Archive
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Karate kid to take on world's best fighters
FIVE-year-old Ashton Patrick will be pitting his wits against some of the world’s best fighters. The boy from Oxford’s Barton estate is the youngest member of England’s junior team taking part in next month’s World Union of Karate-Do Federations
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Homes plan a ‘gross overdevelopment’ warn councillors
COUNCILLORS will tonight be urged to overturn plans to knock down a 150-year-old Summertown working men’s club for homes. The bid for homes on the site of the closed North Oxford Grove House Club on the corner of Grove Street and Middle Way is “gross
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Going nuts for market
VISITORS to Deddington Farmers’ Market were going nuts as it celebrated its tenth anniversary at the weekend. There was heaps of fun to be had beyond the traditional stalls which line the Market Place on the fourth Saturday of every month. This included
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Suicide bid doorman bounces back from the brink
FIVE years ago Dorian Rodney was a man at his wit’s end who felt he had nothing to live for. The former bouncer had become so desperately depressed with his spiralling £30,000 debt problems he decided to end it all by jumping from the roof of Westgate
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Youth club’s ready for new beginning
VILLAGERS who rallied to save their youth club from closure are gearing up for its relaunch. Wolvercote Young People’s Club is to reopen with new staff next month after a successful fundraising drive. The club was one of 21 across the county that lost
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Carving out a future
It takes three years to complete an apprenticeship as a stonemason, but ten years before you can consider yourself proficient, according to Steve Hughes, managing director of Joslins Stonemasonry. So when he and fellow directors sat in their office
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A taste of Japan
Momo Fujita-Clarkson is one of those people who can produce vast quantities of delicious food without becoming flustered. It is something she has been doing for as long as she can remember and now forms the basis of her Wolvercote-based catering business
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Classics with a wooden heart
Peter Baylis is a skilled craftsman — but the skills he uses in his specialist line of work are open to view for only a short time once it has been completed. At Clanfield Coachbuilding, his main line of business involves making and restoring the wooden
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Family with real drive
Some say the recession is unreal, so little does it affect them. Not so Michael Hatter, a builder; or his son-in-law Mark John, a former IT worker; or Mark’s sister, Melissa; or Melissa’s husband Nick. All of them found it real enough when they found
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Alive and kicking
Do not be fooled by anyone who tells you that manufacturing is dead in the UK. In fact, one company has decided to accelerate its growth by moving to a new building and opening up a new assembly plant for its metal detector business. Fortress Technology
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Dynamic duo find a common cause
Businesses which rely heavily on one person often have difficulties growing. One solution is to find partners whose experience and skills complement those of the founder, allowing the company to expand in ways that would have otherwise been difficult.
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Tuesday, October 4: First Days At School supplement
THERE are hundreds of proud parents who, in the past few weeks, have packed off their children to their local primary school. To commemorate this landmark, we are publishing a special supplement on Tuesday, October 4 covering reception classes
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Local shares (PM)
AEA Technology 2.4 BMW 4531 Electrocomponents 195.7 Nationwide Accident Repair 96 Oxford Biomedica 5.5 Oxford Catalysts 58.5 Oxford Instruments 807.75 Reed Elsevier 506.75 RM 97.25 RPS Group 168.3 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
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Kidlington Youth 7 - 2 Oxford City under 11's A League
Two goals by Kidlington Captain Callum Rolfe helped the home side gain 3 points. The 1st half was fairly even, Ethan Couling putting Kidlington 1 up after 15 minutes. Oxford City equalised after 18 minutes through the lively Awadh Mohamed, but Rolfe
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Bus service does not need a subsidy
THE jobs of 10 drivers at bus firm Thames Travel have been safeguarded after it decided to keep running a route across southern Oxfordshire without a subsidy. The 32 service links Abingdon, Didcot, Harwell and Wantage, and managers have decided they
