Archive
-
Date
Image of hospital sex attacker issued by police
POLICE want to speak to this man in connection with a sexual assault in Bicester. The victim, in her 20s, was attacked in the car park of Bicester Community Hospital, in Kings End, at about 8.45pm on Saturday. Her attacker is white, in his mid-20s or
-
Date
Firefighters battle to rescue horse from river
Firefighters were battling to save a horse from the Thames last night. The animal had fallen into the river close to the Southern Bypass between Hinksey Roundabout and Heyford Hill Roundabout, Oxford. Fire crews from Rewley Road and Kidlington were
-
Date
Documentary puts spotlight on Cowley Road
FROM a medieval leper colony, to a Victorian workhouse and the scene of some of Oxford’s most famous protest movements, Cowley Road has always reflected social change in Oxford. Now a documentary film is being made telling the history of the road, traced
-
Date
Teenagers take centre stage at UN
Two young actors from Oxfordshire took centre stage at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday. Martha Schofield, 17, from Oxford, and Fred Kirby, 16, from Witney, took part in a performance of the Gaza Monologues, a play highlighting the
-
Date
School leaver guide goes online
YOUTH workers have reacted angrily after Oxfordshire County Council stopped printing copies of a handbook to help school leavers. The 200-page Survival Guide for Young People which has been published since 1997, will now only be available on the Internet
-
Date
End of the line for free taxi tokens
MORE than 11,000 pensioners and disabled people could lose free taxi travel under cost-cutting plans, sparking fears that rural residents will be left isolated. But all county pensioners would be able to use free bus passes from 9am, instead
-
Date
Teenager charged with manslaughter over David Cox death
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter following the death of an Oxford University kitchen porter. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear at Oxford Youth Court on Wednesday, December 8. The charge relates to the
-
Date
New homes could mean villagers are turned away from Wallingford School
PLANS for hundreds of homes could mean village pupils are turned away from Wallingford School, its headteacher has warned. Will Wyllis said Benson, Cholsey, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Shillingford and Warborough pupils will be turned away if its catchment
-
Date
Local shares (PM)
AEA Technology 5.5 BMW 5100 Electrocomponents 268.5 Nationwide Accident Repair 97 Oxford Biomedica 9.2 Oxford Catalysts 61.5 Oxford Instruments 592.25 Reed Elsevier 514.25 RM 154.25 RPS Group 224.8 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
-
Date
Youngsters start building their own homes
WORK has started on the county’s first self-build project that will see 20 unemployed teenagers construct homes that ten of them will move in to. Banbury’s MP Tony Baldry used a mechanical digger to make the first cut at a former allotment site in Miller
-
Date
Pupils to march on Westminster
OXFORDSHIRE pupils are to march on Downing Street in a bid to get axed school sports cash reinstated. They will join thousands of youngsters calling for sports partnership funding to be spared from a Government spending axe. Pupils from Blessed George
-
Date
Police renew road death appeal
Police are reappealing for information after a 48-year-old pedestrian died after being struck by a car in Banbury. The woman was lying down in Gatteridge Street at 6.34pm on Saturday, November 13 when the collision with a Toyota Corolla happened, police
-
Date
Family of man crushed in dumper truck raise £2,300
FRIENDS and family of a man who was crushed to death in a building site accident have raised almost £2,300 for two charities in his memory. The cash was raised at Royston Dean’s funeral and other events, and has been donated to Dogs for the Disabled
-
Date
Sandwich shop to train young
