It was enough to make Tony Legge, pictured, cry. Tony Legge in full cry The Abingdon town crier's wrinkly white stockings looked like Nora Batty's cast offs. Having failed to find anything suitable Mr Legge stumbled across mary@theleggery.co.uk -- a Sheffield
Taking their name from the famed Austro-Hungarian archduke, whose assassination sparked the First World War, Franz Ferdinand appear to be an intelligent bunch of lads. But this bunch of young Glaswegians are no bookish history nerds. They are an art-pop
The funeral took place on September 11, at St Michael's Church, Blewbury, of former football referee and administrator Jeremy 'Jerry' Faulkner, 67. He was born and grew up in Blewbury, attending Abress School in the village and St Birinus School, Didcot
Games due to be played on Saturday and Sunday (Sept 13 and 14) SATURDAY________ OXFORD TIMES CHERWELL LEAGUE Div 1: Shipton-u-Wychwood v Dinton. OCA LEAGUE Div 1: Gt Horwood v Freeland, Witney Swifts v Westbury. Div 2: Faringdon v Eynsham, Twyford v Marsh
An elderly Oxfordshire man's momentary lapse led to the deaths of himself and his wife in a car accident in the Cotswolds, a coroner ruled. Kazimierz Kupc, 76, failed to spot a stationary car in the road in front of him as he travelled along the A40 near
Olympic gold winners Sir Steven Redgrave and Kriss Akabusi were among celebrities teeing off to raise money for charities which help sick children. The champion rower and athlete joined snooker player Willie Thorne, sports presenter Jimmy Hill and musician
Matches for Saturday, September 13 WILSON OXON LTA LEAGUE 3-PAIR LEAGUE Ladies Div 3: Oxford Sports C v Banbury B. Men Div 1: North Oxford v Oxford Sports, Oxford City v Banbury West End. Div 2: Banbury v Abingdon B. Div 4: Bicester D v Mapledurham. Woodstock
(Penguin/Allen Lane, £16.99) Just when it looked safe to bin Alastair Campbell and his creation 'The People's Princess', along comes this similar claim for Edward VIII. It rests, however, on very narrow foundations -- a trawl through letters in the Royal
A waste recycling centre in the Vale of White Horse has been named the best in the county. The Stanford in the Vale site has scooped Oxfordshire County Council's award for being the best recycling centre for 2002/03 after it recycled 50.9 per cent of
Enterprising families are hoping to turn £10 handouts into hundreds of pounds of profits for a primary school. The imaginative initiative saw £600 distributed to 60 families with children at Fir Tree Primary School in Wallingford. The families are being
Amelie Billard, the 18-year-old French girl who was European junior champion in 2001 and took team and individual silver medals at Pardubice this year, excelled at the Blenheim Petplan International Horse Trials yesterday. She leads the dressage by 8.4
Street wardens could go on patrol in Bicester as part of a blueprint to boost the town's quality of life. Exclusion orders used to ban known troublemakers from the town centre also feature in the Cherwell District Council proposals. The three-year action
The Oxford-born musician and composer who founded St Mary Magdalen's church choir has died aged 80. Vincent Packford had been involved in music in Oxford since he started as a chorister at The Queen's College under Dr Reginald Jacques at the age of seven
Headington Roadrunner Graham Chapman was in top form as he took home the gold medal in the Vet 45 category at the Leicester Mercury 10km race on Sunday. Chapman finished the race in sixth place overall, clocking 52mins 40secs. His teammate, Hanno Nickau
Radley lost their grip on the Southern Women's League Division 1 crown, despite recording a narrow victory in their final match of the season at Harrow. Radley travelled to Essex hoping to amass enough points to topple Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow
Andy Scott had worked his way back into contention for table-topping Oxford United. The 31-year-old striker, who has missed Oxford's successful start to the season with an ankle injury, has been back in training all week, and looked exceptionally sharp
Matches for Sunday, September 14 MORRELLS OF OXFORD SUNDAY LEAGUE Premier Div: Blackbird Sunday v Highfield SC, Mansfield Rd v Rose Hill, Star Wanderers v Stadhampton, Morris Motors v Oxford Exiles Div 1: Wolvercote v Cold Arbour, Northway v AFC Rileys
Saturday matches involving Oxfordshire teams NATIONWIDE LEAGUE Div 3: Oxford Utd v Mansfield Tn. FA CUP 1st qual round: Abingdon Tn v Ringmer, Hillingdon Borough v Oxford C, Thame Utd v VCD Ath, Newmarket v Brackley Tn, AFC Wallingford v Ipswich Wands
The name conjures up images of fluffy rodents - but there is nothing cute about The Hamsters. The hard-rocking trio have made it their lives' work to spread the word of good ole' rock and roll. Judging by the turnout at their gigs, they seem to have succeeded
