Archive

  • Summertown Passes Barton United

    Summertown Supernovae hosted Barton United for a good day of football. Although a very physical Barton United side fought hard for every challenge on the ball, the Supernovae were able to hold their ground, retain possession for much of the match, and

  • Knock it down

    A developer has won a controversial appeal to demolish a 1930s family home in Abingdon and build a modern three-storey block of flats. Vale of White Horse District Council rejected a bid to build the eight flats at 42 Wootton Road last year ruling the

  • RUGBY UNION: The numbers game

    Oxford Harlequins did just enough to collect a second win of the season. Here is the numbers' game. See Monday’s paper for full report. Competition: National 3 South West Score: Oxford Harlequins 21, Bridgwater & Albion 17 Oxford Harlequins

  • Residents are quick on the draw at gallery

    OXFORD residents turned artists to decorate the walls of the city’s prestigious O3 Gallery this week. The Oxford Castle gallery provided art materials for visitors to show off their artistic side as part of a nationwide Big Draw event. Manager Helen

  • Hotel chain out to defy the downturn

    AN OXFORD hotel chain has applied for a £2m extension to its site in Sandford-on-Thames. The plan has been submitted to extend the Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel in Henley Road over two blocks, taking the number of rooms from 62 to 100. The extension

  • Labour of love for firefighter

    An Oxfordshire firefighter is appealing for people’s help to record the service’s history. Station Manager Chris Wilson is embarking on the year-long process of writing and publishing a book on the history of Oxford fire brigades. He said: “I am interested

  • Casuals edge past Cobras

    Good football weather at Cuttleslow Park today, where Summertown Cobras U10s hosted Didcot Casuals. The first match was an even encounter, with both teams attacking well, and Cobras coming closest hitting the post. Score 0-0. In the first half of the

  • Oxford Utd 3, Bristol Rovers 0

    Oxford Utd 3 (Constable 16, 84, Leven pen 51), Bristol Rovers 0 James Constable scored twice and Peter Leven converted Oxford United's first penalty of the season as Chris Wilder's side made it five wins from six games today. The victory

  • Teenage cyclist fighting for life

    A TEENAGE cyclist is fighting for his life after being involved in a collision with a car. Ambulance crews were called to the crash on the A420 near Kingston Bagpuize at 11.52am today. The road was closed in both directions for around

  • Sex assault in Rose Hill

    A YOUNG woman was dragged away and attacked last night after visiting the shops in Rose Hill. The 19-year-old victim went to the shops in Rose Hill, Oxford, at about 11pm. As she left the shops, a man dragged her to a nearby grassy area

  • Cause gets leg-up

    OXFORD United will give a leg up to World Mental Health Day this afternoon. The club has teamed up with mental health charity Oxfordshire Mind to organise the second annual ‘1 in 4’ Legged Race across the Kassam pitch. The race will

  • A giant step for charities

    A CHARITY basketball tournament drawing 200 young players from across Oxfordshire has raised £1,800 for children in England and abroad. Oxford charity Young Steps organised the annual event at Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre last Saturday.

  • Plenty of whines and spirits

    It was at a wedding reception at the Swan and Old Mill pub in Minster Lovell that the young woman disappeared. Exhausted from dancing, she found an oak chest in a quiet room and settled down inside to sleep. She was never seen alive again. Trapped and

  • Christians’ bus challenge to atheist

    CHRISTIANS have taken their battle with prominent atheist Richard Dawkins on to the city’s buses. In 2009, atheists in London paid for 200 adverts on the city’s buses, declaring: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life

  • Literary line-up to aid village library

    VILLAGERS in Kennington are putting the finishing touches to the programme for their annual literary festival. The festival, which is being staged at Kennington Village Centre next Friday and Saturday, has attracted a number of well-known local authors

  • Cancer patients appeal to thieves

    A cancer sufferer says his recovery will be damaged after thieves stole his specially designed bike. David Thornhill, 37, said the bike – which he took a year to design and build – had helped rebuild muscles removed along with 20 tumours from his left

