Archive

  • ATHLETICS: Dean withdraws from Euros

    Former Radley athlete Hatti Dean has withdrawn from this weekend's European Team Championships in Stockholm. The 29-year-old, who is ranked second in the European rankings in the 3,000m steeplechase, has pulled out as a precautionary measure after a

  • ''We're being stifled by bureaucrats'

    A PARISH councillor celebrating 40 years in office has said councils in Oxfordshire have become “stifled by bureaucracy”. John Roper, 74, became a member of the Weston-on-the-Green Parish Council in June 1971. He was chairman for more than two decades

  • Basketball players aim for growth

    SOARING high towards the net, Desta Rudder-Smith, 23,celebrates a £400,000 windfall for stars of the future. Members of the Oxford Hoops basketball team were showing off their skills at the Alexander Court in Woodstock Road. The National

  • Wolf Gang is top dog

    MAX McElligott is feeling pleased with himself. The musician and dog lover, better known by his stage name Wolf Gang, is today grinning like a Cheshire cat… the one that got the cream. “I’ve spent the morning looking at a succession of beautiful

  • He's the Bhoy

    Danny Bhoy spent just one week in his flat in Edinburgh last year, and even then he started climbing the walls. Because if he’s not on stage making people laugh he doesn’t know what to do with himself. Luckily his touring lifestyle means

  • Leisure centres' popularity grows

    VISITS to Oxford leisure facilities rose to almost a million between March last year and April this year, despite a putting up prices. Visit recorded at Oxford City Council-owned leisure facilities rose to 991,212 in the 12-month period, an

  • Crash causes delays on A34

    A THREE VEHICLE crash on the northbound M40 is causing queues for drivers on the A34. The crash happened at around luncthime between junction nine for the A34 and junction 10 for Brackley. All lanes have been re-opened but the clean

  • Couple celebrate 70 years of marriage

    THEY met outside a pub aged 16 and 18 at the height of war. Now, 70 years later, Paddy and Daisy West are as in love as ever. Celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary, Mr and Mrs West, 90 and 88 respectively, had some advice for fledgling lovebirds

  • Dunsinane: The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

    As an enthralled audience (as they must have been) savoured Jonathan Slinger’s sensational performance as Macbeth in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, a few yards away in the Swan a full house was gripped by the continuation of the story as it is

  • GREYHOUNDS: Friday's BAGS results

    11.03: 1 DROOPYS CLAUDINE 7-4 fav, 2 Captain Tin 3-1. Trio (5x6x1). Trainer: T Kibble. Time: 28.35. 11.19: 1 ZIGZAG MARCELLA 8-1, 2 Lakeland Echo 3-1. Trio (1x4x3). Trainer: Colton. Time: 27.80. Texan Hondo (2) 2-1 fav. 11.34: 1 ROO LLEYTON 5-2, 2 Wiltshire

  • Golfers raise £8.5k for Help for Heroes

    GOLFERS paid tribute to a fallen serviceman in Afghanistan as they raised £8,500 for charity Help for Heroes. More than 100 golfers took part in a game at Drayton Park Golf Club, near Abingdon, in aid of the charity, which helps injured servicemen

  • Views taken over Oxford sites set for development

    RESIDENTS and businesses in Oxford can have their say about 75 sites earmarked for development. Consultation events will be held to discuss issues such as keyworker housing and where student accommodation should be built, the city council has announced

  • Legoland fun for kids

    Members of Down’s Syndrome Oxfordshire enjoyed a free day out at Legoland Windsor on Sunday, paid for by an international charity. Merlin’s Magic Wand, which gives special experiences to ill, disabled and disadvantaged children, treated 23 families with

  • Jump to beat 'awful' illness

    A 61-YEAR-OLD is to throw herself out of a plane to raise cash and awareness for the incurable illness that has ruined her life. Margaret Joyce, of Stanford in the Vale, was diagnosed with Lupus 14 years ago and has suffered from extreme tiredness and

  • Blenheim oak begins new life at school

    A 222-YEAR-OLD oak tree from Blenheim Palace will live on after being turned into a symbol of environmental awareness. In January last year, as part of the Woodstock stately home’s OneOak project, 250 schoolchildren watched the mighty tree being toppled

  • Local share prices

    AEA Technology 3.6 BMW 5592 Electrocomponents 275.4 Nationwide Accident Repair 93 Oxford Biomedica 5.4 Oxford Catalysts 89 Oxford Instruments 832.5 Reed Elsevier 534.75 RM 154.1 RPS Group 241.6 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • Carnival day fit for a princess

    THOUSANDS of people are expected to turn out to enjoy the festivities at Wallingford Carnival tomorrow. Daisy Nisbet, 10, has been chosen as the carnival princess for tomorrow’s event. She is pictured with her attendants, 11-year-olds Abigail Rumble,

  • 'Top schools can help worst ones'

    SCHOOLS getting good grades must reach out to poorer performing schools to drive up Oxford’s lagging results, an outgoing church education boss believes. Leslie Stephen also said he disagreed with the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard over

