Archive

Two weeks ago I bore witness to one of nature’s miracles. An everyday miracle, that was my-once-in-a-lifetime. My wife gave birth to our first born, a boy, who we named Sebastian. It astonishes me how something so small and helpless can spark

FOR decades it has dominated the skyline from the A34 and the Oxford-Kidlington Road. But now the landmark Water Eaton grain silo is no more. It has been demolished to make way for the new Oxford Parkway railway station which Chiltern Railways

COMPLETING as many as five endurance events in five months is an impressive feat for anyone. But for Summertown father-of-two Simon Appleby it is nothing short of inspiring. The 40-year-old has a rare, hereditary heart rhythm disorder known

CELEBRITIES took to a golf course to score a hole in one for an Oxfordshire hospice. Organised by Dalziel and Pascoe star Warren Clarke, and Dennis Waterman, known for starring in The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks, the recent golf event raised

Oxford United slipped off the top of League Two after John Joe O'Toole's second-half penalty gave Bristol Rovers a 1-0 win at the Kassam Stadium today. The hosts, though, will rue two missed headers by James Constable as the visitors snatched their

Gerald Stratford writes a monthly angling column for the Mail I HEARD some rather disturbing news this week – Owen Patterson, the environment secretary, wants to introduce a ‘dredge your own river’ scheme. Dredging is a highly skilled job (

There were two last-ball thrillers in Division 3 of the Banbury Indoor League, with Radway and Marston St Lawrence edging home, the former despite being docked one over for a late start. RESULTS Deddington 57 (Naveed 3-10), Buscote 58-2 (5.3

A WOMAN is to shave off her luscious locks in a bid to raise money for Helen and Douglas House hospice. Rachel Smallman, 29, wants to raise £500 for the East Oxford charity and decided to cut all her hair off. She said: “I’ll probably end up

YOUNG Beaver Scouts have made their own little piece of history. Fourteen members of 1st Bure Park Beaver Colony, right, have become the first young people ever to be invested into the group. The new Beaver pack opened its doors in September

ANDREW Ingram is celebrating after winning a contest to provide a Christmas Tree for Downing Street. The Watlington Christmas tree grower came top out of more than 100 producers to scoop the accolade for the second time. He will provide a tree

PHIL and Evelyn Roberts have wanted to run their own business ever since they met a decade ago. Now their dream has come true after Mrs Roberts fell in love with an historic West Oxfordshire inn. The Shaven Crown inn, in Shipton-under-Wychwood

FROM boy bands to Abba, Richard Taylor Woods has found a home treading the boards among the UK’s biggest musicals. The 35-year-old Kidlington-raised actor has started the second year in hit Abba-themed musical Mamma Mia! Mr Taylor Woods has

A 28-YEAR-OLD widow is throwing her energy into charity fundraising, after her husband died of a rare form of cancer. Lucy Rattenberry’s husband, Tom, died at the age of 28, just 15 months after he was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs

There seems to be no stopping Holton A in Division 1 as they make it four big wins out of four to start the Oxford & District Association season. This week they beat British Rail 10-0 to open up a six-point gap over Rutherford in second.

A DISABLED riding school has been able to buy a pony after a donation from the Co-operative store in Witney. Sue Leach, who works at the shop in the High Street, suggested the New Yatt Riding for the Disabled, for its annual fundraising drive and

We think Oxford will line up in a 4-4-2 system with Jake Wright at left back. However, there is a possibility it could be the 3-4-3 formation that worked so well in the win over Northampton. Players are out on the pitch warming up

OXFORD University’s world famous Wytham Woods help to protect plants on the ground from the effects of global warming, a new study has revealed. The international study, led by Belgian scientists from Ghent University, found that thick forests

DAVE Kitson and Johnny Mullins return to the Oxford United starting line-up to face Bristol Rovers at the Kassam Stadium today. With Tom Newey suspended, Mullins slots into the back line after recovering from injury, while Kitson returns from suspension

POLICE are out in force today ahead of Oxford United’s clash with Bristol Rovers. Violent disorder broke out amongst rival fans when the football teams last met in February. The resulting police investigation saw 32 arrests and several football

THERE were good spirits all around for Halloween. While trick-or-treaters trawled the county’s dark streets, there were strange apparitions at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science, things went bump in the night at Oxford Central Library

Oxford United fans are being invited to attend Oxford City Stars ice hockey match tomorrow night as part of a new relationship between the clubs. Stars and Oxford United fans organisation, the Yellow Army, have set up a partnership agreement.

