Archive

  • Disused phone box could get a new life

    AN OLD and disused red telephone box in Oxford city centre is due to be spruced up and redecorated so it can be turned into an advertising space. The phone box, in Market Street outside the Covered Market, will be transformed later this year if

  • Cyclists make it a marathon effort in park

    THERE was a sea of Lycra in Wantage as record numbers of world-class and amateur cyclists took part in a mountain bike marathon in Memorial Park. A total of 730 people took to two wheels in the latest round of the the Scott MTV Marathon Series

  • Mailbag: Boys on the cricket team

    HAVING read the feature about Fred Lay, headmaster of the City of Oxford High School (Memory Lane, June 8), I have found this photograph of the school cricket team. Mr Lay is in it, top right. Members I can remember are Cyril Wood, Bryn Hyde, Tony

  • Mailbag: Help needed to identify these prisoners of war

    I ENCLOSE a photograph of a group of Far East prisoners of war from Oxford, ready to board a coach to the Festival Hall in London for a reunion in the early 1950s. They include Bill Long and his wife Gladys, Les Long (no relation to Bill) and his

  • Joy over profit

    The weather might have been blustery, but the May fair in Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount still made a handsome profit. Organisers handed a cheque for £1,300 to Watlington Hospital towards the cost of a six-bed extension in 1987, one of the biggest

  • Ladies win over phone judges

    Two telephonists at the Oxford Telephone Exchange were chosen to represent Oxford in a Telephone Personality Girl competition. Patricia Phillips, left, of Mickle Way, Forest Hill, and Joyce Partington, of Hutchcomb Road, Botley, were chosen by

  • Youngsters showed that skipping not a dying art

    Is skipping dying out? That was the question posed by health experts in 1973. The answer in some Oxford schools was: definitely not. And as these pictures show, girls – and one boy – at West Oxford Primary School turned out to provide the proof

  • A stroll around Blenheim is a big step for cancer sufferers

    HUNDREDS of people from across Oxfordshire will take an evening stroll around the picturesque grounds of Blenheim Palace to help a charity caring for the terminally ill. The annual 10-mile Walk to Remember for Marie Curie, formerly Marie Curie

  • City celebrated Coronation with decorations and lights

    Oxford celebrated the Coronation in style, with many buildings decorated and floodlit in 1953. One of the most striking displays was a crown with flags on the roof of Oxford railway station. Oxford Town Hall boasted another, with cherubs, a

  • Dead fly earns bad hygiene rating for cafe

    THE manager of a cafe in Oxford city centre has been told to make major improvements in food hygiene after a council inspec- tor found a dead fly in a cake stand. High Street Cafe has received a grade one rating in its recent food hygiene report

  • Manor house boss considers an appeal

    A DIRECTOR of a manor house refused permission to hold more functions there, following residents’ objections, is considering an appeal. Oxford Programs Ltd, which owns Yarnton Manor Estate, hoped a permanent premises licence would be granted, enabling

  • Party in secret graden raises cash for mental health

    MARSHMALLOWS slowly toasted over a firepit while music rang out over a mental health charity’s garden during an evening of song, storytelling and food. Restore threw open the gates of its hidden garden in east Oxford to the public for its first

  • Dealer caught trying to flush drugs stash down the toilet

    A DRUG dealer caught trying to flush his stash of heroin and cocaine down the toilet has been jailed. Police swooped on Lloyd Lumsden’s west Oxford home and found him trying to flush quantities of drugs down the toilet, a court heard on Thursday

  • Stuart Macbeth: Two Italian men brought exotic food to the UK

    I remember a time when the Berni Inn was the place to celebrate. The restaurant chain was founded by two Italian brothers who hailed from Emilia-Romagna, a region of Italy famous for its food. I’ve been to great restaurants in the region, in cities

  • NHS must review policy and allow families to be involved

    THE story of student Emily Stiff who died when severely depressed and unwell is a tragedy too often repeated elsewhere. Her father is absolutely right to say (Oxford Mail, July 22) that the policy of confidentiality is applied way beyond common

  • City is becoming a place only the rich can afford

    I AM saddened to think how the recent Budget announcements are going to affect our beautiful, diverse city. The last government’s welfare reforms have already driven Oxford City Council to send homeless families far from friends and family – to

  • Plant a bloom and help our vital bees to survive

    NINETY per cent of flowering plants require animal assistance – bees, wasps and ants do a great job. There are some 200,000 animal pollinators that include moths, butterflies, and flies. Birds, bats and ants also deserve a mention. The British

  • Calling all Pratleys – I can help you trace ancestry

    WHILST researching my family tree, I discovered that my great grandmother’s maiden name was Pratley – a surname that I soon came to realise was, and is still, a very common name in Oxfordshire, especially in the west of the county around Chipping Norton

  • We should be tolerant of gulls and not cull them

    WHENEVER wild animals or birds trouble us humans, there follows the inevitable cries of “cull them”. Every summer millions of people flock to the coast where many gulls live. Despite warning notices, some visitors insist on feeding them, while

