Archive
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Karate kids aged 3!
KARATE kids Ashton Patrick and Luke Trinder have been awarded their first grade belts – at the age of just three. The tumbling tots from Barton are believed to be the youngest in Oxfordshire to achieve apprentice red belts. Members of
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JOBS LOSSES: Union hits out at council
FIVE hundred jobs are being axed by Oxfordshire County Council. The council announced today it was planning to make savings of £90m in its budgets over the next five years — with a tenth of its 5,000 staff to go. While a spokesman said it hoped to
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Police to pay legal bill over car written off
THAMES Valley Police have agreed to pay thousands of pounds in legal costs to a motorist after his stolen car was so badly damaged at a secure storage compound that it had to be written off. The force had already admitted liability and paid £12,000
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Judges back pre-nuptial decision
Three senior judges upheld a pre-nuptial agreement in a case involving one of Germany’s richest women and her £30,000-a-year former husband, a biotechnology researcher at Oxford University. In a landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal rejected an argument
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'OX4 soldier' Jake gets youth award
A DYING teenager from Oxford who has been battling terminal cancer for the past six years has been honoured for his courage, bravery and charity work. Jake Spicer, from Shepherds Hill, Blackbird Leys, has been cared for at Helen & Douglas House hospice
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Benefit cheat told to pay up
An ex-soldier has been fined and ordered to pay back £1,750 after falsely claiming benefit. Emannuel Monnay, 25, claimed housing and council tax benefit while working in London as a bus driver, Didcot Magistrates’ Court heard. Monnay, who pleaded guilty
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'Peers School dumped special needs pupils on me'
A TEACHER at Peers School in Littlemore, Oxford, said she was given an “unreasonable” number of special needs children — and told to “get on with it”, a hearing was told. Denise McKillop, who used to teach at the school, is accused of serious professional
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Cool for kats
AS temperatures across Oxfordshire rocketed, Meerkats at the Cotswold Wildlife Park got some ice-cold treats today courtesy of their keepers. Staff at the attraction near Burford have been feeding the Meerkats and Squirrel Monkeys ice cold fruit blocks
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'I will take subway battle to Downing Street'
A COMMUNITY leader has vowed to take his battle to save an Oxford subway to the very top. Oxfordshire County Council today agreed to press ahead with its controversial £2.3m scheme to tackle traffic congestion in Headington. The project aims to improve
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Glastonbury Festival @ Pilton, Somerset
WELL, the mothership of festivals has come and gone. And, in the words of those most gnarled veteran festival-dudes, the Grateful Dead, “what a long strange trip it’s been!” Every year Glasto aficionados hold forth over how that year
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500 jobs to go at county council
FIVE hundred jobs are being axed from Oxfordshire County Council. The council announced today it is planning to make 10 per cent savings of £90m in its budgets over the next five years — with a tenth of its 5,000 staff to go. While a spokesman said
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Anger as council votes for £442,000 demolition of Northway Centre
COMMUNITY leaders and residents tonight condemned plans to spend £442,000 demolishing an Oxford office block and sell off the site for housing. Oxford City Council’s executive decided to knock down the Northway Centre in Dora Carr Close — despite
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Olympian brings along an old flame
MORE than 350 Oxford schoolchildren had a flaming good time as Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis hosted an inter-schools sports day. The heptathlete, who struck gold in Sydney 2000, caused a stir when she entered Oxford University’s Iffley Road stadium
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'Old school' crowd control works best
I’M NO xenophobe, but why do Americans have to make a song and dance out of everything they do?” The question came from retired college scout Cyril as we roosted on one of those expensive apologies for seats in Cornmarket Street. We watched contrasting
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CRICKET: Rowant dilemma
Aston Rowant have given the organisers of the Bernard Tollett Oxfordshire Knockout Cup a headache by winning through to finals day. The semi-finals and final are set for July 12 at Bicester & North Oxford – the same day as Rowant visit Miskin Manor,
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TENNIS: Cholsey men hold Witney
