Archive

  • FOOTBALL: McCleary's player of the month

    Nottingham Forest’s former Oxford City winger Garath McCleary has been named npower Championship player of the month for March. McCleary scored six goals in seven games, including four in his side’s eye-catching 7-3 away win over Leeds United. Forest

  • MOTORSPORT: Smith eighth in practice

    OXFORD’S Bradley Smith was eighth fastest in final practice ahead of this weekend’s opening race of the Moto2 season in Qatar. Qualifying is tomorrow, with the race on Sunday.

  • Oxford United behind at half-time

    Oxford United were trailing 1-0 at half-time in tonight's npower League Two clash at Northampton. The U's fell behind to a first-minute strike from Luke Guttridge and saw midfielder Peter Leven stretchered off with injury.

  • Art and craft fair to showcase local talent

    A FREE art and craft fair is taking place in Oxford. The event runs on Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15, at the Town Hall in St Aldate’s. Local craft workers and artists will be exhibiting, although a few spaces for exhibitors remain. Tables cost

  • Pavilion set for facelift

    A VANDALISED Botley pavilion is to become a community asset again with a major makeover. The Louie Memorial Pavilion off Arnold’s Way was targeted by vandals two years ago and is now used by only one sports club, White Horse Abingdon FC. But now the

  • Have your say on taxis

    RESIDENTS in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse are being offered the chance to have a say on how taxi services are provided. The two councils are consulting on a new joint policy on licensing rules for drivers and operators. Proposals include

  • Gift bound for jubilee Queen

    AN OXFORD bookbinder is hoping to trot out more than just any old present for this year’s jubilee. Ian Barnes runs Temple Bookbinders in Stephen Road, Headington, and is putting together something special for the Queen’s 60th year on the throne. The

  • Prepare your pick-me-ups for busy break

    Easter dominates Sunday, while one of the countries most historic sporting events, the Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race, entertains hundreds of thousands on Saturday. What will you be drinking? Lee Isaacs, the Branch Manager for the Oxford Wine

  • Flats become a 'homelessness halfway house'

    Homes for four former homeless people will be created after planners agreed that warden flats owned by the charity Emmaus could be used as “move-on” accommodation. The flats next to the Temple Cowley United Reform Church Hall in Oxford Road will now

  • Chance to get arts and crafts noticed

    An art and craft fair is taking place in Oxford. The event runs on Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15, at the Town Hall in St Aldate’s. Local craft workers and artists will be exhibiting, although a few spaces for exhibitors remain

  • WHEELING IN... Hyundai i40 Tourer 1.7 CRDi Premium

    THERE is more than a touch of theatre when you settle into the driver’s seat of Hyundai’s stylish entry to the family estate car market. Touch-of-button entry to the car is swiftly followed by an electrically-controlled driver’s seat that whirrs

  • Guardian of county's past plans a busy retirement

    AN OXFORDSHIRE museum curator has retired after more than 25 years uncovering the county’s history. But Dr Lauren Gilmour, 65, has no plans to give up her passion for the past as she leaves her latest role at Abingdon’s County Hall Museum after

  • Hospital food comes from Essex after trust shuts kitchen

    HOSPITAL bosses have closed a kitchen which supplied food to the county’s mental health patients. Instead, wards across the county are now supplied with pre-packaged food from a company based in Essex. Staff working at the unit are being found other

  • Motorbike course revs up for Jubilee cash bid

    A MOTORBIKE course aimed at helping former addicts stay clean is hoping to be first out of the blocks for Jubilee Fund cash. The first, six-week ‘Rev & Go’ course has just taken place at the Ley Community in Yarnton – teaching former alcoholics and drug

  • A close encounter of the feathery kind

    YOUNG William Allan had a close encounter with wildlife when he came face to face with Chico the owl at a Science Oxford event. The five-year-old saw eight of the birds in a show by Rod Smallman who runs the Owls Galore sanctuary in Banbury.

  • FOOTBALL: Faltering Ardley seeking upturn in form

    Uhlsport Hellenic League ARDLEY United will be trying to finish on a high note, following two devastating defeats ended their hopes of winning the Premier Division title. On Tuesday, Kevin Brock’s side lost 4-2 away to third-placed Shortwood United

  • Hotel change

    The Barceló Oxford Hotel off Wolvercote roundabout will have a name change after its owners decided to pull out of the UK. Puma Hotels, which owns the hotel and others cross the UK, will revive its Paramount Hotels brand on April 25. The Spanish Barceló

  • For the people

    A lease has been signed to bring a new breed of supermarket to Cowley Road in Oxford by the summer. The People’s Supermarket scheme, which will take over the old Polish Food store between Rectory Road and Princes Street, will see shoppers buy shares