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Feast of fun down on the farm
Families enjoyed a festival of beer and apples at the Cogges Manor Farm in Witney. The Church Lane tourist attraction, which recently reopened, hosted the autumn treat on Saturday and Sunday. Adults were able to try a range of beers from Witney brewers
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Trying to put a stop to scenes like this
A severely injured motorcyclist lay under the car which had just knocked him off his bike. The car’s front window was cracked and the motorbike lay strewn across the field. This time it was a reconstruction. But, according to ambulance workers, it
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Homelessness up in Oxford
More people have become officially homelesss in Oxford, new figures have revealed. Oxford City Council statistics show 163 households have been forced to live in temporary accommodation in the city since April, compared to 156 over the whole of the 2010
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Camra are going loco over new logo
ALAN Studholme definitely has a reason to crack open a bottle of beer. The 55-year-old from Kidlington had been named winner of The Oxford Beer Festival logo competition. His winning design will now be used to advertise this year’s festival. It was
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Helpers needed to pull together for pub revamp
CHARLIE Spence has been drinking at The Green Tree in Wallingford since he was old enough to buy a round. But he will be pulling the pints in future after coming to the pub’s rescue along with fellow entrepreneur Chris Marsh. The pair have taken over
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Thousands turn out to see classic cars
THOUSANDS of enthusiasts gathered at Blenheim Palace for a Mini and VW extravaganza. The car show took place at the Woodstock stately home on Sunday and featured hundreds of the classic cars. Some 3,500 people attended the event, including
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Fans celebrate Minor’s history
MORRIS Minor enthusiasts from Ireland and the Netherlands joined British motoring fans to celebrate the history of the icon. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the one millionth Minor rolling off the production line. To celebrate
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3,000 people at Grove park party
It was definitely not business as usual at Grove at the weekend. Grove Technology Park celebrated its 15th birthday on Sunday and took the opportunity to celebrate and raise a little bit of money for a good cause at the same time. The day featured live
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60-yard prison trip ‘a waste of money’
THE DECISION to send a van 90 miles to spare a defendant a 60-yard walk has been branded “a total waste of money”, by the man at the centre of the saga. Prison authorities sent a van from Southampton to take Oliver Thomas on the short trip from Banbury
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HOCKEY: Cita at the double for Oxford Hawks
Cita Haines scored twice as Oxford Hawks Ladies got their Conference East campaign off to a flying start by seeing off Horsham 3-0. The visitors’ defence was met with a torrent of attacks in the first half, but Hawks could not find a breakthrough.
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RUGBY UNION: Super Siret shines for Gosford
Round-up WING Patrick Siret grabbed a try treble as Gosford All Blacks saw off Princes Risborough 45-0 in the BB&O Premier Division. Gosford should have taken the lead through replacement Cameron Woods, but he overran the ball. However, flanker Eugene
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Mexican artist is aiming to turn heads
SHRUNKEN heads are bombing their way to Rose Hill this weekend in a special art workshop. Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas will be teaching residents how to make ‘head bombs’ inspired by Amazonian tsantsa, or shrunken heads. The heads, which are
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DARTS: Time to take on the professionals
Professionals Terry ‘The Bull’ Jenkins and Andy ‘The Pieman’ Smith are coming to Langdale Hall, Witney, for an exhibition on Friday, October 14. With most of the games being drawn in a raffle to play with or against the players, everyone who goes has
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DARTS: Deadly duo are world-beaters
OXFORDSHIRE ace Deta Hedman teamed up with former world champion Trina Gulliver to win the women’s pairs title at the World Cup in County Mayo, Ireland. But they did it the hard way battling back from 4-1 down to beat the Netherlands duo of Francis Hoenslaar
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FOOTBALL: Railwaymen appoint Mudge as new boss
Dave Mudge has been appointed as Didcot Town's new manager. It follows the resignation of Francis Vines on Saturday.
