Archive

DRINKERS are demanding an historic city pub reopens. The Radcliffe Arms, in Jericho, has closed after a Thai food venture failed to find favour with local drinkers. Former regulars of the pub – nicknamed ‘The Raddy’ – are now hoping brewers Scottish

Abingdon resident and Bolton Wanderers fan Geoffrey Howarth won the Barclays ‘Home Win’ competition and had the opportunity to use the Barclays Premier League trophy last Sunday. One fan from each Premier League club won the privilege of having

Banbury United could sign former Northampton Town striker Scott Cross should a trial prove successful. Boss Billy Jeffrey is on the look-out for a new striker following the departure of David Stone to Halesowen and the 22-year-old forward, who was released

PATIENTS are set to benefit from a £250,000 facelift at an Abingdon doctors' surgery. The revamped Abingdon Surgery was opened by Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood on Saturday. The practice in Stert Street has converted a former office building

EVERY SPEED camera in Oxfordshire will be switched off next week and drink driving, mobile phone and seat belt checks will be halted. Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership - the body that has co-ordinated the work for a decade - has closed down all operations

CHARGING to park at park & ride sites is one idea being floated to help protect vital services from County Hall spending cuts. Green county councillors will table the idea later this month, saying services for the elderly and disabled must

NORTH Oxfordshire villagers are planning a mass lobby of councillors before a meeting to decide contracts for a waste incinerator. On Tuesday, campaigners will protest outside County Hall in Oxford over plans by Oxfordshire County Council to sign a multi-million

With his latest thriller hitting the shelves, Gerald Seymour has been busy on the promotion trail, writes ANDREW FFRENCH. A SMARTLY dressed man in his 60s is led into a warehouse on the Milton Park estate near Didcot and sent to a large office

Splice (15). Sci-Fi/Horror/Thriller/Romance. Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac, Brandon McGibbon, Abigail Chu. Director: Vicenzo Natali. Despite years of scientific advancement and technological breakthroughs, many secrets

KATHERINE MACALISTER asks TV scientist Mike Leahy about putting his body on the line for research. Fancy growing a tapeworm? Getting bitten by a deadly box jellyfish? Having an anaphylactic shock in Brazil from a snakebite antidote? Offering

Richard bell enjoys an evening of lapdancing at The Lodge in St Ebbe’s. I am a man. Well, sort of...probably more of a boy than a man. One thing I have never really been is a lad. I can’t speak for hours on end about football, I try to avoid

With Truck Festival notching up its 13th year, organiser Robin Bennett tells Tim Hughes why there’s only one place to be this weekend to catch the best new talent. FOR 363 days a year, Hill Farm is a pretty typical patch of pasture, cereal

PEOPLE would not touch DAB digital radio if they knew the truth: 1. Obsolete 1980s technology developed for data transmission in the Cold War 2. Audio quality poor, especially with low bit rates used by the BBC (too many programmes on the matrix).

Oxford short of quality restaurants? KATHERINE MACALISTER begs to differ; The Magdalen Arms is just one city gem. The praise came at a cost. By singling out one fabulous newcomer, the rest of Oxford had to suffer. Restaurant critic Matthew

SARAH MAYHEW investigates the common thread linking some of our most innovative artists. The Oxford Printmakers Co-operative was established in 1976 when a group of local artists, many of them Ruskin School of Drawing leavers, felt the need

THE REBOUND (15). Comedy/Romance. Catherine-Zeta Jones, Justin Bartha, Joanna Gleason, Art Garfunkel, Kate Jennings Grant, Kelly Gould, Andrew Cherry, Sam Robards. Director: Bart Freundlich. The Rebound has been sitting on a shelf for

One-time ‘comedy punk’ Arthur Smith claims to have mellowed... Comedian Arthur Smith describes himself as a “pin-up for your middle-aged lady in the Shires, and Radio 4’s bit of rough,” before collapsing with laughter. “That’s how I like to

Teenage Fanclub’s Big Dave tells TIM HUGHES why Truck is the ‘best festival in the UK’. BIG Dave is in a good mood. Not only is he in the enviable position of playing with his favourite musicians, but he is on his way to his top festival.

