Archive

  • UPDATE: Body found in water in West Oxford

    FIREFIGHTERS have recovered a body, believed to be that of a young man who went missing while swimming with friends in Oxford. Police spokesman Rebecca Webber said: "Thames Valley Police is investigating an unexplained death in Oxford this

  • UPDATE: Firefighters dredge water for missing man

    Firefighters are tonight dredging part of an Oxford stream after a young man went missing following a swim with his friends. Police, fire crews and an ambulance were called to Tumbling Bay bathing place, part of Bullstake Stream, behind West Oford Community

  • Man missing after playing in water

    A POLICE helicopter and firefighters are currently searching for a man who went missing after playing in water in West Oxford. Police received a call at 6.15pm after a group of four men who had been playing near a weir near West Oxford Community Centre

  • Scary East Hagbourne has lots to crow about

    DOCTOR Dolittle, Ace Ventura and Bill Oddie have all been stuffed with straw and hoisted around East Hagbourne for the village’s annual scarecrow trail. Little Bo Peep, the Pied Piper, and Beatrix Potter are also among 34 entries in the competition,

  • Frank's video shoot is a walk in the park

    SOLO musician Frank Turner was filming a music video in Oxford today. The video was for his song Try This At Home and shot, in part, in South Park. Eton-educated Mr Turner, 28, said: “We were in Oxford, basically trawling the streets and getting people

  • Child pornography found at Oxford man's home

    A 31-YEAR-OLD Oxford man has been given a three-year supervision order after downloading child pornography. Police raided Damien Garford’s home and found a combination of 81 videos and images, including 45 at levels four and five – the most serious.

  • Sell it off, but get the right price

    IT seems there are big changes ahead at the Town Hall. Oxford City Council is planning to sell off city centre office buildings to generate £5m in capital and save £500,000 a year in costs. Its plans also include a proposal to vacate one of the city

  • Get your school to make an SOS

    PARENTS are being urged to put pressure on their primary schools to sign up for the Oxford Mail’s SOS competition. We have teamed up with Abingdon construction company Leadbitter for the second year running to offer one lucky school improvements

  • Widow receives Didcot bomb disposal expert's medal

    THE widow of Didcot-based Army bomb disposal expert Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid today paid tribute to her husband as she received his George Cross. Christina Schmid, whose husband served with the Royal Logistic Corps at the town's Vauxhall Barracks, was presented

  • Future of ice rink looks assured

    THE future of Oxford’s ice rink looks to have been secured – with the city council ready to invest in new equipment to keep the leisure facility going. Councillors are ready to pay for a new £450,000 ice rink chiller, with the existing unit having reached

  • Hopes rise for children’s heart ops

    HOPES were mounting tonight that children’s heart surgery services could be saved in Oxford. Rather than facing closure, in the aftermath of the suspension of services following the death of four children, it emerged the Radcliffe Hospitals Trust is

  • Home, James

    EVER want to be a member of a secret society? Share the ranks with the likes of Al Pacino, Ian Fleming and even Roger Moore. Imagine being greeted by a doorman in a top hat. You step onto a red carpet and walk up to the gleaming foyer complete with gilded

  • Grace’s art will be a lasting memorial

    A FAMILY will mark what would have been the 19th birthday of Oxford schoolgirl Grace Hadman tomorrow. Just over a year after the popular teenager’s tragic death in a car crash on the A34, her parents and brothers said her memory lives on as

  • City Pride on parade

    Oxford's annual festival of all things gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered is set to start on Friday. This year, Oxford Pride will be a ten-day festival – culminating in a colourful parade through the city centre on Saturday, June 12. The

  • BOWLS: Kingston show off new surface

    Kingston Bagpuize president Peter van-de-Mortel (seated) and chairman Mike Cox proudly survey the club’s magnificent new all-weather rink before their friendly match against West Witney on Sunday. The £34,000 cost of this six-rink green was accumulated

  • BOWLS: Central pip rivals in thriller

    Reigning champions Banbury Central A pipped Division 1 favourites Headington A by one shot in a thrilling clash in the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries. No more than four shots separated any rink as Central edged home 79-78