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Final switch-off for analogue channels
ANALOGUE channels will be switched off for good in Oxfordshire tomorrow and TV bosses are urging everyone to make sure they are prepared. BBC2 became the first channel to be switched off at the Beckley transmitter two weeks ago. The rest of the channels
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‘All for his own sexual motivation’
“A COVERT and very cunning” Oxford doctor has gone on trial accused of sex offences against patients. Yenugula Srinivas, who was a locum GP, denies 11 allegations against him. Peter Coombe, prosecuting, told jurors at Oxford Crown Court yesterday the
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HOCKEY: Spencer are too hot for Hawks
Oxford Hawks men went down 5-1 at home to Spencer in their last friendly before the league programme begins. It was always going to be a tough game for the hosts, with Spencer playing in the league above them, but Hawks gave as good as they
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RUGBY UNION: Henley hang on to deny Redruth
National 2 South HENLEY Hawks held on for a nerve-jangling 14-13 victory at Redruth. Redruth fly half Brett Rule missed a penalty to win the match with the final kick, but Hawks felt they deserved victory. Rule did put Redruth ahead with a penalty
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RUGBY UNION: Wasteful Witney throw away lead
South West 1 East WITNEY let slip a 21-3 lead to lose 23-21 at Salisbury for their first defeat of the season. It took a late drop goal from Rory Davis to clinch Salisbury’s victory, but Witney had more than enough chances to have won the game before
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Forever blowing bubbles at museum
THERE was double the bubble fun for children at Science Oxford. The science centre hosted a workshop dedicated entirely to bubbles and how they are formed. Children aged between four and seven were invited to create some unusual bubbles of their own
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Nursery school’s security was ‘lax’
SINCE this article was published, Hunsdon House was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted in 2015. See its latest Ofsted report here. SERIOUS safety concerns have been raised by school inspectors scrutinising an an Oxford nursery school. The privately-run
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Scourge of the pavements
On the issue of cycling on the pavement, some years ago the Association of Chief Police Officers issued advice not to prosecute for cycling on pavements and to advise cyclists to use pavements next to A-class roads. Today, cyclists are a menace and dangerous
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Crack down on bad drivers
Parish newsletter The Littlemore Local informs residents of the recent qualifications gained by area beat ‘bobbies’. They have apparently been trained in the use of ‘speed detection’ devices; all we need now is a resolve to use those skills. Perhaps
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Digital scheme is no help
I recently received one of those letters, purportedly from the “Digital Help Scheme”, claiming that as I am disabled, I could have one of my TVs converted to digital, free of charge. I duly booked an appointment for an engineer to arrive to fit a new
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Ban food from cinemas
Here is a suggestion from your valued customers. The Phoenix should be a food-free cinema! We are members (and frequent customers of) and generally enjoy the Phoenix cinema. Two recent excellent films – Tinker Sailor Soldier Spy and Jane Eyre –
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Stop the scaremongering over improvements planned for city
There is a lot going for Northway. It is getting a brand new community centre. Our primary school got much-improved SATs results. All-weather pitches at Court Place Farm are almost ready. We are getting Northway Community Association into shape.
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My respects for lauded songwriter on birthday
You correctly report that September 21 is the 77th birthday of Leonard Cohen who on balance, as it happens, is my favourite singer-cum-songwriter-cum-poet-cum-author come what may in (mainly) the English language for 40 years or more. Unfortunately,
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RUGBY UNION: Carr treble drives Grove
Grove 34, Wallingford 16 A HAT-TRICK of tries from wing Harry Carr helped Grove take top spot in Southern Counties North, despite having three players sin-binned. The home side have now picked up a maximum 15 points this season, although
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RUGBY UNION: 'We let ourselves down'
GROVE head coach Craig Burrows was left frustrated despite his side’s derby victory over Wallingford. Burrows said: “It was five points at the end of the day, but compared to what we are trying to do, we let ourselves down, especially with our discipline
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FOOTBALL: Didcot step-up search for new boss
Didcot Town are continuing their search for a new manager following the resignation of Francis Vines. Vines, 49, who took over three months ago after Ady Williams left to pursue a career in the media, quit after seeing his side crash to a 5-2 home defeat
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On Yer Bike: Perils of being a truly terrible map reader
Anyone who knows me will tell you I am absolutely rubbish with technology and electrical items. I only have to look at a computer and it deletes its own memory. I cleaned the fridge last week and now it’s on the blink. And when it’s my turn to pick up
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Sadism against poor bulls
I have just returned from Spain, where I attended a protest organised by CAS and PACMA in Tordesillas, Valladolid. The protest took place two days before the 500-year-old bloody fiesta where a bull is tortured – this year the bull was named Afligido.
