David and Samantha Cameron have named their new baby daughter Florence Rose Endellion, Downing Street said. Endellion refers to the Cornish village of St Endellion, close to where they are holidaying and which Mr Cameron has visited over the
Heavy rain today led the Environment Agency to put the River Ray on Flood Watch. The alert, the lowest level of warning issued by the agency, is for the catchment of the River Ray and its tributaries from near Shipton Lee to Islip, including
TRAFFIC suffered long delays on the southbound A34 today when a lorry caught fire near the Kidlington junction. Police and firefighters were sent to the scene at about 2.15pm amid reports that the blaze had spread to the lorry’s fuel tank. Although
Long delays built up on the A34 near Oxford this afternoon after a lorry caught fire. The fire happened on the southbound between the B4027 Islip turn and the Peartree Interchange. Congestion was reported back to junction nine of the
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A 52-year-old man admitted claiming more than £16,000 in benefits while working for an air conditioning company. Peter Wynne, of Hearthway, Banbury, was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and a 12-week curfew, between 8pm and 8am,
Burglars stole jewellery and an iPod music player from a house in Appleton. They forced their way into the house off Oaksmere between 11am and 7pm on Monday. Anyone with information should call Pc Maria Morrissey on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on
Burglars used a tool to force their way into a house off Oaksmere, Appleton, and stole jewellery and an iPod. The break-in happened between 11am and 7pm on Monday. PC Maria Morrisey said: “I would like to hear from anyone who was in the area at
The Lacuna Barbara Kingsolver (Faber, £7.99) This is a long book for holiday reading, and takes a while to get into, but well worth the effort. The unreliable narrator is Harrison Shepherd, and we first read his diary as a young teenager in Mexico.
Claire Masset is an expert in the history of art and architecture. She lives in Stonesfield, and her latest book, Department Stores, gives a mention to Oxford’s famous independent, Boswells. She looks at the social and economic changes that have sparked
Thank God that we live now and not in the 19th century; even if half the globe was coloured pink in those days. I always say that to myself after visits to the dentist; and I said it to myself again after reading Effie: A Victorian Scandal (Book Guild
Retired Oxford University physicist Graeme Salmon was born in Australia but has lived in East Oxford for more than 40 years. His book Beyond Magdalen Bridge: The Growth of East Oxford is being sold at £7 in aid of the Friends of Warneford Meadow (see
Russian revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky was walled up in a fortified house in Mexico City in 1940 in what would prove an unsuccessful attempt to escape Stalin’s assassins. Banished, vilified, in mortal danger and in poor health, Trotsky discovered a
GENE THERAPY company Oxford BioMedica is seeking partners to develop two of its potential treatments after half-year losses rose to £3.6m. It has cash of £16.3m, enough to last until the first quarter of 2012. By then it hopes to have completed clinical
RECORDS of Oxford United’s roller- coaster past are being wrapped in polythene to preserve them for posterity. Club sponsor Polythene UK, of Witney, has donated thousands of polythene bags to store old programmes, newspapers, and minute books
Much has been written about getting start-up businesses off the ground and this week we look at some of the things you can do to help ensure a successful start-up. It’s important to remember that people start businesses for a variety of different
Though John Betjeman failed in his ambition to have Magdalen College’s Waynflete Building blown up, another of his most loathed pieces of modern architecture has bitten the dust. This is the Norwich Union building in Peterborough, whose ugliness I knew
I remain obstinately uninterested in the contents of the third and final volume of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, despite having greatly enjoyed the first two. What I am intrigued to note, though, is that the book has different titles in the United
I first visited Nether Westcote and what was then (1990) the manifestly misnamed ‘New’ Inn in early autumn, because I remember gathering a basket of sloes — I need hardly say why — in a lane behind the pub. At the time, the garden of this bog-standard
‘Betjeman attacks ‘monster’ at the Plain.” No, this newspaper headline has no direct link with the picture on the right, amusing as it might be to imagine the poet giving a pasting to the publisher Robert Maxwell — for who could mistake the looming
If you still have more courgettes in the kitchen than you know what to do with, try adding them to a loaf of bread. The result is a moist, flavoursome loaf, which is really delicious, particularly when eaten shortly after it has come out of the oven.
