Archive

  • Baseball bat attacker convicted

    A 49-YEAR-OLD has been found guilty of attacking a man in Oxford. Raymond Wells, of East Avenue, was unanimously convicted by a jury at Oxford Crown Court of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Carl Suter, 31, was stabbed and attacked

  • Burglars steal £50,000 of computers

    THIEVES stole laptop computers worth £50,000 when they forced their way into a warehouse at an Eynsham industrial estate. They broke into the building on the Oakfield Industrial Estate, in Stanton Harcourt Road, between 10.10pm and 11.30pm on Saturday

  • Traffic warden hurt as cyclist shoves him off moped

    A TRAFFIC warden was pushed off his moped and broke his ankle in Oxford. The 31-year-old had just stopped his moped in Colemans Hill, Headington, on Monday when a man on a bicycle rode past him and pushed him at about 10am. The victim lost his balance

  • Didcot man gets silent treatment on reality TV

    SILENCE might be golden, but businessman Jon Treanor found it almost impossible to get any in the hurly burly of modern life. Faced with constant noise from TVs, telephones and even computers, he leapt at the chance to put his life on hold and take a

  • Inquest is told of high levels of methadone

    POLICE had to use fingerprint records to identify a decomposing body found in a flat, an inquest heard. Paul Rigby, 43, had been dead for several days when police forced their way into his home. The alarm was raised when he did not collect his prescription

  • Soar Points

    LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE (PG). Family/Drama/Action. Featuring the voices of Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, Helen Mirren, Ryan Kwanten, Emily Barclay, Joel Edgerton, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Anthony

  • Steely Beauty

    SARAH MAYHEW finds something vaguely familiar about an exhibition of large sculptural works at The North Wall. I was immediately overcome by a sense of familiarity. “I know that work from somewhere, but where?” I thought as I walked through

  • Stepping Out

    RICHARD BELL enjoys playing catch-up at Dub Politics @ O2 Academy. Dubstep is one of those genres of music that I’ve somehow let pass me by. It’s not that I’m not keen, it’s just that I’ve always felt slightly on the back foot with it

  • Little Gem

    TIM HUGHES discovers the passion behind the pop success of Marina and the Diamonds. FORGET chart success, cheering crowds and critical acclaim; Marina Diamandis only realised she had become a star when she drove past her old home – and was

  • Nowhere Boys

    TIM HUGHES catches up with Ben Duffy of Fenech-Soler – deep in the Northamptonshire countryside. EVERYONE needs a refuge; a haven where they can escape the frenzy of the world. And few people have had such a frantic year as Ben Duffy.

  • Soy Story

    KATHERINE MACALISTER jumps the queue to taste the acclaimed Japanese fare at Edamame. You do realise that having dinner at Edamame is like eating dinner in my hall,” my friend pointed out as we marched down the cobbles in Holywell Street, stumbling

  • Sly and Retiring

    RED (12A). Action/Comedy/Thriller. Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Rebecca Pidgeon, Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine. An award-winning A-list cast and

  • Idle Moments

    Python Eric Idle takes time out from overseeing his acclaimed musical show Spamalot due in Oxford next week to talk to KATHERINE MACALISTER. Eric Idle doesn’t live here any more. He lives in the States, and is only in the UK for a week

  • Object Lesson

    Dr Jeremy Hill, left, tells KATHERINE MACALISTER how he went about the daunting task of selecting artefacts to tell the history of the world. Where do you start with the history of the world? No, I mean it. Imagine if someone asked you

  • City centre bins 'will boost recycling rates'

    FIFTY new rubbish and re-cycling bins will be installed in the centre of Oxford as the city attempts to jump-start its green credentials. For the first time, shoppers and tourists will be able to recycle some of the 600 tonnes of rubbish thrown into

  • Bid to block Brookes campus plan rejected

    A bid for a judicial review over the decision to grant permission for Oxford Brookes University’s £132m campus redevelopment has been rejected by the High Court. Retired property manager Martin Young, above, applied for a review against Oxford City Council

  • The world at your fingertips

    The Globee makes a fabulous Christmas present — the Oxford design has just been launched and we have five to give away to lucky readers! The attractive and innovative Globees are exclusively designed maps of cities around the world that have

  • Stars for Christmas

    For many people the festive season is not complete without a poinsettia in the house. When it comes to Christmas, after the tree and lights, stars, and the star-shaped poinsettia, are the most important Christmas symbols, according the results of a survey

  • Keep calm and carry on!