  • ANGLING: Trafford's French connection

    Mick Trafford, from Bicester, proudly displays his 51.11.0 mirror carp caught from Vellee Lakes in France. As reported in last week’s column, Mick made the trip over the Channel with sons Sean and Michael, catching big carp, catfish and sturgeon

  • ANGLING: Club results check

    Jolly Anglers: (Town waters at Wallingford, 6 fished) 1 P Ansell 16.6.0 (65 roach; waggler; maggot), 2 L Crook 9.8.0 (chub, roach & 4.12.0 tench, maggot-feeder), 3 W Davis 8.0.0. Sutton Courtenay: (Silver Goblets, float only, Thames, Appleford reach,

  • ANGLING: No sweat for super Sensas

    The new Oxford Winter League campaign got under way with five teams of ten spread along the banks of the Thames at Clifton Hampden, Dorchester and Benson, writes ANDY WEBBER. The combination of record temperatures, a sunny day and a static river meant

  • ANGLING: Match diary

    WEDNESDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY Oakfield: Tel 01296 770899. Panshill: Tel 07740 707795. TOMORROW Winter League: Practice open, Thames at Medley, Channel, Folly & Donnington. Draw Green Road SC 8am. North Oxford: Club match, Oxford Canal, Frenchay Road

  • ANGLING: Andy's barbel bonus

    Andy Pollard triumphed in the Upper Thames Championship with a winning weight of 24.4.0, also helping the Daiwa Golden League outfit to the team title. Drawing peg 51 at Rushey Weir, the Stroud angler caught a cracking perch of 3.10.0, plus a number

  • ANGLING: Dylan hits right note

    Dylan Heiser made the journey from Weston-super-Mare to Richworth Linear’s St John’s Lake at Stanton Harcourt worthwhile by landing ‘The Big Plated’ at 44.12.0. The massive mirror carp took a Mainline Cell boilie. IF you have any news, views or photos

  • MOTORSPORT: Oxford to roar again

    An Oxford team will race once again at Cowley next Friday when the finale of the British Dirt Track season takes place. With the QRA British Quad Oval champions now crowned, there is a score to settle between the quad racers and they have teamed up in

  • MOTORSPORT: Powell disappointed by Kent finishes

    Chipping Norton’s Alice Powell admitted to being disappointed with her results in the penultimate rounds of the Formula Renault UK Championship at Brands Hatch. Driving for the Manor Competition team, the 18-year-old finished ninth and eighth in the

  • MOTORSPORT: Walkinshaw's woe

    Chipping Norton driver Fergus Walkinshaw was left to reflect on a tough first experience of Brands Hatch in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup. Switching to Century Motorsport for the penultimate series rounds, the 20-year-old Oxford Brookes

  • Postman cleared of abuse charges

    An 83-YEAR-OLD man who told a jury his “conscience was clear” has been cleared of abusing children. The jury at Oxford Crown Court acquitted Alfred Cooper – who was supported by more than a dozen friends and family – of the 18 child sex charges

  • Man assaulted

    A 23-year-old man has been charged with sexual assault on a 22-year-old man in the Warwick Road area on September 25. Panneer Selvam Deepam, of Castle Street, Banbury, is charged with assault and for knowingly/recklessly trespassing with intent

  • Newts to get a part-time home

    A water firm is set to move a protected species so it can start work to repair worn out pipes. Thames Water will begin the task of temporarily rehoming Great Crested Newts from along a 2km section of the A41 from Bicester along Ploughley Road and into

  • Guiding way to a very special birthday

    Denise Bright is part of a long line of volunteers who have helped the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association reach its 80th birthday this week. She began working with guide dogs after her husband got cataracts and she now looks after golden retriever

  • CRICKET: Hammond and Taylor honoured

    Matt Taylor and Miles Hammond were given Oxfordshire Cricket Board Excellence Awards at the presentation for under 14 to under 17 players at Oxford’s Hawkwell House Hotel. Under 17 Taylor was honoured after being called into Gloucestershire’s first