Thresholds is a great title for an art exhibition put together by a talented young woman who after painting for more than seven years stands at the threshold of a exciting new career as an artist. Lucy Garnett, from Eynsham, is studying part
As the seasons change, so do the dishes on Carson Hill’s menu. Carson is the head chef at the Cherwell Boathouse, off Bardwell Road, Oxford, which as regular customers are aware, follows the seasons faithfully. This idyllic riverside restaurant
The late Stieg Larsson’s best-selling Millennium trilogy, which began with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, continues with a gritty descent into the sickening world of sex trafficking. Set a year after the events of the first film, The Girl
Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita is a dense and complex novel, layered with parallel interconnected plotlines and saturated with theosophical intrigue; so as Rowena Purrett acknowledged in her review earlier this month, to pare it down
CHERWELL District Council chief executive Mary Harpley, left, and town and district councillor Debbie Pickford cut the first sod to mark the start of Bicester’s £70m town centre redevelopment. The project, which will see a Sainsbury’s supermarket, seven-screen
ORDERS for the new Mini Countryman are flooding in from across Oxfordshire – more than three weeks before the car hits the showrooms. Mini dealer North Oxford Garage, at Long Hanborough, has taken 19 orders for the new model – the first to be manufactured
Wattmore is a nutcase who sees Satan in the eyes of Cub Scouts. Bolla is a nervy and intense ex-convict. Griffin is resourceful, proactive and loyal but none too bright. The Night Heron, by Jez Butterworth (writer of the recent West End smash Jerusalem
Is the pen really mightier than the sword, or is that just a comfortable fiction dreamed up by the people wielding the pens? In Philip Ridley’s Sparkleshark, a group of teenagers face up to their parents and popularity issues, and even tame the
Sometimes you just know instinctively that you’re going to enjoy a concert even before it starts. Such was the case with the recital given at the Holywell Music Room by the young South African baritone Njabulo Madlala. It was his first since winning the
The Big Book is an impressive tome, standing as it does 2.2 metres high, somberly clad in an old-fashioned binding, on which the only lettering is the word ‘Imagine’, in gold on the spine. Its size is deliberately symbolic of the huge role books
Police are appealing for witnesses after a house was broken into in Farmoor. Thieves got into the property in Oaklands by throwing a large rock through a downstairs window and carried out a search, stealing cash and credit cards. The break-in happened
A driver chased a thief who tried to break into a car in the White Horse Hill car park in Uffington. The 51-year-old owner of a silver Volkswagen Golf returned to his car to find a man trying to break into it. The owner shouted at the man and chased
Decky Does a Bronco became a hit a decade ago, surprising audiences by using a playground location and acrobatic performances. This revival, in the lovely Florence Park, arrives in Oxford after enjoying a favourable reaction at the Edinburgh Festival
Producer Bill Kenwright’s top-class revival of Clifford Odets’s The Country Girl, starring Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove, is at Milton Keynes this week on its way to a West End run. It moves into the Apollo Theatre in October in succession to
The Gallery in the Town Hall is showcasing the work of 20 of Oxfordshire’s up-and-coming artists. Work covers a variety of disciplines, including graphics, illustration, photography, print and textiles. While some of the work on show has been produced
A week remains of Creation Theatre’s ‘run on the roof’ (a fine amphitheatre atop the Business School), and Romeo and Juliet remains as vibrant as it was when first reviewed in July. I saw it in the concrete brightness of a matinee, but can
Oh, what a night! — or rather afternoon, since this is when I saw The Jersey Boys at a Sunday matinee at which was celebrated this marvellous musical’s 1,000th performance. A big hit already then? Yes, and deservedly so. This is not a show in the Mamma
ABINGDON residents are feeling as nice as pie after making it into the country’s top 10 for pie-eating. People in the town scoff their way through 180,000 a year, putting them 10th in the country according to a survey by Tesco. Leicester topped the
