Archive

  • Lorry driver attack bail

    A 57-year-old woman arrested after a lorry driver was assaulted in Abingdon has been rebailed by police. The suspect, from Surrey, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm after a lorry driver was beaten up by men

  • Delays on the A34 after accident

    THERE are still delays on the A34 between Islip and Weston-on-the-Green after an earlier accident.  Traffic is still queueing in both directions after one Southbound lane was closed until 7pm.  Updates will be automatically posted on our Live

  • 'I'm an effective force in policing the Thames Valley

    THE Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police insists he is cheaper and more effective than the 19-member police authority he has replaced. But he warned the force he may not be able to keep cutting crime if the Government goes ahead

  • Consultations ready to start on schools plan

    A CONSULTATION event to hear views on new schools in Bicester will take place next week. About 9,000 new homes are planned to be built in the town over the next 18 years, and new primary and secondary schools will be needed to be built to cope

  • Thieves strip house

    A washing machine, dishwasher, two televisions, a stereo system, a laptop and a DVD player were all stolen from a house by burglars. The crime happened in Oxford Road between 2pm and 10.20pm last Friday. Pc Simon Travis, from Banbury police

  • Charged with assault

    A 48-year-old man has been accused of assault after a row between a man and a woman in the village near Wantage. David Roberts, of Main Street, was charged with assault by beating after an incident in The Park on October 29. He was bailed to

  • Police issue appeal after two burglaries

    Jewellery has been stolen in a burglary at an elderly victim’s home in New Yatt Road between 11am on Tuesday, November 12, and last Friday. A home in Vanner Road was also burgled between 8.30pm last Wednesday and 2.30pm on Thursday. Pc Lorna

  • Our pick of the week's best features

    Read about the first Oxford City Festival of music - and listen online to our pick of the bands Meet Stuart Fowkes - the man behind Oxford's charity fundraising feast of alternative and electronic music - Audioscope Enjoy a night

  • Screen breaks: 'The great stage v screen debate'

    Regular readers of this column will know that my wife works in theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company to be exact (you should see our flat – one wall is DVDs, the opposite is play scripts; with copies of Empire and The Stage strewn across the front

  • Getting the surf BORED blues on the Isle of Wight

    School was out! After a year of teachers droning, mounds of textbooks and time-consuming, life-consuming homework, school had ended. What got me through was envisioning being at Camp Beaumont for a whole week surfing and body-boarding the “crashing

  • University proposes statue of leading benefactor

    OXFORD University is planning to put up a statue to the man who funded some of its most iconic buildings. The university wants to commemorate John Radcliffe with a statue near the North Oxford observatory which bears his name. It would form

  • Future’s in focus for firm manufacturing new specs

    A NEW manufacturing site to produce revolutionary glasses opens today following major investment by an Oxford firm. Adlens has ploughed £1.2m into the site in Osney Lane, Oxford and employed 15 new staff as it looks to start making its spectacles

  • Apprentices take hold of the lead in dog grooming

    AN expert in animal wellbeing is expanding her business after taking on two apprentices. Judy Chappell is now able to focus her expertise in dog massage, leaving the grooming side of her firm, Canis Finest Dog Grooming, in the capable hands of

  • F1 race team is revving up to produce motorcycles

    FORMULA 1 motor racing team Caterham is expanding its base at Leafield Technical Centre, following a move into the motorcycling world. Fifteen obs have been created at the West Oxfordshire factory, which already employs 350 people, with the promise

  • Small footbridge wins a major award

    IT MAY only be 30 foot long but what it lacks in size it makes up for in its ingenuity. The Pembroke College footbridge across Oxford’s Brewer Street, has won an award for the best pedestrian bridge in the international Structural Awards 2013 held

  • How ‘stomach bug’ turned out to be rare brain tumour

    WHEN student Emily Jones started being sick in the morning she put it down to a stomach complaint. But a year later, after new symptoms such as dizziness and blurred vision developed, her world was turned upside down with the news she had a rare

  • Lunchtime show a hit with pupils

    VIOLINISTS performed classical pieces to their peers at Headington School. The lunchtime shows are now being put on once a fortnight to give the musicians a chance to perform in the music school and in front of their classmates. Nine young

  • Recovery helps timber frame firm build new business

    THE economic recovery is helping fuel growth at timber frame house builder Stewart Milne Group. Bosses at the firm, which employs about 100 staff in Witney, say they expect to expand the workforce by at least 10 per cent this year. Latest financial