  • Ardington get off the mark with a 4-0 win against Berinsfield

    Ardington bagged their first three points of the season with a 4-0 home win against Berinsfield. The scoreline suggests an easy win, but this certainly wasn’t the case. Harvey Offill got off the mark to make it 1-0, but Berinsfield came back very

  • Economy's vicious circle

    Many hard-working and highly competent employees have been sacked from their jobs because Conservatives believe that reducing the number of public staff, no matter how useful they are, is somehow good for the economy. Tens of thousands more people are

  • That's not a machete

    Regarding the Oxford Mail on October 3, regarding ‘machete-wielding burglars’. The tool pictured, which you so dramatically describe as a ‘machete’, is nothing more than a common billhook – a tool designed for hedge laying, and chopping up fire wood,

  • Don't build on car park

    Apparently Oxford city has the highest number of students in the whole of England. Still this interesting fact should not be used to justify building on residents’ essential car parks. It is completely unacceptable to build on Headington car park

  • Cycleway for Wootton

    Wootton needs a cycleway to Abingdon. The B4017 had 12 cycle casualties in the last decade: nine slightly injured, two seriously injured and one killed. Parishioners have wanted a cycleway since the 1980s. One was planned under Oxfordshire’s Local Transport

  • Give us a chance to have our say on place in EU

    The Conservatives said, when Blair refused to give us a referendum on Europe, that they would have done if they had been in power. Now he has dismissed calls from his own party to give a referendum on whether we should come out of the EU. Why? Because

  • Robber stole from women

    A thief snatched two women’s handbags and attempted to rob a third of her mobile phone within four days. The thief first struck last Sunday, grabbing a 22-year-old woman’s bag at in London Road, Headington, at about 10.10pm. Two days later police believe

  • HOSPICE WEEK: A very warm welcome

    Eleven-year-old Haider Iqbal has had more than 20 operations in his short life. The youngster from Headington, Oxford, has been coming to Helen House since he was just eight months old after being diagnosed with the complex condition Raine Syndrome.

  • RACING: Double for Longsdon

    Chipping Norton trainer Charlie Longsdon’s 500-mile round trip to Carlisle paid off with Time For Spring and Cross Of Honour giving him a double yesterday. Time For Spring (7-4) made a winning debut over fences under Felix de Giles in a novices’ chase

  • MOTORSPORT: Plato's playing down title tilt

    Oxford's Jason Plato feels it’s still odds against him retaining his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title – despite closing the gap at the top with a brace of wins at Brands Hatch. The defending champion is among an unprecedented five drivers

  • MOTORSPORT: Champion-elect Vettel heeds warning

    Sebastian Vettel feels his first practice accident at Suzuka yesterday served as a wake-up call to avoid thinking of his impending world title triumph. Vettel committed a rare error in what has been an exemplary season when he lost concentration approaching

  • Verdict delayed

    JURORS in the case of a deaf driver did not reach a verdict at Oxford Crown Court yesterday. Stephen Hocknell, from Carterton, denies causing death by careless driving. A verdict is expected on Monday.

  • SWIMMING: Harry stars with five golds

    Harry James was the star with five gold medals as Wantage White Horses competed in the two-day Northsea Level 3 Open Meet at Portsmouth. Swimming in Alexandra Park’s 50m Olympic pool, James produced a notable five-timer. He won the 50m and 100m backstroke

  • GREYHOUNDS: Poacher eyes 'impossible' treble

    The Nick Colton-trained Jolly Poacher will attempt the almost impossible by landing an unprecedented three victories in a row when the brindle lines up in the heats of the £1,000-to-the-winner Blanchford Oxfordshire Gold Cup tonight. Poacher

  • Train bomber hoax man fined

    A MAN who got on a train at Oxford after a Ketamine drugs binge and told a guard that a suicide bomber was on board, was yesterday fined £2,000. James Brazier, 31, from Hazelmere, Surrey, admitted affray after causing a 19-minute delay to the Reading

