Archive

  • St John The Evangelist Church, Wallingford

    CHRISTMAS EVE Vigil Mass at 8.00pm CHRISTMAS DAY Christmas Day Mass at 11.00am St John The Evangelist Church Market Place, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 0EG Telephone: 01235 812338

  • Bargains up for grabs at Matalan

    A CLOTHING and homeware store in Cowley is the latest business to stage a VIP shopping night for Oxford Mail Loyalty Club card holders. On Thursday, stores in Marriotts Walk in Witney staged a VIP late night shopping night for card holders. Now Matalan

  • Two cinemas for Wantage film fans

    AFTER six years without a cinema, Wantage film fans will now have two. Wantage Town Council is to set aside at least £30,000 to buy a projector and screen and set up the regular screenings in Wantage Civic Hall. The Oxford Mail reported in October

  • St Peter's Eynsham

    CHRISTMAS EVE First Mass of Christmas suitable for Children at 6.00pm Midnight Mass with Carols at 11.30pm CHRISTMAS DAY Mass at 10.00am CONFESSIONS SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER After 10.00am Mass THURSDAY 22 & CHRISTMAS EVE

  • Our Lady Help of Christians, Cowley

    CHRISTMAS EVE Midnight Mass at 11.30pm CHRISTMAS DAY Mass at 10.00am CONFESSIONS MONDAY 12 DECEMBER Penance Service at 7.30pm Our Lady Help of Christians 59 Hollow Way, Cowley, Oxford OX4 2ND Telephone: 01865 776903

  • Sacred Heart, Blackbird Leys

    CHRISTMAS EVE Vigil Mass at 6.00pm Midnight Mass at Midnight CHRISTMAS DAY Mass at 9.30am CONFESSIONS FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER Penance Service at 7.30pm CHRISTMAS EVE Penance Service from 11.00pm Sacred Heart

  • SS Gregory & Augustine

    CHRISTMAS EVE Service of Lessons & Carols at 11.15pm Midnight Mass at Midnight CHRISTMAS DAY Mass at 8.00am & 10.30am (Sung) ST STEPHEN'S DAY (BOXING DAY) Mass at 10.30am CONFESSIONS CHRISTMAS EVE Confessions at 10.45am

  • Oratory Church of St Aloysius

    CHRISTMAS EVE Mass at 10.00am Vigil Mass at 6.30pm Carols from 11.15pm Midnight Mass at Midnight CHRISTMAS DAY Mass (Old Rite) at 8.00am Mass (Solemn) at 9.30am & 11.00am Solemn Benediction at 5.30pm No evening Mass

  • St Hugh of Lincoln, Woodstock

    CHRISTMAS EVE Carols from 7.30pm Vigil Mass at 8.00pm CHRISTMAS DAY Mass at 9.30am St Hugh of Lincoln Hensington Road, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1JH Telephone: 01865 377093

  • Corpus Christi, Headington

    CHRISTMAS EVE Vigil Mass at 6.30pm Carols from 11.30pm Midnight Mass at Midnight CHRISTMAS DAY Mass at 9.00am & 11.00am No evening Mass CONFESSIONS MONDAY 19 DECEMBER Penance Service at 7.00pm Corpus Christi Margaret Road, 88

  • Blessed Dominic Barberi, Littlemore

    CHRISTMAS EVE Vigil Mass at the Crib for Families at 4.00pm Midnight Mass & Blessing of Crib at Midnight CHRISTMAS DAY Sung Mass at 11.00am CONFESSIONS CHRISTMAS EVE Confessions at 12.00pm-12.30pm / 5.00pm-6.00pm / 11.15pm-11.45pm

  • English Martyrs Catholic Church, Didcot

    CHRISTMAS EVE Carols at 10.30pm Midnight Mass at 11.00pm CHRISTMAS DAY Christmas Day Mass at 9.00am English Martyrs, Didcot 15 Manor Crescent, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 7AJ Telephone: 01235 812338

  • All Saints' Church, Headington

    SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER The Festive Service of the Nine Lessons & Carols at 6.00pm CHRISTMAS EVE Crib & Christingle Service at 4.00pm Midnight Mass at 11.30pm CHRISTMAS DAY Holy Communion at 8.00am & 12noon Sung Eucharist at

  • The reason I just love to tergiversate

    Ever in the van of fashion, I was naturally first off the starting pad when advised by the Daily Mail to use Dictionary.com’s word of the year ‘tergiversate’ (which means to change repeatedly one’s attitude or opinions). As it happens, I have been popping

  • Goodness, how I ruffled feathers!