  • Global food on festival menu

    AN INTERNATIONAL food festival takes in Oxford’s Gloucester Green this weekend. The event, including a solar-powered coffee bar, an Easter egg hunt, comedy, balloon modelling, live music, tea dance and caipoera, starts today and runs until Easter Monday

  • Help crack some crime this Easter

    A CAMPAIGN to rid Oxford of its “bad eggs” kicks off today with an Easter campaign to track down Oxford’s most wanted suspects. The Bad Eggs initiative is launched by the Oxford Mail and Thames Valley Police in a drive to crack crime in the city over

  • CRICKET: Ex-Oxon ace Brooks off to a flier

    Former Oxfordshire paceman Jack Brooks made a flying start to the new LV County Championship season with Northants by claiming a five-wicket haul on the opening day against Derbyshire at Derby. Brooks,who began his career with Tiddington, finished with

  • Wilder sets Oxford United new goal

    AFTER Oxford United’s hopes of automatic promotion were realistically ended by defeat last weekend, Chris Wilder has refocused on trying to stay top in a mini-league of play-off contenders during the run-in. Just six games remain for most sides in npower

  • Man, 74, faces cyclist charge

    A 74-year-old man has been charged with death by careless driving over the death of cyclist Joanna Braithwaite. Stephen Bateman, of Astrop Road, Middleton Cheney, was bailed to appear before Oxford magistrates on April 18. Miss Braithwaite, 34, of North

  • No say over station hours

    THAMES Valley Police did not ask people if they wanted front counter opening hours cut in its public consultation. The Oxford Mail revealed yesterday how opening hours across the county had been reducted by up to 70 per cent. The force said that 1,258

  • ROWING: Triggs Hodge delighted with super-fast crew

    OXFORD’S Andy Triggs Hodge declared Great Britain’s new-look men’s four so “astonishingly” fast, they could turn up on the day of the Olympic final with no preparation and still challenge for a gold medal. And with four months of unbroken training and

  • FOOTBALL: Sent-off striker in Easter double

    Evo-Stik Southern League NORTH Leigh will have the services of Elliott Osborne-Ricketts for their two Easter holiday matches, even though the striker was sent off in the Division 1 South & West game at Wimborne last Saturday. Osborne-Ricketts

  • Oxford United's late shift makes Duberry wary

    MICHAEL Duberry admits there could be added pressure on Oxford United tonight as they kick-off at Northampton Town after the majority of their play-off rivals have finished their Good Friday fixtures. United’s trip to Sixfields is one of two games in

  • Service to the city

    Election season is upon us, with half of the city council’s 48 seats up for grabs. And we will be losing a number of high-profile and-long serving councillors, of all political hues, who will stand down. Regardless of what we thought of their policies

  • Change abortion laws

    AFTER the recent findings by the Care Quality Commission, that 50 abortion clinics and some doctors have been deliberately and contemptuously flouting the law, is it not about time that the 1967 Abortion Act was repealed? The Health Secretary, Andrew

  • Wasting our money

    SO now the European Union is proposing we should have to pay a tax on plastic bags. If we were not paying millions into this outfit we would be solvent in the UK. Cameron, get us out. ROGER W TUCKER, Kingsway Drive, Kidlington

  • True costs of carve-up

    MY long-suffering but efficient postman delivered my mail this morning. Nothing strange about that you may say but, of the four letters he delivered, two were sent through two rivals awarded contracts under the previous Government’s carve-up of the Royal

  • CABBAGES & KINGS: Wonderful way to wander streets

    KNOWING my aversion to the playing of MP3s and texting in the street, on the grounds that both are antisocial, it was hardly surprising Philip, my ex-military policeman friend, pounced in Radcliffe Square. In his words I was caught red-handed – or to

  • Morgan and Montano agree extended stays at Oxford United

    DEAN Morgan and Cristian Montano will remain at Oxford United until the end of the season after agreeing extensions to their loan stays. The deals will also ensure the forwards are still at the Kassam Stadium for any play-off games which could follow

  • RUGBY UNION: Reduced role for cup final

    Oxfordshire finals THE OXFORDSHIRE Cup final will play second fiddle to league action tomorrow as holders Chinnor clash with Henley Hawks at Iffley Road (3.30. Chinnor have understandably named a second team as they take on Redingensians

  • RUGBY UNION: Chinnor up for big test

    National 3 South West CHINNOR head coach Jason Bowers is urging his players to complete the job when they visit Redingensians in tomorrow’s promotion showdown. The original match between the league’s second and third-placed sides was abandoned in

  • FOOTBALL: Ford focused on Cambridge

    Evo-Stik Southern League OXFORD City manager Mike Ford is blocking out all thoughts of automatic promotion ahead of the Easter weekend’s Premier Division double-header. City’s 1-0 victory at Chippenham Town on Saturday lifted them to second spot,