    ‘Happy Christmas’ we gush, but with all the extra shopping, cooking and entertaining it can be stressful. Kate Whiting gives her top tips on how to stay chilled . . . As the song goes, it may be the 'most wonderful time of the year', but it

  • All that survives is love

    As one of the 20th century’s finest poets, Philip Larkin is closely studied, both poetically and personally. Andrew Motion’s biography and Larkin’s Selected Letters, both published in the decade following his death in 1985, revealed that not only

  • Historical fiction

    Lion of the Sun Harry Sidebottom (Michael Joseph, £14.99) Sidebottom is the best in the business — an Oxford classicist whose series of novels are crashing into the best-seller lists. In this, his third in the Warrior of Rome series, his hero Ballista

  • The Archivist by David Pownall

    THE ARCHIVIST David Pownall (Quartet, £10)This tells the poignant yet darkly comic story of Daniel Rogers, a working-class Liverpudlian boy sent to a strict boarding school in the south of England. Set after the Second World War, the novel charts Daniel

  • Villages of Britain by Clive Aslet

    Clive Aslet, editor of Country Life, describes Great Tew as “one of the prettiest villages in England". No surprises there then. But his book, Villages of Britain (Bloomsbury, £30) is far from being a cute gazetteer for buyers of expensive homes

  • Hangman by Faye Kellerman

    HANGMAN by Faye Kellerman (HarperCollins, £20)Back on form Faye Kellerman, award-winning novelist and New York Times bestselling author, combines two distinct parallel stories in her new book, with Lieutenant Decker, head of the LAPD Homicide Department

  • Businessman's vow of silence

    SILENCE is golden but businessman Jon Treanor was finding it almost impossible to find it in the hurly burly of modern-day life. Faced with constant noise from TVs, telephones and even computers, he leapt at the chance of putting his life on hold and

  • Turning waste food into power

    Where there’s muck there’s brass, they say, and many at Worton Farm, near Cassington, are now hoping the old adage is true. Certainly there is no shortage of muck there — in the pungent form of all that food waste most of us in Oxfordshire are now being

  • Greengrocer still trading

    COWLEY: Stokes fruit and vegetable shop is still trading as normal, with its 13 staff waiting to hear their future after the greengrocery chain went into administration. Some 65 jobs have been axed nationwide as accountants KPMG search for

  • Mum to tackle NY marathon after near-death scare

    FIVE years ago Nikki Poole was told she had a week to live. But in little over two weeks, the mother-of-two will tackle one of the world’s most famous marathons for an Oxfordshire charity. Ms Poole, from Abingdon, was struck down by a mystery illness

  • OBITUARY: Clive Smith

    A COWLEY car dealer who was a familiar face among the area’s motor traders since the 1960s has died. Clive Smith, who owned Clive Smith Oxford Ltd, at 379 Cowley Road, died aged 65 after eight weeks of illness. He was born in Princes Street, East Oxford

  • Pcso honoured for snow relief effort

    A FORMER traffic warden who delivered groceries to pensioners trapped in January’s snow has been named police community support officer of the year for Oxfordshire. Sue Harris was described by fellow officers as ‘without doubt the face of Wantage’.