  • ICE HOCKEY: Birrell set for Stars debut

    Oxford City Stars’ new import Cameron Birrell makes his eagerly-awaited debut in their English National League South Division 1 match at home to second-placed Chelmsford Chieftains tomorrow (6pm). It had been hoped that the South African would play

  • Group attacked outside fish and chip shop

    A 19-YEAR-OLD woman was left with a broken arm, and three other people were injured, when they were attacked by six people. The incident took place outside the Sunrise fish and chip shop in North Street early yesterday morning. Anyone with information

  • Mitchell: In his own words

    MY county council spends almost a billion pounds per annum. Approximately half is spent on schools where we have less and less influence under Michael Gove’s agenda, where schools’ budgets are prescribed centrally. Like the rest of local

  • GREYHOUNDS: Cash injection boosts owners

    Oxford owners and trainers are in for a massive bonus following a big injection of prize money by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain. The GBGB initiative in awarding tracks a fund of around £30,000 over the next 12 months will be great news for Oxford

  • After the Indian summer, autumn is finally with us

    WHAT a difference a week makes. This time last week, people in Oxfordshire were splashing about in fountains, and sunning themselves on punts. Now they are wrapping up warm and bracing themselves for chillier times to come. Temperatures last week

  • Schools accused of manipulating marks

    TEACHERS are deliberately marking seven-year-olds over-harshly, so they appear to perform above expectations by the time they are tested at the age of 11. That is the claim being made by Melinda Tilley, the county councillor responsible for Oxfordshire

  • COMMENT: Wind it down a bit

    YOU could never accuse county council leader Keith Mitchell of ducking an issue. Love him or hate him, he’s always up for a spot of sparring on the topics of the day and if you want to lock horns with him, he’s easily found via his website, Twitter and

  • BILLIARDS: Paul's unlucky break

    PAUL Robinson, of Fieldside, scored the first half-century break of the Gentworks Oxford & District League season, but still lost his match in their 3-0 defeat by Eynsham. Robinson, playing off a -60 handicap, produced breaks of 51, 49 and 35. But despite

  • BOXING: Mullins joy at winning debut

    STEVE Mullins was surprised and delighted after winning on his professional debut in at the Oasis Leisure, Swindon, last week. In his first competitive fight for six years, the former ABA finalist and England amateur international – when he represented

  • COMMENT: We owe a huge debt

    THERE is a danger we sometimes take hospices like Helen & Douglas House for granted. We know they do good work but until they directly affect you there is an unconscious lack of grasp about just what a service they provide. But in these bleak times

  • TENNIS: Easy for Willett

    LIBBY Willett completed a two-set victory over Aileen Young to win the Appleton & Eaton club ladies’ singles title. The men’s singles final was similarly one-sided with Graeme Campbell, dropping only three games against Dave Stepney. Campbell also won

  • Oxford United confident of home victory

    CHRIS Wilder is confident his in-form Oxford United side can translate their superb away form into a home victory against Bristol Rovers today. The U’s have won their last four away matches and are eager to improve on just one league win at the Kassam

  • Pupils' literary awards take the cakes

    CHILDREN from 200 schools across the county met winners of the Oxfordshire Book Awards, as voted for by them. The unique awards involve hundreds of youngsters from 20 schools across the county, who nominate and then vote for their top books and authors

  • Robber who broke pensioner's hip is locked up

    A ROBBER laughed after he pushed a pensioner to the ground to steal his betting winnings. Sofiene Mehnana, who has a history of preying on the elderly, was jailed for five years for breaking the hip of his elderly victim. Mehnana, of

  • Fight is on to fund new boxing club centre

    A VOLUNTEER-run boxing club has found a new home but has a fight on its hands to raise £300,000 to build it. West Oxfordshire District Council will give land in Witney to the Windrush Valley Amateur Boxing Club to build a new facility. But the club