"It’s a different side to Sherlock Holmes — one I hadn’t expected,” I heard a member of the audience say during the interval — and that was before the ‘secret’ that is the twist in this generally pleasing two-hander. The play originated in 1988 as a
Skipper Robbie Eason hailed Horspath’s fairy-tale rise from obscurity to MP Sports Cherwell League champions as a “fantastic achievement.” Controversially placed in Division 5 following the demerger with Oxford in 2004, the village club have stormed
The Banbury & District Model Railway Club hosts its annual show on Sunday, September 26, at Banbury School, Ruskin Road. The group is building a OO layout 16ft x 14ft freelance mainline railway and a 30ft end-to-ender for the day. For information call
THE Banbury community raised almost £13,000 in one night to help people left destitute after the Pakistan floods. A charity dinner was supported by up to 400 people from across the community reflecting the town’s diverse population. Most of the cash
Volunteers are needed to help run already established Boys’ Brigade, BB, groups in Bloxham, Chipping Norton, Deddington and Kings Sutton. The organisation, founded in 1883 and provides activities for youngsters aged five to 18, is also hoping
A couple have raised £238 from a car boot sale to help kit out a family room at an Oxford hospital in memory of their son Finnley, who died earlier this year. Luke and Gemma Froude, and work colleagues, got up at 5.30am for the Bodicote car boot on August
Zamaretto Southern League Elliott Osborne-Ricketts’s last-gasp strike earned Didcot Town a 1-0 victory over Bedford Town and their first win of the Premier Division season. Osborne-Ricketts hooked home from Andy Gunn’s header with virtually
Paul Hemming, the normally composed Shipton-under-Wychwood captain, admitted to feeling “quite emotional” after they reached the npower Village Cup final. Shipton, and Hemming in particular, never seemed to panic, unlike their opponents Rowledge, as
Girls are continuing to leave boys behind at GCSE, yesterday’s national results reveal, with more pupils sitting exams early. Results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show that it has been another record-breaking year. Nearly
The first students in Oxfordshire to graduate from Oxford University’s Latin Teaching Scheme received their results yesterday. Twenty pupils from eight secondary schools spent two hours every Saturday morning for the past two years being taught the classical
AN ATHLETIC pupil has shown he is punching above his weight, after scoring a string of As – while training for a place on the Olympic boxing team. Bicester Community College pupil Ben Kaluza proved he has both brains and brawn by getting two A*, eight
Marcus Li secured his place among England’s brainiest pupils after getting 15 A* and A grades. The 16-year-old discovered the exceptional results when he arrived at Bartholomew School, in Eynsham, shortly after 9am yesterday. Headteacher Andrew Hamilton
Twins Emma and Katie Phipkin, 16, left, top, were celebrating last night after both scored straight A and A*s. Despite both the Headington School pupils securing outstanding results, Emma earned the bragging rights over her sibling by getting straight
TWINS Jai-hin and Krishan Patel are celebrating scoring a clean sweep of A*s in their GCSEs, gaining 10 of the top grades each. The 16-year-olds, from Old Marston, in Oxford, both attend Magdalen College School. Krishan said it was an “amazing” achievement
THE principal of Oxford Academy has praised pupils for achieving improved GCSE results while building work at the school continues. The academy in Sandy Lane West, Littlemore, opened in September 2008, replacing Peers School. But pupils will
AS IS apparent from my address, I am a publican, working in a fast-dying trade. Since I entered the pub trade in 1970, drinking habits have altered dramatically. For 30 years I ran a city centre pub in Oxford. Students, faculty, business
I watched in sadness at the county council meeting when the Conservative administration passed the resolution to abandon Oxford Community School and set up an academy and place it in the hands of a management group based in Dubai in the United Arab
I WAS some what confused by Amanda Williams’s report about lost crutches (Oxford Mail, august 12). A very good friend of mine who is Scottish has decided to return to Scotland. As he was packing, he found a pair of walking sticks and
I WAS surprised to read (Oxford Mail, July 22) that there were no memorials dedicated to the memory of Cardinal Newman in Oxford. I may be wrong but I believe that Newman Road and Cardinal Close in Littlemore were named in his memory. Also,