WOODSTOCK: The Real Wood Furniture Company has been presented with the Investors in Education award by the Oxfordshire Business Education Alliance. It was presented to Chris Baylis, owner and founder of The Real Wood Furniture Company, in recognition

HEAVY rock artists and tribute bands will raise funds for injured servicemen at a village music festival. Help for Heroes is this year’s chosen charity for the Chalgrove Live Music Festival, which is being staged at Langley Field Farm, next

DR Klaus Schiller, pioneer of gastroenterological endos-copy, has died aged 83, following a short illness. Dr Schiller, one of the last direct links with pre-war Vienna, died at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital on July 9. He was born in Vienna in 1927,

A FARMER who tied the knot 60 years ago said the secret to a successful marriage was trust. Keith and Gill Walker, from Holton, near Wheatley, celebrated their diamond wedding on Tuesday with friends and family at Kirtlington Golf Club. The pair, who

22/07/2010 pm AEA Technology 16.5 BMW 3560 Electrocomponents 225.6 Nationwide Accident Repair 82 Oxford Biomedica 9.9 Oxford Catalyst 72.5 Oxford Instruments 334.25 REED 528.25 RM 143.25 RPS Group 187.4 Courtesy Redmayne Bentley

OXFORD: Chartered surveyor Graham Varney, of builders Benfield & Loxley, has been named Young Enterprise Business Adviser of the Year for his help in leading a team from Oxford High School to the Innovation Awards national finals. The students formed

Oxford United boss Chris Wilder has strengthened his squad by signing big defender Harry Worley. The 21-year-old put pen to paper on a three-year deal after being released by Leicester City. He becomes boss Chris Wilder’s 11th capture

A MAIN shopping street in Oxford was closed down for more than three hours, and 13 people treated by ambulance crews after a suspected gas leak from a coffee shop. The incident occured at the new Costa Coffee store in Queen Street, which opened

WORK to renovate a 19th century church on the outskirts of Oxford will start on Monday – boosted by £21,000 raised by local residents. In all, £380,000 will be spent a series of developments to completely update St Peter’s Church in Wolvercote, which

SCOUTS from across Oxfordshire have spoken of their excitement at being selected to attend next year’s World Jamboree in Sweden, as they launched a drive to raise funds for the adventure. Thirty-six Scouts from the county will form part of the British

EIGHT years ago, David Cryer helped to mastermind the arrival of the new Marks & Spencer food hall in Summertown, Oxford. Now, just a short distance away in Banbury Road, he is opening a new charity shop raising money for the city’s Helen and Douglas

THAMES Valley Police’s top officer said bobbies were too worried to use their common sense in policing in case they broke the rules. Chief Constable Sara Thornton has called for an end to unnecessary bureaucracy and form -filling so officers can spend

Oxfordshire's women pipped Berkshire 106-101 in their county clash at Island Bohemian, Reading. Oxon won on four of the six rinks, with Cyndy Lee’s side of Myra Lewis, Pat Taylor and Carol Gaskins starring with a 24-10 success against.

Police are trying to trace a woman who discharged herself from hospital against doctor’s orders. Charlene Davies, 31, who is believed to be from the Reading area, left the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on July 16, taking a taxi to Oxford railway

A motorcyclist has been killed in a crash on the A361 near Banbury. The accident took place on the A361 at Williamscot, at about 9pm yesterday and involved a green Kawasaki ZX motorbike and a blue BMW 323i car. The rider of the motorbike

A CHILDREN’S centre in a village could be built at a cost of £1m – even though councillors say residents do not want it. Oxfordshire County Council has been accused of being “hellbent” on spending public money on the scheme in the grounds of the primary

Woodstock Harrier Steve Naylor emerged clear winner at the Hornton 6. Naylor crossed the line in 32 mins 20 secs – almost a full minute ahead of Abingdon Amblers’ Paul Fernandez, who was second in 33.14. HORNTON 6 CLUB RESULTS Kidlington: C Brading

SWIMMERS were surprised when Prime Minister David Cameron dropped in to see Chipping Norton Lido’s new energy-saving equipment. Mr Cameron, who is the patron of the outdoor swimming pool, wanted to see the recently installed solar-powered heating system

Didcot Conservative Club kept alive their slim title hopes by beating Masons 4-2 in Group A of the Oxford & District Summer League, writes PETE EWINS. Stuart Florey won both of his games, while Jenny Florey and Dave Tooke earned a point apiece

