Archive
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DARTS: Oxon star Deta beats Taylor
Oxfordshire county player Deta Hedman was on top of the world after she beat 15-time world champion Phil Taylor. Hedman achieved the notable feat during Tuesday night’s official opening of the new Rileys Dart Zone in Cowley. And she
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Man goes missing from Kingham
Police tonight issued an urgent plea for help in finding a 60-year-old man from Oxfordshire who has gone missing. Michael Hall was last seen leaving his home address in Kingham this morning. Police said they were concerned for Mr Hall's
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Oxford students join two-day queue to find homes
THEY came armed with sleeping bags, tents and whisky, ready for two nights on the streets of Oxford. But these students were not raising money for charity or trying to experience life on the street – they were hoping to snap up the best student houses
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Oil supply delays leave pensioner in fix
A PENSIONER was in danger of being left without heat in the freezing cold after oil could not be delivered. Pensioner Clare Stott, 87, of Top Lane, Wootton, near Woodstock, said: “I ordered oil from my regular supplier CPL before the snow but then they
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Oxford egg death widow's £415,000 damages award upheld
A CATERER who supplied a dessert containing eggs at a Sikh wedding was today ordered to pay £415,000 damages to the Oxford widow of a man who died after eating it. Kuldip Singh Bhamra, 49, was allergic to eggs but believed he was safe, because
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Rivers remain on flood watch
Watwerways across Oxfordshire today remained on flood watch. The Environment Agency's lowest level of alert is in place on the River Thames from Oxford, downstream to Pangbourne. Other waterways on flood watch are: River Cherwell
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Oxford student quizzed about DNA database by MPs
A STUDENT who was unlawfully arrested for littering in Oxford has spoken out against the Government’s national DNA database in front of MPs in Westminster. Jonathan Leighton, 20, appeared yesterday before MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee, who
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Show offers help into Civvy Street
THE first Civvylisation event held in Oxford, to help service personnel join Civvy Street, has been hailed an “amazing success” by organisers. Hundreds of Armed Forces veterans packed into County Hall today to find out about help and advice
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Gunshot victim agrees payout with police
A POLICE 999 call handler shot in the chest during a firearms awareness course has received hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation. Keith Tilbury, 56, nearly died and was in intensive care for two weeks after he was shot with a .44 Magnum revolver
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Health minister hears about hospital
HEALTH Secretary Andy Burnham heard how important Banbury’s Horton Hospital was to residents on a visit yesterday. Campaigners fought to save the hospital from closure several years ago and have been campaigning since to secure services. Mr Burnham
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DARTS: I miss my chance to beat legend Taylor
IT was a chance of a lifetime – and I blew it. If only one dart could have gone exactly where I wanted it, I would have beaten a 15-time world champion and nobody would have heard the end of it. Ok, I hear what you're saying, I didn’
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AUNT SALLY: Latest results and news
BANBURY INDOOR LEAGUE Chipping Norton 6, Bowling Green 0; Deddington 6, Banbury 0; Tysoe SC 0, General Foods 6; Bicester 6, George 0; Banbury 6, George 0; Bowling Green 0, General Foods 6; Chipping Norton 2, Bicester 4; Deddington 6, Tysoe SC 0. Top
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AUNT SALLY: Maximum man
Steve Arthurs was celebrating after becoming one of the few players to complete the rare double of a maximum 18-doll haul indoors and outdoors. The 52-year-old painter and decorator, from Over Norton, near Chipping Norton, bagged his latest full house
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DARTS: Phil powers in, but Hedman steals show
Phil Taylor attracted a huge crowd as he officially opened the new Rileys Darts Zone in Cowley. But the Power was stunned when Oxfordshire women’s player Deta Hedman stole the show with a 13-dart victory over the 15-time world champion.