THE battle between the two unbeaten teams in the Wilson OLTA League Men’s Blue Division – Witney A and Cholsey A – ended in a 2-2 draw. It leaves the top of this division very tight, with Witney having already beaten North Oxford B 3-1. North Oxford
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TENNIS: Brown hit by Wimbledon nerves
Oxford's Lucy Brown admitted her first appearance at Wimbledon this week was “unbelievably nerve-wracking”. But she said her debut was a never-to-be-forgotten experience, and if she can return to the All England Club’s famous grass courts next year,
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Local shares (PM)
AEA Technology 29.75 BMW 2356 Electrocomponents 141.25 Nationwide Accident Repair 80.5 Oxford Biomedica 11.75 Oxford Catalysts 58 Oxford Instruments 143 Reed Elsevier 450.25 RM 158.25 RPS Group 203 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
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CRICKET: Perkin praised for dedication
Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Oxford captain Jason Harrison praised Jamie Perkin’s hard work in training after he hit his maiden ton for the club. Harrison, whose side host Potters Bar in Division 1 on Saturday, feels Perkin can make
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CRICKET: Banbury seal thriller
Banbury set up a meeting with Oxford in the Cockspur Cup after a dramatic victory at Burnham. They won through to the Home Counties Premier League quarter-finals of the Twenty20 event in an eight-over shoot-out caused by delays on the M40. A lorry fire
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CRICKET: Caunce smashes super ton
ECB 50+ County Championship Big-hitting opener Ian Caunce blasted a brilliant unbeaten 153 as holders Oxfordshire thrashed Shropshire by ten wickets at Banbury Twenty. Caunce tore the Shropshire attack to shreds with 11 sixes and 12 fours in his quickfire
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CRICKET: Gibbins flies in
Horspath's Australian all-rounder Alister Gibbins is due to make a belated arrival in the country on Friday. The Tasmanian had hoped to join Horspath for the start of The Oxford Times Cherwell League season, but has been delayed while finalising his
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Have you seen this missing man?
Police are looking for a man who has not been seen since he left a friend’s house four days ago in Carterton, west Oxfordshire. John Doran, 39, who was wearing a beige shirt, blue jeans and black Reebok classic trainers when he disappeared,
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Cast a vote for exercise
Women in Oxford are being given the chance to choose which exercise classes they would most like to see start up on their estate. In response to requests for more ladies’ fitness classes at the Neighbourhood Centre in Underhill Circus, Barton, women
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Archaeologists warned: don't make a mess
ARCHAEOLOGISTS will comb through rubbish pits, the old town rampart and more when they return to Wallingford on Saturday — but only on condition they don’t leave a mess. The Burgh to Borough project, organised by experts and students from Oxford, Leicester
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'Ear all about it: Alice's Day is back
ACTORS dressed as white rabbits have been bouncing around Oxford to remind people to enjoy Alice’s Day on Saturday. Members of the Oxford Playhouse Young Company popped up in Cornmarket Street and outside the Ashmolean Museum in Beaumont Street to publicise
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Carnival is a colourful sight
A COLOURFUL procession of children dressed up as rockets, alien spaceships and trains was held at North Bourne Primary School in Didcot. The carnival procession – the culmination of an arts project – displayed all the work children had created over the
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Teenage theatre group to perform in France
A team of teenage actors and stage crew are rubbing shoulders with some of the best young thespians in Europe this week. The Oxford Youth Theatre and Production companies headed off to Grenoble, the city’s French twin town, yesterday to make
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Eynsham Carnival will be bigger and better, say organisers
THE 63rd Eynsham Carnival takes place on Saturday — with the promise that it will be bigger and better than ever. And to help things go with a swing, tomorrow's Oxford Mail includes a series of money-off vouchers to use at the fairground stalls
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Burford school has recipe for success
A NEW cookbook featuring recipes written, chosen and cooked by schoolchildren has been launched. Burford Primary School’s Cook Book includes a foreword written by top chef Raymond Blanc. Each of the school’s 110 pupils contributed a recipe of their
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Burford school has recipe for success
A NEW cookbook featuring recipes written, chosen and cooked by schoolchildren has been launched. Burford Primary School’s Cook Book includes a foreword written by top chef Raymond Blanc. Each of the school’s 110 pupils contributed a recipe of their