    The appropriately named Dr A.U. Larkman, of the Oxford Ornithological Society, told readers of The Oxford Times letters page last week that “small bird declines are due to food shortages, not predation”. I take his word for it, though the blackbird I

  • Why the pyramids got a miss from our cruise ship

    Waggish friends suggested there might be a subtle plan to be shot of me when I was invited by our travel editor to join a cruise to Egypt. But I seized the opportunity gleefully, never having previously been on a cruise or visited this country.

  • A home-baked cake is a fine festive gift

    The gift of a home-baked cake says you care, particularly during the festive period when you want to make a special statement. Presenting your host with a cake you have baked yourself when you arrive at a drinks party is a great way of showing

  • First Church of Christ, Scientist, Oxford

    CHRISTMAS DAY Christmas Day Service & Sunday School at 10.30am Again loved Christmas is here, full of divine benedictions and crowned with the dearest memories in human history - the earthly advent and nativity of our Lord and Master

  • Cowley Road Hospital began as a workhouse

    For much of the past thousand years or so Oxford’s public health and welfare policy has consisted largely of the better off — particularly members of the University — making themselves scarce in times of pestilence and, whenever possible, shifting

  • Puss in Boots and Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

    Jolly green ogre Shrek and his sweetheart Princess Fiona amassed nearly $3bn at the global box office before heading into the fairytale sunset at the conclusion of yesteryear’s Shrek Ever After. All good things must come to an end, except in Hollywood

  • Oxford Bach Choir: Sheldonian Theatre

    Ah, lovely — an evening indulging in Bach. The Oxford Bach Choir joined forces with the London Mozart Players last weekend for a wonderful selection of some of Bach’s most glorious music, in what proved to be a particularly joyous and uplifting occasion

  • At Swim Two Boys

    Welsh dance company Earthfall has taken the central relationship from Jamie O’Neill’s award-winning novel At Swim Two Boys and turned it into a riveting, hour-long rhapsody of developing love between two young Irish men, Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle. In

  • Funny Money: The Mill at Sonning

    Our seasonal appetite to eat, drink and be merry is being amply satisfied at the Mill, with the third ingredient supplied, following a slap-up turkey dinner, by Ray Cooney’s Funny Money. The veteran farceur’s 1994 hit, which ran for two years in

  • Mummers, Michaelmas and the Empress Matilda

    At Oxford Castle, a body lay in a crumpled heap. One passing Christmas shopper did look quite concerned, and paused briefly before hurrying on. Nobody else took any notice at all. Admittedly the body was dressed as a 12th-century knight, so perhaps they

  • Measure for Measure: The Swan Theatre, Stratford,

    From the opening bars of David Price’s urgent rock score to the full cast’s capering at the play’s end (in what now appears to have become a firm Stratford tradition), the Swan’s new production of Measure for Measure is a constant delight. A Shakespeare

  • CHARITY MATTERS: Race for Life event stuck in starting blocks

    CANCER Research UK has cancelled next year’s Race for Life event in Banbury. It said a lower than expected turnout at this year’s Broughton Castle event led to the decision. The event sees thousands of women across the UK run in pink clothing for

  • CHARITY MATTERS: Pledges to cancer fund will be doubled

    AN Oxford hospital has appealed for people to help brighten up cancer patient’s lives with a special fundraising drive. The Cancer and Haemotology Day Treatment Unit at the Oxford Cancer Centre is taking part in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge

  • CHARITY MATTERS: Charlotte plays her cards right for cause

    A CHEERY snowman drawn by a Faringdon schoolgirl is on sale all over the country after she won a national competition. Charlotte Carlisle, nine, a pupil of Longcot and Fernham Primary School, will see her design transformed into a Christmas card to

  • Plans for shopping centre postponed

    SHOPPING centre bosses in Didcot have delayed the second phase of the town’s Orchard Centre until next year. A £125m scheme to double the size of the centre to turn it into one of Oxfordshire’s top shopping destinations was announced in March

  • Troubadour: Hemingwayart, Cassington

    Lucy Gough and Adam Bridgland both use the written word as an integral part of the pictures they make. Their consummate ability to mix the graphic and the visual evokes images of occasions remembered and an offer of encouragement to explore new horizons

  • Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves: Chipping Norton Theatre

    Having gone to a good deal of trouble to steal a great deal of treasure, you’d think that Mustafa Leikh (say the name out loud to get the full effect) and his band of thieves would keep the plunder safe. But no: security at the storage cave is

  • The Queen's College Choir

    The Queen’s College ushered in the festive season with an interesting double bill: a familiar, much-loved work paired with a world premiere, both of which took their inspiration from a range of Christmas texts. Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols

  • Car firm’s drive to succeed pays off

    TEN of the most promising young companies in Oxfordshire have been selected as finalists in our Business Accelerators competition. The shortlist followed long hours of deliberation by judges and business mentors Mike Jennings, Bob Urwin and Brendon Cross

  • Pub revamp will add ‘character’

    A NEW pub manager hopes to bring “vitality and character” to Witney by installing a town centre seating area. Kerrianne Tracey, who took over The Eagle Vaults three months ago, hopes to put five tables and 16 chairs outside the Market Square pub. This

  • Coffee chain eyes up old music shop

    COFFEE chain Costa is planning to take over a former music store in the centre of Wallingford. If Costa Coffee gets the go-ahead to convert the old Astley’s music store in Market Place into a coffee shop, it will be the first national coffee chain to

  • Abingdon secondary is rated ‘good’

    HEADTEACHERS say Abingdon has a bright future after a key secondary school im-pressed education inspectors. John Mason School is the first secondary in the town to be rated ‘good’ after a visit from Government watchdog Ofsted last month. Also last week

  • Disability trust boss retires

    THE head of Oxfordshire’s learning disability trust is to retire after two decades at the organisation. Dr John Morgan will step down as chief executive of the Ridgeway Partnership this month. Dr Morgan, 59, joined the trust in 1989 as a consultant

  • Villages get trial bus services

    FIVE villages in South Oxfordshire have linked up to fund a month-long trial of weekend buses, after a similar service was axed earlier this year. Thames Travel withdrew the Oxford-Watlington 101 Saturday evening service in June after bus subsidies

  • FOOTBALL: Wes seals win for Golden Ball

    Golden Ball kept up their good form with a 2-0 win at Union Street in RT Harris Oxford City FA. Ricky Anderson fired them ahead with a 30-yard screamer, before Wes Bone wrapped up victory with their second from a similar distance.

  • FOOTBALL: Jamie hits a hat-trick

    Jamie Clarke hit a treble as Division 2 Ardington & Lockinge as beat Division 1 side Saxton Rovers in the North Berks League Charity Shield second round. Ardington won 4-1 on penalties after the sides were locked 3-3 after extra-time.

  • Rose Hill gets community tree

    CROWDS of school children gathered to watch Rose Hill’s first community Christmas tree arrive at The Oval. Pupils from Rose Hill Primary School were given a break from lessons to watch the 25-foot tree lowered into place. Headteacher Sue Mortimer

  • First Badvent arrest

    ALREADY the Oxford Mail’s Badvent campaign is bringing in fresh leads for the police, with an arrest made within the first week of the Christmas crime crackdown. Ashley Appleby, of Sapphire Road, Blackbird Leys, was arrested after an anonymous tip-off

  • Not polite? Gran's got an app for that

    AVRIL Lethbridge remembers the good old days, when manners cost nothing and children said please and thank-you. Now the 79-year-old has made it her mission to bring them back – by designing an ‘app’ for iPads and iPhones based on her own manners and

  • FOOTBALL: Frizzell fizzes with a hat-trick

    Dan Frizzell hit a treble for Brize Norton in a 9-1 thrashing of Ducklington Res in Division 1 of the Witney & District FA. Matt Howard (2), Colin Tyrell, Rob Hook, Steve Marshall and Adrian Godwin were the other marksmen. Mike Gardener was on target

  • Primary school will double in size

    AN OXFORD primary school is set to double in size after council chiefs backed its £2m plans yesterday. Cutteslowe Primary School in Wren Road will now increase its pupil intake from 30 to 60 from September 2013. Its total numbers will increase from

  • FOOTBALL: Super duo lift leaders

    Alex Fassoranti and Jamie McCuig notched doubles as ten-man Premier Division leaders AFC Hinksey hammered Adderbury 5-0 in the Oxfordshire Senior League. Early on, Hinksey were reduced to ten men when Marlon James was dismissed for two yellow cards in

  • FOOTBALL: McMahon nets a four-timer

    John McMahon scored a four-timer for Oxford Irish as they marched into the second round of the Oxfordshire Senior League President’s Cup with a 6-2 hammering of Eynsham. Edward Denton and Andrew McMahon were the other scorers, with Danny Yaylor (2) replying

  • FOOTBALL: Cundy's unusual treble

    SCHOOLS FOOTBALL ROBBIE Cundy bounced back from putting through his own net to score twice as Vale of White Horse beat Hereford & District 4-1 in the ESFA Under 15 Trophy fourth round at Abingdon Town. Jordan Davies cut in from the left and pulled