  • County competitors on marks for World Transplant Games

    TWO Oxfordshire residents who had life-saving organ transplants are competing at the transplant ‘Olympics’. Steve Whelan and Jill Edwards join hundreds of other competitors for the week-long World Transplant Games starting today in Gothenburg, Sweden

  • Make way for the Fun Lovin' Criminals

    GET Outta here! New York’s finest are back on the block – and fighting fit. The sharp-suited The Fun Lovin’ Criminals, whose soul and funk-infused street-smart rock provided a Manhattan-flavoured soundtrack for the mid-90s, had been out of

  • 'Big Society really exists'

    COMMUNITY groups have applied for about £1.2m from a controversial pot of cash aimed at boosting the idea of the ‘Big Society’. As council cuts start to bite, more than 40 groups in Oxfordshire have applied for cash to take over services themselves.

  • Vodafone in appeal over mast plans

    TELECOMS giant Vodafone has launched an appeal after officials blocked plans to build new mast in Oxford’s Green Belt. Oxford City Council planners rejected the application for the 17.5-metre construction in Port Meadow, because the development

  • ROWING: Hat-trick for Abingdon School at Reading Regatta

    Abingdon School had a Reading Regatta to remember with a hat-trick of successes. They won both the elite eights and the senior eights and also showed their depth with a J18 squad scull success. The elite eights win saw Abingdon beat

  • CYCLING: Grant times her break just right

    Abingdon schoolgirl Emma Grant won the Elite Open race in Kieldrecht, in her final event in Belgium before returning home. She said: “I have been on overload these past two weeks learning so much from racing here, but things just hadn’t quite clicked

  • Final voyage for canal man

    CANAL boat lover Bob Wakely made his final journey down the river Thames yesterday. His coffin was carried from Abingdon Lock to his home village of Sutton Courtenay on the 1937 working boat ‘Chiswick’ which he restored. Wife Esther, 64, said: “To

  • TENNIS: Brown loses out in play-off

    Oxfordshire's Lucy Brown missed out on a passport to the Wimbledon women’s singles qualifying tournament this week by losing in the LTA wild card play-offs. The 18-year-old from Elsfield was beaten in three sets by Francesca Stephenson, who then upset

  • Time to see the light

    HERE we go again. Now there is a suggestion of putting a cemetery next to Hill View Farm, Marston. Along with Northway, we are already the two forgotten areas of the city. We have a sewage tank in Croft Road Recreation Ground, adjacent to the play

  • Rail work on the right track

    After the debacle of the Milton Park bridge replacement, I was concerned about the upgrades to the Cotswold Line by Network Rail. Thankfully my concerns were misplaced. I would like to say well done to Network Rail and their contractors for getting the

  • Chosen route for Fallen shows lack of dignity

    I FEEL, like many people, that the chosen route for corteges carrying the bodies of fallen servicemen leaving RAF Brize Norton will show a lack of dignity. The gate in question is not suitable for the families involved to have to watch their loved ones

  • Cabbages & Kings: Paying a fair price for guilty feeling

    LISA’S small and compact fairtrade jewellery and clothing stall is seen most days below the tower of St Michael at the Northgate Church. With its blue plastic shade protecting the stock from the extremes of weather, it is so much part of the Cornmarket

  • Ten out of 10 for forces campaign

    INJURED soldiers told school children yesterday how they each lost a leg after fighting in Afghanistan. Rifleman Chris Parkes and Rifleman Matt Fisher, of 3rd Battalion The Rifles, spoke to the youngsters at the launch of an Oxfordshire teacher

  • 'Compromise' on Sunday parking fees is unfair

    PRAISE Be? (Oxford Mail, June 6). Really? This may be so for early mass-going Catholics in the St Giles area, who are favoured to avoid paying car-parking charges on a Sunday until 10am, because of the ‘compromise’ decision of the county council. But

  • Hollow victory for Lib Dems over NHS reform

    I FIND it extraordinary that the Liberal Democrats are basking in triumph about the changes to the health reforms. They should be apologising to the British people for signing up in the first place to the Health and Social Care Bill, which most people

  • Fixtures June 18-25

    SATURDAY CRICKET SERIOUS CRICKET HOME COUNTIES PREMIER LEAGUE Div 1: Henley v Oxford, Tring Park v Banbury. Div 2 West: Aston Rowant v Farnham Royal, Harefield v Thame Tn, Horspath v Dinton. MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Div 1: Buckingham v Bletchley

  • CYCLING: Wantage ace in Grand Prix joy

    John Paul underlined his outstanding potential by winning the Meadowbank Grand Prix International Sprint in Edinbugh. The 18-year-old, who attends King Alfred’s Sport & Community College, Want-age, and competed in last year’s Commonwealth Ga-mes

  • Lady Driver: No need to stoop to the road hogs' level

    ROAD rage and aggressive driving seem to feature heavily in motoring conversations. Hardly a week goes by without one of my friends mentioning some lunatic driver who rudely cut them up at Heyford Hill roundabout or tried to race them down the A34 (although

  • Care cuts are hitting the most vulnerable

    IT IS obvious that the cuts implemented by Oxfordshire County Council on the adult social care budget are now taking effect. I am sole carer for my mother in her late 90s, who is physically frail and has Alzheimer’s disease. Two months ago, when my

  • Any ideas to stop cold callers?

