A SCHOOL that has been on an upward trend since being removed from special measures is hoping the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign will lead youngsters on to even greater achievements. St Christopher’s Primary School, in Temple Cowley, Oxford, has
ILLUSTRATOR and author David Melling, right, was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Smarties Book Award. Before becoming an internationally-acclaimed and best-selling author and illustrator he worked as a photographer and as an animation
THE Bishop of Dorchester has backed the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign and spoken of his love of the Lord of the Rings. The Right Reverend Colin Fletcher said it was vital to encourage children to enjoy books. The reading campaign is an Oxfordshire
Soloists of Oxford Philomusica CHAMBER SERIES Simpkins Lee Theatre, Lady Margaret Hall Friday, 7pm 01865 980980 oxfordphil.com Oxford Philomusica principal players return, beginning tomorrow night with a pair of string quartets — Mozart’s No.19 in
It's wonderful to see the Oxford Philomusica championing young artists, and Saturday’s concert at the Sheldonian showcased the exceptional talents of 19-year-old violinist Savitri Grier, winner of the orchestra’s inaugural Youth Concerto Competition
‘Ellington’s Caravan sparked showers of sax fireworks; the band sailed through star UK saxist Tim Garland’s giddily capricious Agro Alegria.” So enthused the Guardian’s John Fordham about this year’s Proms performance by the National Youth Jazz
ROUGH JUSTICE Oxford Playhouse November 5-10, 7.30pm, 8pm and 2.30pm 01865 305305/oxfordplayhouse.com Television journalist James Highwood has made his career out of challenging the British Justice System. Now it is Highwood who is challenged when
If you’re thinking that surname looks familiar, there’s a good reason — Kitty Whately is the daughter of Morse/Lewis star Kevin Whately. Fans of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet will probably remember her as Whately’s on-screen daughter, Debbie Hope, in the second
There were generous obituaries last week for the historian Eric Hobsbawm — frog spawn, as I always thought of him — who died on October 1, aged 95. The Times devoted two pages to a survey of his long life, a signal honour it rarely accords. In it I
Saturday’s programme at the Thame Arts and Literature Festival features three fine writers whose latest books I happen to have read and can wholeheartedly recommend. First up is Thomas Mogford, the sports reporter son of Oxford hotelier Jeremy
Madonna was not best pleased to be called a “whiny old barmaid” by her friend Rupert Everett in his memoir Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, published in 2006. Result: he was her friend no longer, which some might think was more her loss than his
HOMES could be built on land earmarked for Witney’s ill-fated Cogges Link Road. The latest draft of West Oxfordshire District Council’s core strategy – the area’s housing blueprint for the coming decades – outlines the requirement for at least
Food producers will be spreading their love of all things local at the Wantage Autumn Festival. Local butchers and bakers will rub shoulders with beer brewers from Berkshire and the Bothy vineyard at Frilford Heath. Organiser Mim Norvell, of
Two sisters travelled from Down Under to help their mum celebrate her 100th birthday in Oxford. Mary Keating was visited by family for a party at Townsend House in Headington. Her daughter Janet came all the way from Australia, while her other
WANTAGE Silver Band members have two good reasons to blow their own trumpets. The band came first in the autumn regional band championships and has finally started work on building a home to call its own after a 10-year fund- raising campaign.
TOMORROW's show by East End punks Cockney Rejects at the O2 Academy Oxford, has been cancelled. The 70s punks, best known as professional West Ham fans and founders of the boisterous 'Oi' scene, have been forced to pull the plug on their tour due
TRITON is back and this time he should be able to cope with Oxford’s freezing winters. The original 6ft Triton was installed in 1858 in the courtyard fountain in front of Radcliffe Infirmary in Woodstock Road. But years of being iced up took
A DEVELOPER has re-launched a controversial bid to build 100 student rooms in West Oxford. Plans for the redevelopment of Innovation House, in Mill Street, were thrown out in March on the grounds that the scheme reduced the amount of business accommodation
Police want to speak to this man in connection with an attempted burglary in Grimsbury, Banbury. A 30-year-old woman found three men in her Old Grimsbury Road house at about 8.05pm on Monday, September 10, and they ran away. The man shown in
Police want to speak to these two men after a car was stolen from an elderly woman. A grey Hyundai Getz was taken from Danesmoor, Banbury, between 1.30pm and 6pm on Thursday, August 23. It was found in Forgeway with a damaged bumper at 8.15pm.