  • BOWLS: Nicoll and Miles land cup debuts

    Headington's Craig Nicoll and Witney’s Chris Miles make their Middleton Cup debuts in Oxfordshire’s Group 3B opener against Hampshire at Atherley on Saturday. Nicoll will bowl at No 3 in skip Howard Watts’s rink, while Miles comes in as lead for Alan

  • GOLF: Frilford go second

    Frilford Heath went second in Section 1 of the Shaw Gibbs Oxfordshire Foursomes League with a 2-1 victory at home to bottom club Ellesborough. SHAW GIBBS OXFORDSHIRE FOURSOMES LEAGUE Section 1 Frilford Heath 2 (3pts), Ellesborough 1 (1) (Frilford

  • ATHLETICS: Oxon ace Seb gets golden advice

    Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener has urged Oxfordshire 200m ace Sebastian Tully-Middleton not to rest on his laurels if he wants to export his domestic success onto the international stage. Tully-Middleton, from Culworth, near Banbury, had a vintage

  • BAR BILLIARDS: County titles for Jones and Withey

    Mike Jones was crowned county singles champion after a surprise 7,540-4,540 win against Dave Tooke in the final at Gladiators Club. Jones set up a showdown with Tooke after beating Ian Moss 7,540-5,960 in the semis. Tooke booked his place with a 4,540

  • GOLF: Pauline breaks record

    North Oxford's Pauline Sydenham has set a new course record at the club – off a handicap of 13! The club’s lady president went round the newly-lengthened course in 75 strokes for a nett 62, eight strokes below the new standard scratch score of 70. It

  • ATHLETICS: Brackett's five marathons in five days

    Woodstock Harrier Paul Brackett successfully completed the equivalent of five marathons in five days, for the first time, in the Forces March last week. The event, organised by Prospect 65 and with the object of raising money for injured servicemen,

  • AMERICAN FOOTBALL: Super Saints put Bulls to the sword

    Oxford Saints stormed to the top of South West Conference Division 1 following a 28-2 hammering of Birmingham Bulls at Abingdon RFC – their fourth win out of four. The hosts took the lead in the first quarter when Jay Taylor powered the ball over from

  • POINT-TO-POINT: Bon Accord calls the tune for Hill

    Bon Accord returned to his brilliant best with a sparkling success at Kingston Blount, near Chinnor, to initiate a double for Aston Row-ant trainer Alan Hill, which was completed by Bynack Mhor. The 2008 Christie’s Foxhunter runner-up had struggled to

  • Local share prices

    02/06/2010 pm AEA Technology 18 BMW 3261 Electrocomponents 217.55 Nationwide Accident Repair 83.5 Oxford Biomedica 10 Oxford Catalyst 72.5 Oxford Instruments 259.5 REED 473.6 RM 171 RPS Group 195 Prices courtesy of Redmayne Bentley

  • Time to wake up

    IT IS good news that Oxford is to get a quality bus partnership, thereby ending the absurdity of two companies competing for the same traffic, with separate ticketing, routing and timetables. The new hybrid buses should also help reduce air pollution

  • Trams can help to clean up pollution

    I WOULD like to follow up the excellent letter last week referring to trams in Oxford (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, May 26). Last month I visited Geneva for a few days, partly to look at the tramway system. To say the least, I was most impressed. Since

  • Passenger group’s new chair

    THE Cotswold Line Promotion Group, which represents passengers on the Oxford-Worcester rail route, has a new chairman. John Ellis, a former senior railway manager, was elected to replace Derek Potter at the group’s annual meeting. Mr Potter, who has

  • Protect meadow

    THE Friends of Oxpens Meadow welcome city council leader Bob Price’s commitment to protecting Oxford’s green lungs but we are concerned that the council might now be looking to build yet more houses at Oxpens. If this is the case, the protection of

  • Cruel proposal

    MY FEARS about the coalition government have been confirmed. Despite the fact that David Cameron failed to win a majority, the influence of the Countryside Alliance within the Tory Party has prevailed, and – to the eternal disgrace of the Liberal Democrats

  • Celebrations boost community spirit in Botley

    A GROUP of Oxford residents are revving up for their largest annual celebrations. Organisers of the North Hinksey Festival are putting the finishing touches to a planned three-week celebration with concerts, art exhibitions, a street fair and a classic