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Wacky racers head out on the highway
TWO Oxford men will be on the starting line today for a real-life wacky race across Europe. Tom Wheeler and Ally Larman, both 25 and from Beckley, near Oxford, will be using a battered Ford Mondeo for the race, which starts at Lille, in northern
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ROWING: Abingdon fly the flag
Abingdon were flying the flag for Oxfordshire after two rounds of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup for schools eights at Henley yesterday. They cruised into the quarter-finals with a convincing five-length victory over Dur-ham, in a time
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Great Western on the right track, rail survey shows
TRAIN passengers in Oxfordshire have something to smile about, acc-ording to a report from a rail watchdog. The latest National Passenger Survey, published this week, shows that 81 per cent of First Great Western customers were happy with the firm’s
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WEIGHTLIFTING: Birinus sweep board
There were smiles galore as St Birinus Weightlifting Club dominated the British Under 13 Championships in Bristol with a host of medals, including four golds. The Didcot-based-outfit achieved a clean sweep in the 12 years 45kg category, with Dominic
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GLASTONBURY SPECIAL : Folk rockers make their 'Glast' stand
FAIRPORT Convention may be best known for their annual reunion at Cropredy. But the celebrated Oxfordshire-based band grabbed their own piece of rock history when they performed at the Glastonbury Festival last weekend. For while the
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Railway group sees membership soar
The Cotswold Line Promotion Group has seen an increase in membership this spring. The rise is partly thanks to a recruitment drive connected with advance bookings for a special train to Devon operated in May in conjunction with operator First Great Western
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Headteacher seeks 'fresh challenge'
THE headteacher of Abingdon School has announced he is to leave next year. Mark Turner said his decision to move was not a sign of keenness to go, but a chance to take on fresh opportunities and challenges. From September 2010 Mr Turner, 47, will become
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Folk rockers make their 'Glast' stand
FAIRPORT Convention may be best known for their annual reunion at Cropredy. But the celebrated Oxfordshire-based band grabbed their own piece of rock history when they performed at the Glastonbury Festival last weekend. For while the
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Appeal for witnesses
Officers investigating a collision involving an 11-year-old girl have issued an appeal for witnesses to the incident. At about 4.50pm yesterday, a white Iveco van was in collision with a cyclist in Copenhagen Drive, Abingdon. The cyclist, an 11-year-old
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Faringdon benefit fraudster in court
A mechanic has been given a conditional discharge and told to repay more than £8,000 in falsely claimed benefits. Michael Wheeldon, 42, of Gloucester Street, Faringdon, failed to notify the Vale of White Horse District Council of a change in circumstances
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Crash cyclist released from hospital
Cyclist Katie Lapper was released from hospital yesterday after she was injured in a collision with a car in Oxford. The 26-year-old was cycling along Banbury Road at 8.45am when the accident involving a white Vauxhall Astra occurred at the junction
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People in blindfolds are looking for new probation offices
Sir – Regarding the leader (June 25) in which you stated that Thames Valley Probation (TVP) should be able to find a more suitable place than Mill St for their large probation centre. True, they are engaged in a new search with a six-week window, but
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Meaningful statistics
Sir – John Woodford is playing fast and loose with statistics for partisan purposes (Travesty of justice, letter, June 25). He lumps together those who voted other than for the Tories with the 62 per cent of the electorate who didn’t bother to vote
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I was not criticised
Sir – Former Labour Parliamentary candidate John Power suggests (letter, June 24) that I was one of those MPs criticised over expenses and that is why I had paid money back. This is not the case. There was nothing in the 2004/5 to 2007/8 expenses published
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Vim and vigour
Sir – Reading your editorial in this week’s The Oxford Times I was surprised to read that Headington residents had been ‘stopped in their tracks’ by Oxford Brookes’ amendment to their application for their proposed new student centre and there had been
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Is it art?