  • FOOTBALL: Tower's cup joy

    WOMEN'S FOOTBALL Tower Hill had to work hard for a 4-0 victory over Buckingham Athletic in round two of the Thames Valley Women’s League Cup. It was goalless at half-time, but Sarah Snowdon eased Tower’s nerves with the opener. Jess Witcher, Nic

  • ATHLETICS: Hannah hoping for awards double

    Hannah England says she is ‘greatly honoured’ to be in the running for Oxfordshire Sportswoman of the year again. The 1,500m athlete, who won a silver medal in the World Championships in South Korea, landed the award in 2009. But after

  • Students turn divas at the opera

    A FAIRYTALE version of an opera featuring witches and Olympic champions will be performed by school pupils in Watlington today and tomorrow. Sixty-three pupils from Icknield Community College have been working with Garsington Opera’s education team to

  • Corn Exchange woes increase

    WITNEY’S Corn Exchange, shut down because of a failing heating system, also contravened fire safety regulations and had a crumbling balcony, it emerged last night. The hall, used by community groups for plays, concerts, pantos and meetings, was closed

  • COMMENT: This one will run

    THE saga of Witney’s Corn Exchange looks set for a long run. After originally being told it had been shut down due to faulty heating, the plot has thickened with the news that the popular venue has a crumbling balcony and has also breached

  • Work starts on second phase of Wood Farm's new school

    PUPILS at Wood Farm Primary said goodbye to their old school as demolition work began to pave the way for the second phase of a £10.5m redevelopment. The children released 100 biodegradable balloons with messages attached to them on Monday to mark the

  • FOOTBALL: McGinness leads the way with treble

    GILES SPORTS WITNEY YOUTH LEAGUE A treble from Calum McGinness saw Tower Hill to a 4-1 win against Garden City in the Under 14 A League. Redd Pratley got their other, Ravin Shamsi replying. Daniel McLean netted seven times as

  • Gritting lorries sent out for the first time

    THE county council has reiterated it “has a good track record on managing salt stocks” after sending out the gritting lorries for the first time this winter. Oxfordshire roads were treated on Sunday and Monday and the council said it has more salt in

  • Card fraudsters caught on CCTV

    WAITING to use a city centre cash machine, these two friends, right, look like hundreds of other shoppers in Oxford. But an eagle-eyed CCTV operator was right to be suspicious, for the pair were in fact professional criminals holding a card-cloning

  • FOOTBALL: Corbett slams super double

    Mark Corbett bagged a brace as Witney & District FA Division 1 side Chipping Norton pulled off a shock 3-1 win against Premier Division North Leigh A in the third round of the OFA John Fathers Junior Shield. Reece Bayliss was also on target for Chippy

  • FOOTBALL: Stone's double proves decisive

    CRITCHLEYS UTV LEAGUE DAN Stone hit a double to help Mansfield Road to a 5-1 win at Oxford FC in Division 1, writes Tim Siret. Max Burton scored from the spot, with Francis O’Neill and Francis Carr also on target, but the goal of the game came from

  • FOOTBALL: Hinksey edge dramatic tie

    OFA SAM WATERS CUP HOLDERS AFC Hinksey recovered from a nightmare start to secure a 6-4 victory in an incident-packed third-round tie away to Banbury & District Sunday League side Wroxton Heath, writes Tim Siret. Both sides finished with ten men –

  • A fantastic job on road

    I WOULD like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the workmen resurfacing the Iffley Road – and well ahead of schedule, I believe. Once again, thanks to you all for a first-class job with minimal disruption. DAVID WINKFIELD Charles Street

  • A winter of discontent

    I AM pleased to see Councillor Roy Darke has now seen the light (Oxford Mail, viewpoints, October 11) and at least realises the importance of installing lights at Croft Road Recreation Ground. It seems like a never-ending battle to get them! First of

  • We must share the love

    OUR troubled world must change. While in hospital earlier this year this thought came to mind. The very essence of life is recognising love and reciprocating that love. Without it we are doomed, love is the key to every door. Throughout our lives we can

  • Debate over respect corrupts its meaning

    THERE has been much spoken about our Lord Mayor Elise Benjamin lately, including on Sunday on Radio Oxford. I am aware that there has been a misunderstanding between Elise and John Kelly. John is a respected member of the community and we meet at the

  • Problems prevent the double burial plan from going ahead

    I AGREE with Nick Duval (Oxford Mail, December 2) that better use of burial space could be made if couples were buried in the same plot rather than side by side. Indeed, such graves can be found in many places in Britain. However, by law, burials are

  • FOOTBALL: Six-goal Phoebe is the star

    OXFORD MAIL GIRLS LEAGUE PHOEBE Warner fired a double hat-trick as Tower Hill Vixens beat Benson United 8-1 in the Under 12 League. Warner scored three times in each half, with Annabel Clarke and Abigail Greenfield completing Tower’s tally and Eleanor