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BOWLS: Oxon reach last eight
Oxfordshire Premier reached the English Short Mat Association Inter County Competition quarter-finals after winning their final Group 3 match. The 22-18 victory over Hampshire at Wallingford saw Oxon top the group after winning five of their six matches
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ICE HOCKEY: Forshee off to a flier
Alan Green bagged a four-timer as Ken Forshee’s reign as Oxford City Stars player-coach began with a 12-3 thrashing of Streatham Redskins in Division 1. Forshee grabbed a double himself, as did man-of-the-match Joe Edwards, with the visitors scoring
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BAR BILLIARDS: A team dominate all-Masons clash
Masons A overcame their B team 4-1 in the opening game of the Johnsons Buildbase Oxford & District League’s Team Knockout Cup. Alan Lowe beat Dave Butt 3,910-1,480 in a scrappy and tense opening leg to their Group A clash, then Lewis Stratford made it
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RUGBY UNION: Haydon's Lisbon debut
Nick Haydon could not have picked a better game to lead Oxford University for the first time. The Dark Blues face Portugal in Lisbon on Saturday in the Australian scrum half’s opening match as captain. And Haydon is relishing the chance to take on a
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RUGBY UNION: Brodley shocked by pitch progress
Oxford Harlequins director of rugby John Brodley admitted to being surprised at how quickly their pitch became ready to face Old Patesians. Quins’ fixture secretary and referee Keith Latham gave the surface little chance of being fit at an inspection
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RUGBY UNION: Maudsley's on song
Former Oxford Harlequins director of rugby Matt Maudsley is urging Oxford Mail readers to back his bid to win a singing competition. Maudsley has entered the Gatwick Factor competition, which has the prize of a family holiday in Lapland. He said: “Please
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RUGBY UNION: Bicester recruitment drive
Bicester are appealing for new members and have slashed their joining fee to £30 for the rest of the season to encourage people to take up rugby. Spokesman Will Morris said: “In recent years, we have had a number of new players who had never played before
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RUGBY UNION: Oxford call up old boys
Oxford RFC have called up a host of former players to take on Oxford University in their special centenary fixture on Sunday, February 7. The match at the Southern Bypass ground kicks off at 2.30pm and the Dark Blues director of rugby Steve Hill has
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Oxford United centre back Foster in Stags switch
Oxford United defender Luke Foster has joined Blue Square Premier promotion rivals for an undisclosed fee.
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Youth centre plan close to clearing final hurdle
THE long-awaited rebuild of the dilapidated Wallingford youth centre has finally been approved. The centre in Clapcot Way, with specialist child care centre, faces one final hurdle before work can start. Oxfordshire County Council planners will confirm
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Dog dies in accident on A40
A DOG has died and a second was rushed to a vet's after a collision with a car on the A40 in Oxford today. Police closed a section of the northbound carriageway, near the Green Road roundabout at Headington, at about 4.15pm. One dog died at the scene
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Open day launches Wallingford Museum's extension appeal
WALLINGFORD Museum has launched its bid to raise £350,000 by August for a new hand-crafted extension. Dozens of apprentice carpenters are set to camp on the Kinecroft this summer to construct a timber-framed building to house new galleries, while teaching
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New home for martial artists as membership surges
AN INCREASE in the number of teenagers wanting to learn self-defence has forced a popular Oxford martial arts club to move to a bigger home. The Mount Everest Tae kwon do club has almost trebled in size from 12 students to 35 since opening
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Dancing queen has a new role - in village panto
TEACHING assistant Andrea Law has proved she has got the moves after winning a Latin dance competition. Ms Law, who works at Langford Village School, Bicester, beat competition from 13 dance couples to scoop the prize at Champions of Tomorrow
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Local share prices (PM)
AEA Technology 26 BMW 27.77 Electrocomponents 182.5 Gladstone 29 Nationwide Accident Repair 92.5 Oxford Biomedica 11.6 Oxford Catalyste 49.5 Oxford Instruments 230.75 Reed Elsevier 509.75 RM 185.5 RPS Group 208.1 Courtesy of Redmayne
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Time to reconsider plan to close Oxford School
Last week it was announced that students at Oxford School made more progress than at any other school in the county and the school is in the top 25 per cent nationally for improvement. Surely, this must make county councillor Michael Waine reconsider