    FOLLOWING my ‘Down the line’ letter (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, March 22), in which I listed calls from strangers inquiring as to my satisfaction, or otherwise, with services never solicited nor provided and the like, may I add that I have just received

  • Miserable service from Royal Mail

    PLEASE can I thank Royal Mail for the fast service they give. A letter was posted in Oxford, first class, postmarked May 23. The letter was information about a lunch on June 7. The letter has just arrived on June 9. Seventeen days – not bad when

  • CRICKET: Shipton record laid on the line

    One of the most impressive home records in the competition’s history will be put on the line when Shipton-under-Wychwood entertain Challow & Childrey in the Oxfordshire final on Sunday (1pm). It’s a remarkable 16 years since Shipton tasted

  • Said Business School completes first stage of extension

    THE original benefactor of Oxford University’s Said Business School yesterday marked the completion the first stage of a £28m extension. The building, next to Oxford railway station car park, will be open by the summer of next year. Businessman Wafic

  • Scared skunk goes on the run

    RESIDENTS in Kennington were last night sniffing for clues as they went on the trail of a missing skunk. The skunk, called Arthur, left, escaped from a garden in Kennington Road after being frightened by a dog. The pet was being looked after by friends

  • CRICKET: Kiwi star Shaw joins Banbury

    Banbury have signed New Zealander Lance Shaw and he is set to make his debut at Tring Park in Serious Cricket Home Counties League Division 1 tomorrow. The 27-year-old seamer has played 27 first-class games for Auckland, picking up 83 wickets

  • A34 death linked to undiagnosed diabetes

    AN UNDIAGNOSED diabetic died when his car hit a parked lorry while he was suffering from a high glucose level. Nicholas Kneale’s Ford Focus hit the back of an articulated lorry at high speed on the northbound A34 near Kidlington on December 5 last year

  • COMMENT: Education is the key

    THE latest figures about the number of people being admitted to hospital because of alcohol raises yet another red flag about Britain’s drinking culture. The fact that medics are now seeing people in their 30s and even their 20s with liver disease shows

  • COMMENT: Get checked out

    IT IS not known what caused Nicholas Kneale to drive his car into the back of a lorry on the A34. There is a theory that his undiagnosed diabetes may have played a part, although we stress that at his inquest yesterday there was no firm evidence this

  • Doris marks her 101st birthday

    GREAT-great-grandmother Doris Hyde has spent every single one of her 101 years living in her home town of Abingdon. The former nurse was born in Thames Street in 1910. She now lives in the Old Station House care home. But she admitted she felt “old”

  • Schools could be turned into academies

    FOUR Oxfordshire primary schools could be turned into academies over the coming year under new Department for Education plans to drive up standards. Education Secretary Michael Gove yesterday said 200 schools which had fallen below the Government’s minimum

  • Oxford United visit Swindon in August

    Oxford United will take on Swindon Town in their second away match next season. The U's eagerly-awaited local derbies against their Wiltshire rivals are on Saturday August 20 at the County Ground, and on Saturday March 3 at the Kassam Stadium

  • Surge in alcohol related illnesses

    TWENTY-TWO people were admitted to Oxfordshire’s hospitals every day with alcohol related illnesses last year, according to government figures. Oxfordshire’s hospitals were faced with more than 8,000 alcohol related admissions in 2009/10.

  • Nuffield staff deserve the highest praise

    I RECENTLY attended the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre for a total hip replacement under the care of Mr Duncan Whitwell’s team. In this day and age, we read much about the failings of the NHS and I would therefore like to take this opportunity to restore

  • Wilder joy at plum draw at home to Cardiff

    Oxford United have the chance to be giantkillers again after they were paired with high-flying Championship club Cardiff City in the Carling Cup. Manager Chris Wilder hailed the first-round tie “a great draw”. The U’s are scheduled to take on the

  • volunteers- Girlguiding Oxfordshire

    When brain storming centenary events it was suggested that we could have a flotilla of boats on the Thames. On Saturday 11 June 2011 this was partly realised when a flotilla of one sailed down the river. On board were 15% of Girlguiding Oxfordshire’s

  • Have your say on skate park plans

    PLANS for a £130,000 overhaul of a Blackbird Leys play area which could see a skate park return to the estate after two years have been unveiled. Oxford City Council is planning to revamp the Pegasus Road playground later this year. Initial designs

  • Hunt for bookies raider

    POLICE are hunting a man caught on CCTV after a robbery at a bookmaker’s in Cowley yesterday. He forced a member of staff at Ladbrokes, in Hollow Way, to hand over cash from the till at about 9.30am. Last night police would not say how much money was

  • Great service

    Sir – Dulcies Sweetshop which is soon to close will be missed for another reason not mentioned in your article last week. Your reporter may not have been aware that as well as selling sweets, cards and toys, they have acted as a box office for many organisations