A CHARITY has opened a sandwich shop to train young people to earn their own bread. On a Roll opened in Church Walk, Banbury this week thanks to a £450,000 Big Lottery grant to the Banbury Young Homeless Project. The funding will run out after five
-
Date
Libraries and youth services go as cuts bite
YOUTH centres and libraries in Banbury will close under money-saving council proposals, unless volunteers come forward to run them. Oxfordshire County Council has announced plans to stop funding 20 of Oxfordshire’s 43 libraries from next year, to save
-
Date
A fitting new home for a genius of the stage
It had not occurred to me until the other day that I have been a regular visitor to Elisabeth Scott’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre for more than half of its existence. It was completed — the first major public building by a woman architect — in 1932
-
Date
AA worker seriously injured in ice crash
Police are appealing for witnesses after a breakdown recovery worker was seriously injured in a collision on an unclassified road in Hook Norton. A 47-year-old man from Buckingham, who works for the AA, suffered serious chest injuries in the collision
-
Date
Brasserie Blanc: Walton Street, Oxford
The opening party at Le Petit Blanc in the summer of 1996 remains vividly in my mind all these years later. This is not surprising, perhaps, since it became a champagne-drenched affair eventually to involve a substantial stretch of Walton Street
-
Date
How to make brandy trifle
The earliest recipe for trifle dates back to 1596. Over the centuries it has evolved from a mere cooked cream, to the many-layered extravagance we know today. In Trifle (Prospect Books, £9.99) Helen Saberi and the late Alan Davidson guide us through
-
Date
Maldonado joins Williams F1
The Grove-based AT&T Williams F1 team today confirmed that Pastor Maldonado would contest the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship for them. The appointment finalises the team’s line-up for next year following confirmation in November that
-
Date
Ideal festive gifts for the foodie in your life
Another Christmas — another pile of delicious books for the cook in your life, and friends who like to cook, but need encouragement and inspiration before they pick up a wooden spoon. Tiffany Goodall’s First Flat Cookbook (Quadrille, £9.99) is
-
Date
Anne Hyde of Cornbury: the wife of a future king
Only two English girls have married either an heir presumptive or an heir apparent to the English throne in the last 500 years or so — and neither went on to be queen. One was Lady Diana Spencer when she married Prince Charles in 1981, and the other
-
Date
Monsters and Megamind
James Cameron please take note: you don’t need to spend $200m to smack an audience’s gob. British writer-director Gareth Edwards challenges the conventional thinking that bigger is always better when it comes to special effects-laden science fiction
-
Date
Graham Rice: Cuckoo Lane Art Studio
Visitors entering Cuckoo Lane Art Studio, Cuckoo Lane, near North Leigh, would be forgiven for assuming the pictures on show have been painted by several different artists. This is not so. The eclectic mix of works are all by Graham Rice, who has been
-
Date
Preview of Frank Turner and Dive Dive at The Regal, Oxford
Oxford’s Dive Dive will complete a strange three years when they support Frank Turner at the Regal on Sunday. Made up of singer Jamie Stuart, guitarist Ben Lloyd, drummer Nigel Powell and bassist Tarrant Anderson, the band released their debut album
-
Date
Alice in Wonderland: Oxfordshire Theatre Company, Pegasus Theatre and touring
On entering the auditorium of the Pegasus to see Oxfordshire Theatre Company’s winter show, Alice in Wonderland, I took especial note of the set — aware that this production would be sent forth to a myriad of different halls, theatres and community
-
Date
Love and Money: O'Reilly Theatre
David (Jeremy Neumark Jones — pictured) is sitting in his flat, chewing his nails. He stares at his laptop: what’s he going to say to Sandrine, his new French girlfriend? Inspiration dawns: he will initiate a discussion about British sandwiches