  • City Pride on parade

    OXFORD’S annual festival of all things gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered is set to start on Friday. This year, Oxford Pride will be a 10-day festival – culminating in a colourful parade through the city centre on Saturday, June 12. The theme

  • Community centre plan a step closer

    OXFORD residents fighting for a new community centre for more than a decade are set to win outline planning permission for their scheme. The proposed site in the heart of Jericho consists of a small part of the Jericho boatyard site and city council-owned

  • Revived Wittenham festival proves a noted success

    HUNDREDS of families and music lovers flocked to a village pub for the revival of a free charity music festival. The Wittstock Festival last took place in 2007, but about 300 people visited the Railway Inn, in Culham, to join this year’s festivities

  • School scores a first with US links

    A WEST Oxfordshire school is the first in Britain to be accredited for catering for an American curriculum. Kingham Hill School, in Kingham, has gained a US endorsement from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). The pioneering

  • Army doc's epic voyage under way

    TWO Army doctors are hoping to set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain. Captains Hamish Reid and Nick Dennison, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, aim to become the first pair to row non-stop and unsupported around the British

  • High School chooses new head

    A NEW headteacher has been appointed at Oxford High School. Felicity Lusk, who had been in charge of the independent school in Belbroughton Road, Oxford, for 13 years, announced she would be leaving in November after she was offered the headship at Abingdon

  • Woman robbed in Radley

    Police today appealed for witnesses after a woman was robbed in Radley. The 51-year-old woman was walking along Thrupp Lane when she was approached by a man who said he had a knife and demanded she hand over her iPod and keys. The woman did and the

  • Police fear man may have been abducted

    Police are looking for a man they believe may have been abducted in Oxford. At about 7pm on Friday, a member of the public reported seeing someone being bundled into a small vehicle outside the Cape of Good Hope pub in Cowley Road. However

  • Police plea over Oxford abduction

    Police today released CCTV images of a man they want to speak to in connection with an alleged abduction in Oxford. At around 7pm on Friday, a member of the public reported seeing a man being bundled into a small vehicle outside the Cape of Good Hope

  • Widow to receive George Cross

    The widow of bomb disposal hero Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, who was based at Vauxhall Barracks in Didcot, is receiving the George Cross conferred to her husband from the Queen today. Christina Schmid will collect the honour during a private

  • Wembley hero Green signs new deal with Oxford United

    Oxford United have received an early summer boost with Wembley hot-shot Matt Green joining them permanently from Torquay, signing a two-year contract. The clubs have reached an agreement over “compensation” for his development, as is necessary for a

  • Parking charge rises set to be approved

    Increases in on-street car parking charges in Oxford city centre are set to be ratified tomorrow. Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet is being recommended to agree to increase the cost of parking in streets like St Giles from £3 to £4 for two hours,

  • Troops to be repatriated

    The bodies of three soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan will arrive in the city tomorrow. Stephen Curley, of 40 Commando, Royal Marines, and Gunner Zak Cusack, of 4th Regiment, Royal Artillery, are due to arrive at the Headley Way entrance of the

  • A34 closure for viaduct work

    The A34 will be closed northbound between Botley and Pear Tree, in Oxford, for eight hours from tomorrow night for Wolvercote viaduct replacement work. The road will be closed from 10pm until 6am. A diversion will be put in place for drivers to go around

  • Housing for RAF Brize families 'unsafe and an eyesore'

    THEY are living in a ghost town, surrounded by derelict houses, boarded-up homes and drug addicts. And more than 30 families have just been told they will have to live on the estate for another three months before being re-homed. The Ministry of Defence

  • Abingdon girl band puts female spin on World Cup

    WORLD Cup songs are usually male-only affairs, but not anymore. Ahead of this year’s tournament in South Africa, a group of teenage girls from Oxfordshire has recorded an anthem from a female point of view. The Englandettes are Pippa

  • Living in a ‘ghost town’

    THEY are living in a ghost town, surrounded by derelict houses, boarded up homes and drug addicts. And more than 30 families have just been told they will have to live on the estate for another two months before being re-homed. The Ministry