  • The start of dictatorship

    WHEN will Cameron understand that Britain is a small country and France and Germany have decided to redesign the EU? How can they do this when the EU is made up of 27 countries? So what are they saying, you will do what we want? That to me is the start

  • Chatty people ruin trip

    WHILE travelling by bus, do folk really have to chat on mobile phones? Recently three women were chatting, one discussing who would take the dog to the vet, another rowing about the supper dishes not being washed, the third about picking up a child

  • Dangerous and divisive

    Having supported the protest in Drayton at 7am on December 1 against the introduction of exorbitant charges (£240.00 per year) for children using the bus to get to John Mason School in Abingdon, it was upsetting to see someone from Oxfordshire County

  • Switch-on was disaster

    The Christmas lights switch-on was total and utter chaos for those of us caught up in it, trapped and frightened at the Cornmarket/George Street junction. Buses, closely packed together, were travelling across George Street into Broad Street and vice

  • LIFE LESSONS: Jim Saunders

    *WHAT I'M CALLED: Jim Saunders *MY AGE IN YEARS: I am a young minded 59-year-old. *WHAT I DO: I am the manager/money adviser at Agnes Smith Advice Centre and have worked there as a volunteer and paid worker for 21 years. I enjoy the

  • ATHLETICS: Selection ends Mara's Olympic fears

    Oxford marathon runner Mara Yamauchi, named in Britain’s Olympic team this week, says she feared she would not make London 2012. The 38-year-old former Headington Roadrunner was selected as one of the first three members of the GB athletic squad, alongside

  • Man jailed for thieving spree

    A persistent criminal has been jailed for a string of offences. Dua Noah, below, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Monday after earlier admitting six charges. The 23-year-old admitted failing to attend a drug-assessment appointment, failing to

  • Destination NY

    The first flight to to New York from London Oxford Airport will jet off today. All tickets have sold out for the journey, via Dublin, which bosses at the Kidlington airport hope will lead to more links with global destinations. Prices started at £795

  • Stolen jewellery

    A 45-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods after a house in Cardinal Close, Littlemore, was raided and thousands of pounds worth of clothes and jewellery taken. The pair, who were arrested on Monday

  • £5.5m rail track work will signal delays

    Rail passengers are being warned to allow extra time for journeys between Oxford, Reading and London over Christmas, due to major track renewals at Didcot. Network Rail is spending £5.5m replacing 10 points at junctions east and north of Didcot Parkway

  • University radio goes off the air

    STUDENT slobs have put Oxford University’s radio station Oxide off air, with a rubbish-strewn studio proving to be the last straw after it was hit by technical problems. The Oxide station’s controllers were forced to pull the plug on the station for

  • Mini sales are far from small

    The Cowley built Mini continued to buck the trend in UK new car sales in November with 4,411 cars sold — up 2.23 per cent on the same month last year when 3,117 cars were sold. Year-on-year Mini sales in 2011 to date are up 17.23 per cent over the same

  • Ex-soldier raises funds for fellow comrades

    WHILE all around was death and destruction, one former soldier took solace in writing poems. When David Osano, 28, was posted to Afghanistan with a counter IED taskforce, he was given his first “wake-up call” within weeks when a comrade from the 33 Engineer

  • COMMENT: No pain, no gain at our hospitals

    TECHNOLOGY, said the physicist CP Snow, is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with the one hand and stabs you in the back with the other. Even though he wrote it 40 years ago, that still holds true when it comes to big IT installations

  • Car yard hit by arson attack in Standlake

    A suspected arson attack on a car dealership in Standlake Road closed the A415 in the early hours of today. Fire crews battled the blaze at Blenheim Car Sales which destroyed four 4x4 vehicles and damaged another at 3.30am. A fire service spokesman

  • Cards of festive cheer

    YOUNGSTERS got into the Christmas spirit as they used their festive card designs to make money for the homeless. Pictures from pupils at Appleton Primary School now feature on nine of Oxford-based The Gatehouse’s charity Christmas cards. The school

  • BADVENT: Help arrest gym locker thief

    WHILE a member of the public was working out at the gym, a thief flexed his muscles in a different way, breaking into his locker to snatch his wallet and sprint away. Police officers now hope Badvent suspect number seven, caught on the gym’s CCTV system

  • Wildlife honours

    TWO Oxford men who have dedicated their careers to protecting the world’s endangered animals have been nominated for an inter-national conservation prize. Prof David Macdonald and Prof Claudio Sillero, of Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research