THE magical world of Neverland was brought to life in a puppetry show by youngsters in Oxford. Children from SS Philip and James in Jericho, pictured, made their own puppets to put on a performance of JM Barrie’s classic novel Peter Pan . The
Williams F1 driver, Bruno Senna, has collected the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy in the picturesque town of Brisighella, Italy, for showing great promise at the beginning of his racing career. The trophy honours the memory of Lorenzo Bandini
Leon Drummond, 40, of Thornbury Rise, Banbury, admitted shoplifting three items of clothing valued at £41.25 from Mothercare in Banbury on February 8. Given a 12-month conditional discharge and told to pay £40 costs. Christopher Hatton
John Meade, 56, of Moorbank, Oxford, admited drink-driving in Ashurst Way, Oxford, on April 27. Had 75 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, above the legal limit of 35 micrograms. Fined £250, a £15 victims’ surcharge and £85 costs. Banned
An arrest warrant has been issued for a man who failed to turn up for his sentencing at court. Pawel Leja was due to be dealt with at Oxford Crown Court today but the 27-year-old did not appear. Leja, of Chetwode, Banbury, had previously admitted
A driver has been taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital following a three-vehicle collision in Bayswater Road, Barton, Oxford. The crash happened at 7.43am today and involved a grey Renault Master van, a green Land Rover and a silver Renault Clio
Damp weather didn’t stop hundreds from gathering for Yeah Baby! James Phillpott set up the annual festival three years ago to raise money for Oxford Children’s Hospital after a friend’s son was treated there. But last year his own daughter
IT sounds like sour grapes from Mr Paul Spearman. Boo hoo, the Olympic Torch misses Banbury. It is obvious that those involved routing the torch throughout the UK realised that Blackbird Leys would welcome the event with open
CANCER really is an issue which touches everyone. It was fantastic to see so many women with such personal stories to tell turning out for yesterday’s Race for Life. We hope everyone digs deep to contribute to this worthy cause.
RECENTLY the Taliban executed a young woman for adultery in line with the strict Sharia law in Afghanistan. Ironically, Sharia Law is now prevalent in Libya thanks to the monumental incompetence of our Foreign Secretary William Hague
HOW nice it was to read Bernadette Downs’s letter (Oxford Mail, July 10), recalling happy memories of the Excelsior Café in the Cowley Road. I had my first meal there back in the early 1960s. All the food they cooked
ON Saturday, June 23 you ran an article on the Blackbird Leys park and I applaud those responsible for creating a plan to improve the area. However, I would like to inform all members of the public that the Town Green application is far
SO CID officers in Thames Valley Police are to take exams to be become detectives (Thames View, July 2012). This is like Labour nationalising crime to make sure crime does not pay! I served from DC to DI from 1964 to 1989
CAMBRIDGE has now joined Oxford in the dubious production of Court Judge Gareth Hawkesworth who recently appeared to show a predilection for going soft on paedophiles by releasing a teenager who sexually assaulted a four-year-old.
A FILM made by and starring the inhabitants of Kingston Bagpuize has been released in 100 UK locations. Tortoise in Love, directed by village resident Guy Browning, will be screened at 30 cinemas and a further 70 set up in rural community centres
Two MPs are backing villagers in their fight to keep free bus travel for children attending Wallingford School. Wantage MP Ed Vaizey has visited Cholsey to talk to villagers about the county council’s decision to remove free bus travel for
ABOUT 2,500 people attended the Charlbury Beer Festival. Saturday’s event included 50 beers, live music, food, children’s entertainment and the second World Aunt Sally Singles Championship. The festival raised almost £21,000 for charity
A HEADTEACHER who turned an Oxfordshire primary school into an outstanding-rated institution is retiring. When Mary Watts first joined Appleton Primary School 11 years ago it was rated as good by schools inspectorate Ofsted. Since then
Former MG worker John O’Shea was reunited with his past on his 100th birthday. The Abingdon centenarian, who lives at Nicholson House off Gainsborough Green, came up close to one of the cars which came off the production line at the Cemetery
PEOPLE with learning difficulties and their families will be the centre of attention at a red carpet event later this month. More than 200 people are expected to attend a glamourous gala screening of Mamma Mia, enjoying celebrity treatment and an after
THE pictures of two brides-to-be receiving wedding gifts from colleagues at Nuffield Press at Cowley had an unexpected link. The first (Memory Lane, January 23) showed Audrey Preece, pictured, being presented with a set of blankets as her wedding to
With the Olympics approaching, reader David Brown was reminded of one of Oxford’s former Olympiads, boxer Percy Lewis. He was a member of the British team in the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland, competing at featherweight. He made only a brief appearance
FOUR tiny new additions have arrived at a garden centre – and are busy winning admirers. The micro pigs have taken up residence at the garden centre at Millets Farm Centre in Frilford, near Abingdon. The 12 week-old miniature Bedfordshire pigs arrived
