FORMER hostage John McCarthy returned to Waterstones in Oxford to promote his new book about the Middle East. About 80 fans visited Waterstones in Cornmarket Street on Thursday to hear Mr McCarthy’s talk about You Can’t Hide the Sun, in which he documents
AN ABINGDON headmaster is calling for traffic calming measures near his school after the latest accident involving a pupil. Chris Harris, who is headteacher of Larkmead School, wants measures in Spring Road and Faringdon Road, including a dedicated crossing
OXFORD City claimed a place in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division play-offs following a routine win on the final day of the season. Mike Ford's side won 3-0 at Hitchin Town to finish second in the table. It ensures a home game in the play-off
Chinnor earned promotion to English rugby’s fourth tier after a truly determined team effort. Here is the numbers' game. See Tuesday’s paper for full report. Competition: National 3 South play-off Score: Chinnor 19, Tonbridge Juddians
WITNEY’S blanket making history was explored by youngsters from the town in performances this week. Year eight to 11 students from Wood Green School have been working with Pegasus Theatre in Oxford to devise the pieces. The performances, staged at Pegasus
OXFORD United were unable to take advantage of rivals dropping points elsewhere as they crashed to defeat at home to Southend United. Chris Wilder’s side retain a slim chance of claiming a play-off place in the final game of the season next weekend,
LESS than half of state school teachers would advise their brightest pupils to apply to Oxford or Cambridge University, a survey has shown. The Sutton Trust survey, which questioned 730 state school teachers, found only 44 per cent would recommend their
A NEW book commemorates the 50th anniversary of one of Oxford’s best-loved and most successful exports – the Morris 1100. The Story of the BMC 1100 has been compiled by two members of the national 1100 Club, Chris Morris and Fernand Pinkney, and contains
OXFORD United chairman Kelvin Thomas has been given an honorary position at a disability charity close to the club’s heart He has been made honorary vice-president of Charlbury-based SpecialEffect which is dedicated to helping young people with disabilities
CHRIS Wilder makes four changes to the Oxford United starting line-up for the must-win clash against Southend United at the Kassam Stadium. Teenager Connor Ripley makes his debut in goal after signing from Middlesbrough as an emergency loan yesterday
Philip Pullman is not a name you might readily associate with the X Factor. But the best-selling Oxford author has agreed to take part in a literary take on the reality TV show. Mr Pullman, right, will be hosting a bookish version of the television
In 1962, passengers in Didcot said farewell to the Newbury and Southampton line forever. And despite transporting thousands of people between the Midlands and the South Coast over seven decades, and acting as a vital D-Day supply route, it soon faded
A couple raised more than £300 after opening their home to their neighbours for a video game marathon. Steve and Yvonne Willott, of Lily Close, Bicester, plugged in their Wii games console to raise cash for Parkinson’s UK. Mrs Willott, who has the condition
A fundraising mission has begun in honour of a young woman who died suddenly from epilepsy. Jane Swarbrick was 24 when collapsed unexpectedly on April 19 last year. Her death was attributed to SUDEP, sudden unexplained death from epilepsy, and now her
A West Oxfordshire rower has battled five-foot waves and force five winds to raise £12,000 by rowing the English Channel. Chris Baxter, 32, of Churchill, and three friends managed the mammoth task last Saturday and raised the cash for Marie Curie Cancer
A charity has vowed not to give hospital bosses a penny from a new fundraising drive after they failed to use equipment it donated. Gordon Vacher is to net thousands for The Oxford Laryngectomy Club by selling clothing donated by his employer
Morris dancing has played a big part in Oxford’s May Morning celebrations for many years. Picture 1 shows dancers in action in Broad Street in 1968, watched by a huge crowd, who had earlier assembled at Magdalen Bridge to hear the choir sing from the
Remember those gruelling cross-country runs pupils had to endure? Diane Baker, centre in the picture top, was the winner of the girls’ race at Marston Secondary School in 1961 for the second year running. Janet Eden, left, was second, and Jean
With their eyes on the sky, up to 10,000 visitors will be looking out for the RAF’s red, white and blue Jubilee Tucano, the star attraction at this year’s Abingdon Air Show. Last year, thousands flocked to Abingdon Airfield to catch a glimpse of Vulcan
It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts. Having tried unsuccessfully to bribe and cajole every grandparent in turn, our romantic mini break had turned into a family holiday overnight. The weather was terrible – rain and snow were forecast, and we were