Gordon Ross says much credit for his remarkable kicking form should go to his London Welsh teammates. The fly half has landed 33 kicks in a row in the Greene King IPA Championship, a run that goes back to the opening day of the season. Since

Bure Park won their first Bicester Primary Schools Cross Country Championship after wresting the title away from Langford Village. The event at Bicester Community College saw Bure Park win by 57 points and provide three of the six individual winners

Got a secret passion for Paxman? Who's your dodgy crush? The family that has the write stuff Meet the cupcake queen mums Does size matter? It does when it comes to clothes Make your firework night go with a

Alex Davies comes in for his first league start of the season as London Welsh visit Leeds Carnegie tomorrow (3). Davies starts at scrum half in place of Rob Lewis, who drops to the bench. Club captain Matt Corker replaces Peter Browne in the

KARL Walker lifted the Pre-mier Division best break to 63 while helping leaders Abingdon Conservative A to a 5-1 win at home to Woodstock in the Gentworks Oxford & District League. Teammate Michael Bennett was also in good form with runs of

Andy Titterrell says an honest assessment among the squad helped London Welsh return to form against Cornish Pirates. And the Exiles hooker is backing them to build on that display when they face Leeds at Headingley tomorrow. Welsh top the

AN angry Kimi Raikkonen confirmed he had to be talked out of refusing to drive for the Enstone-based team at this week’s race in protest at being “paid zero euro the whole year”. Raikkonen announced in September that he will leave the team at the

ONE of the biggest barbel reported from our local rivers this season has been banked by Trevor Gray from a backwater of the Thames at Sandford, on the Littlemore AS ticket. It scaled 12.10.0. He tempted the monster on a 16mm krill and crab

THE top break in the Gentworks Oxford & District League came from Riley A’s Lewis Moss (-10) who produced a 37 in his 200-191 win over Cowley Conservative A’s Athur Coakley (+100). It helped Riley to a 2-1 win. RESULTS Riley A 2, Cowley

A WAITER who worked at the Randolph Hotel has been cleared of a string of sex attacks against women in the Cowley area. Eric Berki, 28, of Ridgefield Road, Oxford, was acquitted yesterday of four counts of sexual assault that were reported over

A 48-year-old man has been arrested after a row between a man and woman in East Challow. Police said they were called to The Park at 2pm on Tuesday and the suspect was arrested on suspicion of using threatening words or behaviour to cause harassment

A Thames Valley Police officer accused of selling personal information is to go on trial next year. Sugra Hanif, 26, of Bretch Hill, Banbury, appeared at Winchester Crown Court yesterday for a pre-trial hearing. She is charged with obtaining

HELEN House, one half of the world’s oldest children’s hospice, is to close for six months for a near £1.5m revamp. But the home will still be an open sanctuary for its youngest patients. It has helped thousands of children and their families

IT is hard to imagine that anyone would begrudge the £1.5m being spent to improve Helen House Hospice. Along with Douglas House, these wonderful institutions provide a vital service to people at a delicate and distressing stage of their lives,

BIG delays are expected on the A34 southbound today as the first of three 640-tonne transformers are taken away from Didcot Power Station. Didcot A Power Station was disconnected from the National Grid in March after producing electricity for 43

A 23-year-old woman is due in court charged with flipping over a car in a drunken crash. Kelly Flower, of Waltham Gardens, Banbury has been charged with drink-driving and failing to stop after a road accident following an incident when a blue Volkswagen

A burglary victim came home to see three men leaving their Northway house through the front door. The Cherwell Drive home was broken into at 6.20pm on Thursday and police believe the thieves were searching for high-value Asian gold jewellery. A