We're not sure whether 264 for six was good enough for victory. But the smiles of the faces of these cricketers suggest it was a winning score. The players represented Bletchingdon and the picture was probably taken in 1949. A note on the back says
A PARISHIONER has designed and crafted a £27,000 stained glass window for his church. Oxford artist Roger Wagner created his vision of the tree of life with the help of stained glass artist Tom Denny. The window, at St Mary’s Church in Iffley, Oxford
A driver has been taken to hospital following a three-vehicle collision on Bayswater Road. The crash happened at 7.43am today and involved a grey Renault Master van, a green Land Rover and a silver Renault Clio. The drivers of the Land
THE town’s Council of Churches set up a Help the Aged collection point at the Methodist Hall in West Street in 1981 for old blankets and clothing to help people in under-developed countries. Over two days, 495 sacks were filled. Helper Freda
Two readers have personal memories of cartoonist Alan Course. Neil Harris, a speedway fan, received a special cartoon to mark his interest in the sport, while Terry Smith was featured after competing in a cross-country race. Alan’s cartoons appeared
These Boy Scouts were enjoying a camping holiday in Southern Ireland. They were members of the 11th Oxford (Forest Hill) group, and the holiday was made possible through Oxfordshire’s links with the motor industry. Their holiday ‘resort’ was a 300-acre
Investment in Oxfordshire's rail network was announced by the Government today as part of a £9.4bn nationwide package of improvements. Plans include improvements to Oxford’s station, the electrification many of the lines out of Oxford and the first
OXFORDSHIRE County Council could officially end its pursuit of the controversial Cogges Link Road in Witney tomorrow. The council’s cabinet is expected to vote not to pursue new planning permission following the recent public inquiry decision
l MY enjoyment of the Torch event on Cowley Road was marred by cyclists, travelling the wrong way up the road when it was very clearly closed. Cyclists do not stop at traffic lights, cycle on the pavements and cycle the wrong way along one-way streets
Shipton-under-Wychwood proved no match for Division 2 leaders Dinton and slumped to a 97-run defeat in the Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League on Saturday. Dinton, put in to bat first in a match reduced to 105 overs after a delayed start, made
A 21-year-old man has been acquitted of rape. Alan Wahid was cleared by jurors at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after a week-long trial. Wahid, of Trafford Road, Headington, had denied a charge of raping a woman on August 14 last year
A 24-year-old man who took part in a brawl outside an Oxford bar has been spared jail. Albjont Dedja was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Friday having earlier admitted affray. He was involved in punching and kicking a group of men
MATTY Taylor returned to his former club as Forest Green Rovers beat North Leigh 2-0 in Saturday’s pre-season friendly. The Millers sold their leading scorer to Forest Green last season, and they brought a side to Eynsham Park as part of the transfer
A public inquiry into Oxford City Council’s “masterplan” for Barton West starts today. The council hopes to build 1,200 homes along with shops and a primary school to help alleviate Oxford’s housing shortage. If the plan is approved,
OXFORDSHIRE County Council believes it should no longer be running schools. For the first time the authority has said it wants all schools to become academies, which are state-funded but independently run. Tomorrow the council cabinet
WE were pleased to see an ARCh reading helper, Helen Russell, featured in the story on Oxfordshire County Council’s Reading Campaign (“We’ll Help Them Read”, Oxford Mail, July 12). As the article states, there are more than 200 ARCh volunteers helping
Oxford twice built up a winning position against Burnham only to end up hanging on for a draw as rain ended proceedings at Rover Cowley on Saturday. In the only Division 1 game to be played in the Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League after the
IT is clear to everyone concerned that academies are here to stay. And in many ways they bring lots of opportunities and benefits. Schools are given extra cash in the first year, control of their budgets in the longer term and freedom over
Two hundred people marched through Oxford to protest against the Government cuts to education and the public sector. The march from East Oxford to Broad Street stopped city centre traffic and saw members of the public clapping and cheering in
DURING my 30 years living in Iffley Fields, I have had occasion to call on the city council workers for help many times. The employees who have responded have been unfailingly polite, efficient, helpful and have done a good job. These include garbage
WITH reference to the Oxford Mail article in July 13, on page four, headlined ‘Schools must lead efforts to boost reading’, the headline correctly implies that schools are continuing more than 40 years of failure since very rigorous infant teaching was
Every day in every way I’m sent the strangest, weirdest, crassiest (yes, I know that’s not strictly a word) emails. And having always believed a problem shared is a problem halved, I wanted to share with you a small but exquisite sampler of these bulletins