Sir – Much as I endorse Julian le Vay's commendation of the improved towpath north of Osney Bridge off Botley road, (letter, June 25) as well as Christopher Gray’s recent coverage, however: Eyes to the left, the sun is setting in the West — tranquillity
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Heavy price to pay
Sir – We have until July 9 to oppose the county council’s plans for controlled parking zones in East Oxford. While the need for action to rationalise legitimate residents’ parking and restore some order to these streets is indisputable, the solution
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Green space protects
Sir – Tom Burns rightly points out that those admitted to psychiatric wards today are too ill to benefit from strolls on Warneford Meadow. But it’s a shame he thinks the public need for green spaces is at odds with providing decent inpatient facilities
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Fresh air important
Sir – The problem confronting Professor Tom Burns CBE and his colleagues at Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Trust (letter, June 25) is that they will need new buildings and the upgrading of wards every ten or 15 years or so. We must
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Need for green space
Sir – How ill informed is Tom Burns (letter, June 25) to state that NHS managers understand the vital need for green spaces, and in the same letter, want to sell Warneford Meadow for housing development. As a former ‘inpatient’ at his hospital, the
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It isn't an either/or
It isn’t an either/or Sir – Tom Burns (letter, June 25) is very precise in his judgement of exactly what is right and wrong in Margaret Coombs’s defence of Warneford Meadow. I should like to point out a fundamental error in what Professor Burns has
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Spending penny
Once again we report this week how Oxford City Council is wrestling with the future of its public lavatories. The issue has raised its head every two or three years for at least the last two decades. Toilets are threatened with closure and improved toilets
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Home to roost
A bantam cockerel who has been strutting around the garden of a house in Bladon for the last three years will soon be moving on as his owner is selling his home. Steve and owner Sue Hiscock live at Copytherne, Grove Road, which was built of
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A trimmer university
Sir – What are we to think about the new apparently leaner version of the Brookes’ Student Centre? Forget about plan A, let’s look at plan B, Brookes. Certainly its bulk has undergone the surgery of being slightly submerged, lopped off at the top and
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Costs and benefits
Sir – Is it not time that both the Oxfordshire county and the Oxford city councils conducted a thorough, impartial survey of the costs, as well as the benefits, of Oxford Brookes’ University’s presence in the city? It could start by looking at the projected
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No satisfactory answer
Sir – John Tanner (letter, June 25) is right to criticise the Conservative-controlled county council’s high-handed imposition of controlled parking zones on Oxford, where it has absolutely no electoral mandate. At a packed meeting held by the Iffley
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Pedestrianisation will put city out of bounds
Sir – It is not very many years since the great campaigns to get better accessibility for the disabled won several triumphs — public places (including restaurants, pubs, etc) have now established accessible toilet facilities; lifts and other aids are
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IVF injustice
We think that the young couple Claire and Gary Cousins who have been refused IVF treatment by Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust have suffered an injustice. Some would argue that no one has the right to conceive a child and that it is not something that
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Bust is missing but founder is remembered
Even admirers of Robert Doyne are losing hope of ever seeing again the marble bust of the founder of the Oxford Eye Hospital. The bust had watched over the hospital that came to be housed on the Radcliffe Infirmary site for more than 90 years. But the
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A virtual operation
A specialist skills laboratory at Oxford’s Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre is developing new ways to train the surgeons of the future. The specialist hospital in Headington is at the forefront of efforts to use simulators to teach trainee surgeons to perform
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Bicester signs charter with twin town
BICESTER has officially signed a new charter with its third twin town. At a ceremony in Garth Park, residents and local dignitaries gathered to witness the cementing of the friendship between Bicester and Czernichov, Poland. Chairmen of the associations
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Update: Cycle crash girl was Larkmead pupil