Toyota is unveiling a new hybrid-powered concept sports car at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Toyota CS&S (Compact Sports & Specialty) is a 2+2 open-top sports car which, in terms of size, falls between the current Celica and MR2 models. The car
A housing association has started legal proceedings to evict a 58-year-old man registered as disabled along with his partner who is expecting their child in November. Ray Baker's son by a previous marriage, Philip, 28, who is incapacitated with depression
Police officers may be diverted from their beats to cope with a new centre for asylum seekers, after it was revealed the Home Office intends to fund just four extra officers. Thames Valley Police put in a bid for a sergeant and six constables to police
Police are urging residents in Didcot to be wary of unexpected callers after an elderly woman's handbag and purse was stolen by a thief posing as a water board official. The man knocked at the woman's home in Broadway at about 2.45pm on Monday, claiming
A quarry company wants to extract sand and gravel from land close to a village, less than a year after being refused permission for similar workings nearby. Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd once again faces opposition from Sutton Courtenay Parish Council
New classrooms and a nursery will be built at Botley Primary School in Oxford following the granting of planning permission by Oxfordshire County Council. The council's planning and regulation committee has approved plans for three classrooms and other
Plans to erect a telecommunications mast at Oxford University Sports Centre in Iffley Road are to go ahead despite strong opposition. Residents and Magdalen College School have attacked Oxford City Council for failing to carry out a proper consultation
The doors to the £5m home of one of Oxfordshire's fastest growing churches open on September 12. The King's Centre in Osney Mead, Oxford, forms the administrative base for ten Oxfordshire Community Churches (OCC), which together have more than 1,000 members
Volkswagen has revealed a mid-engined roadster prototype, named Concept R, which will be shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The German car maker says the Concept R points to the future of the brand, and hints at a possible involvement in the world of
Michael Everett questions how many readers want the Yellow Pages directory (Oxford Mail, August 18). Independent research conducted for us by FDS International in May 2003 shows there is strong loyalty towards Yellow Pages and that it attracts high usage
Councillor Bob Price's stinging criticism of your reporting of the Oxford Covered Market issue (Oxford Mail, August 21) is intemperate and wholly unjustified. If he reflects, he will see the report was fair, well-balanced and faithful to council reports
Employers are mulling over dozens of applications from job-hunters who flocked to the Oxford Mail Job Fair at Oxford Town Hall on September 11. It was voted a success by companies and other organisations who ran stalls. More than 30 employers and agencies
by Kate Adie (Hodder & Stoughton, £20) She looks at the history of women in uniform, starting with Celtic and Viking battles in which women acted as camp-followers and battlefield scavengers, tending the wounded and feeding the warriers. Then there
Whether it's Sharon Stone crossing her legs or Olivia Newton John singing in Grease, Candice Breitz's new show has something for everyone. Candice Breitz examines cultural icons such as Karen CarpenterWhich is her point exactly. Working on the premise
Eynsham's Gary Marsh is considering a move into Formula 3 later this year, after a successful season in Formula Ford. Marsh, managing director of Excel Solutions of Eynsham, has had a brilliant season with five pole positions, five wins, four fastest
Former world rally champion Colin McRae has tipped British rival Richard Burns, who rejoins the Banbury-based Subaru outfit next season, to hold on to his points lead and lift the crown for a second time. McRae believes Burns is coping so well with the
BMW chief Gerhard Berger believes engines will be the key to this season's title battle - and boasted that the Grove-based Williams team have the best on the grid. The former McLaren and Ferrari driver retires this week as head of BMW's motorsport operations
Thames Water plans to increase average household bills by £43 a year -- a rise of 17 per cent. The company, which made £63m profit last year and has been criticised for its poor record on pollution and leaks, says the cash is needed to fund improvements
I must take exception to your comment about the residents of the Horspath Road estate at Cowley, Oxford (Oxford Mail, August 30). I would ask you to walk round this estate and you will see that the majority of residents care very much for their gardens