AN £8.2M vision for the future of Oxford Spires Academy will be realised after councillors gave plans for a new business centre the go-ahead. Last night members of the city council’s east area planning committee unanimously agreed to grant planning
A PROJECT uncovering the history of Blackbird Leys had a successful first day yesterday. More than 20 volunteers started digging at a site near the Kassam Stadium as part of the East Oxford Archaeology Project (Archeox). Over the next five
A nurse who lied to his John Radcliffe Hospital bosses that he had malaria has been struck off the nursing register. Ghanaian Anthony Aschkar claimed he had the life-threatening tropical disease to cover up a problem with his work visa in June
UP to 40 firefighters battled a blaze at a builders merchant and DIY shop in Milton-under-Wychwood yesterday. Emergency services were called to Alfred Grove and Sons in Shipton Road shortly after 5am. Six fire engines, along with ambulances
Oxford City Council has agreed to look at a “late night levy”, to be imposed on pubs, nightclubs, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol between midnight and 6am. Councillors discussed the idea at the full council meeting on Monday and decided
A mental health carer has now been charged with defrauding a vulnerable woman out of more than £30,000. Previously Mencap worker Denise Kiff was charged with using Maureen Baker’s debit card to withdraw hundreds of pounds and take out a £5,000
COUNCILS in Oxfordshire may have to make yet more savings thanks to the latest Government changes to the council tax system. For the past two years the Government has offered local authorities funding in exchange for freezing their council tax.
THE great council tax freeze of the past couple of years has been nothing but a great political con and the Government is lining up the councils to be the bad guys for the next few years. For the past two years, we lucky residents have not had
CHLOE Stallwood hit a last-minute equaliser as Bloxham drew 4-4 with Oxford Bluebirds in the Under 15 League. Kiera’s Isaac’s hat-trick and a Bonnie Lewis strike saw Bluebirds go 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 ahead, but Stallwood’s strike earned her side a
RAV Shastri’s hat-trick gave Oxford City a 3-1 win at Islington & Camden in the ESFA Under 15 Trophy second round. Aaron Martin hit a hat-trick in Wheatley Park’s 4-2 home win over Aylesbury Grammar School in the ESFA Under 16 Schools’ Cup
Banbury United and Frome shared the spoils in Tuesday night’s Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division fixture. Wayne Blossom’s scissor kick gave the home side an early lead, but Dave Thompson levelled for Frome before the break. Didcot Town
LIAM Felstead hit a four-timer as Carterton Town beat Combe Junior Sports 6-2 in the Under 12 C League of the Giles Sports Witney Youth League. Jack Romanek and Joseph Justin scored the others, with George Neyroud and Jamie Adaire on target for
TELEVISION shows and literature are among the themes of five new tourist trails being created to attract more visitors to southern Oxfordshire. Tourism is worth £428m a year to South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils, and council
AND on the theme of council finances, it seems Cherwell District Council is doing pretty much all it can to help businesses with its offer to partially waive parking charges over the Christmas period. Some retailers want three hours free parking
When Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth describes himself as being as “frustrated” as the rest of us about the relief road situation, he is clearly implying that it isn’t his fault (and it’s all the fault of the Cogges Link Road objectors
I WATCH television quite a lot and seeing these competitions on air makes me wonder who thinks them up. They insult people’s intelligence. They must make a lot of money from them, but whoever wins remains a mystery. A lot of people must have
Last Saturday, myself and six other volunteers took to the streets of Oxford to raise money for a cause we believe passionately in – compassion and respect for all animals. Animal Aid would like to thank the people of, and visitors to, Oxford,
JOHN Long isn’t asking for much when he wishes the pavements in Witney could be suitable for his scooter (ViewPoints, October 8). The Danes go one better and mobility scooters share the cycle lanes – safe, easy and most importantly, a right of
SUSAN Thomas in her letter (ViewPoints, October 4) reveals the true face of Green power fanatics. She says: “We must not allow the widespread burning of coal or wood in fireplaces to occur if there are interim power cuts due to carbon-fired power
It is glaringly inconsistent for some Government ministers to seek to reduce the abortion rate by dropping the 24-week limit while supporting penalisation of the children of unemployed parents through targeted cuts in the benefits system. If the
It’s well known that there are two words which are banned from my vocabulary until October. Not even a whisper or passing reference is allowed within earshot because both have me wrapping my hands around my ears and shouting “Not the P word.... or