Of the deluge of extra-curricular events marking the end of term, our school concert is an evening like no other. School policy dictates that all children who learn an instrument take a turn to delight the audience, even if they only picked up the spoons
A sea of almost 6,000 women dressed in pink ran through Oxford yesterday to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Race for Life organisers hope the 5km race, through University Parks and the city centre, will raise £366,000 to find life-saving
A fighting dog clamped its jaws around a toddler’s leg in an Oxford park and “shook him like a doll”. The 21-month-old boy needed an operation under general anaesthetic and will be scarred for life after the incident off Brasenose Driftway,
WHAT I’M CALLED: Chris Waites. MY AGE IN YEARS: 25 years old. WHAT I DO: I’m busy setting up The People’s Supermarket Oxford, a non-profit community-owned store on the Cowley Road. “Setting up” means anything from negotiating
FORMER Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas feels that Simon Clist was the most significant player he signed during his four years in charge of the U’s. But it was not the impact he made on the pitch that was critical, but more the intent it showed off
PEGASUS Theatre artistic director Euton Daley has been crowned the first Strictly Oxford champion. After competing against 15 other couples at the event at Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate’s, yesterday, he was crowned winner based on a combination
OF THE deluge of extra-curricular events marking the end of term, our school concert is an evening like no other. School policy dictates that all children who learn an instrument take a turn to delight the audience, even if they only picked
NEW Oxford United chairman Ian Lenagan greeted hundreds of fans at the Kassam Stadium for the club’s annual open day. It was a chance for the U’s supporters to meet their heroes, watch them in action and get their hands on this season’s
ABOUT 400 Rainbow Guides from Oxfordshire gathered in Oxford at Merton Field, near Christ Church Meadow, to celebrate their 25th anniversary yesterday. For pictures of their Alice in Wonderland-themed Mad Hatter's Tea Party, see tomorrow’s
THE Hinksey Hill Interchange's northbound exit slip road from the A34 will be shut by roadworks for five nights from tonight. Contractors working for the Highways Agency are resurfacing and re-marking the slip road between 10pm and 6am each night
A 51-year-old man has been charged with sexually assaulting a young woman in the grounds of an Oxford care home. Ian Nicholson, from Hernes Road, Sunnymead, was arrested on Saturday and has been charged with sexual assault. It relates
HANNAH England believes she can still be competitive at the Olympics, despite missing six weeks of the season due to an Achilles injury. The 25-year-old Oxford City ace only returned to action in Friday’s Aviva London Grand Prix where she finished
CHRIS Wilder visited Premier League champions Manchester City this summer as part of Oxford United’s new sports science plans for the new season. The U’s boss viewed the methods used by Roberto Mancini’s backroom staff to look for areas to improve the
HOUSE seller Claire Thompson believes the Land Registry figures don’t tell the whole story. “I know that house prices in my area are not going up and they haven’t for some time,” she said. Ms Thompson bought her new home in Banbury for
YOUNG and old dressed up, danced and waved their way through Witney to kick off the town’s annual carnival. Despite the wet weather, an estimated 5,000 people turned out through the day and some 500 featured in the procession. The parade
AVERAGE house prices in Oxfordshire have hit their highest level since the economic downturn. Figures from the Land Registry showed the average price for properties sold in May was £241,290, less than £4,000 below the same month in 2008.
NEGOTIATORS talked a man out of a lake near Berinsfield last night. Emergency services, including 13 police officers, were called to the scene at Queenford Lakes off Burcot Lane at 12.15am. A police spokesman said relatives of the 36-year-old
About 200 people were evacuated from the BMW Mini works in Cowley after a small fire broke out. The blaze broke out in the filters of an air-conditioning unit on the top of a building at the car factory. The fire and rescue service was
THE Government is set to announce a £9 billion injection of cash into the Rail network today that could include confirmation of the reopening of the East-West link from Oxford to Milton Keynes. Transport Secretary Justine Greening will set
GETTING children excited about toilets is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. But that has been the job for staff at Mill Lane Primary School, in Chinnor, as they enter the last stretch of a bid to win £7,500 of improvements to rebuild their toilet
THE mystery appearance of dozens of names scrawled on a wall in Blackbird Leys has been puzzling and, in some cases, scaring people for the last week. In Wednesday’s Oxford Mail we reported how volunteers at the Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground had
GETTING children excited about toilets is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. But that has been the job for staff at Mill Lane Primary School, in Chinnor, as they enter the last stretch of a bid to win £7,500 of improvements to rebuild their toilet