A young cyclist involved in a collision with a van last night In Abingdon was a pupil at Larkmead School, it has been revealed. The year seven pupil, an 11-year-old girl, was cycling home when she was involved in a collision with a white Iveco
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Lessons in healthy eating
SCHOOLCHILDREN were given a hands-on lesson in healthy eating. Year six pupils from Deddington Primary School were invited to lunch — but first they had to pick their own. The children were invited to Peach Barns in North Aston, the new home of the
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Update: Girl still critical but stable
A young cyclist remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital this morning after an incident in Abingdon yesterday afternoon. The girl was cycling in Copenhagen Drive when her bike was involved in a collision with a white Iveco van
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Artist helps decorate school
ARTIST Sylvia Atkinson has been working with children to create seven murals to decorate their school. The murals were designed to reflect pupils’ daily lives at Brookside School, Bucknell Road, and at home in Bicester. Themes included school children
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Guerilla gardening
I have just been reading about a retired lady florist who made a garden on a piece of derelict land near her home in Cornwall. Jayne Bailey, from Bodmin, improved a small concrete island that had looked a mess for 30 years or more. She removed the rubbish
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Nursery faces cash crisis
A PLAYGROUP that has been part of Bicester’s community for 25 years faces closure if it cannot raise £200,000 for a new building. Oxfordshire County Council inspectors have given Rainbow Playgroup just six months to make massive repairs to their dilapidated
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End of era for posties
POSTAL workers gathered to mark the end of an era as the Cowley mail centre closed its doors for good. There was bitterness on the part of union leaders as well as a feeling of uncertainty among workers now joining the swelling ranks of the
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New bridge over medieval wall
A BRIDGE over Oxford's medieval city wall will be created in a £17m expansion of Pembroke College, Oxford, approved by councillors. The bridge will link the college's main site to two new quads in Brewer Street. The scheme will create 91 ensuite bedrooms
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If you can't stand the heat...
Phew, it’s mighty hot doing nothing all day! As the mercury continues to rise across Oxfordshire, these little furry fellas get an ice-cold treat courtesy of their keepers at Cotswold Wildlife Park. Curators at the attraction in Burford
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Can science solve our problems?
Whatever happens to the Oxfordshire economy during the next few years — and predictions on that depend largely on whether or not you believe the Government’s pledge to ring-fence public spending on education (on which the county is more dependent
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Ramadan Moon
Oxford illustrator Shirin Adl, who grew up in Iran, has collaborated with Muslim convert Na’ima Robert to produce Ramadan Moon (Frances Lincoln, £11.99) a lyrical picture book which captures the spirit of the festival for young children. The story follows
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Oxford public toilets could close
A NUMBER of Oxford’s public toilets are facing closure this winter as part of plans to save £50,000 a year. Oxford City Council has launched a two-month consultation into proposals, with up to 11 of the city’s 27 facilities under threat. The executive
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RACING: Channon delighted by Som Tala's success
West Ilsley trainer Mick Channon was full of praise for jockey Tony Culhane after his victory aboard Som Tala in the John Smith’s Northumberland Plate at Newcas-tle. The 40-year-old rider seized the initiative from his handy inside draw to dictate his
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ROWING: Abingdon face tough draw at Henley
Such was the competiton to get into Henley Royal Regatta which started this week, that 14 local crews had to try and qualify. Only six of these were fast enough, which means that Oxfordshire began the meeting with 15 entries. Abingdon RC got through
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£44m hospital cuts now biting
STAFF and patients at Oxfordshire’s main hospitals are beginning to feel the impact of a £44m cost saving drive. With 370 jobs to go over the next year, including nurses, moves to peg back hospital admissions look to be heralding a new era of cost cutting
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BOWLS: Keeper Alder makes grade in another sport
FormerWitney Town footballer Kevin Alder achieves another sporting goal when he makes his EBA Middleton Cup debut for Oxfordshire in the crunch clash against Berkshire at Suttons BC on Saturday. Alder, Town’s goalkeeper in their Southern League days
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Return to childhood haunts