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Rose Hill library a team effort
Flattered as I am by my name checks in your article on the launch of the Rose Hill Read/Swap Library (Ruth’s big library dream comes true, Oxford Mail, January 19), it is important for me to put the record straight. Read/Swap has been an amazingly successful
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Welcome change on the buses
I congratulate the Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach on introducing joint ticketing and joint timetables (Oxford Mail, January 14) , something that I know they have been keen on for a while now. It is just a shame that this did not happen earlier, due
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Musical link to old truncheon
WITH reference to the brilliant article (Oxford Mail, January 7) about Thomas Taphouse’s ceremonial truncheon, which was presented to him to mark the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. It was lovely to read that this piece of historic property belonging
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Crossing is vital
I AM writing in response to the article asking for a crossing to be put back where traffic lights were removed outside the Marriotts Walk shopping centre in Witney (Oxford Mail, January 11). I was at the centre when David Cameron MP officially opened
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Lottery dilemma
As Lottery wins go, this was a biggie... £26m to a builder. What is he going to spend that on? Personally, I have never done the Lottery. Perhaps I should. It appears to me that a top prize of, say, a million pounds a go would be sufficient. More people
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Horses should keep to the grass
Having read the recent exchange of views published here from Margaret Cook and Gemma Devonport, I reached the following conclusion. Horses do cause a nuisance with their residue, especially if it is in a public place, and it is sometimes not avoidable
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Perfect place to go shopping
WHY is Oxford a good place to take your wife shopping? Because it’s hard to find a place to spend a penny and it is getting a lot harder. DAVID BOND, Windrush Way, Abingdon
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Well done hospital, for clearing snow
I had to go to the Nuffield Hospital for a check-up on Wednesday, January 6. I was impressed by all the staff and volunteers who were out with spades, clearing snow from the parking spaces and pathways to the hospital and making it much safer and easier
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The Insider
The Liberal Democrats have unveiled a secret weapon in their fight to oust Labour’s Andrew Smith as Oxford East MP — Floella Benjamin. Yes, the former Play School presenter and Chancellor of Exeter University is a fully signed-up member
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Sledging cops prove a big hit on Facebook
MORE than 246,000 people have joined a Facebook group supporting officers who used a riot shield to go sledging. Thames Valley Police officers were caught on camera tobogganing at Boars Hill, Oxford, when the county was covered with snow earlier
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Banbury pub manager stripped of licence
A PUB manager has been barred from being the licensee after a catalogue of incidents of violence and drug-taking at the venue. Since July 2006, police have been called to the Unicorn Pub, in Market Place, Banbury, 46 times after fights and drug-related
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Blunder scuppers drink-driving case against Pc
A POLICE officer accused of drink-driving walked free from court today because vital paperwork could not be found. Pc Helen Hillsdon was pulled over in Queens Avenue, Bicester, in October last year. The 43-year-old, from Woodstock, was
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Escape from the big freeze in Jamaica
We all know about Red Stripe lager which rivals rum as Jamaica’s national drink. But it was other brews that caught my eye on the shelves of supermarkets and bars on my first visit to the island last week. Wincarnis – a favourite tipple,
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Oxford Instruments confident
HIGH-tech company Oxford Instruments says it is confident that trading will meet expectations, despite the recession. in a statement to the stockmarket, it said performance in the final quarter of 2009 was above the same period in 2008, helped by the
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Brothers
All’s fair in love and war. In Jim Sheridan’s English language remake of Susanne Bier’s celebrated Danish drama Brodre, love is war as two siblings – polar opposites – are divided by their deep bond to the same woman. Like the original film, Brothers
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Stella Gough: a life devoted to helping others
STELLA Gough, a tireless voluntary worker for charity groups in Oxford, has died aged 97. Mrs Gough, of Diamond Court, Summertown, North Oxford, was a familiar figure at St Andrew’s Church in Linton Road, where she worshipped for more than 20 years.