  • Charcoal producer fired up as kiln proves its worth

    Charcoal is something most of us give little thought to after we have thrown it on our barbecues. But most of the UK’s supply is imported and often comes from mangrove swamps, rainforests and other endangered habitats. And its production is

  • Business is what gets him out of bed in the morning

    At 81 Peter Jewson has led a full and active life, not least in business. Now at an age where many will have retired and put their feet up, Mr Jewson says business is what still fires him, and he continues to have a wide range of interests, including

  • Currant affairs: Stir Up Sunday

    Whether we like it or not the forthcoming festive season revolves around traditions that have been honoured for centuries. Even though we may choose to disregard many that were once held dear, they still determine the way we celebrate the festive season

  • Restaurant review: The Rickety Press

    An award-winning pub in Oxford is serving sensational tasting beef, finds Katherine MacAlister. ‘All I need now is a large beanbag and a good DVD, a bit of Bond maybe, preferably here, just in the corner,” Mr Greedy said hopefully, peering around

  • Stage Whispers: Andy Evans 'Laughter is the best therapy'

    As Christmas approaches I cannot help but think of all the exercise I will have to do come January to escape looking like a male orang-utan, in particular a dominant male orang-utan with cheek pouches and an extra-large belly. My belly currently serves

  • Album Review: Matt Cardle - 'Porcelain'

    Sara Bailey listens to Matt Cardle's latest album. Album: Porcelain Artist: Matt Cardle Label: Absolute Matt Cardle, the 2010 X Factor winner, having switched music labels, returns with his third album Porcelain. This label switch has

  • Pub landlord and Aunt Sally player ‘a wonderful man’

    A POPULAR former pub landlord and car factory worker has died aged 76. Tony Lane, who managed three pubs and a bar during his time as a landlord, passed away at his Kidlington home on November 11 after battling bowel cancer for more than two years

  • Model student steps into city fashion scene

    MODEL Cara Kealy was part of the crowd who went to casting auditions for Oxford Fashion’s Night Out. The fashion event, featuring a Champagne reception, mince pies and live photoshoots, will take place tomorrow at The Varsity Club, in High Street

  • Pop, rock and folk highlights: alt-J, Ms Mr more

    Folk LiveFriday: Oxford Folk Ashmolean Museum Tomorrow, 7-10.30pm Free The good people at Oxford Folk Weekend take over the hallowed chambers of the Ashmolean Museum tomorrow for the last of this year’s LiveFriday events. Filling the galleries

  • Soundbites: Audioscope, Oxford City Festival and more

    While the city celebrates Light Night tomorrow, the Ashmolean Museum hands over the keys to the team from Oxford Folk Weekend, who have invited all their mates over for a lively night of music among the artefacts. Festival director Cat Kelly assures

  • Live review: The Rifles

    Martin Langhorn goes to see a performance from the rockers who shoot to thrill. The Rifles, the indie band from Chingford, have had their fair share of ups and downs over the years – including being on a Mafia wanted list apparently after one of

  • More finalists vying for NHS awards

    INDIVIDUAL AWARD FINDING out your baby has Down’s syndrome is a shock. But for three mums the shock was set aside as Rowena Pearce, a nurse at Oxford Children’s Hospital, helped them to understand the implications. The advanced nurse practitioner

  • The Vuvuvultures will pick your brain clean

    Do Vuvuvultures represent the future of rock? Tim Hughes finds out more about this quirky four-piece and discovers that they probably do Dark, sinister and abrasive, Vuvuvultures would never claim to be the cheeriest of bands. Their videos

  • Turin Brakes: Mellow fellows in a smooth groove

    Indie outfit Turin Brakes tell Tim Hughes what’s going on in their curious world. A decade and-a-half, and six albums, into his career Gale Paridjanian is a man who is starting to enjoy himself. One half of mellow songwriting duo Turin Brakes

  • Review: The Bluestocking

    It’s 1920, and working-class Mary Mason wants one thing. No, it’s not the vote, it’s a degree from Oxford University. “I think there was a bit of a sense of disillusionment for women,” says Alex Thomas, head of drama at Magdalen College School.

