‘rough’. Losing a pet can be heartbreaking

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Cat turns up in Manchester, three years after going missing

WHEN floods struck Oxfordshire three years ago, a family feared they had lost their feline friend once and for all. Ginger-and-white tomcat Fudge went missing when torrential rain hit the county in 2007 and was presumed dead by owners Steve

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Byzantine politics

Sir – Julia Paolitto, for Oxford University (New university poet professor, June 24), may be right “that the controversy in last year’s election . . . had focused unprecedented attention” on that campaign. Yet, since the French scholar and Fellow of

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Expected carbuncles

Sir – As supermarket buildings — because of their function — are always unattractive, could Tesco please hide their expected carbuncles behind some decent homes which match the existing area in design. Mike Hamblett Oxford

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Back on-line shopping

Sir – I see in the The Oxford Times (Tesco unveils its plans, June 24) that the supermarket giant Tesco is building more and more supermarkets. It appears that Tesco can build almost anywhere, but there is no doubt about Tesco's customer service. The

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West is best

Sir – The Oxfordshire Business Awards which were announced this month should not pass without acknowledgement of the continuing success of the leisure, hospitality, and tourism sector within West Oxfordshire. All three finalists in this award category

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Destructive monstrosity

Sir – The suggestion that the proposed Abingdon reservoir might serve to improve a landscape which local people already value is pie in the sky (letters, June 24). This is a commercial development proposal by Thames Water envisaging a massive hole in

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Reservoir will be awful

Sir – Mr Knowles (letter, June 24) writes lyrically about the lake at Blenheim and about Thirlmere and supports the Abingdon reservoir if it is likely to look like either of those, but he ends by saying “if, on the other hand, it is proposed to emulate

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Unmitigated disaster

Sir – Few sons would publicly announce their father had made a fool of himself (letter, June 24) if not for fear of being labelled ‘like father like son’ and Knowles senior perhaps had good reason to oppose Thirlmere. As to the “dreary and featureless

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Unitaries the answer

Sir – In response to your front-page story last week, there is a solution that would also help to reduce the impact of the Government’s planned reduction in local government funding in Oxfordshire. Instead of agreeing ‘obscene’ pay rises, merge

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City council could not resist the bandwagon

Sir – I see that Oxford City Council could not resist somewhat belatedly jumping on the bonus culture bandwagon. But wait, surely it is rather more than that. A bonus is a one-off payment, whereas these mega-awards are recurring annual payments, themselves

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Striking out

It remains unclear whether large numbers of schools in Oxfordshire will seek academy status as they are being encouraged to do by the new coalition Government. There is obvious interest from a number of schools but little sign of any decisiveness about

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The Tempest: Wadham College

‘The isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not”. The words are from The Tempest and the place for them to be uttered from Sunday onwards will be the Walled Garden at Wadham College. For that is where the Oxford Shakespeare

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Church loses lapdancing case

A CHURCH has been left with a £12,000 legal bill after a judge dismissed its appeal to stop lap-dancing at a city-centre venue. Rev Vaughan Roberts, the rector of St Ebbe’s Church, took Thirst Lodge to a three-day trial at Oxford Magistrates

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OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL CUTS: More jobs and services at risk

ROUTINE road repairs may be scrapped and other frontline services stopped in new cuts totalling tens of millions of pounds at Oxfordshire County Council, the Oxford Mail can reveal. The authority targeted £103m-worth of cuts last year – including losing

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Government reminder for organics business

Government officials are to write to the company which supplies food to Daylesford Organics‘ farmshop, near Kingham, to remind directors Sir Anthony and Lady Bamford, to file accounts. Records show Daylesford Organic Farms, which is registered in Monrovia

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Wright signs three-year deal with Oxford United

Jake Wright, one of Oxford United’s Wembley heroes, has joined the U’s on a free transfer from Brighton – and admitted he only ever wanted to be at Oxford. The 23-year-old defender, who was outstanding in United’s play-off final win over

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Parky at the Pictures (In Cinemas 1/7/2010)

It's currently heresy among British arthouse critics to say a bad word about Claire Denis. She is clearly an exceptional film-maker, as is demonstrated by the Intense Intimacy selection that is currently making the rounds (but which will not be

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Parky at the Pictures (DVD 1/7/2010)

There's a spiritual feel to three of this week's DVD releases. Most religious films seek to proselytise, but Jessica Hausner refuses to betray whether she's being inspirational or ironic in her astute amalgam of the devotional and the droll, Lourdes

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Save Our Schools finalists bid for your support

FOR months, these children have been without a playground as a new school hall is being built on the space they used to play in. Launton Primary School, in Launton, near Bicester, will have a brand new hall come September – but at the moment

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Do you think Oxfordshire schools would perform better if they were academies?

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Henley Festival

Money may be tight these days, but organisers at Henley festival are determined not to let that affect their annual riverside extravaganza — and with stars such as Bryn Terfel, Will Young, Nigel Kennedy and Ronan Keating gracing the famous Floating Stage

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A new place to hide at Otmoor

The official opening of a new hide marks the completion of a major £1.3m phase of the restoration of land into habitats for birds and wildlife at the Otmoor reserve created by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds from about 1,000 acres of Oxfordshire

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County will 'let schools go it alone'

OXFORDSHIRE County Cou-ncil has signalled its support for schools wishing to leave local authority control to become academies. County Hall is writing to heads to say it will do everything it can to assist schools wishing to transform themselves into

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Time to look at Sherry afresh

I once met a man at a drinks reception who had an unfathomable fascination with train tracks. Yes, the tracks and not the trains that run on them. It was not a conversation that went terribly well and yet when I walked by later on a kindly sort had managed

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Central Italian case, £94

Central Italy encompasses six of the country’s 20 regions including Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo and Marches as well as the famous Adriatic coast — a classic holiday destination. This is the area where the Renaissance flourished around Florence in

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Sick to get cash to buy own care

THE long-term sick could be given money directly by the NHS to sort out their own treatment. The county’s primary care trust, NHS Oxfordshire, is piloting a scheme to give patients their own personal health care budgets. It means people with conditions

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Compromise over Hinksey woods

IMPROVEMENTS to fenland and woods on the edge of Oxford that bitterly divided a local community have begun. Workmen arrived at the Louie Memorial Copse and Fenlands, near Matthew Arnold School, to start work on Monday. North Hinksey Parish Council has

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City managers are paid more

OXFORD’S council tax payers see more of their money spent on the salaries of senior council officers than other districts in the county. A pay increase of 11.6 per cent that saw Oxford City Council’s chief executive’s salary rise to £141,031 was labelled

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Crocosmias: Swords and spires

I recently had the great privilege of interviewing Carol Skinner, of Eastgrove Cottage Garden for a retrospective article to celebrate their closure after 35 years of garden opening. If you didn’t get there, Eastgrove was a masterclass in colour-themed

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Oxford Academy of Performing Arts

Anna Glynn is on a mission — to provide a friendly, comfortable and nurturing environment for budding young actors and actresses. Chatting to her over a cup of coffee, I can see that this is something she feels strongly about, and her views have been

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Individual honours announced

The winners of the awards for the best individual scores from last season have been announced. In division 1, Jon Manley’s 7.5/8 helped City 1 retain their title and he wins the first division award. In the second division, Phillip Hayward played