-
Date
Treasure Island: The Watermill Theatre, Newbury
They came brandishing cutlasses, wearing black eye-patches and tricorn hats flaunting that potent emblem of the pirate’s trade, the skull and crossbones. Well, fliers had urged us to put on suitable attire for the Watermill’s Treasure Island, and
-
Date
Ariadne auf Naxos: Welsh National Opera, The New Theatre, Oxford
Among other accolades —including a degree from Oxford University — Richard Strauss was made an honorary citizen of Naxos. This was in thanks for the “consummate work” in which he gave artistic expression to the Greek island’s myth (the Naxians generously
-
Date
Ariadne auf Naxos: Welsh National Opera, The New Theatre, Oxford
Among other accolades —including a degree from Oxford University — Richard Strauss was made an honorary citizen of Naxos. This was in thanks for the “consummate work” in which he gave artistic expression to the Greek island’s myth (the Naxians
-
Date
Oxford Philomusica: Sheldonian Theatre
Two 19th-century masterpieces, and a whiff of the 21st century were on offer at this sell-out concert. The whiff was of fresh paint — the Sheldonian’s rather severe new colour scheme has been completed. But the biggest shock comes from the lighting. Gone
-
Date
Musical Theatre Oxford: Du Pre Building
There was a touch of Broadway and West End glamour at the JDP when Musical Theatre Oxford — a new training academy for those wanting to pursue a career in this enduringly popular genre — showcased a selection of songs from hit musicals, from the 1920s
-
Date
Greg Davies: The Glee Club
Greg Davies is best known as Mr Gilbert, the fearsomely whipsmart teacher in E4’s wonderfully puerile sitcom The Inbetweeners, but he’s also a rising stand-up on the comedy circuit. As well as being part of daft sketch collective We Are Klang,
-
Date
Cinderella: Birmingham Royal Ballet
David Bintley’s new take on Cinderella is a darker account of the tale than the jolly panto story it often is. It must have been hard for him to put out of his mind the celebrated Ashton version, in which he himself danced, and to do so he has gone for
-
Date
Dante in the Chapel: Mansfield College
This hour-long evocation of the spirit of Dante’s Divine Comedy was first performed in Cambridge two years ago, but its arrival in Oxford is appropriate for several reasons. First, the reader was Prof Robin Kirkpatrick, a Dante scholar, quoting from his
-
Date
Beauty and the Beast: Chipping Norton Theatre
Do you like snow? Well, you can be sure of the real thing if you visit Chippy panto. As Ma, her family, and their poodle Chipie set off to try to rescue Beauty from the Beast’s castle, real, wet snowflakes descend — not only on the intrepid rescue
-
Date
Oxfordshire dealer to supply Nissan Leaf
West Way Nissan, at the Oxford Motor Park, is one of the network of dealers who will be supplying the 2011 European Car of the Year, the 100% all-electric Nissan LEAF, when deliveries start in March 2011 in the UK. The outlets will be equipped
-
Date
E-fit issued after Bicester sex attack
Police today issued an e-fit of a man they want to speak to in connection with a sexual assault in Bicester. At about 8.45pm on Saturday, a woman in her twenties, was attacked in the car park of Bicester Community Hospital, in Kings End.
-
Date
Future of Abingdon's Guildhall is secured after £1million deal
THE future of Abingdon’s historic Guildhall has been secured in a £1m deal, civic leaders have revealed. An agreement has been reached that will see Abingdon Town Council take over the loss-making Abbey Close venue from Vale of White Horse District Council
-
Date
One of UK's oldest military charities gears up for 125th birthday
ONE of the UK’s oldest military charities is celebrating its birthday in Oxford this weekend. On Saturday, Christ Church Cathedral will be packed out to celebrate 125 years of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airman’s and Families Association (SSAFA). SSAFA gives
-
Date
U's extend Steve McLean loan
