Patience is a virtue, I'm told, it's just not one of mine. Which is why it's taken me so long to revisit Quod on Oxford's High Street. Having attended the opening night in 1999, when, as expected, it took several hours to get our food, I'd left a sensible
Schools are celebrating better GCSE results than last year -- but are set to fall short of tough targets set for the county. Oxfordshire County Council was hoping 56 per cent of pupils would achieve the benchmark five GCSEs at grade C or better this year
Oxford city centre has the worst air pollution in the country, according to a survey which compares inhaling the air there to smoking 61 cigarettes a day. Craig Simmons with 61 cigarettes Nitrogen dioxide levels in Queen Street are almost twice the Government
One of the surprise acts at this weekend's Reading Festival will be Boston Celtic Punk crew Dropkick Murphys. Fortunately you don't have to spend the next couple of days surrounded by over-enthusiastic kids slinging around over-priced lager to be able
Licensing laws caused a village charity picnic to be cancelled because organisers had booked a jazz trio -- and only two musicians can perform without a licence. The picnic was to be held in the spacious gardens of a former ambassador's home in the west
A 38-YEAR-OLD man appeared at Wantage Magistrates' Court to face four charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13. Richard Corke, of Sinodun Road, Didcot, was also charged with seven related incidents of indecent assault on
Abingdon's Eddie Pepperell finished runner-up in the boys' under 13 age group at the 2004 Golf Foundation Weetabix Age Group Championships at the Marriott Forest of Arden. The Frilford Heath member - a former British under 12 champion - shot rounds of
Oxford boss Nigel Wagstaff read the riot act to his team ahead of tonight's Elite League clash with Poole Pirates at the Stadium (7.30pm). He was not best pleased when seeing the Silver Machine crumble in Poole on Wednesdsay, and will be expecting a big
Banbury Chestnuts clinched promotion to the top flight of the Oxford & District League for the first time. They confirmed their Division 1 status for next season with a 52-shot thrashing of Chadlington in the competition sponsored by Frances Baker
Banbury are celebrating a double success as both their Men's A and B teams secured promotion in the Wilson OLTA Inter-Club 3-Pair League. Their first team thumped Woodstock 7 -1 in Division 2 to secure promotion back into the top flight with an impressive
Henley must win the Division 1 title all over again this weekend, after being docked points by the league. The Oxfordshire side thought they had clinched the championship last weekend by thrashing nearest rivals Slough. But the league's decision to penalise
Andy Lyne takes charge of his 1,000th game as a manager when Wantage Town take on Shortwood United at Alfredian Park tomorrow. Lyne, who celebrated his 52nd birthday on Tuesday, first took up a manager's job for Oxford Sunday League side Falcons in 1981
No one could accuse Embrace of being work-shy but even they were shocked at the sheer trauma involved in creating their latest album. The band spent three months in the studio with producer Youth making the expressive and emotive Out Of Nothing -- and
PE lessons may qualify as a fresh subject for movie treatment, but in this film staleness reigns as first-time writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber relies on tired, comedy standbys, such as gays, fat girls and racial caricatures. In pitting the fortunes
Indian-born writer-director M. Night Shyamalan forged his reputation as a film-maker of daring and audacity with his thriller The Sixth Sense. His comic book fantasy Unbreakable and alien invasion thriller Signs have similarly delighted audiences, not
Oxford East MP Andrew Smith was today holding talks with the head of Royal Mail in the city to demand answers about continuing poor service. Mr Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, was meeting area general manager Michael Stockdale, after
Supporters have cautiously praised the style of policing at Wednesday's Carling Cup clash between Oxford United and Reading which prevented a repeat of last season's crowd trouble. About 120 officers were involved and the cost to Oxford United ran into
A nanotechnology company working with microchips less than one millimetre square but containing a wealth of electronic information has won a £678,000 grant. The Department of Trade and Industry grant to Applied Microengineering, Didcot, is among the first
SIR -- Following Carol Renehan's letter (Oxford Mail, August 24), I find it hard to imagine what pledge Andrew Smith MP could make to Littlewoods' staff. Not even MPs can control market forces. There is little he can do to influence whether or not Littlewoods