Chipping Norton trainer Charlie Longsdon, best known for his National Hunt runners, sent out Secret Tune to score on the Flat at Doncaster yesterday. The eight-year-old stayed on well for Dane O’Neill to land an extended two-mile handicap by a neck at
Women’s clothes shop Annabelinda closes its doors for the last day of regular business today. The shop, in Gloucester Green, Oxford, has been running for more than 40 years. Belinda O’Hanlon, pictured, who set up the shop, is planning to retire. She
OXFORD’S Lily van den Broecke, who is hoping to compete for Great Britian in the Paralympics, gets her first test of the year against London 2012 rivals at the Gavirate International Adaptive Regatta in Italy this weekend. Van den Broecke, 20, from
Donations in the name of Claire Squires, who collapsed and died during the London Marathon, have grown to more than £825,000. The 30-year-old was running in aid of Banbury Samaritans. She will be buried on Wednesday in North Kilworth, Leicestershire
Plans for a £5m state-of-the-art new community hospital in Bicester were unveiled last night. It will be only the second new community hospital in the county in more than 40 years. NHS Oxfordshire has announced developer Kajima Mansell will build the
Drivers suffered minor delays on the city’s southern bypass yesterday as contractors carried out emergency repairs. One lane of the bypass between the Heyford Hill and Hinksey Hill junctions was closed from 9.45am until 11.40am so that the road surface
OXFORD Boxing Academy chalked up seven wins at their final dinner tournament of the season at the Kassam Stadium. Yaser Afzal, at 15 the youngest of the three boxers in the 52kg category, gained a unanimous verdict against Daniel Malik, of Watford, after
CHIPPING Norton’s Fergus Walkinshaw has set his sights on returning to the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup podium at Thruxton this weekend. The 21-year-old Oxford Brookes Univiersity automotive engineering student claimed a third-placed finish in the opening
DIDCOT kart racer Elliot Harvey is raring to go in the Super 1 Championship, which gets under way at Whilton Mill, near Daventry, today. The ten-year-old finished third from a field of 32 Honda Cadets from all over the country in a warm-up event at the
A teacher accused of having a gay relationship with a teenage boy was yesterday told he must appear before a judge. Adam Williams, 34, faces seven charges of abuse of trust through sexual activity with a boy aged 13 to 17. He will appear at Oxford Crown
A vicar was forced to patrol her church in the dark after metal thieves threatened to return to remove more of its lead roof. St Mary’s Church in Launton, near Bicester, was targeted on Sunday night. Then on Wednesday night the thieves returned to loosen
ST Clare’s, Oxford, went one better than last year by becoming Oxfordshire Under 19 Girls Basketball League champions. They beat hosts Cheney School, Oxford, 57-26 in the final, with captain Mia Kraus, 18 points, and Marija Gvozdenovic (16) leading the
OXFORD’S Jordan Flynn continues his bid for glory in the National ABA Junior Championships at Camberley tonight. The 16-year-old, who boxes for the London-based Repton ABC, fights Sam Kennit, from the Chatham-based St Marys club, in the quarter-finals
The city’s stars will come together for a celebration of talent today. Talent Oxford, now in its 3rd year, is launched at the Templars Square Shopping Centre in Cowley, at noon. X Factor contestant Kitty Brucknell, S Club 8 star Stacey McClean, Got
RUGBY-MAD girls from Cherwell School, Oxford, step out on Twickenham’s hallowed turf today to play in a national tag tournament. The under 13s are among eight teams from around England who will be in action before and at half-time as the annual Army
LEE Richardson produced two half-century breaks when beating Karl Walker 4-1 in the final of the Gentworks Oxford & District League’s Walt Bradbury Cup. The former tournament professional, from Thame, raced into a 3-0 lead courtesy of a break of 67 in
OXFORD’S Jason Plato believes Thruxton will be ready-made for his MG car as he bids to increase his lead in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship tomorrow. He feels that the Hampshire circuit will be ideally suited to his MG KX Momentum Racing
FORMER Oxfordshire paceman Jack Brooks celebrated his England Lions call-up with a devastating spell of bowling for Northamptonshire. Northants reduced Essex to 54-6 at stumps on day two of their LV= County Championship Division Two match at Chelmsford
Mourners poured out on to the street outside the church as they came to pay their respects to hip-hop artist Aaron Buron. Mr Buron, known as AZ, died from stab wounds he received in St Martin’s Road in Rose Hill, Oxford, on Saturday, March 31. Yesterday