  • ROWING: Boxing clever

    158th University Boat Race OXFORD president Karl Hudspith will prepare for tomorrow’s Xchanging Boat Race against Cambridge (2.15) as if he is Mike Tyson. Hudspith, who was not good enough to make the top boat at Hampton School, has been inspired

  • COMMENT: Volunteers have done the county proud

    It is a job no one wants to do. But the hidden group of volunteers at each of Oxfordshire’s repatriation ceremonies perform one of the most important jobs there are. Since Oxfordshire took back the role of repatriations last September, those turning

  • Daft decision on rents

    I AGREE with Van Coulter (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, March 28), that the Government is committed to raising public housing rents to 80 per cent of the housing private sector. This policy was set up by the previous Labour Government. So much for the coalition

  • Beat postal price rises

    EVERYONE must have heard that first and second class stamps will go up by 14p on April 30. They may not know that the same day a letter to Europe will go up by 19p, from 68p to 87p! For some reason Royal Mail has decided to lump Europe in with the rest

  • Shops centre revamp will not benefit Botley

    IF ever there was an appalling example of how not to run a PR exercise, it is the one displayed by the Vale of White Horse District Council in its proposals to renew the West Way shopping centre. The majority of people in Botley are reasonably happy

  • HMO protest

    A protest against the city’s policy on houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) is being planned. Mohammed Aslam Khan has written to Thames Valley Police to request permission to protest outside Oxford Town Hall on Friday, April 13. Mr Aslam Khan said members

  • Davis unfazed by rivalry for Oxford United shirt

    LIAM Davis insists he is not worried by the increasing competition for Oxford United’s left back slot now Tony Capaldi is returning to full fitness. The 25-year-old is likely to start against his former club this evening, but United’s first

  • Fire breaks out in block of flats

    ONE person was taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a block of flats in Didcot this morning. Firefighters were called to the blaze, believed to be on all floors of the building in Venners Water, shortly after 5.15am. An ambulance spokesman

  • POINT-TO-POINT: Time to Crank it up at Lockinge

    An ability to act on top of the ground again looks certain to be crucial in the popular Old Berks Hunt meeting at Lockinge, near Wantage, on Easter Monday. Following the dry spell, conditions are bound to suit horses who like to hear their hooves rattle

  • Figures reveal Mini sales fall

    UK sales of the Mini fell by more than nine per cent last month, latest figures have revealed. Statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show 8,451 cars were sold in March, compared to 9,319 in the same month last year. Over

  • POINT-TO-POINT: Hill ace set for Kimble

    Description, trained by Alan Hill at Aston Rowant, is set to go on a retrieval mission as a centenary of racing at Kimble, near Aylesbury, is celebrated with the Kimblewick Hunt meeting tomorrow (1.30). The ten-year-old won in good style

  • FIXTURES April 6

    SATURDAY. ROWING. University Boat Race (Putney, 2.15pm). FOOTBALL. EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE. Premier Div: Bedford Tn v Banbury Utd, Oxford City v Cambridge City. Div 1 South & West: Abingdon Utd v Cinderford, Wimborne v Didcot Tn, Yate Tn v

  • Jamming with all that jazz

    JAMMING at the Jam Factory will celebrate the Oxford Jazz Festival over the next two days. Top talent from across the world descends on the city as part of the Oxford Mail-backed Oxford Jazz Festival. Double bass player Giazonne Reyes,from Botley, will

  • Shelling out for Easter

    There were wide grins and the odd smudge of chocolate on young faces at Oxford Children’s Hospital (Chox) yesterday. Patients and even some lucky visiting siblings were treated to a surprise delivery of Easter eggs. More than 60 eggs were dished out

  • Candidates ready for battle at the polls

    AS Oxford goes to the polls next month candidates say national politics, cuts, and housing will decide how the city votes. The 100 candidates vying for half of Oxford City Council’s 48 seats were revealed yesterday ahead of the election on Thursday,

  • Holiday chemist hours criticised

    Health bosses have urged people to stock up today on medicines as patients hit out at pharmacy opening hours over the Easter break. It comes as the Oxford Mail can reveal only two pharmacies across the whole of the South and Vale districts will be open

  • Oxford United's Pittman hoping to make his mark

    Jon-Paul Pittman is set to make a return to Oxford United’s squad on Friday night, with the striker aiming to put a frustrating campaign at the club behind him with a strong finish to the season. The 25-year-old is likely to be among the substitutes

  • Crash victim

    A 25-year-old woman killed in a collision on the A420 at Buckland has not yet been named. She was driving a van which was in collision with a truck, and was pronounced dead at the scene just before 9am on Wednesday.

  • Beavers are in a class of their own

    It was not until eight children from the 10th Oxford Beavers lined up to receive a top award that their leaders realised they were all classmates. Daniel Ziu, Tilly Gilbert, Matthew Allan, Alex Wickson, Cameron McMichael, Freya Wicker, Dan McEwan and