Archive

  • Didcot’s certainly got talent

    YOUNGSTERS in Didcot got up on stage to showcase their talents at the town’s Cornerstone Arts Centre. The talent show took place at the arts centre in the Orchard Centre on Saturday night. The show was held to raise thousands of pounds

  • New youth club is open for business

    CHILDREN and young people in Littlemore have celebrated the opening of a new youth club. Under Oxfordshire County Council savings plans, funding to all youth centres across the county has been cut from this month. Instead, seven new council-run early

  • GREYHOUNDS: Thursday's Oxford runners

    7.35: Barrack Wood, Heatherhil Louie, Greencroft Pat 3, KILCARRIG TINY, County Lass, Dash Of Blue 2. 7.50: Ashvale Beauty, Black Axel, How Verydare You, Knockanae Slippy 2, Pennys Merryfox 3, SHEDFIELD VIEW. 8.05: Burwood Tamara, BALLYMAC TISH, Killeheen

  • Local share prices (PM)

    AEA Technology 2.45 BMW 4736 Electrocomponents 197 Nationwide Accident Repair 91.5 Oxford Biomedica 5.6 Oxford Catalysts 58.5 Oxford Instruments 816.75 Reed Elsevier 477.2 RM 93.25 RPS Group 186.3 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley

  • Bellringers need new members

    BELLRINGERS have launched an appeal for new blood to help them mark important events in style. The bellringers of St Nicholas Church in Old Marston, Oxford, are at their lowest membership since 1998. But they want to make sure they can ring-in next

  • New town hall is 'like a bunker'

    A CITY councillor has condemned new security rules forcing visitors to wear badges as turning Oxford’s town hall into “Colonel Gadaffi’s bunker”. The rules come after council auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers “expressed serious concern” at the ease with

  • Jobless figure rises again

    The number of people out of work and claiming benefit in Oxfordshire last month increased by 168 above the July figure to 8,058 — or 1.9 per cent of the population. The figures represent an increase of 540 over the figure for August last year. Oxford

  • Disabled group highlights disgust at treatment

    CAMPAIGNERS took to the street in the centre of Oxford to raise awareness about the abuse of people with learning disabilities. Members of Oxfordshire charity My Life My Choice assembled in Cornmarket Street on Saturday to perform street theatre and

  • Crowds flock to Betjeman literary festival

    THE Betjeman Literary Festival in Wantage has begun with a host of literature themed events. About 2,000 people are expected to enjoy some of the more than 40 events on offer during the week-long festival which ends on Saturday. The inaugural festival

  • Charity event is a vintage fundraiser

    VINTAGE china, wartime fashion and classic cars helped transport visitors to Caswell House back in time. Against Breast Cancer Witney held a pink vintage extravaganza at the venue on Sunday to raise funds. There were vintage teas on china plates, craft

  • Book lovers flocking to Woodstock

    THOUSANDS of book lovers will be heading for Woodstock today, hot on the heels of massive crowds at the Blenheim Palace Horse Trials. Just three days after the eventers headed home, the town is preparing to welcome record numbers at one of the country

  • Commuters battle park and ride fees

    COMMUTERS have launched a campaign to stop Oxford City Council introducing parking fees at its three Park and Ride sites. More than 650 people have already signed a petition against proposed £1.50-a-day charges at Pear Tree, Seacourt and Redbridge from

  • Sale of Unipart division secures 200 jobs in Oxford

    BOSSES at transport and parts distribution firm Unipart have said more than 200 jobs at one of its key divisions are secure after they sold off a controlling interest in the business. A total of 50.1 per cent of Unipart Automotive, a major

  • FOOTBALL: Rose Hill's super start

    League round-up RICKY Hastings and Justin Ford fired doubles as Rose Hill kicked off their RT Harris Oxford City FA campaign with a 7-0 win at home to Union Street. Rose Hill led 6-0 at half-time before taking their feet off the gas, with Michael