Didcot teenager Daniel Griffiths is set to compete alongside the country’s top amateur riders, just two years after taking up the sport of eventing. The 19-year-old has qualified for the Mitsubishi Motors Grassroots Championships, which will be run alongside
Youngsters at St Barnabas’ Primary School in Jericho, Oxford, “let the music play” yesterday when a member of The Drifters dropped in. They will join the soul legends at a July show in the city, and member Michael Williams, left, stopped by
OXFORD Stadium are taking the lead in the drive to avoid greyhounds testing positive for banned substances. Management’s first step is to exclude all food and drink except water from the paddock area to reduce the chances of hounds inadvertantly falling
OXFORD United were last night forced to resolve a goalkeeping crisis just hours before their biggest match of the season. The U’s acted quickly to sign England Under 19 stopper Connor Ripley on an emergency loan after Wayne Brown twisted his
Fares on Stagecoach bus services across the county will rise by an average of five per cent from tomorrow. The company said cuts in the fuel subsidy from the Government, plus a forthcoming increase in fuel duty, had led to the decision. Most single
Workers at the Cowley Mini plant are set to vote on the latest pay deal from parent company BMW. Union members are being urged to accept the two-year offer which will see them earning a 4.5 per cent pay rise this year followed by 2.3 per cent in 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron praised a special school in Summertown, Oxford, yesterday for providing its students with “special moments”. The Witney MP, pictured with pupil Nathan Young, 10, visited Northern House School yesterday to help open a new
Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday told the county council’s leader-in-waiting that he and his colleagues “could do better” when it comes to education. The MP for Witney met newly-appointed county council Conservative group leader Ian
Two men jumped out a van and dumped five ducks in a car park. Passers-by watched the men drive to an area behind the Co-op, in Bassett Avenue, Bicester, then dump the domestic ducks and drive off in a white Transit van. Onlookers ushered the ducks to
A 46-year-old man arrested on suspicion of raping a teenage girl in a taxi close to the village hall has been rebailed until May 28. The alleged attack took place between 11.30pm and 11.50pm on March 29. The man has been bailed to return to Banbury
Union members are planning to meet at Church Green today for a May Day rally to say ‘No to Austerity’. Organised by the Oxford and District Trades Union Council, people will assemble in Witney, chosen as it is the Prime Minister’s constituency, at 11am
Just seven months ago, Lee Mackie started a campaign to raise money for a memorial bell to toll at repatriation ceremonies. And thanks to the tireless efforts of local people – and a helping hand from the Oxford Mail – tears ran down her face yesterday
Building work will start this summer on a £3m visitor centre in Oxford for cancer patients and their relatives. Maggie’s Centres currently runs a support service for cancer sufferers from a temporary building at the Churchill Hospital in Headington.
Counterfeit clothes have been examined by jurors in the trial of two men who opened a shop in Oxford. Matthew Croxson and Matthew Brooks opened Labels 4 Less on the site of the former Borders bookstore in Magdalen Street in April 2010. The pair are
THE latest Ann Malone Memorial match proved a family affair as Stephen and Roger Malone bagged the first two places at a red-hot Stable Lake. Stephen topped the 13-strong field with an excellent 136.12.0 of carp on method feeder with meat, beating Roger
Trains to London Paddington were delayed yesterday after a man was killed by a train. The man was pronounced dead at the scene in Southall just after noon. His death is not being treated as suspicious.
Plans to build a £3.5m crematorium near Abingdon to cut travelling times for mourners has been approved. The 296sqm building on the A338 Wantage Road by Garford would be the third crematorium in the county. The firm behind the bid, Stratton Audley-based
Residents in Greater Leys say motorbikes being ridden on pavements have become a big danger to children on the estate. Neighbours close to the playground near Brooklime Walk say youths on mopeds treat paths as a cut-through. But with the park and footpaths
Two brothers killed within days of each other, and five men who fell in a brave rearguard action ahead of Dunkirk, are among the war heroes to be honoured next week. A small chapel in Oxford will once again fill with people coming together
A surgeon, a hospital volunteer and two fundraisers have been selected to carry the Olympic flame through the streets of Oxfordshire in recognition of their tireless support for the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. Oxford cardiologist Dr Tim Betts