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Wantage civic hall 'being closed by stealth'
A ROW has broken out over a decision to close Wantage Civic Hall when it is not being used for bookings. The Vale of White Horse District Council is trying to stem annual losses of £215,000 at the hall, in Portway. Users and councillors have hit out
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Recipe for home-baked bread
One of the most important things to remember is that bread dough responds best when made in warm conditions. By warming the flour and the bowl before you begin adding the other ingredients you are already off to a great start. And while it is proving,
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Bake bread for a real winter treat
Perhaps the snow will have vanished by the time this article is published [and perhaps not – Ed], but as I write a white blanket lies thick on the ground and the grey sky suggests that there is more of the white stuff to come. I would like, therefore,
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Saturday Showcase: The Wheatsheaf, High Street, Oxford
The art of theatre is alive and well. Some evil genius put three of Oxford's best bands on the same bill on Saturday night at the Wheatsheaf. off High Street, in a dastardly bid to RULE THE WORLD! Huck and the Handsome Few were on good form
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Romeo and Juliet: The Toyal Ballet, Covent Garden
Kenneth MacMillan’s work of 1965 is one of the Royal Ballet’s enduring successes; it’s almost guaranteed to fill the house, and has been performed more than 400 times. There are many danced versions of Shakespeare’s tragedy around, but this is accepted
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The Nutcracker: New Theatre, Oxford
There were snowflakes everywhere in the Russian State Ballet of Siberia’s Nutcracker: dancing snowflakes, and snowflakes projected on to the scenery at every possible opportunity. It was not, needless to say, the Siberian ballet’s fault that most of us
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ATHLETICS: O'Connor leads the way for Woodstock
WOODSTOCK Harrier Brian O’Connor led his teammates to second place at the Highworth Half Marathon on Sun-day. O’Connor finished an impressive third in 1hr 17mins 54secs. Kevin Game amd James Bolton also came home in the top ten, Game clocking 1.19.41
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ATHLETICS: Kempton is on form for City
Oxford City junior Imogen Kempton produced one of her best performances ever in the Chiltern Cross Country League as she finished in fourth place in the under 15 girls’ race at Shuttleworth Park, Luton. Kempton finished only five seconds behind runner-up
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The International Baroque Players: Holywell Music Room
Money-savvy Bach, and cash-strapped Scarlatti: they may not have had much in common financially, but they had musical links, as this concert set out to prove. Other links in the musical chain were Vivaldi, Corelli, Bach, Geminiani, and a rarity
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The Snow Queen: The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury
Somewhat ironically, the opening week of the Cherwell Theatre Players’ The Snow Queen was disrupted by snow and ice – clearly, the weather hadn’t read the script. But if the cast were unsettled by this, those performing at Saturday’s matinee showed no
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Designs for Life: The North Wall
It’s good to be able to view an innovative exhibition which fuses science with art and provides those talented Oxfordshire members of the Women’s Institute with a chance to show that they can make much more than pots of jam. Designs for Life, which is
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It's Never All Right on the Night
Curtain Up, Lights Up, Cock Up! was the original, more pithy, title for this show. “We thought the word ‘curtain’ might be a little vulgar for Sonning audiences,” actor Simon Williams explained, amid much laughter. As both old and new titles suggest
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Chew Lips: Jericho Tavern
Chew Lips have yet to reach their two-year anniversary as a band, but have already established themselves as one of the most exciting acts in the country. Featuring multi-instrumentalists Will Sanderson and James Watkins alongside energetic front woman
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Delphic: O2 Academy, Oxford
Things are going pretty well for Delphic right now. The Manchester trio are universally tipped to be everywhere in 2010 by every critic and punter and are storming the album chart with their debut album, Acolyte. This tour, their first headline jaunt,
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Invitatiion to Come and Sing Elijah for the Art Room
‘Our biggest Come and Sing challenge so far.” That’s what conductor Robert Dean (right) feels about Mendelssohn’s monumental and majestic oratorio Elijah, which has been selected for this year’s Art Room Come and Sing concert. He added: “Elijah is one
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'Opportunity lost' to get London coaches out of High Street
A DEAL to cut bus numbers in Oxford has been criticised for failing to remove London coaches from the city’s streets. Businesses and Oxford University colleges in High Street welcomed news that an agreement reached by Oxfordshire County Council and the
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John Piper: Dadbrook Gallery, Cuddington
To John Piper (1903-1992) buildings were like people – they had their own character and personality, and they changed over time. Decay was to him something to delight in – a “decrepit glory”, a “pleasing decay” he called it, something he could apply his
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Jury's out on Obama after first year in office
THE jury is still out on Barack Obama a year after he took office, according to Americans living in Oxfordshire. President Obama was sworn in as America’s 44th president – and the country’s first African-American leader – on January 20 last
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The ‘iron man’ of Banbury
It was the Banbury Guardian, in its obituary of May 11, 1905, that named Sir Bernhard Samuelson as the town’s “modern founder . . . who gave the town its industrial character and modern growth”. Banbury in the mid-19th century was a small agricultural
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Michael Stanley’s great adventure
Michael Stanley, the director of Modern Art Oxford, studied art at the city’s Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art and returned to the city in January last year to take up this exciting and challenging post. As a boy growing up in a small terraced
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Snowdrops at Godstow
T he Trout Inn at Godstow is well-known to Oxford residents and I frequented it in my youth when the small smoke-filled rooms were packed with people hell-bent on lively conversation rather than gastro food. I have often wondered whether
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Safari so good!