  • FOOTBALL: Wootton buoyed by Weir treble

    NORTH BERKS LEAGUE JOHNNY Weir hit a hat-trick as Wootton & Dry Sandford continued their flying start to their Division 1 campaign, writes Phil Annets. Wootton made it three out of three with a 7-2 destruction of visitors Harwell Village

  • AUNT SALLY: New Club roar to title glory

    New Club A are the Greene King Oxford & District League Section 1 champions following a 3-0 win over Headington British Legion, writes ANDY BEAL. Austin Atkinson (5-3-4) led the way with a dozen dolls in a 26-21, 16-12, 28-21 scoreline. Black Swan

  • Princess to open new church

    THE Princess Royal will open a new eco-friendly community centre in Bicester November. Princess Anne, above, will attend the opening ceremony of the John Paul the Second Parish and Community Centre at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Causeway

  • GIRLS FOOTBALL: Kidlington fight back

    Kidlington Under 15s fought back after finding themselves 2-0 down after ten minutes to draw 2-2 with St Edmunds in the Oxford mail Giels LeagueApril England and Sophie Grimson fired the visitors into an early lead, but Jaz Needham and Zoe Taylor gave

  • FOOTBALL: Holders knocked out in first round

    Andy Gibbons scored a hat-trick as Brightwell delivered a stunning first-round knock-out of holders Oxford Yellows with a 3-2 win in the Devenney Cup on Sunday, writes Tim Siret. All the goals came in the first half as Gibbons raced the Division

  • FOOTBALL: Lockhart treble sinks Launton

    OXFORDSHIRE SENIOR LEAGUE Neil Lockhart’s hat-trick earned early season Premier Division leaders Oxford University Press a dominant 3-0 win at Launton Sports. Launton have now lost both their matches since being relegated from the Hellenic League.

  • Farewell to much-loved teacher

    A WOMAN who spent her entire teaching career at a Witney school has died, aged 87. Tributes have been paid to Isabelle Spencer, former deputy headteacher at the Henry Box School, who died in the early hours of Thursday, September 8, at the John Radcliffe

  • Court TV is a stupid idea

    WHAT a silly idea to televise court cases. Villains could identify jurors and intimidate them, witnesses would run the same risk. Cameras and all the “luvvies” involved would disrupt the dignity of the court. I was in charge of the Thames Valley Police

  • Prisoners get preference

    YOU know, I really do feel for all our students who are honest, down-to-earth and study hard to get grades so as to make a good life for themselves at the tune of £9,000 a year and, if they get work, they start their working career up to their neck in

  • People are just so paranoid compared to times gone by

    ON YOUR front page a couple of weeks ago, an article was printed telling of an incident where a man was reported to have been in possession of a sword in a public street. It also showed a policeman pointing a weapon at the man. It turned

  • Teen rapist jailed for Cowley attack

    TWO rapists laughed as they “enjoyed the humiliation, pain and harm” they inflicted on a woman in Cowley. Teenage asylum seeker Salman Ahmed was jailed for more than five years at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, but his accomplice remains at large.

  • GIRLS FOOTBALL: Beth blasts four-timer

    Beth Dutton started the season with a four-timer as Bardwell Under 13s beat Banbury United 6-0 in the Oxford Mail Girls League. Bonnie Daykin bagged a double as Bardwell began on a high. Didcot Casuals went goal crazy, beating newly-formed Stonesfield

  • We must stop fighting

    AS A service veteran of seven years, I refer to your headline on the front page (Oxford Mail, September 9, Pray it’s the Last) referring to bodies returning from Afghanistan. Of course it won’t be the last while we continue to fight pointless wars.

  • Caravanning can be fun

    I WISH to reply to the letter (Oxford Mail, September 9) regarding caravan owners. Firstly, this man Tony Holmes has obviously never used a caravan before, or he would realise that they are a great way to have a cheap holiday. Why should people have

  • Respect for convictions

    PETER Manser (Letters, September 9) asserts that he is more interested in the evidence for life after death than the fact the world’s major faiths affirm it. This being so, has he studied the immense mass of evidence accumulated by eminent scientists

  • Trainspotter memories

    I WAS delighted to see trainspotters in the Oxford Mail on August 31. It brought back many memories of those early days of Oxford and District Model Railway Club. The club is still active today, albeit with fewer members, and those of us remaining

  • Time to rob a bank?