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RUGBY UNION: Chinnor grind out battling victory
National 3 South West CHINNOR battled to a 21-10 victory on their first visit to Bristol’s Old Redcliffians to stay second in the table. The visitors, who gave debuts to flanker Alex Waddingham and wing Tom Gray, took the lead with a penalty
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Clarke frustrated by Oxford United stalemate
Ryan Clarke got more satisfaction out of the recent win over Dagenham than Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Accringon – despite being man-of-the-match in the latter. The goalkeeper’s superb individual performance could not help Oxford United pick up the three
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Music mogul offers words of wisdom
YOU gotta roll with it...was the message from the man behind bands like Oasis and Primal Scream yesterday. Alan McGee, the founder of Creation Records, gave a speech to 100 teenagers at Merton College. He spoke about his upbringing in Glasgow, his love
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Drink driver admits causing teen’s death
A DRINK driver has admitted causing the death of a teenage moped rider. Glen Holburt appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday and admitted causing death by driving without due care and attention while over the alcohol limit. Edward Lynch
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Accused shouted at victim’s friend
A DRIVER who was over the limit ran down a cyclist and killed him before walking back and shouting at the victim’s friend, a jury heard yesterday. Tom Kahl, 18, died at the scene on a country road in the middle of the night after crossing the
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Immigrants ‘need to learn English’
COUNCILS should stop producing literature in foreign languages to encourage more immigrants to learn English, the county council’s leader has suggested. Keith Mitchell said people moving to Britain who did not learn English risked leaving their
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Harley chief takes centre stage
The October meeting of the OxFocus networking group will feature Rob Lindley, managing director of Oxford-based motorcycle firm Harley Davidson. He will talk about how the company has grown in the last year and the importance of branding.
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Martin & Co plays it SAFE
Oxford letting agent Martin & Co has become the latest firm to display the Safe Agent Fully Endorsed (SAFE) logo, where tenants’ and landlords’ money is safeguarded by a client money protection scheme. The launch of SAFEagent follows a number of cases
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COMMENT: It’s all about striking a balance with languages
OUR county council leader has never been one to shy away from a controversial opinion. However, Keith Mitchell may have today sparked an interesting debate. He said people moving to Britain who did not learn English risked leaving their
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Link road inquiry continues
A KEY inquiry into the controversial Cogges Link Road in Witney will resume today. The hearing will decide whether Oxfordshire County Council can compulsorily purchase land for the road. From 10am at the Methodist Church in High Street, Witney, the
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Ploughing match is champion attraction
A WIDE range of steam and horse-powered machinery took part in a ploughing championship in Bampton. Entrants to the competition, which took place in Black Bourton on Saturday, were judged on the straightness of their ploughing. The event
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Campaigners to face fresh fight
EMBATTLED campaigners who defeated plans for a £20m biological plant are facing a new fight just days later. An anaerobic digester could now be built on Sutton Courtenay landfill site after councillors threw out plans for the biological plant there.
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Kids really made a meal out of it
Teenagers will reap the fruits of their labours after serving up a home-grown meal to raise cash for their mentoring project. The event was the culmination of a year of vegetable-growing and recipe-learning for 35 young people from Barton, in Oxford.