H aving reached my half century without travelling south of the equator, it was with a mixture of excitement and nervousness that I boarded a plane to South Africa for a one-week initiation into the wonders of this vast continent. Those who know
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Hope springs eternal
I was originally just going to give it a lick of paint,” laughed Paul Hageman, thinking back three years when he began restoring Hope House, his ancestral home in Woodstock. “The house was built around 1708, at the same time as Blenheim Palace,” said
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Silence is golden
My previous article about the phonetic alphabet (A for alpha, B for bravo, C for Charlie) reminded me of a game I call Telephoneys or Crossed Lines, where you think of words that can deliberately mislead someone when you are spelling out names
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City of sculpture
Most people have seen the sculpture, collected from the ancient world and now in the wonderful new Ashmolean museum, but many may be surprised to find that excellent pieces of sculpture, still in their original settings, can be seen on a walk round
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The legacy of King Alfred
As I have previously suggested in these pages, there was rather more to Wantage’s very own Anglo-Saxon monarch than a reputation for criminal absent-mindedness in the kitchen. A new year-long exhibition at the Vale and Downland Museum, in the town of
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Rotarians help Haiti
DAYS after the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, Brackley’s Rotary club stepped in to do its bit for the disaster effort. Members immediately paid for a ShelterBox — basically a tough green plastic box containing a ten-person tent and other equipment
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From Penny Lane to the Royal Albert Hall
Music has always been a huge part of Liverpool-born Helen ‘Aitch’ McRobbie’s life. She began her professional singing career at a recording session when she was just 12. Her father Don Andrew, was at the heart of the Mersey sound revolution
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Overhaul for CCTV
CCTV across Cherwell district is set to get a high-tech overhaul to the tune of £330,000. Old monitors and video recorders are being replaced by new LCD screens and a hard-disk recording system. The control room, at Banbury police station, is currently
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Pub manager barred
A PUB manager has been barred from being the licensee of a Banbury pub after a catalogue of drug taking and violence at a Banbury bar. Since July 2006 police had been called to the Unicorn Pub, in Market Place, 46 times after fights, drug related incidents
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Compensation for shooting victim
A CALL centre worker who was shot during a firearms awareness course has received hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation from Thames Valley Police. Keith Tilbury, 56, nearly died and was in intensive care for two weeks when he was
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Jobless figure falls again
The number of people out of work and claiming benefit in Oxfordshire has fallen to its lowest level for almost a year. Latest Government figures for Oxfordshire show 8,344 people were on the dole in the county, a drop of 397 on the previous
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UK unemployment falls
The Government was given some welcome news on the jobs front today when unemployment fell for the first time in almost two years and fewer people claimed jobseeker's allowance. The number of people out of work in the three months to November was cut
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Local share prices (AM)
AEA Technology 26 BMW 2818 Electrocomponents 185.25 Gladstone 29 Nationwide Accident Repair 92.5 Oxford Biomedica 11.9 Oxford Catalyst 49.5 Oxford Instruments 223.25 Reed Elsevier 510.25 RM 184.5 RPS Group 210 Courtesy of Redmayne
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UK unemployment falls
The Government was given some welcome news on the jobs front today when unemployment fell for the first time in almost two years and fewer people claimed jobseeker's allowance. The number of people out of work in the three months to November was cut
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Snow 'will be shortlived'
Parts of Britain are facing fresh snow flurries today but forecasters said it would be nothing like the Arctic weather seen earlier this month. Up to 5cm could settle over the Welsh hills by the afternoon, said MeteoGroup, the weather division
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Wilder lifted by Oxford United victory
Chris Wilder believes last night’s FA Carlsberg Trophy win over Woking will help his Oxford United players get back on track. Matt Green’s first-half goal brought the U’s a 1-0 win to earn a third-round tie at another in-form Blue Square South side,
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Abingdon should not miss out
ABINGDON has an opportunity it cannot let pass by. The Oxford Mail is a supporter of communities across the county, but it has been hard to avoid the decline of Abingdon town centre. Traders have struggled and big name stores have moved out. To be
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Police attack 20mph scheme for town centre
THAMES Valley Police have criticised a scheme to create a 20mph speed limit zone in the centre of Abingdon. The force claims the roads are unsuitable for speed reductions and said extra traffic-calming measures would be needed for a 20mph limit to have
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Boxing coach killed in car crash
A MAN who died in a car crash in the grounds of a hospital was the most senior amateur boxing coach in the Home Counties, it emerged last night. Ken Reynolds was the only advanced coach in the area and the man credited with reviving the fortunes of Banbury
