Archive

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ROWING: Falcon's crews triumph in borrowed boats

FALCON RC, Oxford, overcame damage to two boats en route to Northampton to gain 11 wins in the Head of the Nene Regatta. The host club came to their rescue with the loan of their own boats. Most successful of the juniors was Joe Mullett, who

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Narrative verdict given in Littlemore escapee Ian Mitchell inquest

A JURY has tonight delivered a narrative verdict following an inquest into the death of a convict who was able to walk out of an Oxford mental hospital. Ian Mitchell, 44, also known as Ian McLean, was serving a life sentence for stabbing his former

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Plans for Harvester restaurant at Milton Gate

A Harvester restaurant will open at Milton Gate, the new site next to the Milton Interchange and Milton Park. The eaterie, owned by pub firm Mitchell & Butler, will be 6,000 square feet and is the fourth big brand to sign up for Milton Gate

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Update: Temporary traffic lights cleared from Botley Road

THERE were delays earlier on the Botley Road due to temporary traffic lights. Traffic is heavier than usual on the A420 Botley Road heading both ways. The temporary lights were installed because a signal controller for the pedestrian crossing

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Survey: Almost half of businesses believe election will impact on them

HAROLD Wilson believes the outcome of the May 7 general election will have a direct effect on his renewable energy systems business, especially in relation to whether the UK stays within the EU. His view on the importance of the upcoming election

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Tables: GCSE and A Level results for 2014

GCSEs   A Levels Abbreviations SUPP: figures suppressed as they refer to fewer than five pupils NE No entries n/a Not applicable

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Oxford United sign right back Richard Brindley

OXFORD United have signed Richard Brindley on an initial one-month loan deal from Rotherham United. The 21-year-old fills the gap United have had for a specialist right back since Joe Riley’s loan expired at the end of December. Brindley, who

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UPDATE: Snow and sleet forecast for Saturday in Oxfordshire

SNOW has been forecast for Oxfordshire over the weekend and a yellow weather warning is still in place for today. The latest Met Office forecasts predicts Chipping Norton, Faringdon, Thame and Watlington will see a light covering early tomorrow

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Landlord hit with £6,000 sentence for dumping tenants' stuff in shed

A LANDLORD who dumped all of his tenant’s belongings in a garden shed was ordered to pay more than £6,000 in fines, compensation and costs. Saimir Selita, 33, rented out a house in Ladenham Road, Blackbird Leys, to BMW worker Dariusz Kocaba.

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Scales of Justice - 23 people who have been before Oxfordshire's courts

OXFORD Mohammed Akram, 64, of Waynflete Road, Headington, Oxford, admitted speeding at 39mph in a 30mph zone on Bayswater Road in Stanton St John on June 3. Fined £135 and ordered to pay a £20 victims’ surcharge and £85 costs. Licence endorsed

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From the horse's mouth with Michael Morpurgo

Katherine MacAlister talks to Michael Morpurgo, who will read from his novel War Horse at The Sheldonian Theatre tomorrow night Had Michael Morpurgo not been brought up in war-torn London, his life might have been very different. For a small boy

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Confusion over John Campbell's future at Oxford United

JOHN Campbell's future at Oxford United is up in the air as discussions with Jarrow Roofing continue. The deal which brought the striker to the U's in November saw him come on an initial loan until the end of January. At that point if United

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Marble, as the ancients saw it

Ashmolean show is a revelatory riot of colour, says Theresa Thompson What a shock to the system! To walk into the serene soft blue-and-white space of the Ashmolean’s Cast Gallery and see blazingly bright colours on some of the statues — casts of

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Healthy tips for a better life from Sir Muir Gray

Maggie Hartford meets the medical guru who says exercise can slow the ageing process When someone asked how it felt to be 60, Sir Muir Gray replied: “F . . . 60!” and decided to write a book about it. At the time, he was busy creating the National

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Dealer Bon’s hero in his big-screen debut

Margaret Bonfiglioli celebrates her 80th birthday this weekend and had an early present, so to speak, in a family outing at the beginning of last week to the British premiere of a new film, Mortdecai, based on a comic novel-cum-thriller written by

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A heavenly mix of music and art at Ashmolean

Sarah Mayhew Craddock looks forward to another exciting LiveFriday event at the Ashmolean Museum with a mix of music and art created and inspired by William Blake For traditionalists the prospect of throwing open the Ashmolean Museum’s doors to

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Takeaway at the Art Cafe in Oxford