SHAW GIBBS OXFORSHIRE FOURSOMES LEAGUE Knockout Cup – 1st round Studley Wood 2½, Bicester ½ (Studley Wood first): N Pettit & S Jenkins halved with S Curtis & J Futter, J Fathers & L White bt A Wade & S Hickman 5&4, N Marsh & N Lawton bt G Harvey &

Didcot's Jane Murphy became a double champion at the Berkshire county finals at Wokingham. Murphy beat Pat Holland (Suttons) 21-16 to win the Champion of Champions title. And she followed that by beating Burghfield’s Cheryl Colby 21-17 to land the unbadged

THE county is set to be at the forefront of the monitoring of pollution and natural disasters, after plans for a £5m Earth watch centre were given the go-ahead by the Government. The Earth Observation Hub at Harwell, near Didcot, will also help to monitor

Oxford City cruised to victory in McCain UK Young Athletes League Midland 1 Southeast at Horspath, beating the challenge of Bicester & Banbury by a massive margin of 166 points. City produced 24 personal bests with some stunning individual performances

Bicester's club championship proved a family affair with Tim Horn and his stepson, Tom Heasley, taking the honours. Horn was crowned men’s champion after rounds of 71 and 72 gave him a one-over-par total of 143. Shaun Curtis finished second on 150,

Fiona Camm held on to win Witney Lakes’ ladies’ club championship. The 12-handicapper looked well set after carding a first round 79, but could only follow that up with an 88. Her 167 total was three shots better than second-placed Heather Burrage,

OXFORD hospital managers said last night they could not guarantee the long-term future of the Silver Star high-risk pregnancy unit. Campaigners toasted victory on Tuesday after the John Radcliffe Hospital did a U-turn on plans to close level

Carterton’s Paul Sharman and Headington’s Shaun Claridge will do battle in the Oxfordshire singles championship final at Chipping Norton on Sunday (2pm). Claridge staged a late rally to beat Banbury Borough’s Mark Sykes 21-19 in the semi-finals at South

BAFA Division 1 South West Oxford Saints fell just short against Leicester Falcons as they slipped to a 20-16 defeat. Falcons fielded quarterback Brad van Pelt, who played professionally in the NFL with Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. Van Pelt

Headington A beat Banbury Central A 5-1 in the big Division 1 clash in the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries. Wins by skips Mark Charlett, Craig Nicoll and Ian Snowdon saw Headington home 85-64 on shots, and they now

BANBURY’S Gurdeep De-Meis admitted she is still coming back down to earth after winning the 53kg class at the European Powerlifting Championships in Maromme, France – her first international competition. The mother of two, who weighs 52.6kg, lifted 110kg

THOUSANDS of people took advantage of a free party to celebrate the completion of a Banbury pedestrianisation scheme. Work to pave Parsons Street and part of Market Place finished earlier this year. And last Saturday traders and Cherwell District Council

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An Oxfordshire school is appealing for help to enable students to complete a rather unusual history project. For ten months, pupils at Sibford Junior School have been building a Celtic roundhouse — but they have run out of reeds to finish the thatched

RESIDENTS in one Banbury street proved community spirit was alive and well. More than 200 people living in the Queens Road area of the town gathered for a traditional street party. Bunting and balloons were hung and residents brought along home-cooked

STAFF, parents and children at a Banbury nursery have raised more than £600 to help furnish a room for families of sick babies. Instead of their usual attire, staff and children at Smart Tots Nursery, Horsefair, wore fancy dress for the day. They

A CHARITY has been forced to close a second club for vulnerable young adults due to lack of funding. Until last week, Barnardo’s funded a group, part of the Sycamore Centre, Banbury, for about a dozen young adults, with a range of disabilities. But

Shaun Kench was crowned Chipping Norton’s club champion after edging out holder Matt Johnson in a play-off. The pair were locked together on a two-under-par total of 140 after 36 holes following a strong finish from Kench. They halved the first play-off

PLANS to build a chapel dedicated to the late Cardinal Newman off Oxford’s Woodstock Road will be unveiled today. The chapel will form the centrepiece of a £5m development at the Oxford Oratory, with a new library and a new cloistered courtyard

AMID all the doom and gloom of cuts, it is heartening to hear Oxford City Council is not looking to reduce any part of its massive playground refurbishment programme. Thirty-five have been worked on but there are another 20 to go and, given

OXFORD City Council has promised that its £2.5m project to modernise children’s play areas will be completed as planned, despite financial pressures. This week the council completed work on the 35th out of 55 play areas it aims to upgrade.