OXFORD United have moved quickly to extend the loan spell of striker Steve McLean. The on-loan Plymouth forward has looked a class act - and got off the mark as United shocker League Two leaders Chesterfield last week. He will remain with the club until
-
Date
SCHOOL FOCUS: St Nicholas' Primary, Old Marston
JEDWARD lookalikes jumped across the stage, a gifted violinist played a solo in front of her peers, and an incredible 10-year-old breakdancer wowed his classmates. This was Goat Factor – St Nicholas’ School’s annual talent competition to raise
-
Date
SCHOOLS' FOOTBALL: Cherwell march on
Cherwell School (Oxford) marched on in the ESFA Under 16 Girls Schools’ Cup with a 2-1 home win over Maiden Erlegh (Reading) in the fifth round. Katie Fleming and Daisy Tuckwell netted to take Cherwell into the last-16 draw on Monday. Cherwell’s boys
-
Date
SCHOOLS' FOOTBALL: Headford boosts Oxon
Luca Headford’s double helped Oxfordshire to a 3-1 win over Bedfordshire in the ESFA Under 14 Inter County Trophy second round at The Arena, Baldock. Playing on an artificial 2G pitch, Oxon dominated the first 20 minutes and took the lead when
-
Date
FOOTBALL: Wanderers off bottom
Witney Wanderers beat the weekend freeze to see off Hanborough Res 2-0 and move off the bottom of Witney & District FA Division 1, writes ANTHONY BARLOW. With the majority of the programme decimated by bitterly cold weather, Wanderers produced
-
Date
SCHOOLS' FOOTBALL: Vale smash perfect ten
Vale of White Horse overwhelmed Jersey 10-1 in the ESFA Under 15 Trophy fourth round on Tuesday. The match was switched from Milton United to the artificial 3G pitch at Swindon’s Greendown School. And after a sticky start, which saw Vale fall behind
-
Date
FOOTBALL: Berinsfield bomb on
Division 4 leaders Berinsfield extended their 100 per cent record to nine matches by defeating Didcot Casuals Res 3-1 in the North Berks League. Mark Ingram scored twice for Berinsfield, with Chris Owens grabbing the other. Dan Knapp replied. Andy Sutherland
-
Date
FOOTBALL: Srawley stars for Wootton
Tom Srawley’s double helped Wootton & Dry Sandford see off North Berks League Division 1 rivals Harwell International 3-2 in the Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup third round, writes Phil Annets. Wootton went ahead inside five minutes when Shaun Bray collected
-
Date
Don't cut sport says Olympic visitor
YOUNGSTERS took part in a rowing workshop with some Olympic leadership. Miriam Batten, who won silver at the 2000 games and represented Great Britain for 11 years, introduced pupils at Carterton Community College to the sport. The visit
-
Date
FOOTBALL: Great Dane calls in at Kidlington
Former Liverpool and Denmark star Jan Molby was guest speaker at Kidlington annual sportsman’s dinner. The event included an auction of signed football shirts, with Paddy Walsh of Walsh Haulage Oxford making a winning bid for a signed Chelsea top
-
Date
Hairy way to raise cancer charity cash
YOU may have noticed a strange increase in the amount of men sporting facial hair over the past month. It is not because of the colder weather – it has all been part of ‘Movember’, a month-long event to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Charity. Across
-
Date
Local share prices (AM)
AEA Technology 5.5 BMW 4988 Electrocomponents 266 Nationwide Accident Repair 97.5 Oxford Biomedica 9.25 Oxford Catalysts 61.5 Oxford Instruments 591 Reed Elsevier 512.25 RM 154.5 RPS Group 224.5 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
-
Date
'Help us bring our son's body home'
“We have lived with this nightmare for over eight years... we do not have any closure and it’s difficult to move on with our lives this way.” Those were words of an Oxford family who last night pleaded for help to find the body of their son. Jonathan
-
Date
Gas leak closes A415
A gas leak today closed the A415 Abingdon to Witney road. The leak occurred between the A338, at Frilford, and Digging Lane, Kingston Bagpuize. The road is closed in both directions and emergency repairs are under way.
