Schools across the county scored record results in their GCSEs yesterday, writes Madeleine Pennell. There was a two per cent rise in the pass rate nationally, with girls scoring better than boys in every subject except maths. There were spectacular successes
NIALL Harr, from Blackbird Leys in Oxford, has won the prestigious 'Top Gun' prize at this year's Rugby League Player Development Camp. The award is for the best player on the camp, not only based on playing performance but also discipline, commitment
OXFORDSHIRE Under 23s lifted the Tom Orford Trophy following a crushing 210-run victory over a depleted Buckinghamshire at Marlow. It gave Oxon two wins out of three in the Four Counties Tournament following a 22-run defeat by Hertfordshire and a 36-run
By Russell Smith JIM Smith is set to become the first president of Thame United despite his clash with the club's commercial manager, Dermot Gallagher, at the end of Derby's Premiership game with Newcastle United. Millions of TV viewers saw the finger-wagging
EL Boss, favourite for the RD Racing Gold Cup, had a mighty scare before scraping through to take his place in next Tuesday's semi-finals at Oxford Stadium. The Pall Mall champion was slowly away before meeting trouble at the third bend and finishing
MP Michael Heseltine is being urged to get involved in a row over another mobile phone mast siting. The South Oxfordshire MP has been contacted by Geoff Cherry of Thame Road, Little Milton. "All I want him to do is to sort out a bit of sense into a very
Pensioner Ronald Jarman died from a blood clot after falling off his moped in wet weather, an inquest heard. Mr Jarman, 72, a former Rover worker from Arlington Drive, Old Marston, Oxford, was on his Honda Express bike on May 25, when he lost control
Oxford Cheetahs 43,Ipswich Witches 47 ANOTHER home defeat for Cheetahs at the hands of the Ipswich Witches last night has set the alarm bells ringing as they continue to struggle in speedway's Elite League, writes LEON HILL. It followed defeat against
Oxford United has suspended footballer Ross Weatherstone for two weeks without pay for his part in a racist attack. The Second Division club took action after an outcry from anti-racist groups and some fans. In a phone poll, 60 per cent of Oxford Mail
THAME United have signed Woking centre back Rob Smith and he's set to make his debut against Bognor Regis Town in Ryman League Division 1 today. Thame have snapped up Smith, who played 30 games for Woking in the Conference last season, with Dave Tregurtha
BANBURY Under 15s have been drawn at home to East Berkshire in the first round of the ESFA Heinz Ketchup Trophy schoolboy football's most prestigious competition. Mid Oxon and Vale of White Horse, meanwhile, have a bye into the second round where they
MOTORCYCLE racer Peter Thorne, 46, is still setting alarm bells ringing among young riders with a string of international victories. The security installation manager rode classic Yamaha 250cc machines to victories in two races at the Ulster Grand Prix
DARRELL Griffin has taken the first step towards making it into rugby league's big time. Griffin, 19, has been training with the London Broncos for the last two years and has been rewarded for some outstanding performances by being handed a professional
JOEY Beauchamp has staked a strong claim for inclusion in Oxford United's starting line-up against Brentford at the Manor Ground today, but may have to do with a place on the bench. The U's winger, who missed training on Thursday because of his recurring
A firework concert takes place at Blenheim Palace grounds on Friday, August 25. staged by Performing Arts. The Last Night of Blenheim Proms, will feature all the traditional Proms favourites, including Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs and Parry's
Members of the Royal School of Church Music's new Millennium Youth Choir stage a concert in Merton College Chapel on Monday. The singers, aged from 16 to 23, will perform a wide selection of music including Victoria's Magnificat Primi Toni and Scarlatti's
Starchild, at the Oxford Playhouse on Saturday night, is a musical composed by Chris Williams about three young people who are transformed by a strange, celestial girl, writes Rose Hankey. She takes Bonnie, Mark and Wiktor on a journey of self-discovery
The Orchestra of St John's are staging the third annual Music in the Abbey festival at Dorchester Abbey next week. The festival, which features eight concerts, gets under way next Friday with the orchestra's chamber group performing Brahms songs arranged
He may have a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp, but veteran actor Warren Clarke is the first to admit he's just a big softie underneath. The Dalziel and Pascoe actor was able to show his more tender side during the filming of his latest role in the
A COUPLE told how their Millennium holiday was ruined by builders drilling for ten hours a day on the floor below them. Evelyn and John Aspel, both 60, from Headington, Oxford, said their two-week holiday at the Ambassador Playa hotel in Benidorm, on
A soldier who had been drinking attacked a woman caterer at an RAF base and held a breadknife to her throat. Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday that Christopher John, 18, of the Royal Horse Artillery, was at RAF Brize Norton on May 1 when the violent
The landlord of an Oxfordshire pub claims he has to buy his clothes from charity shops as his income last year was just 5,000. But his story failed to touch the hearts of planners. They say Richard Muspratt's pub, the Plough at Dorchester, must stay open