NORTH Oxfordshire residents are set to benefit from three days of free parking over Christmas, but council bosses have rejected calls to permanently axe fees. Cherwell District Council will waive charges on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Bicester
HAS global warming increased over Manchester this last week? So much hot air at the Labour Party conference it must have! R W TUCKER Kingsway Drive Kidlington
WHAT lovely photos of the little schoolchildren (First Days At School supplement, Oxford Mail, October 2). Congratulations and didn’t they look lovely in their uniforms. V DOUGLAS Northway Oxford
Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money were spent on the public inquiry, so it is depressing to read that Oxfordshire County Council appears to be ignoring the inspector’s findings. Yes, the Cogges Link Road was rejected, but at the same time the
GINA Spillane’s letter (ViewPoints, October 4) regarding the scrapping of planning permission for domestic extensions, especially fits the whole of Oxford, east of the rivers Thames and Cherwell. East Oxford is a case in point. The particular population
PLANS for the management of assets worth more than £650m have been agreed by Oxford City Council. The council officially signed off on its latest asset management plan, which takes it up to 2014, on Monday night. The authority owns a large
OXFORD City Council has opposed the idea of a new airport in north-west Oxfordshire. At a full meeting of the city council on Monday, a motion opposing the idea an airport could be built in the county to take the pressure off Heathrow received
OXFORD’S only remaining independent funeral director has been sold to a national company. S & R Childs Funeral Services has bases in Headington, Cowley, Kidlington and Botley. It has now been sold to Dignity, Britain’s largest funeral services
TWO men have been arrested over graffiti vandalism in the city. A 21-year-old man from Oxford was arrested on September 30 after graffiti tags appeared in East Oxford. The letters BWS! were sprayed on buildings in Leopold Street, Cowley Road and
OXFORD City Council will push on with plans to close Temple Cowley Pool, despite a petition from residents. Councillors decided not to take action over the 2,000-name petition entitled “Labour Must Listen to Oxford” submitted by the Save Temple Cowley
THIRTY-thousand people have enjoyed what is believed to be Europe’s oldest street fair this year. Organisers say Michaelmas fair in Abingdon attracted around 15,000 people on both Monday and yesterday. The Michaelmas fair dates back to the 14th
TWO major cancer research centres for Oxford costing £170m have been announced. One centre, costing £138m, will look at patients with early stage cancer while the other, costing £32m, will analyse medical data. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
Chris Wilder hailed the “first class” attitude of his players as a patched-up Oxford United came from behind to beat Cheltenham Town. The U’s trailed 1-0 and 2-1, but a stirring second-half display saw them triumph 4-2 to book their pace in the
FAMILIES on benefits say they are unable to bury their loved ones due to the rising costs of funerals. Two Oxford families have been forced to leave their deceased relatives in the morgue even though they both passed away two months ago. Out
THE issue of The Lodge lapdancing club is a difficult one to debate dispassionately because of the moral factor, but we fear Oxford City Council may be setting itself up for a fall. The council yesterday announced its was revoking the sexual entertainment
Fire crews tackled a shed fire in Littlemore in the early hours of Tuesday morning. They were called to a property on Cowley Road and found the shed well alight. The cause of the fire is believed to be arson.
Two hooded thieves used a crowbar to smash open a cash machine a steal money. The incident happened on Monday between 12.54am and 2am at Frilford Service Station in Marcham Road, Frilford. The two criminals were seen on CCTV. Anyone with information
A caravan on a travellers site in Kennington was completely destroyed by fire on Tuesday night. Fire crews were called to Redbridge Hollow shortly after 10.30pm. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
MORE than 4,000 homes in Carterton have been without water this morning. Thames Water engineers are currently working on a burst water main in Dovetrees, off Upavon Way. Company spokesman Craig Rance said the first calls had come in at 5.30am
THOUSANDS of properties are without water this morning following a burst water main in Carterton. The burst main is on B4477 Upavon Way at Stanmore Crescent, near the old petrol station. It is understood up to 4,300 properties are affected.
HEART problems have forced Terry Joslin to stand down as a councillor, after serving the people of Didcot for two decades. But Mr Joslin, 75, who was a firefighter, paramedic and teacher before becoming a councillor, will not give up public life
BLOOD oranges were flavour of the week for a murder mystery book launch at George and Delilah’s ice cream cafe in Cowley Road. Crime writer Peter Tickler was launching his new novel, Murder on the Marsh, which features an obsessive Oxford United