A Sexy Brazilian is what they were offering. I’m not sure why – but that’s what it was... and that’s what I had. That may have caught your attention, as it grabbed mine, but if you’re expecting salacious exploits, you are going to be sadly disappointed

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Nibbles - Red Lion, The City Arms and more

* Enormous congratulations to Andrew Hill, head chef at the Red Lion in Britwell Salome, who was named Gastropub Chef of the Year this week, a huge achievement in such a presigious national competition, his award presented by famous TV chef Tom Kerridge

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Our labour of love to revive the general

Starting Up with Helen Hazelwood @ The General Eliott When I first moved to South Hinksey with my husband, two dogs and four children, I just fell in love with the place – especially the community. My husband was even asked to play for the

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Getting to the heart of a classic American musical

Despite being a ‘seasoned’ screen veteran at just 19, music student Dominic Applewhite tells Katherine MacAlister how directing West Side Story is anything but straightforward Considering Dominic Applewhite has already starred in The King’s Speech

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Tension builds naturally in 'The Serpent Papers'

Rebecca Moore finds plenty to like — and a little to envy — in a thrilling debut work It’s best to avoid the author blurb for The Serpent Papers before diving into the story because you may acquire an unfair bias against it . . . or maybe it’s

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Bad taste? It's just a flavour of what's in store for Andrew Lawrence

Katherine MacAlister talks to an award-winning comedian who is unafraid to tackle mortal taboo ‘All I have set out to do is go on stage and make people laugh. The only question is will it make for a good night’s entertainment,” Andrew Lawrence

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Minimalist concept casts chilling spell in Woman In Black

Christopher Gray sees a play whose success brings it to ever greater heights The Woman in Black, at Oxford Playhouse until Saturday, is proving this theatre’s biggest money-spinner ever. Not a seat remained unsold for the week on Monday’s opening

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Unassuming Mark Watson focuses on laughter

Ateenager pulled from the audience is jammed inside a tiny pop-up tent, while the theme tune to Thomas the Tank Engine blasts out, punctuated by the popping of scores of balloons. It may sound like the kind of weird dream that comes from a late-night

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Review - Arthur Smith's House of Fun @ Oxford Playhouse

Alex Regan on the pros and cons of Arthur Smith's evening of eclectic entertainment Arthur Smith’s House of Fun promised to provide a cavalcade of wonders full of magic, comedy, music, illustration and interpretive dance. Although it provided all

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For Art's Sake with Honor Dawkins-Stean

Valentine’s Day at the Story Museum will be very special. Honor Dawkins-Stean, Assistant to the Directors, explains why With Christmas festivities behind us and the gloomier cold days of January still lingering, at the Story Museum thoughts have

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Secrets of a changing brain

Matt Oliver talks to the scientist whose work may benefit amputees and stroke victims Accepted wisdom tells us that when we are children, our minds are like sponges, and as we get older the brain becomes stuck in its ways. But Oxford scientists

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Sorry to anyone who thought this was serious

Alexander Ewing keeps his opinions to himself In the interest of calm (and future employability), I begin this week’s column with a promise. In what follows I will reveal no information about university or college life — be it positive or negative

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A labour of love for the writer

Luke Welch explains the love affair that led to the writing of his play Waiting for Robert I found William Blake when I was 14. I had been writing poetry religiously for two years after I had fallen through the cracks of the education system. I

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Are all these roadworks in Oxford really necessary?

The county’s highways engineers justify their existence, and of course their salaries, by dreaming up new, and to the layman’s eyes, often unnecessary road projects. Perhaps the most useless of these in recent years has been the disastrous Frideswide

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The Guide: What is happening on the entertainment scene

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All hail to the good burgers of Woodstock

Katherine MacAlister discovers The Kings Arms is holding its own amid a burgeoning culinary scene Having really come into its own in the last few months, Woodstock is now firmly on the culinary map. The opening of The Crown, a sister pub to

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Chef's Special with Emily Watkins at The Kingham Plough

I am Emily Watkins and after a life long passion for food I eventually got the confidence to move to Italy where I got a job in a restaurant in Florence. Seven years ago my husband and I opened The Kingham Plough. We specialise in traditional

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Stornoway fly back with new album - Bonxie

Brian Briggs of Stornoway tells Tim Hughes why he’s more than happy to blow the trumpet for independent music venues Brian Briggs gazes out over the vast salt marshes that stretch from his home to the sea beyond. All is quiet, save the sound