A nanotechnology company working with microchips less than one millimetre square but containing a wealth of electronic information has won a £678,000 grant. The Department of Trade and Industry grant to Applied Microengineering, Didcot, is among the first
The Monday Night Blues continues with a performance by one of Britain's most versatile -- and funky -- bluesmen. Giles Hedley is known on both sides of the Channel for his talent for captivating entire audiences with his singing, and for his acclaimed
SIR -- It was with disgust that we read the proposal by senior Oxfordshire Labour politician John Power that subsidies for rural bus services should be withdrawn (Oxford Mail, August 18). His statement that "we're wasting taxpayers' money in pursuit of
Can we have our castle walls back? That is the tongue-in-cheek question to be put by Wallingford mayor Theresa Jordan to the Royal Family as part of Wallingford's celebrations to mark the 850th anniversary of the town's charter. The walls of Wallingford
Romantic novelist Jacquie Walton has kissed goodbye to girl meets boy stories and turned to a life of crime. After writing 14 romantic stories for several publishers, Jacquie, 42, has now had her first crime novel, A Narrow Escape, published by Robert
Oxfordshire girls won the Stableford Foursomes Trophy, the Plate competition at Junior County Week for the third successive year. Oxon completed a notable hat-trick with a three-points victory over Hampshire at Redbourne GC, Hertfordshire. With the best
Sainsbury is to revamp a shopping mall it owns as part of the redevelopment of Bicester town centre. The supermarket chain bought the Crown Walk mall, which runs between Market Square and Sheep Street, for more than £13m earlier this year. It will be
History's love affair with tousle-haired Che Guevara receives an unnecessary shot in the arm with Walter Salles's fervent biopic of the revolutionary-minded medical student's gap year. Che toured South America in 1952 as a young medical student with his
An organisation that trains disadvantaged people in Banbury is calling on Cherwell District Council for help to find new premises. The Ethnic Minority Business Service (EMBS), based in two small rooms above shops in Parson's Street, runs free courses
Sainsbury is to revamp a shopping mall it owns as part of the redevelopment of Bicester town centre. The supermarket chain bought the Crown Walk mall, which runs between Market Square and Sheep Street, for more than £13m earlier this year. It will be
North Oxford greengrocer ABC Produce says it is the latest victim of Marks & Spencer's arrival in Banbury Road. ABC says it is giving up its fight to compete with the retail giant which opened a food store in Summertown two years ago. Kate Hamilton
Calor has found a striking way of describing the pollution in Queen Street, Oxford, by suggesting a day of inhalations there would fill you with as much nitrogen dioxide as 61 cigarettes. The alarmist imagery will not be to everyone's taste but the firm's
There would be huge disappointment if plans for a multiplex cinema in Didcot were abandoned, according to a senior district councillor. Critics of the plans including householders in Victorian railway cottages who will be overshadowed by the cinema were
Campaigners calling for the closure of a detention centre have urged local office workers to join their fight against plans to house more than 100 extra immigrants. Employees leaving the Oxford Spires Business Park, Langford Lane, Kidlington, were yesterday
The son of disgraced media tycoon Robert Maxwell has avoided being declared bankrupt. A petition against Kevin Maxwell has officially been withdrawn after the 45-year-old businessman paid off a reported £1m debt. Kevin Maxwell Creditors Global Investments
A specialist cancer hospital for Oxford will fight Britain's biggest killer with art as well as science. "Beauty that soothes the spirit can help the body," will be the pioneering mantra of the £80m Oxford Cancer Centre, to be built on the site of the
Oxford United boss Graham Rix issued a simple message ahead of tomorrow's home game with Shrewsbury: "We need to win". The U's come back to earth after their midweek Carling Cup clash with Reading by taking on last season's promoted Conference play-off
Banbury United manager Kevin Brock is refusing to press the panic button, despite seeing his side slump to the foot of the Southern League Premier Division table after their midweek defeat at Halesowen. Brock, whose side have managed just one point so
SIR -- How nice to read (Oxford Mail, August 25) the sense of responsibility Oxford city councillors have when it comes to attending meetings about the annual accounts. It gives me so much confidence in these councillors, the way they look after council