  • Householders are lighting up their communities for charity

    CHRISTMAS light displays are lighting up Oxford as residents raise cash and collect items for charity. Scores of people are expected to decorate their homes with large displays, many of them collecting for good causes from passers-by. Among

  • Lantern parade heralds start of three days of festivities

    OXFORD’S first ever three-day celebration of Christmas festival kicks off tomorrow with the traditional lantern parade through the city. Oxford City Council hopes about 90,000 people will attend a host of events from Friday to Sunday, to kick off

  • Review: To Sir, With Love

    ‘Ah, another sheep going to the slaughter,” says schoolmaster Weston. His voice drips with venom as he adds: “Or should I say black sheep?” New, and entirely untrained teacher Ricky has arrived for his first term at a secondary modern school in bomb-blasted

  • For Art's Sake: restoration at the Ultimate Picture Palace

    Becky Hallsmith reviews the restoration work at the Ultimate Picture Palace which is now entering the home stretch. Our three-year project to restore East Oxford’s much loved Art Deco treasure to full splendour has reached the home stretch. We

  • Sean Lock returns to stand-up

    Sean Lock is bored of TV, infuriated by the internet, and tired of his previous TV appearances being on the Freeview permaloop... so he’s concentrating instead on his first love — stand-up comedy and showing us all where it’s at in the process.

  • City buses prepare for Low Emission Zone

    BUSES in Oxford now comply with the criteria set by the city’s Low Emission Zone. In January, the city’s LEZ comes into effect and requires buses to comply with European standards for levels of nitrogen. Accordingly, the Oxford Bus Company has upgraded

  • Archives tell story of brave students

    THE stories of college students who fought in the Second World War will come to life when a city college opens its archives. Documents, letters and cuttings about Oxford University college St Edmund Hall students who went to fight, will be the

  • Liz Nicholls praises John Radcliffe Hospital staff

    LIZ NICHOLLS pays tribute to JR staff who were there as her mother passed away Death is the ultimate taboo. We’re hard-wired for survival, of course, to forget our mortality so that we can get on with living. So when confronted with death, our

  • Profile: author Angus Wilson -'The great unknown novelist'

    Mark Davies on Angus Wilson, ‘one of Britain's greatest late 20th-century writers’ A don’s wife said to the novelist Angus Wilson one day in the 1970s: “I hear you spent most of your time in Oxford dressed as a woman. What fun those days must have

  • AUNT SALLY: Sixes prove all in vain for Allens

    Phil Allen and Bobby Allen both hit sixes for Bicester against Deddington in the Banbury Inddor League, but still ended up on the losing side in a 4-2 defeat. RESULTS Banbury Indoor League: Easington 6, Wroxton Heath 0; Deddington 4, Bicester

  • BAR BILLIARDS: Bowler and Bateman shine

    Callum Bowler and Chris Bateman set new season bests, but could not save Marlborough Club from a 3-2 defeat at Vikings Club. With their side already trailing 3-0 in the Johnsons Buildbase Oxford League Section 2 clash, Bowler hit the highest away

  • Whitehall’s civil servants take lessons in leadership

    Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office Minister, on why Oxford and the city’s Said Business School are the perfect place to improve leadership skills in the civil service. Aircraft carriers, Crossrail, the Olympic Games – major projects are rarely out

  • Church unveils its new look

    A NEW look for a South Oxford church is being revealed at the weekend after a £500,000 refurbishment. A children’s chill-out room, new kitchen, toilets and storage are just some of the new features at St Luke’s Church in Canning Crescent. The

  • Oxford United's tie at Gateshead rearranged

    Oxford United's FA Cup replay at Gateshead has been rearranged for Thursday, December 5. The tie at the International Stadium will be televised live on BT Sport, so both clubs will still receive the £33,750 in broadcast fees. The original replay

  • Copper piping stolen

    Copper piping has been stolen from the grounds of a house in Madley Park in Witney. The Pine Rise property was targeted at about 3.40pm on Monday. Police described the thieves as three white men and said a white Ford pick-up truck with a blue back

  • Burglars steal a laptop holding family history

    A CHAUFFEUR has branded those responsible for stealing a laptop containing his family’s history “scum of the earth”. Richard Arrandale discovered his home in Oxford Road, Kidlington, had been burgled when he returned home from work. Thieves

  • RUGBY UNION: Awcock keen to keep making impact at Welsh

    Alan Awcock is happy to keep representing London Welsh on two fronts as his season goes from strength-to-strength. The 25-year-old made his first league start at full back in Welsh’s 28-0 victory over Ealing on Sunday, but his day job remains as

  • Creighton's sympathy for Oxford United fans

    Former Oxford United defender Mark Creighton was one of the summarisers for BT Sport, who were covering the tie at gateshead last night. He said: “Knowing Oxford fans like I do, there’s a fair few who would have travelled up tonight. “They