-
Date
Force faces action over stop and search tactics
POLICE in Oxfordshire could face enforcement action for disproportionate use of stop and search powers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has written to Thames Valley Police and Leicestershire Constabulary warning them about possible action
-
Date
Wednesday, December 1: Boris kicks of Badvent month
POLICE are hoping to wish some of Oxfordshire’s shady suspects a very “Merry Christmas” this year... face to face in the police station. The Oxford Mail is today unveiling its first ever Badvent Calendar featuring mugshots of people officers
-
Date
Police issue plea over A34 cyclist death
Police today appealed for witnesses after a cyclist died following a collision on the A34 near Oxford last night. The cyclist was on the southbound carriageway of the A34, a quarter of a mile from the Pear Tree interchange, when he was involved
-
Date
FOOTBALL: Josh McEachran heading for the top
CONSIDERING he is being talked about as one of England football’s future stars, Josh McEachran is remarkable relaxed. The 17-year-old, from Kirtlington, is the envy of almost every teenager in the country. But despite his meteoric rise, here is somebody
-
Date
Heating hints
I WOULD like to give some advice to your readers who are about to or recently had plumbing and heating work carried out on their properties, to make sure that they engage a competent person or company. While I can only speak on behalf of members of the
-
Date
Valuable service
It is understandable that the budget for libraries must be cut, but there are many costs that can be cut other than closing branches. These include shortening the hours open, cutting the number of days open, not purchasing as many or any new titles, or
-
Date
Half-cock scheme
Your news item about the proposed electrification of the Paddington-Didcot-Oxford railway (Friday’s Oxford Mail) is appropriately less enthusiastic than the comments from rail user groups. It really is a case of two cheers only, perhaps not that. The
-
Date
No clothes for fuddy-duddies
MRS J Hill (Last Friday’s ViewPoints), hit the nail right on the head. Of course there are no clothes for the likes of us old fuddy-duddies. Everything centres on the young these days (some of us still do snail-mail). Dear lady, get on a number 10
-
Date
SASSY & SINGLE: Special moment at Brize Norton
On any given day in Oxfordshire, while you and I are going about our normal lives, something very special happens at RAF Brize Norton. It’s something most of us will never get to see but on Monday I was privileged enough to witness this event. It’s not
-
Date
FOOTBALL: Barrett hammers super treble
Aaron Barrett smashed a hat-trick as Corner House cruised to a 5-1 win against Fairview in the RT Harris Oxford City FA. Mark Barrett and Delroy Nanton were their other marksmen. Ryan Taylor was the hero as he hammered in a late winner for Nuffield
-
Date
FOOTBALL: Hawkins bags last-gasp win
Perry Hawkins notched a late winner as Middleton Cheney beat the big freeze with a 3-2 win at Broughton & North Newington in Division 1 of the Oxfordshire Senior League. In one of only a few matches to survive the cold snap, Broughton took
-
Date
Jobs boost for Travelodge
Twelve jobs are being created at the head office of budget hotel chain Travelodge in Thame. They are part of 200 new staff being recruited across the country as the company opens six new hotels in Maidenhead, Chichester, London, Horsham, Paignton and
-
Date
A Christmas Carol: Cratchit if you can.........
Ventured out last friday night to Lain’s Barn to witness the Domino Players take on A Christmas Carol. What finer production for this time of year? Review herewith: A Christmas Carol, the timely seasonal offering from Domino Players centres
-
Date
Economic fantasy
SO Chris Robins thinks Keith Mitchell lives in Cloud Cuckoo Land (ViewPoints, November 22). Having read Mr Robins’s elementary summary of how a major economy works, I imagine he must still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Paying people from
-
Date
Early Christmas
Perhaps the Rev Jane Sherwood (Last Thursday’s The Issue) should take advice from some of her colleagues. While on holiday in Cornwall, we visited Truro Cathedral on September 14 and were amazed to see a shop set up in one of the aisles, complete with
-
Date
County 'has enough salt to deal with snow'
“YES, we have enough salt” – that is the message from Oxfordshire County Council as residents brace themselves for plummeting temperatures. A light blanket of snow cloaked much of the county yesterday and more of the white stuff could fall before the
-
Date
COMMENT: Standards slide