  • Impressed by the pace of MacDonald in friendlies

    I HAVE seen a couple of pre-season friendlies I have been impressed with how pacy Alex MacDonald is. I reckon that with the forwards we’ve got this season, they could score at least a couple of goals between them. I’d also like to say that

  • Three arrested after man assaulted at Oxford Castle Quarter

    THREE teenagers have been arrested after a man was assaulted in Oxford Castle Quarter in the early hours of yesterday morning. A 15-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy and an 18 year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of assault. Police were

  • Oxford United are ready, says boss Michael Appleton

    MICHAEL Appleton declared Oxford United were ready for the competitive football to start after they outplayed Coventry City without getting their rewards in a goalless draw. The U’s created the vast majority of the chances in their final pre-season

  • Danny Hylton could pay the penalty after spot-kick miss

    DANNY Hylton’s missed spot-kicki against Coventry City could cost the forward his role as Oxford United’s main penalty taker this season. The 26-year-old blazed his effort high and wide in the 54th minute of the pre-season friendly. Hylton

  • Oxford United receive bye in the JPT

    OXFORD United have been handed a bye in the first round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Michael Appleton's men are one of four teams in the South (West) Section to bypass the first stage, along with Bristol Rovers, Coventry City and Wycombe Wanderers

  • Children jump for joy at community centre's event

    YOUNGSTERS were given the chance to enjoy a whole host of activities including a smoot-hie bike and bouncy castle. Children and their families bustled into Littlemore Community Centre for a day of fun to raise vital cash for the centre on Saturday

  • This celebration of diversity went well

    IT is always a leap of faith organising an event for the first time. But Eid Extravaganza organiser Shabnam Sabir should be delighted with how the inaugural festival went at the weekend. While primarily it marked the end of the holy month of

  • Phone scammer cons pensioner out of £20,000 in life savings

    A PENSIONER has told how she was conned out of her life savings, after it was revealed hundreds like her are on a scammers’ hitlist. The 85-year-old, from Summertown, who asked to remain anonymous, gave away nearly £20,000 to bogus callers in February

  • Blue plaque on the cards for architect

    PLANS have been put forward for a blue plaque to honour an architect who lived in Oxford and worked on several of its buildings. John Chessell Buckler (1793-1894), an architect, artist and antiquarian, lived at 58 Holywell Street from 1861 to 1889

  • Animal sanctuary launches a £1.5m appeal for renovation

    JUDE, Johnny, Pepper, Rita and Penny the kittens need your help. The Blue Cross sanctuary where they are living has just launched its biggest ever fundraising appeal. The Burford centre is asking the public to donate £1.5m towards a £2.5m renovation

  • Traffic lights not working at Cowley roundabout

    There are delays on the A4142 Eastern By-Pass Road due to a traffic light failure. The lights are out on Garsington Road at the Cowley junction on the retail park side of the roundabout. Slow traffic is backed up to Horspath Road.

  • Monday, August 3

    6:09pm Delays of up to 30 mins between Oxford and Didcot Parkway due to a trespasser on the line. — First Great

  • WEEKEND RESULTS: August 1-2

    UNICORNS COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIPS Western Division: Oxfordshire 284-8 dec (H Darby 92, J Cater 80, L Ryan 51, N Ivamy 3-91), Cornwall 82-5 (M Rowe 33). SERIOUS CRICKET HOME COUNTIES PREMIER LEAGUE Division 1 Burnham 228 (62.1 ovs

  • FOOTBALL: Oxford City lose in final pre-season friendly

    OXFORD City were well beaten as they ended pre-season with a 4-1 defeat at Solihull Moors. Bradley Bubb scored City’s only goal in the first half. City begin their Vanarama National League South campaign on Saturday at home to Chelmsford City

  • Communities come together to celebrate end of Ramadan

    BALLOONS, bungee jumping, food and circus skills drew hundreds of visitors to Oxford’s first Eid street party. The ‘Eid Extravaganza’ in Manzil Way on Saturday followed on from Friday, July 17, when Muslims all over the world celebrated Eid al

  • County parks awarded green flag status

    A TOTAL of 11 parks and green spaces in the county have been awarded green flag status. Oxford Brookes University’s Harcourt Hill Campus, Headington Campus and Wheatley Campus have all achieved the honour. Across the city, Blackbird Leys Park

  • Mothers unite in fight to save breastfeeding support group

    MOTHERS from across Oxfordshire fear for the future of a popular breastfeeding support network as the council threatens to pull all funding. Baby Cafes are held nearly every day in various children’s centres across the county. Expectant or

  • Life stories from the Leys are captured for a documentary

    A DEVOTED fundraiser and Blackbird Leys resident of 50 years was among the first to tell her story on camera for a heritage project. Irma James, 74, of Field Avenue, arrived on the estate on April 5, 1965,and has been fundraising for the Sailors