BICESTER may have another 1,650 homes built on its borders under plans unveiled by the Ministry of Defence yesterday. It comes amid a spate of schemes for new housing in the area, which could see the town become bigger than Banbury.

There is so much pressure on school teachers these days compared to the past. For example, many teachers I know have been working until 9pm recently, marking coursework and so on. These teachers deserve a medal. I would also like to say how much I

MANY people in the past have complained about how dirty the city is, and nothing seems to happen to change this for the better. Not only are the toilets bad, but the streets are filthy, there is chewing gum on the pavements, cigarette ends litter the

Nick Rae-Welsh returns to Oxfordshire’s side for the Middleton Cup quarter-final against Kent at Bromley on Saturday. The Headington man had to pull out of Oxon’s final group game after suffering a nasty ankle injury in a fall on the morning

I WRITE with reference to Roger Keable’s letter (Oxford Mail, July 15) in support of the lapdancing club in St Ebbe’s. I am not a churchgoer but I would be curious to know how he would feel if his mum, wife, daughter, sister, fiancée or girlfriend were

Congratulations to Stagecoach’s Martin Sutton for launching a fleet of green hybrid buses in the country, here in Oxford (Mail, July 15). This is another step towards a low carbon Oxford and represents very welcome investment in our future. These Euro

The motion by Oxford city council Lib Dems which you reported in Saturday’s Oxford Mail (Lib Dems call for new city housing policy), was disappointing. This Government has abolished the previous one’s Soviet-style centralised planning and handed new

Thank you for publishing in Tuesday’s Oxford Mail a lovely picture of the air drill by the 18th bomber squadron. The photograph shows the light bombers flown by the squadron up to 1939. The aircraft shown is the Hawker Hind, which was designed by Sidney

I GET so annoyed when people abuse and deride our soldiers. When our men and women joined the Forces, they wrote a blank cheque made payable to the United Kingdom for an unspecified amount of up to and including their life. For this ultimate sacrifice

Just what is Keith Mitchell afraid of? This week the Oxfordshire County Council leader rubber-stamped his response to the Queen’s Speech – detailing County Hall’s thoughts on everything from the Emergency Budget to school academies. But it was the Government

The Deputy Prime Minister is coming to Abingdon at the weekend. Nick Clegg will be taking questions from residents who wish to attend the event about the issues that matter most to them. The Liberal Democrat leader will be at the Guildhall, in Abbey

Sir – In February this year, the Cherwell School, Oxford’s largest and the school with the highest rate of cycling of any school in the UK, formally petitioned Oxfordshire County Council to introduce a 20mph speed limit on the Marston Ferry Road outside

Sir – I am puzzled as to why Thames Water has been judged to have “the best water” (report, July 15). How can that be if we have to de-scale our shower-head, shower-screen, kettle and taps every few weeks? Washing our dark blue car takes an age as the

Sir – I am writing regarding the city council’s current consultation on a new housing development in Barton. Many local residents oppose the plan to build 1,000 dwellings on land between Barton and the A40. The city council’s consultation documents

Sir – Well done Stagecoach for the successful introduction of hybrid diesel-electric buses in Oxford. On board, and slowing down at bus stops, then indeed there is the distinctive whirr of electric motors operating in reverse as generators. Hence all

Sir – On July 27 the county council will consider millions of pounds of cuts in important services for older people, disabled people, children with disabilities and their families. These will be on top of very large cuts already made. They will cause

Sir – As people have remarked of late, Gills ironmongers is a delightful characterful institution which has survived the changes of centuries, only to be under threat from the way we live now. Gills also happens to be the place I and other city-centre

Prudent approach Sir – The council’s plans to deal with major cuts in capital funding for schools, roads, libraries etc have prompted much speculation about the rebuilding of Bayards Hill Primary School. Let me clarify the current position: the council