Nicholas Shakespeare, former literary editor of the Daily Telegraph, acclaimed novelist and biographer, meets me in the St. Giles Café, a tiny, 1960s-era time capsule. The small, bustling place is lorded over by a lady owner who, following an hour
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Return of the Fat Man
IDNIGHT FUGUE Reginald Hill (HarperCollins, £17.99) In Reginald Hill’s 2007 novel The Death of Dalziel, Superintendent Andy Dalziel’s huge frame was caught in a terrorist bomb attack. Although he was in a coma and everyone feared for his life, he survived
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Oxford United wait for cup decision
The Football Conference have not dismissed the chances of a cup competition for non-League teams this season. With broadcaster Setanta going into administration, the Setanta Shield will no longer take place – much to the relief of many Blue Square Premier
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Family row led to gun siege
AN ALL-DAY family argument ended in a six hour gun siege during which a husband and wife held police at bay from their home, a jury heard. John Cowley and his wife Wendy threatened her son Harry Such’s terrified girlfriend with a shotgun and, rattling
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Parent right to be concerned
News that discussions have taken place behind closed doors about creating a “super academy” for four to 18-year-olds in Oxford will shock and disturb parents. The story we publish today about plans hatched inside County Hall for a so-called “all through
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DOG ATTACK UPDATE: Rottweiler handed over to RSPCA
A DOG has been seized by police after a woman was attacked in Greater Leys. Shop assistant Wendy Parker, 56, of Verbana Way, was bitten on the hip by a Rottweiler while walking home from her nephew’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon. The attack, which
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Shot cat has to have leg amputated
A CAT shot twice in a matter of months is recovering at home after vets were forced to amputate his leg. Tabby cat Pippin was shot in the face and leg on two separate occasions. And last night owner Denise French, of Gwyneth Road, in Littlemore
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Could a dog assist your life?
Imagine you’ve dropped your car keys on the floor but you can’t reach them as you cannot bend over without putting your health at risk. Or that you are a ten-year-old and you can’t have any time by yourself, as your condition means that someone
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Primary may shut in proposals for super school academy
DISCUSSIONS have taken place to create Oxford’s first super-academy for four- to 18-year-olds, the Oxford Mail can reveal. The county council is looking to create an “all-through” academy in a bid to raise academic standards in the city. Parents and
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Recipe: Minted neck of lamb with cherries and garlic (serves two)
Adding cherries to a lamb dish might sound an unusual combination – but it works. It certainly looks good, and with the cherries now coming into season, it makes a great British dish. You will find the best Oxfordshire cherries at Q Gardens, Milton Hill
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Get out and go wild
Step back in time Take a trip to BBOWT’s Wells Farm in Little Milton and it is easy to feel as if you have been transported back in time as you stand before a cornucopia of colourful flowers that were once spread across our countryside. Field margins
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WildCRU get down to work
Research in the Seventies into the behaviour of red foxes in Oxfordshire and its implications for the best way to prevent them from spreading rabies on the Continent was one of the foundations of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University
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Council rates the cleanest eateries
July is the month when I sometimes discuss food hygiene and warn of the food poisoning incidents that can occur when food is not kept at the correct temperature during the warm summer months. I usually explain the importance of keeping hot food hot and
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Justitia: Oxford Playhouse
The Israeli choreographer Jasmin Vardimon came to the UK in 1997 and founded a company which has moved from success to success and brought her more awards than I can list here. Four years ago she brought to Oxford her powerful work Park, about the conflicts
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Cornbury Festival preview
Putting Paul Simon on to the stage at last year’s Cornbury Festival almost broke the bank for Hugh Phillimore, the organiser and founder of the event. But, in typical fashion, Mr Phillimore has simply picked himself up, phoned up his bank manager
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Oxford Shakespeare Company: Romeo and Juliet
In the middle of The Walks, a secluded garden in the centre of London’s Gray’s Inn, there was a rare sight: a clutch of bicycles, padlocked to a post. Even the high-powered lawyers, whose chambers surround the garden, are not permitted to cycle along