  • Disappointed fans put on a brave face

    OXFORD United supporters who had made the long journey to Gateshead were philosophical about the postponement. About 100 away fans made the trip and most gathered in the main entrance to the stadium while the game’s fate was decided. There

  • Delay may prove blessing in disguise

    Although it was far from ideal, the postponement could turn out to be a blessing for the U’s. A pile-up of injuries had restricted Chris Wilder’s options for the game, which could be eased by the time they return to the north east. It also

  • Rural community cuts

    A talk will take place tonight into the impact cuts are having on Oxfordshire’s rural community. It has been organised by Oxfordshire Rural Community Council. The meeting takes place at 7pm at Marlborough Enterprise Centre in Shipton Road, Woodstock

  • Assault on board bus parked by Randolph

    Police officers arrested a 28-year-old man after an assault on board a bus parked outside the Randolph Hotel. The man was arrested on suspicion of assault occassioning actual bodily harm. Thames Valley Police was called to Beaumont Street at

  • Headteacher queries reliability of exam marking

    A HEADTEACHER has issued a warning about the widespread concern surrounding the reliability of exam marking. Speaking at the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) annual conference in Gateshead yesterday, Headington School headteacher Caroline Jordan

  • RUGBY UNION: 'Double life' is just the job for Awcock

    ALAN Awcock is happy to keep representing London Welsh on two fronts as his season goes from strength-to-strength. The 25-year-old made his first league start at full back in Welsh’s 28-0 victory over Ealing on Sunday, but his day job remains as

  • Centres quiz for PM

    PRIME Minister and Witney MP David Cameron faced questions in Parliament yesterday about his support for children’s centres in Oxfordshire. Labour leader Ed Miliband’s first question to Mr Cameron at Prime Minister’s Question Time yesterday was

  • Hope grows as more detainees released

    THERE was hope for detained Chipping Norton Phil Ball yesterday as more of the Arctic 30 were released on bail. Britons Alex Harris, Kieron Bryan and Anthony Perrett are the latest of the 30 detainees granted bail by a Russian court. The group

  • NHS trust disputes ‘worst hospital’ figures

    DATA that ranked Oxfordshire’s major hospitals trust as the worst in England for cancelling routine operations could have been counted twice, it has been claimed. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUHT) rejected NHS England statistics released

  • Traders fear Westgate car parking spaces are too few

    REPLACEMENT parking for the Westgate redevelopment has been branded “totally unsatisfactory” as the number of spaces in Oxford city centre could be almost halved. The Westgate Alliance is planning to spend £400m redeveloping the city’s shopping centre

  • ATHLETICS: McBain's convincing success

    JENNY McBain was the first lady home at the Dirt Half Challenge in Leighton Buzzard. Alchester’s McBain completed the multi-terrain half marathon course in 1hr 28mins 29secs. The route, which took in canal towpaths, woods, mud and some steep

  • ATHLETICS: Fernandez roars to record victory

    PAUL Fernandez smashed the course record as he powered home for an impressive victory in the Rugged Radnage 10K. Abingdon’s Fernandez completed the multi-terrain race in the Chiltern Hills in 36mins 39secs, knocking two and a half minutes off the

  • Gateway gets airing

    A public meeting will take place at 7pm today at The Oxford Hotel on the city council’s plans for the Northern Gateway. The 100-acre development near Wolvercote will include 200 homes and a business and science park. A primary school and a new

  • ATHLETICS: Round-up of all the latest results

    (senior men unless stated) BB&O CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Men Senior: 2 D Bellinger (Oxf) 35.35, 7 A Burgess (Oxf) 36.33, 10 L Newell (Oxf) 36.53, 17 O Stepney (Abn, U20) 38.03, 19 P Jegou (Whh) 38.20, 22 S Ansell (Whh, V40) 38.36, 24

  • ATHLETICS: Runner-up Bellinger remains the champ

    DARRELL Bellinger retained his senior men’s title in the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Cross Country Championships at Swinley Forest, Bracknell. But the Oxford City athlete had to be content with second place overall in a race won by under 20 runner

  • ATHLETICS: Oxfordshire veterans bag golden treble for England

    OXFORDSHIRE athletes secured a gold medal hat-trick in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country International at Bute Park, Cardiff. Woodstock Harriers’ James Bolton plus Oxford City duo Julian Richardson and Roy Treadwell all won men’s team