Delete tigers Sir – I write about the conservation piece, The Big Beast (Feature, July 8). When the Sudan was a British Protectorate, a junior from the Foreign Office was sent many days’ journey up-river to keep an eye on the Nile monitor there, and

Simpler solution Sir – We have now received our instructions on the new waste disposal system. We will each receive a bin for recycled waste, a bin for other waste and a canister for food waste. We will also receive a list and instructions on what to

Not the only solution Sir – I have just read with incredulity that Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) is planning to sign a contract to burn waste that may cost the ratepayers of Oxfordshire hundreds of millions of pounds with Viridor, the operator of

Monument to future Sir – I write in response to the letters voicing opposition to construction of a waste incinerator at Ardley. Waste incineration is standard practice throughout Sweden, where I have been living for the past year. Not only does incineration

Sir – John Tanner's letter about the proposed incinerator at Ardley (July 15) states that it would be a “monstrous blot in the middle of rural Oxfordshire”. He refers to the public inquiry “making it clear that a tall industrial chimney would permanently

as it prepares to take the axe to its budget are eye-watering. £200m over four years is not something that can be found with that politician’s euphemism ‘efficiency savings’. More worryingly, £200m over four years may not be the end of it. It is not

Sir – The news this week that two of my favourite shops are to close prompts me to make it known that there is a business opportunity for someone to set up, in the relative centre of Oxford, a shop dealing in hardware, household and electrical goods

Sir – The closure of the two well-loved hardware shops Gill and Co and Broughton’s is sad news for all who value small, specialised businesses with their variety of stock and the expertise of their staff. Here in Headington we still enjoy those qualities

No sweeping Sir – Mr Hugh Jaeger claims that I called the county council “legalised vandals” for top-dressing roads (Letters, July 15). Well, of course I did no such thing. I referred to the practice itself as “legalised vandalism”, which is a different

Back in the picture Sir – So relieved that several photos of Christopher Gray accompany his column after a few weeks’ absence. Any plans for promotional signed copies to boost sales? Ian Bray Oxford

Sir – Coming from an ardent supporter of wind turbines, city councillor John Tanner's description of an energy-from-waste facility as a “monstrous blot” is pretty rich. However, there is a need to inject some truth into this debate. The alternatives

A SNIFFER dog has uncovered what police believe to be £50,000 worth of pure heroin buried in the back garden of a terraced house. The 1kg stash – enough to give 260 addicts a daily fix for a week – was discovered after police received tip-offs

A PROPERTY consortium developing the Harwell site into a major high-tech employer has signed a deal that could see more investment in start-up businesses. The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is being developed in a public-private partnership between

A GROUP of volunteer conservationists are celebrating a Lottery grant awarded to them as a first step to restoring one of the nation’s oldest steam beam engines. The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £72,000 for Combe Mill Society to pay for surveys

New trigger points for residents’ concerns to be debated at council meetings or for council officers to be called to account are ridiculous. Are we really to believe that a petition of 1,500 signatures should prompt a debate at Oxford Town Hall or that

Young people from Oxford are being offered the chance to drive on a circuit at Silverstone as part of a road safety campaign launched by Amey, of Oxford Science Park. Amey has launched Drive for Safety – a campaign to help reduce the number of young

MYSTERY surrounds the sudden closure of the Ripples Bathroom showroom in Oxford. The showroom, one of 15 UK Ripples franchises, moved from Summertown to Holyoake Road, Headington, last year. But it closed without warning towards the end of last month

A MAN accused of a hammer attack in a Kidlington pub pleaded with witnesses not to give evidence against him, a court was told. The trial of Adam O’Connor, 29, and Julian Pitts, 36, both of Banbury Road, Kidlington, completed its second day

It was one of those sultry July days when the world seems to press down on you. The daily struggle with the desktop was much harder than usual and I fought to stay awake. I was just considering ‘abandoning laptop’ when the phone rang and a gardening friend

Anthropologiest Dawn Chatty, of Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre, traces the history of people in the Middle East who have been cut off from their homelands since the beginning of the 20th century in Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern

The Waste Land Simon Acland (Charlwood Books, £10.99) Oxford is the backdrop for this first novel by Acland, a former venture capitalist. The book begins in St Lazarus College, Oxford, where a group of Oxford professors invite a best-selling author