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Ringing in the new at the Oxford Kitchen

All change at an old favourite, but Katherine MacAlister is delighted to find it’s only got better My New Year’s resolution to eat in as many new places as possible ground to a pitiful halt so early in January that it’s embarrassing to even mention

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How to give the day a hearty head start

It’s high time that we restored breakfast to its glorious throne, says Helen Peacocke ‘To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day.” So said Somerset Maugham. Sadly, we all lead such busy lives that there’s seldom time

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Scented spirit of highest summer

Val Bourne sings the praises of the sweet pea, the classic cut-and-come-again garden flower I couldn’t do without sweet peas in my garden because they’re such good cut flower. The more you pick the more you get, and they may not last too long in

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When all my Christmases came at once

Keith Clack of Oxford Ornithological Society is glad he didn’t let fog deter him It was difficult to say when, or indeed if, Christmas Eve actually dawned. Thick fog laid a heavy, grey blanket of vagueness over everything and my first thoughts

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Plot created with carnage in mind

Damon Smith sees Colin Firth prove his action credentials in a gratuitously violent new release Directed at full pelt by Matthew Vaughn, Kingsman: The Secret Service is an outrageous James Bond-esque caper with an unpleasant and sadistic streak

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Double serving of operatic delights

Opera fans are in for a treat next month when two of the UK’s best-loved small-scale opera companies head this way, finds Nicola Lisle Just like the buses, you wait for an opera company and then two come along at once. First there’s The Merry Opera

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Highlights - Alvvays, Pixel Fix and more

Electro-pop PIXEL FIX The Cellar, Oxford Tomorrow Tickets £7 from wegottickets.com or £8 on door The Cellar celebrates Independent Venue Week with a varied night of music curated by Oxford folk-pop act Stornoway. Glitchy electronic

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Soundbites - Balloon Ascents and Laura Mvula

* If you have wandered along the southern side of Cowley Road lately, you can’t have failed to have noticed that one of our favourite venues The Bullingdon is in the midst of a major re-fit. We had our first taste of the new-look backroom on Friday

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Hozier bares his heart and soul

There's just something about Hozier that defies definition. At first glance — and listen — he is yet another long-haired singer-songwriter with a shiny guitar and a nice smile. But give him a second, and it’s impossible to remain impervious to

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Metal outfit Saxon are dedicated to rocking

Tim Hughes chats to Biff Byford of long-running metal band Saxon about life on the road Biff Byford is a genuine, old school, heavy metal rocker.He’s got the hair, the riffs, and, more than anything, the attitude. As frontman of Saxon, Peter

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Thursday, January 29

6:39pm Narrative verdict given in Littlemore escapee Ian Mitchell inquest  %if(after3) %if(after7)

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Sheep dies after flock stray onto A40 near Wolvercote

A SHEEP was killed in an incident which closed the A40 near Wolvercote for almost half an hour last night. About 15 sheep strayed onto the road just before 9pm and were soon followed by more, with as many as 60 causing disruption at one point.

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Oxfordshire schools above the national average for GCSE results

OFFICIAL GCSE results published today show schools in Oxfordshire are doing better than the national average.  The Department for Education has released figures which showed 59.4 per cent of Oxfordshire pupils taking their exams at the end of Year

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Beds in sheds: Almost 300 illegal dwellings across Oxford

THERE are almost 300 illegal dwellings currently across the city, with officials warning the number could rise. New figures have revealed that more than 5,000 suspected unlawful developments were spotted in Oxford by a plane sent up last March.

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Alfie Potter desperate to get smile back after moving from Oxford United

ALFIE Potter says he will always have great memories from his time at Oxford United. However, after completing a move to Sky Bet League Two rivals AFC Wimbledon earlier this month, the winger is now hoping to be able to play football with a smile

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LONDON WELSH: Burnell makes pledge to fringe players

SOME of London Welsh’s squad players have staked a claim for a regular first team place, following good performances in cup games, according to Justin Burnell, writes SIMON WILLIAMS. The continuing struggles of the Exiles – who have lost all 21

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Volunteers praised as ebola vaccine tests progress

THE first results from the trial of an Ebola vaccine have shown it is well tolerated and provokes an immune response. Sixty volunteers were vaccinated at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute in September and November last year. Mum-of-two Ruth

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AUNT SALLY: Banbury in cup delight