  • Musical message to keep out conmen

    POLICE swapped the beat for the boards when they stepped on stage to teach hundreds of elderly and vulnerable people how to spot doorstep conmen. They performed a play at Thame Leisure Centre to spell out how distraction burglars can trick their way

  • Volunteers revamp day centres

    CHARITY champion Ray Collins and his friends have redecorated three day centres in the Wantage area after raising thousands of pounds on an 80-mile walk. Over the past two months, Mr Collins and 20 volunteers have toured centres for the elderly and disabled

  • Inquest aid needs volunteers

    A VOLUNTEER scheme which helps bereaved families and witnesses at inquests is coming to Oxford. The Coroners’ Courts Support Service (CCSS) is seeking volunteers. It organises teams of trained volunteers in 15 courts in London and the Home Counties

  • Website aims to be at heart of the Leys

    PARISH councillors are to unveil a new website they hope will be the heart of Blackbird Leys. Features on the website blackbirdleys.net are to set to include a forum, community information, events, news and contact details for shops, charities, organisations

  • Round the world cyclist pedals into Africa

    A PEDALLING doctor who aims to cycle around the world in five years has reached Africa. Dr Steve Fabes now faces what could be his most difficult challenge, complete with 50C temperatures, deserts, jungle and political instability. The 29-year-old,

  • Property experts join forces in new venture

    TACKLEY: Five well known county property professionals have joined forces to create one of the most highly experienced multi-disciplinary commercial property practices in Oxfordshire. Meeson Williams Planning and Building Surveying (PBS) has

  • Novices to race in memory of Oxford stock car legend

    VETERAN stock car drivers will go back to the track this weekend to race in memory of an Oxford man considered one of Britain’s pioneers of the sport. ‘Dangerous’ Don Evans, from Blackbird Leys, who died in August aged 82, is revered in stock car circles

  • Bicester girl helps Army dogs in Afghanistan

    MANY have been moved to donate to charity by the dangers soldiers face in Afghanistan. Laura Hyett, however, was inspired by their four-legged helpers. The 11-year-old overheard a conversation about Army dogs in Afghanistan needing toys and immediately

  • GOLF: Results round-up

    SHAW GIBBS OXFORDSHIRE FOURSOMES LEAGUE Knockout Cup semi-final Frilford Heath 1, Studley Wood 2 (Frilford Heath first): P Richardson & P Dolton bt N Lawton & N Pettit 1 hole, A Walton & B Paterson lost to N Mortimer & S Bulman 1 hole, R Mann &

  • Scheme gets girls off the streets

    TWO schoolgirls are no longer working the streets to pay for their drug habit thanks to a crime-fighting scheme pioneered by police. The girls, one 14 and one 15, had both resorted to prostitution to pay for drugs and alcohol, officers in Cherwell said

  • Too many buses

    Sir – The two main bus companies serving Oxford continually remind us just how efficient their low-carbon-burning engines are proving. I suggest they could make more drastic reductions if they simply reduced the frequency of buses at low demand times

  • Close Divinity Road

    Sir – JP Roos (letter, October 14) is right that the car traffic in Divinity Road is terrible, just as terrible, if not worse than the drunken pedestrians in the middle of the night. It’s now a couple of decades since the last attempt to deal with the

  • All-night parties back

    Sir – Any East Oxford resident trying to park will have noticed that Brookes students are back — and so are their all night parties. But luckily there’s the city council’s “Nuisance Nightline” to help — or is there ? Last Wednesday, a neighbouring Brookes

  • History of a chapel

    Sir – The recent opening of the Russian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas Wondermaker in New Marston was a momentous event: for all those who live and worship in Marston (Old and New) a very welcome arrival. The history of the small chapel in Ferry Road

  • Selfless actions

    Sir – Mr Saj Malik is to be commended for his selfless actions (report, October 14) in delivering relief supplies to Pakistan. However, readers may be puzzled to understand why a private citizen from the UK is having to undertake this action. It’s

  • ‘We could not have a bin because our house had no number’

    Sir – Cllr John Tanner has waxed lyrical about the ease with which residents of Oxford may recycle their rubbish using the new blue wheelie bin scheme, due to commence on October 18. Sadly, our household cannot benefit, because we have not received

  • Flagrant flouting

    Flagrant flouting Sir – South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) is seeking to legitimise the advertising on roundabouts which it unlawfully erected five years ago. Twenty-eight planning applications have been made by SODC in relation to their presently

  • Turbines are OK

    Sir – It’s one thing for a cranky old philistine engineer to be enthralled by wind turbines. It’s another thing altogether to learn of a proper, cultured artist who likes them too! I was ecstatic to read about Sarah Farrow’s exhibition at North Wall

  • We want answers

    Sir – Fiona Guy’s letter “How can we respond?” (October 14) was the tip of the iceberg when it came to the frustration of residents in Thame over the so-called public consultation on the council’s core strategy for the town. Your newspaper frequently

  • What’s not to like?