WELL, we had the first sprinkling and once again people refuse to take heed on the roads. The A roads are fine but the minor roads, despite so little snowfall, are slippery. Yet too many motorists are refusing to heed the conditions. They might deserve
-
Date
Dog walker has lucky escape after falling through ice
A POLICEMAN was recovering last night after plunging through ice on a frozen lake while trying to rescue his Labrador dog. The off-duty officer suffered severe hypothermia after being trapped in Radley Lakes for almost an hour before firefighters were
-
Date
Crash pilot in court over kill threats
THE pilot in the election-day plane crash which injured UKIP leader Nigel Farage has appeared in court accused of threatening to kill the politician. Justin Charles Oliver Adams, 45, of Glenwood, Buckland, near Faringdon, appeared at Oxford
-
Date
Student protesters lay siege to city
SCHOOLCHILDREN and sixth formers stormed County Hall yesterday, in a day of anti-tuition fees protests that saw mounted police forced to defend high street shops. Two even reached the building’s roof, before pupils took their protest around
-
Date
More speeding drivers go back to school
Speeding drivers in Thames Valley are being given greater opportunities to attend educational courses as an alternative to prosecution from today. Thames Valley Police will be offering Speed Awareness Courses to motorists travelling at greater
-
Date
COMMENT: A time and a place for protesting
CHENEY School headteacher Jolie Kirby is right to fire a warning to her students not to get carried away with the uprising against increased tuition fees. There is a time and place for schoolchildren – for that is what they are – to protest quite properly
-
Date
UPDATE: Mark Weston on trial again over killing of Vikki Thompson
THE husband of Vikki Thompson yesterday told jurors how he asked his wife who her assailant was after he found her with serious head injuries in the West Oxfordshire countryside. Jonathan Thompson spoke at the trial of Mark Weston, who is accused
-
Date
Britain braced for more icy weather
Fresh snow showers and sub-zero temperatures will continue to blight Britain as the icy weather that has gripped the country over the past week shows little sign of easing. About 15cm of snow is expected on higher grounds with strong 30mph
-
Date
Oxford United fans offered chance of a lifetime
Oxford United are offering their biggest prize draw in recent history for those buying tickets to their Christmas games. One supporter will get the prize of a lifetime – meeting manager Chris Wilder, the coaching staff and players at United’s training
-
Date
Danger fear for play area
COUNCIL managers have been criticised for building a £11,840 climbing frame – just yards from a busy road. The rope-and-timber climbing frame at the Ladygrove estate is too close to Cow Lane and the Cow Lane tunnel, said South Oxfordshire district
-
Date
Save our services
COMMUNITY leaders are being urged to save Wallingford Youth Centre and libraries threatened with closure. Oxfordshire County Council has proposed an end to funding for the centre in the town’s Clapcot Way and another youth centre run at the
-
Date
Deal secures future of town's Guildhall
THE future of Abingdon’s historic Guildhall has been secured in a £1m deal, civic leaders have revealed. An agreement has been reached that will see Abingdon Town Council take over the loss-making Abbey Close venue from Vale of White Horse
-
Date
Policeman rescued after falling through ice on lake
A POLICEMAN was taken to hospital in a serious condition after falling through ice on a frozen lake while trying to rescue his dog. The off-duty officer suffered severe hypothermia after being trapped in a former gravel pit at Radley for almost
-
Date
'Poshstock' finds a picturesque new home
IT IS one of the most beautiful villages in Oxfordshire, if not the whole of England. And from this summer it will also host the county’s classiest music festival. After months of speculation, the organiser of Cornbury Festival has revealed the event
-
Date
Charity backs fit-for-work tests review
A CITY charity has welcomed a Government pledge to improve the tests which determine if someone is fit for work. In September, the Oxford Mail reported that a number of people were being declared ‘fit for work’ when they were not. It included a 28-year-old
-
Date
Let your hair down with Creation's Rapunzel
THEATRE-GOERS will be letting down their hair this Christmas with a fairy tale being staged at the Mini factory in Cowley. Creation Theatre has unveiled its latest production, Rapunzel or the Magic Pig, being staged in the 100-year-old Mirror Tent at