  • GOLF: Pepperell's in the swing

    Frilford Heath’s Eddie Pepperell is in action at the South African Open Championship, which gets under way at Gauteng today. The 22-year-old, from Abingdon, is an 80-1 shot for the season-opening European Tour event. Home player Charl Schwartzel

  • RACING: Drive On is star for Eve

    Eve Johnson Houghton, who trains at Blewbury, near Didcot, struck with 20-1 shot Drive On at Lingfield yesterday. John Fahy brought the juvenile with a flying finish in a six-furlong maiden stakes. Ben Case’s Edgcote stables, near Banbury,

  • RACING: Long Run in line for Haydock

    Long Run is firmly on course for Saturday’s Betfair Chase at Haydock after delighting connections in a schooling session yesterday. The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero, second in the last two runnings of this weekend’s Grade 1 feature, finished outside

  • Police told about chance to steal TVs during yard sting

    UNDERCOVER police officers were told about an “opportunity” to steal plasma screen TVs during a scrapyard sting operation, a jury has heard. Workers at Smiths of Bloxham also gave advice on how to avoid the police and bought a Mitsubishi sports

  • BOWLS: Oxon crank up heat to crush Wiltshire

    Oxfordshire's women won on all six rinks to hammer Wiltshire 148-90 in the Atherley Trophy first round at Oxford City & County. Jane Murphy’s rink led the way with a 31-10 success as Wiltshire conceded on the 19th end in the English Indoor

  • Why buy homes near the airfields anyway?

    I HAVE just read that David Cameron has pledged to tackle the unacceptable level of noise at RAF Brize Norton. The fact that Witney is his constituency means that things will obviously be done no matter what the cost in loss of jobs and businesses,

  • Police commissioner has a lot to answer for

    I LISTENED to Phil Gayle’s interview of our police commissioner Anthony Stansfield, pictured, on Wednesday, November 13. He fumbled every question put to him by Phil. He didn’t know his phone number or his e-mail address. He again, on November

  • Sad to say we will no longer be attending

    It is with the most deep regret that the Women’s Land Army will not be attending the Remembrance Day Service in future. We are four – all in our 80s now and so we have decided to call time. We would like to thank the few people who have supported

  • Training Corps Cadets also worthy of mention

    IN your round-up of the annual Remembrance Day Services on Sunday, November 10, you did not mention 1460 Squadron Banbury Air Training Corps Cadets. As usual, for many years, the cadet band led the parade and also appeared at Bodicote Church in the

  • Taxi cash grabbed

    Thieves smashed a taxi window with a rock before stealing cash. The break-in happened between 11am on Sunday and 5am on Monday in Albert Street. Police asked anyone with information to call 101.

  • Equipment is taken

    A generator was stolen from a warehouse in Fox Lane, Boars Hill between 9pm on Saturday and 12pm on Sunday and a hedge trimmer was stolen from a barn in Fyfield between Tuesday and Friday last week.

  • Check electric blankets are fit for use

    THE fire service has warned about the dangers of faulty electric blankets after almost a quarter failed safety tests. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the county council's trading standards team last month tested 806 of the blankets and

  • Charging may be a step too far to raise cash...

    OXFORDSHIRE County Council’s “cabinet advisory group” on income generation will stop at nothing to raise cash to plug the council’s funding black hole. And veteran councillor Charles Mathew has come up with a fittingly wacky idea to bring in a

  • Let’s all help to push up Oxford’s recycling rate

    THANK you for highlighting the steps the city council is taking to improve recycling in Oxford (November 11). This year we have only had to fine six people for not putting their rubbish out properly. But we have issued 1,730 notices reminding residents

  • Occasion seems to have lost something special

    I WRITE with regard to Remembrance Sunday: where has all the chivalry gone for this occasion? In the past, bands have marched along Church Cowley Road to the monument to play hymns and lay poppies together with the scouts and guides. Has this

  • Delays after car overturns on the A40 near Marston

    Debris is being cleared from the A40 after a car overturned.  Only one vehicle is believed to have been involved in the crash shortly before 8.45am today on the westbound carriageway between the Marston and Elsfield junction and the Cutteslowe

  • F-f-freezing weather says winter is here

    IT’S farewell to autumn and a frosty welcome to winter as temperatures hit a freezing -6.5 degrees Celsius in Oxfordshire. The coldest temperature of the season so far was recorded at RAF Benson on Tuesday night. And the cold snap is expected

  • Post offices forced to close as staff walk out

    TWO post offices in Oxfordshire were closed yesterday as staff walked out as part of a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and branch closures. The Witney and Banbury Crown post offices shut their doors at 2.30pm, although the Oxford office in