    Sir – You report that the incinerator at Ardley “would burn up to 300,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste annually and produce electricity capable of powering 60 per cent of homes across the Cherwell district”. What’s not to like? The alternative appears

  • Small is beautiful

    Sir – Oxford City Council’s proposals for its Core Strategic Plan include the building of 8,000 new houses plus business park and all that goes with it. This seems to be another wheeze to get the public’s approval in advance and then planning consent

  • Gambling £6m

    Sir – In August 2010 the growth and infrastructure scrutiny committee were asked by the Oxfordshire County Council cabinet to support a contract to build a waste incinerator at Ardley for which planning was refused in October 2009. That refusal was

  • Top dog Angel finds Oxford man's stolen bows

    AN INQUISITIVE dog has been hailed a hero after sniffing out antique violin bows worth £110,000 stolen from an Oxford man as he slept on a train. Nine-year-old former racing greyhound Angel earned her owner Chris Laflin a reward of £5,000 by sniffing

  • RUGBY UNION: Police make arresting sight

    Banbury Police’s David Warner attacks during their 35-7 defeat to Chipping Norton 2nd in a charity match to support PC David Rathband’s Blue Lamp Foundation. The game and memorabilia auction at Greystones raised £820 for the cause supporting emergency

  • RUGBY UNION: Banbury bag title treble

    Banbury's minis secured three titles in a fine weekend of tournament action. Their under 9Bs were successful at the Rugby St Andrews tag event, while Banbury Under 10s and 12s won at Cheltenham. Ben Pratt’s try sealed victory for the under 9B side.

  • Some reassurance

    Sir – I should like to reassure Mr Timothy Oates (letter, October 14) that the county council is reducing its senior management by 30 per cent in recognition of the severe financial position we face. He should know that arbitrarily reducing an employee

  • Good and bad

    It is a measure of what we were expecting that nothing in yesterday’s announcement of the results of the Comprehensive Spending Review came as a great surprise. And in many respects, we are still in the dark about the full implications of the statement

  • Caught short

    Sir – Since the “super-loos” (report, October 14) cannot now be provided, the obvious thing to do is to re-open and extend the times of opening of the ones that were closed in anticipation of this happening. The increased number of visitors to Oxford

  • Fuss about Frideswide Square is unjustified

    Sir – I’m continually amazed at this wholly unjustified fuss about Frideswide. The present situation is about as good as you can get, roundabouts will solve nothing, cost more scarce money, and cause far more trouble/danger for all users than presently

  • GOLF: Rowlands ends on a high

    Chipping Norton professional Neil Rowlands finished his season in fine form with successive victories. Rowlands finished joint first in the BB&O Autumn Classic at Reading where a three-under-par 67 saw him tie with Nick Mitchill (Newbury). Two days

  • Heady stuff on the heart

    It all began, explains Tim Healey, with a fiery row over the telephone with his younger sister, Cressida. After mulling over her closing words, Mr Healey would embark on a journey that would take in open-heart surgery, a crash course in psychological

  • Chrysanthemum: Victim of fashion

    If there is one flower that’s out of fashion at the moment it’s the hardy chrysanthemum — and it doesn’t deserve it. Few plants are capable of flowering in the second half of October with such panache, and there is something hugely comforting about

  • Meadows sparkle across all seasons

    Summer is my favourite time of the year and I have had one of the best this year, working as the interim warden on Chimney Meadows National Nature Reserve. I particularly enjoy working on and surveying grassland habitats, so when the opportunity came