“We need fifty suitcases for this show,” says Kate Stanley, associate producer of the Oxford-based physical theatre company Idle Motion, “and I’m not sure how we can get them to Edinburgh.” An everyday story of potentially panicking Fringe performers

Uprising Scott Mariani (Avon, £6.99) Vampires are in fashion, in case you hadn’t noticed, and it was only a matter of time before they came to Oxford. Thriller writer Mariani, who lives in Wales, is a former Oxford student who used the city as a backdrop

The mechanicals, Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout and Starveling have arrived to rehearse their play Pyramus and Thisby. “Now, good Peter Quince, call forth your actors by the scroll,” requests Bottom. Next week that line will echo round the Old Schools

The life of an Oxford don might not sound, on paper, like the basis for an entertaining, incident-packed memoir, but Hugh Trevor-Roper was no ordinary academic. His biographer, Adam Sisman, explains: “He was completely exceptional. “He was

ENTANGLEMENT by Zygmunt Miloszewski (Bitter Lemon, £8.99)Entanglement is not only a masterful crime novel, it’s a riveting insight into six pivotal weeks in the life of its hero, world weary State Prosecutor Teodor Szacki. This witty and unusual book

Children’s laureate Anthony Browne weaves his magic once more with Me and You (Doubleday, £10.99). In his new take on Goldilocks, Baby Bear retells the old fairy tale. The bear family, illustrated in gentle pastels, live in a middle-class neighbourhood

CONCRETE action, in the words of MP Nicola Blackwood, are indeed needed 10 years after the collapse of Equitable Life. This was an appalling scandal which still causes thousands of people misery today. Miss Blackwood, the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot (Macmillan, £18.99) Henrietta Lacks was a black American woman, a cotton picker in Baltimore, who died of cancer about 60 years ago, aged 31. She left behind two poor-quality black-and-white

Firefighters were called to Port Meadow in North Oxford last night after a blaze spread across two acres of the open space. A spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire Service said 10 firefighters from Rewley Road tackled the fire after being alerted at 11.15pm

SAVINGS of more than £200m could see social services in Oxfordshire facing deep cuts and the possible cessation of some county council services. A paper to Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet on Tuesday set out the reality of making savings over five

New signing Asa Hall believes Oxford United’s pre-season tour to Scotland has helped greatly to bring the squad together. The former Luton Town midfielder, who impressed in the 0-0 draw at Livingston, says the group have bonded well during their time

It may seem an odd comparison, but Raymond de Felitta's City Island has much in common with Michael Curtiz's Life With Father (1947). They may be set in very different New Yorks, with the social attitudes of 1883 and 2009 being poles apart. Yet

Books always take longer to write than you expect them to. Consequently, with a deadline looming, there's little time for considered opinions this week. Instead, here is a cursory glance at the many minor and downright mediocre DVDs that have arrived

POLICE swapped the beat for the boards this week to educate schoolchildren about cyber-safety, bullying and antisocial behaviour. Officers from the Barton Neighbourhood Team took centre stage in the halls of two Oxford primary schools, performing three

CHILDREN are being asked to choose which activities they would enjoy at a new junior youth club on Oxford’s Rose Hill estate. A free event is being staged tomorrow at the community centre, in The Oval, to give children aged seven to 12 a taste of the

CHILDREN enjoyed a Mad Hatter’s tea party after finishing studying Oxford academic Lewis Carroll’s book Alice in Wonderland. The Year Five and Six pupils at St James Primary School, in East Hanney, designed their own hats to wear at the tea

If I had only one wish it would be this: that I might exchange my face that speaks a thousand words for something altogether more — or rather — less expressive. I seem to have found myself on a circuit of evenings out that have seen me presented with

Summer reds and rosés are all about clean, fruity and ultimately drinkable wines that are ideal for a picnic or dining al fresco on the terrace. The keynote here is bright vibrant fruit and freshness which compliments most summer style foods perfectly

Getting out into the Amazon rainforest would be a great way to spend the weekend. Just picture it: the bright colours of macaws, the heady scent of exotic flowers, howling monkeys, gigantic trees; the sheer diversity of it all. But let us face it, it

I feel privileged to be able to tell you about the stock doves (often referred to as stock pigeons) that regularly visit our Bampton garden and I frequently rise early and carefully part the curtains to reveal up to seven of these rather shy birds feeding