Former US vice-president Al Gore spoke of challenges facing the world to a crowd of 800 at Oxford University. The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner talked about climate change and urged younger generations to engage with politics at the university’

Six police cars and a riot van were used when police raided an estate off Botley Road over fears for the safety of a woman yesterday. Police were called to Osney Court at about 7.45am after concerns were raised. A woman was taken away by police

AN AUTHOR whose work has been compared to JRR Tolkien held a book signing at one of the writer’s favourite watering holes. Ian Johnson, from North Yorkshire, signed copies of his debut novel The Witcher Keys at the Eagle and Child pub in St Giles

 A masonry firm has denied committing corporate manslaughter after the death of an employee in 2010. The Bristol and Bath-based Cavendish Masonry has been charged in relation to the death of David Evans on February 9, 2010, at the Well Barn Estate

TALKS will be taking place between council officials and Oxford Brookes University over this year’s spike in student anti-social behaviour. Residents living near the university have said the new academic year has brought about the worst noise and

MATCH FISHING: Club news & results THE weekend wind made fishing pretty difficult, but the Thames roach were to the fore again in many matches. Pete Clarke’s fine season continued on a moody river at Sandford where he captured the Littlemore

ALMOST anyone who has been to university will be familiar with late nights spent on the tiles. It is one of the many things that people who go to university enjoy. But no one likes noisy neighbours. An investigation is under way into reports

SIXTY-EIGHT years after the Second World War ended, the men from Botley and North Hinksey who lost their lives will finally be recognised as a new war memorial is unveiled. The memorial bearing the names of the 11 men is to be dedicated as part

The jury has gone out to consider its verdict in the trial of five men accused of attempting to conceal, disguise or convert criminal property. They are alleged to have “turned a blind eye” to two undercover police officers posing as metal thieves

A man accused of engaging in sexual activity with a boy has pleaded not guilty. Iztullah Qudrat, 18, of High Cross Way, Headington, appeared yesterday at Oxford Crown Court and denied carrying out the crime in Oxford this year. Also accused

THE family of an “amazing” teenager who has died in hospital say there is now a massive hole in their lives. Abingdon schoolgirl Leah Graham, 17, died on Thursday morning in intensive care at hospital after being admitted last month with cystic

A PICKET line was due to form last night outside Oxford’s Rewley Road Fire Station as firefighters across the county walked out on strike. All of the Fire Brigades Union’s (FBU) 400 members in Oxfordshire who were on duty were last night expected

Afghanistan’s president visited Oxford last night as part of his five-day trip to the UK. Hamid Karzai made a speech at the Oxford University student debating society, the Oxford Union, in Frewin Court. During the speech, he reportedly told

THE former president of Abingdon’s Chamber of Commerce has said he was a “total idiot” to buy lacy underwear for a 13-year-old girl. Paul Townsend took the stand yesterday in Oxford Crown Court on the tenth day of his trial and said he had “changed

Danny Rose admits Oxford United’s home clash with Bristol Rovers this afternoon will have an extra edge as he attempts to shoot down his home town club. The midfielder was born and raised in Bristol and has been inundated with ticket requests from

THEY may be great rivals on the football pitch. But Abingdon United and Didcot Town have joined forces off the field following an accident. Abingdon’s club secretary of 26 years John Blackmore, 62, was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital on Wednesday

BANBURY MP Sir Tony Baldry hit out at Labour’s record on energy prices in a Commons debate. The Conservative said on Thursday there were 20 distributors and suppliers when he helped privatise the industry in 1990. He said: “How is it that we

CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a home on Green Belt land behind Vicarage Road have been approved by Cherwell District Council’s plannes after more details were provided to the committee.   Kidlington Parish Council and Cherwell's conservation department

SIXTY-EIGHT years after the Second World War ended, the men from Botley and North Hinksey who lost their lives will finally be recognised as a new war memorial is unveiled. The memorial bearing the names of the 11 men is to be dedicated as part

Blur bassist-turned-cheese maker Alex James will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Gloucestershire on Friday, November 15. Mr James, who lives in Kingham near Chipping Norton, will become an honorary Doctor of Arts during a ceremony