A garden full of frogs, hedgehogs, beetles and ladybirds helped win Jane Mutisya the Wallingford Wildlife Garden of the Year 2003 award. Ms Mutisya, 65, was presented with an exclusive ceramic plaque by Emma Broad, chairman of the Wallingford Environmental
Saturday matches involving Oxfordshire sides ENGLISH NATIONAL LEAGUE Div 1: Penzance v Henley. ENGLISH CLUBS CHAMPIONSHIP Powergen South West Div 1: Bridgwater & Alb v Chinnor, Oxford Harlequins v Truro. Powergen Midlands Div 2 East: Banbury v South
Oxford Silver Machine have made it to the Sky Sports Elite League speedway play-offs even before tonight's final league match of the regular season against Belle Vue Aces at the Stadium on Friday (7.30pm). Silver Machine's place in the play-offs was confirmed
A grandmother telephoned the Samaritans shortly before suffering fatal head injuries at her Oxfordshire home, an inquest heard. Eleanor Woolham, 61, of Oxford Road, Adderbury, was foundat the bottom of her stairs by her son and seven-year-old grandson
Shopkeepers are giving fraud the thumbs-down -- by asking people for their prints. Customers in Banbury are being asked to leave a thumb-print when they pay with cheques or credit cards. The scheme, which is voluntary, was piloted last year and will be
Bicester's Claire Goodwin rounded off her first senior triathlon series, with a superb first place at the Blackwater Triathlon in Maldon, Essex. Goodwin completed the 200m swim, 12km bike ride and 3km run in just 46mins 37secs. This came after competing
Didcot Town manager and Oxford United legend Peter Foley is aiming to extend his good run in the competition as a boss, by plotting the downfall of AFC Totton in tomorrow's first qualifying round. Foley was manager of Marlow in 1996 when they famously
Cherry Red Records Hellenic League: Seventeen-year-old goalkeeper Richard Barrett has been put on stand-by for his first-team debut for Chipping Norton Town, ahead of tomorrow's home clash with Winterbourne United in the Premier Division. Barrett will
There is only one man in the world who can make science and maths exciting, and after 25 years in the business, he's still at it. Johnny Ball is still energetic Johnny Ball is a TV presenter most of us will never forget. His enthusiasm, humour and energy
National Theatre, London Poor old Bones. He's an aptly-named police inspector from the murder squad, called in to investigate a body that's inconveniently turned up in a professor's house. But Bones is no Morse when it comes to dealing with academics,
Top story Tunnel plan for Shipley revived Review: Tears of the Sun (15) Post September 11, Hollywood has found its conscience and taken stock of the gung-ho way in which it travels the planet righting wrongs (as it sees them) and converting the world
Archaeologists in Oxford were forced to stop work following the discovery of asbestos in a pavement. Members of staff from Oxford Archaeology are carrying out a dig in St Thomas Street, where construction firm Kingerlee are building 79 flats on the former
for £5m bus plan Thousands of students and residents are set to benefit from a £5m range of bus services set up by Stagecoach and Oxford Brookes University. The new services will link the university's three campuses in Harcourt Hill, Wheatley and Headington
Councils across Oxfordshire are joining forces to get a clear picture of what people in the county think about services they provide. The six councils in Oxfordshire -- the county council and five districts -- will soon send out a survey to more than
Two smartly-dressed men who said they were inspecting plumbing are being hunted by police following an attempted distraction burglary. A woman in her 70s let the men into her home in Jericho, Oxford, after they claimed to be from the water board, which
Three men who marched an alleged offender to a police station after he acted as a look-out for a shoplifter have been praised by police. Pharmacist Jonathan Martin, 32, bank employee Robert Bourton, 23, and civil engineer Barry Shrimpton, 42, grabbed
The Aston Martin DB9, the first car to be produced at the company's recently completed factory in Gaydon, Warwickshire, is making its world debut at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show. Using a radical new aluminium bonded frame, the company said the 2+2
(Bantam Press, £17.99) Frederick Forsyth's latest book is full of soldiers' stories, and is itself a bit like a tank. It takes a while to get going, and great chunks of summarised history are welded on to the narrative, but it's designed with real expertise
Organisers of Didcot's annual Christmas Street Fair have warned this year's event will be cancelled unless they receive more financial help. Jeanette Howse, chairman of the organising committee, urged businesses in the town to rally round to raise the