    OK LADS, gather round. The bank is situated next door to the police station. They won’t bother us, as cuts in their budgets have meant the station will be closed. Blowing up the safe won’t be a problem. Again, cuts in budgets means Oxford City Council

  • SASSY & SINGLE: Feel sorry for anyone without a post office

    I was wondering if you could help me with the answer to something I’ve been pondering this week. Do you think as we get older we’re all hardwired to become more sentimental? Or is it that we’re the generation so intent on improving, changing and transforming

  • FOOTBALL: Ducklington duo bag trebles

    WITNEY & DISTRICT FA RICHIE Proctor and Craig Mays smashed hat-tricks as Ducklington kicked off their Premier Division campaign with an 8-0 mauling of Kingham All Blacks, writes Anthony Barlow. Darren Tolley netted a seventh, but the

  • FOOTBALL: Didcot humbled by North Leigh

    NORTH Leigh demolished Didcot Town 5-0 in their Evo-Stik Southern League clash at the Loop Meadow Stadium last night. Michael Hopkins put the visitors ahead on 35 minutes in the Division 1 South & West encounter, and four late goals killed Didcot off

  • Wilder thrilled by wonder kid Hall

    Chris Wilder was full of praise for 17-year-old Robert Hall after the loanee got Oxford United back to winning ways at Dagenham & Redbridge last night. The West Ham striker capped a fine performance with a 41st-minute strike as the U’s recorded

  • Digital switchover day for county

    SET top boxes at the ready... because Oxfordshire joins the digital television revolution today. At 1.15am this morning, the old analogue BBC2 signal was switched off at the county transmitter in Beckley. It marked the first step in

  • HS2 rail link protests go to Westminster

    CAMPAIGNERS against the proposed high speed rail link between London and the West Midlands took to the streets outside Parliament yesterday. They were protesting in London to mark the final session of a Transport Select Committee inquiry into the £33bn

  • COMMENT: Rearranging the political map

    The Boundary Commission yesterday unveiled its proposals to rearrange the country’s political map. The aim is to evenly spread voters and reduce the number of MPs in parliament. A few MPs will lose out and many of us won’t lose too much sleep about it

  • TV star quizzed about his Grand Designs

    PROPERTY design guru Kevin McCloud was put through his paces by people on the Northway estate last night. The Channel Four presenter was in Oxford to show off his latest plans for an eco-development of homes at three city council-owned sites in Cowley

  • Constituency rethink will bring big changes

    OXFORDSHIRE’S tightest Parliamentary seat may have just got even tighter. Changes proposed in the re-drawing of England’s constituency map could have meant Liberal Democrat Evan Harris holding on to Oxford West and Abingdon with the second

  • Schoolgirl Sasha gets a sweet treat

    A SCHOOLGIRL has been given a sweet treat after winning a golden ticket all of her own. Sasha Jeffery, 10, from Cumnor, won a national competition to become an apprentice at German sweet company Haribo. As a Haribo Little Apprentice, Sasha became one

  • Police target estate dealers

    POLICE officers have promised to get on their bikes to target drug dealers who have been plaguing Didcot’s Fleet Meadow estate. The problem of drug dealing was raised by residents last month at a Neighbourhood Action Group meeting. Father-of-two Clifford

  • Housing scheme for cash and carry site

    MORE than 100 new homes and a care home for 80 elderly people could be built on an industrial site in Witney town centre. Wiltshire-based property deve-lopers Bower Mapson has submitted a planning application to build the homes on the Buttercross Works

  • Bra Recycling for Against Breast Cancer charity

    Witney Wangers are collecting unwanted bras in any condition for recycling to raise money for ABC, Against Breast Cancer. Shops, boutiques, fitness centres and even an ironing shop are collecting the bras in and around Witney for the charity, and have