Banbury added the Neil West Memorial Cup to their Banbury Indoor League title triumph with a 2-0 win over Deddington in the final. RESULTS Banbury Indoor League – Neil West Memorial Cup quarter-finals: Deddington 2, Wroxton Heath 1; Hook Norton

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BAR BILLIARDS: Leaders Kennington roar back to survive big scare

Gladiators Club B narrowly missed out on a shock win over Premier Division leaders Kennington in the Johnsons Buildbase Oxford League, writes PETE EWINS. The Section 2 outfit led 2-0 after wins from Phil Clark, who inflicted Steven Sheard’s first

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Critics accuse Cameron over a ‘development juggernaut’ in Oxfordshire

DAVID Cameron has been told to face up to the “development juggernaut” unleashed on Oxfordshire by Government planning reforms. The warning comes from Woodstock town councillor and economist Peter Jay, who says the Government had declared “an open

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POINT-TO-POINT: Dabinett Moon shines bright to being Fran and Chris Marriott a popular success

Dabinett Moon provided the biggest cheer of the day when claiming a popular victory for Chipping Norton trainer Fran Marriott at the Heythrop Hunt meeting at Cocklebarrow, near Aldsworth, writes JAKE EXELBY. Having only her third race, the fast-improving

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ATHLETICS: Megan Humphreys in top-ten finish

Oxford City’s Megan Humphreys continued her rich vein of form with a top-ten finish at the South of England Cross Country Championships at Stanmer Park, Brighton. Humphreys, who had won her last two starts in the Oxford Mail League and the Apex

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RACING: Henrietta Knight in Bangor return with Calgary Bay

Henrietta Knight, who handed in her licence in June 2012, is set to make a low-key return to racing by saddling Calgary Bay in a hunter chase at Bangor-on-Dee on Friday, February 6. Knight, 68, brought the curtain down on a glittering career, which

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ICE HOCKEY: Flying start sees Stars earn draw to climb off the bottom

OXFORD City Stars moved off the bottom of the table with a 2-2 draw against London Raiders at Oxpens. The point was enough to leapfrog Cardiff Devils in English National South League Division 1 and ensured the weekend finished on a high, following

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Oxford University will help run new Alan Turing data research facility

OXFORD University is to help run a new data research centre named after famous codebreaker Alan Turing. It will join four other universities at the Alan Turing Institute at London’s British Library. The centre will research the use of data

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Man released on bail after drugs raid

A man arrested during a drugs raid has been released on police bail. The 37-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply. He was arrested after police searched a house in Howard Street, East Oxford on Tuesday

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Parky at the Pictures (In Cinemas 29/1/2015)

It's somewhat apt that Louis Malle's Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) should be reissued in the week that witnesses the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Based on an incident in his own childhood, Malle's first French-language film in a

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Chastleton House enjoying a leading role in BBC’s Wolf Hall

ONE of West Oxfordshire’s most historic properties is currently playing a starring role in hit television series Wolf Hall. Discerning television viewers will notice the Jacobean manor Chastleton House, near Chipping Norton, appearing in many scenes

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Parky at the Pictures (DVD 29/1/2015)

This week saw the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the BFI marks the occasion by releasing André Singer's harrowing documentary, Night Will Fall, on DVD. George Leonard was a Lance Bombardier with the Oxfordshire Yeomanry when

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Bus route diversion to avoid roadwork

Buses are being diverted away from the Kennington roundabout as final work is completed on a hamburger roundabout design. The main scheme, which now has a lane through the middle, was completed before Christmas following six months of traffic delays

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Man denies he sexually exploited underage girls

A MAN accused of arranging child prostitution and conspiracy to rape has denied taking part in any sexual exploitation of three teenage girls. Tilal Mahdi gave evidence for the first time yesterday at Oxford Crown Court and told a jury he had been

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Gifts in wills leave legacy for the future

It can be a very difficult thing to talk to others about what we wish to happen once we pass away and yet our attentions often turn to this thorny issue at this time of year. As the new year is upon us and we make New Year’s Resolutions, our

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Cash for A34 and Oxpens part of £118m bonanza for county

FUNDING to redevelop Oxpens and for A34 improvements will be announced today as part of a £118.4m package to deliver thousands of jobs and new homes across the county. The regeneration of the 20-acre Oxpens site, stretching from the railway station

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Greens wants tax hike to stop disabled facing cuts

COUNCIL tax should be raised by an average of more than £60 a year to stop cuts to disability services, the Green Party has said. The party’s leader on Oxfordshire County Council, David Williams, said the five per cent rise would bring in £8.1