  • Praise for ‘toilet tsar’

    THE Oxford Mail’s very own ‘toilet tsar’ was given international approval on Tuesday on World Toilet Day. The Public Restroom Advocates organisation (Phlush), based in Portland Oregon, America – which campaigns for improved toilet sanitation –

  • Tesco bids for drink licence at new store

    TESCO has applied for an alcohol premises licence for its new store on the site of the former Fox and Hounds pub in Abingdon Road, Oxford. The retailer has asked Oxford City Council for permission to sell alcohol at the store from 6am to 11pm,

  • Drug smuggling charge

    A woman has been accused of trying to smuggle £60,000 worth of cannabis into the country from Jamaica. Margaret Simms, 57, was charged with attempted importation after Border Force officers found 20 kilos of cannabis in luggage at Gatwick Airport

  • Oi codgers, help me be the Christmas No. 1

    THERE may be the X-Factor winner to beat, but Oxford ‘slam poet’ Steve Larkin is hoping to take his charity single straight to the Christmas No. 1 spot. Poet, playwright and musician Mr Larkin, 30, from Florence Park, is on the second leg of the

  • Local author Ginny Stroud

    Ginny Stroud left Temple Cowley School at 15, but later trained as a secretary and took an Open University degree. Her book Circles: Hidden Lives (Troubador, £9.99) tells the story of her remarkable grandmother, Gertrude Annie Stroud, born in 1905

  • Writing Children’s Fiction by Yvonne Coppard & Linda Newbery

    For those who delight in the power of literature to ‘hold, heal or haunt us’, Writing Children's Fiction is a must. Yvonne Coppard and Linda Newbery, two highly successful authors, offer a distillation of their experience and knowledge writers, readers

  • Wasted trip means Oxford United must do it all again

    CHRIS Wilder did his best to remain upbeat after a deluge on Tyneside postponed Oxford United’s FA Cup first-round replay at Gateshead last night. Heavy rain in the hours building up to the game left the pitch at the International Stadium waterlogged

  • Audisocope: Alternative music with a conscience

    When Audioscope rolls into town you never know what to expect. But Tim Hughes knows it’ll be something good... IT is one of the best-loved dates in Oxford’s musical calendar; a 12-hour celebration of some of the finest alternative music, held here

  • Parky at the Pictures (In Cinemas 21/11/2013)

    It was quite like old times when Steven Spielberg's Cannes jury awarded the Palme d'or to Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Colour. No sooner had the verdict been delivered than there were protests. The prurient denounced the graphic nature

  • Parky at the Pictures (DVD 21/11/2013)

    Although its been sad watching independent video stores like Movies on Walton Street go the same way as the last branches of Blockbuster, the online services provided by LoveFilm and Netflix do enable customers to make a snap decision and watch a feature

  • Pianist makes debut at church

    PIANIST Paul Page has made his debut at a weekly lunchtime music event at an Oxford city church. The 60-year-old – who has been tinkling the ivories since the age of seven – played some Chopin, Liszt and Debussy at the St Michael at the North Gate

  • Chain that killed driver was ‘stored dangerously’

    A POLICE crash investigator said the storage of a chain that killed a lorry driver when it sliced through his cabin was “inherently dangerous”. Christopher Watson, 45, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with causing death by dangerous driving

  • Care home is told to make improvements

    A WANTAGE care home has been warned to make improvements after an unannounced inspection found residents were not safe or looked after. Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited St Katharine’s House, in Ormond Road, in October.

  • COMMENT: Extra cash positive in these lean times

    OXFORDSHIRE County Council is right to look at where it can bring in extra revenue from new sources. Every pound earned is a pound that it doesn’t have to cut. There has to be a line in the sand over certain ideas. But if the council can raise

  • Horse chestnuts set for the chop after deadly infection

    HORSE chestnut trees in Oxford’s Cutteslowe Park will have to be felled after they were found to have been infected with a deadly disease. The 69 conker trees have been affected by a bacteria called ‘pseudomonas syringae pathovar aesculi’, which

  • On target?

    Meeting targets has now become more important than treating patients in our hospitals, we are sometimes warned. Whether you believe targets and tables to be time-consuming and misleading, or actually a valuable means of shedding light on the quality

  • Wines for game, £84

    With the game season well under way, we are being asked for suitable wines to go with this excellent source of low fat organic free range food. Grouse is, as usual ,very expensive this year, but the ever-popular pheasant and partridge are great-value