LARKMEAD School, in Abingdon has seen a near tripling in its GCSE results over the past five years. Headteacher Chris Harris was delighted to see the school’s best ever results but said the continued improvement over recent years was also important
THE headteacher of a school placed under special measures has spoken of her delight at its GCSE results. Kate Curtis said the improvements at Wheatley Park show the school is moving forward – and she says there is more to come. The school was put under
A BOY with an inoperable brain tumour has amazed teachers by landing five A*s and two As in his GCSEs despite taking his exams just a fortnight after undergoing chem-otherapy. Alex Polywka, 16, was diagnosed with brain cancer by doctors
I WOULD like to invite Chris Robins (Oxford Mail Viewpoints, August 10) to give me one good reason why Oxfordshire’s council taxpayers should have to spend £600,000 on operating speed cameras to enable the Treasury to collect the fines arising from
I’m wondering if you could help me with something. Judging by some conversations I’ve had with the fellas I work with recently, I must be a little thick when it comes to understanding the rules of the world. You see, I wasn’t aware all females are supposed
DAVID Cameron spoke of his delight last night after wife Samantha gave birth to a baby girl a month early during the family’s holiday in Cornwall. The couple’s fourth child weighed 6lb 1oz and mother and baby are both doing well. The Prime Minister’
A Bangladeshi woman has brought the tastes of her home country to Oxford by growing tropical vegetables in her back garden. Mohammed Mannan says it’s great to enjoy the beans, pumpkins and coriander that his wife Begum has managed to grow in their East
BRITAIN’s leading road safety organisations have warned switching off speed cameras will create a “void” in law enforcement on the road. Twenty-five days ago Oxfordshire became the first county in the country to switch off all its speed cameras after
A MUM-of-three yesterday spoke of her despair that fellow cancer sufferers are being denied a drug she believes has extended her life. Carer Wendy Martin, 54, said she felt frustrated on behalf of other bowel cancer sufferers who will be unable to get
A TEENAGER who says she was raped in a portable toilet said she was not consenting but admitted she did not ask her attackers to leave her alone. The girl, who cannot be named, was 14 when she attended a birthday party in Gagingwell, near Chipping Norton
The UK is set to be deluged with yet more heavy rain today as forecasters warned that the spell of miserable weather was set to continue. Most of August has been a washout, with the sight of holidaymakers wrapped up in waterproofs proving far more
Manager Chris Wilder said he was proud of his Oxford United team as they gave it a real go at West Ham last night – only to be cruelly knocked out of the Carling Cup deep into stoppage time. England international Scott Parker snatched a
LIVE performers, a carousel and a bouncy castle will entertain visitors at Witney’s first shopping fun day. Independent traders have joined forces with the Woolgate Centre and Marriotts Walk shopping centres, along with other high street stores, to hold
CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save Temple Cowley Pools are questioning the validity of the facility’s refurbishment costs which have been branded uneconomic. Oxford City Council says repairing the venue would be “throwing good money after bad”.
A BOY battling brain cancer has amazed teachers by landing five A*s and two As in his GCSEs despite taking the exams just a fortnight after undergoing chemotherapy. Alex Polywka, 16, of Norman Avenue, Abingdon, was diagnosed with a pineal
WALLINGFORD School’s headmaster, Wyll Willis, moved to reassure students and parents after the school’s “disappointing” A-level results. Last week’s results showed that 46 per cent of students had A* to B grades — down ten per cent on last
PUPILS and schools in Abingdon were celebrating yesterday as GCSE results showed consistent improvements. Larkmead School’s pupils and teachers were praised by headteacher Chris Harris after producing the school’s best-ever results.
PUPILS at King Alfred’s Specialist Sports College, Wantage, are again celebrating record GCSE results. For the ninth year in a row, the number of pupils attaining five A*-C grades increased, reaching 92.5% in 2010 from 85.3 per cent last year
DIDCOT teenagers produced record sets of GCSE results yesterday. Seventy-four per cent of Didcot Girls’ School’s 234 pupils gained five or more A* to C grades — a rise of six per cent on last year. Two-thirds of pupils at the counterpart