  • FOOTBALL: Knight leaves City - but Savage stays

    Oxford City keeper Richard Knight has left the Zamaretto Southern League Premier Division strugglers. But Knight’s departure has been tempered by midfielder Dave Savage’s decision to reject a move to UCL Premier League club St Neots Town. Knight, 31

  • RUGBY UNION: Russell handed England chance

    Wheatley's Adam Russell could make his England Deaf debut when they face the Essex Bishops XV at Braintree on Sunday. Russell is one of six newcomers named in the squad as England prepare for their post-Christmas internationals against Wales and Scotland

  • RUGBY UNION: Bulls making progress

    Banbury Bulls coach Grant Holmes believes his side have made progress since the beginning of the season. Bulls won their first game on Saturday with a 38-22 success in an error-strewn display against Leamington. Holmes said: “We are certainly looking

  • Afropean Choir

    If you’re looking for something to raise your spirits as the autumn chill starts to bite, then the Afropean Choir might just have the answer. A new five-week course, starting next Wednesday, will introduce you to the choir’s fusion of the singing traditions

  • Italian Classics, £94

    Central Italy encompasses six of the country’s 20 regions including Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo and Marches as well as the famous Adriatic coast — a classic holiday destination. This is the area where the Renaissance flourished around Florence in the 15th

  • Oxford Ceramics Fair: St Edward’s School

    A disobedient cat was stealthily approaching a piece of homemade cake on John and Jude Jelfs’s kitchen table, only to be caught in the act and ordered off. Not only was the cake homemade, so was the plate on which it was sitting, for John and Jude have

  • White wines for Halloween season

    There may only be half a dozen houses where I live but it is a busy place. This week alone has seen the arrival of a new family next door, the sending of the home-reared ‘hamlet pigs’ to slaughter and the exciting discovery of the (hideously poisonous

  • Diving into debate

    I WRITE regarding the letter (October 13) from Peter Wilkinson, Chairman of Rose Hill Tenants and Residents Association. I do not wish to answer his points regarding the new house building going on in Rose Hill, but I would like to question him on his

  • Papal lesson

    N his letter, Graham Butler (Oxford Mail, October 4) stated that “popes made deplorable errors and violated Christ’s teaching in an appalling manner”. The teaching, given by popes, is protected through Christ’s guarantee of papal infallibility (Luke

  • Conservative cuts ruin jobs and lives

    WE believe that the savage spending cuts proposed by the coalition Government will wreck millions of people’s lives. They will decimate public services, cut jobs, pay and pensions and risk plunging the British economy into further difficulties. We believe

  • Red Bull remain confident

    Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner insists his team have nothing to fear from the remaining three grands prix of the season as he aims for a title double to end a dominant year. The Milton Keynes-based marque have won seven of the 16 races and

  • Family homes at lower price

    Victorian tradition meets contemporary interior design in a three-bedroom house in Littlemore. The property has a modernised kitchen, but also many original features such as high ceilings, fireplaces and wooden floors. Other plus points include an attic

  • Development with links to tapestry

    A new development of four and five-bedroom family homes in West Oxfordshire boasts a historic link to the Bayeux Tapestry. Malthouse Farm, in Brighthampton, is set in the grounds of the property of the same name, which is mentioned in the 11th-century

  • RUGBY UNION: Blues call off Ospreys clash

    Oxford University have cancelled Monday’s away match against Ospreys for fear of adding to their mounting injury list. The Dark Blues were due to face the Welsh giants in the second of four consecutive matches against top-class opponents. But head coach

  • The Insider: A weekly update from the corridors of power

    There has been much speculation in the past week regarding the true identity of the chalk ‘horse’ at Uffington. Could it be a dragon? Or even a dog? The famous White Horse, pictured, carved into the hillside above the Oxfordshire village is thought

  • Railway was there first

    WHY is councillor Susanna Pressel complaining about the noise from Oxford Railway Station (Saturday’s Oxford Mail). Can we remind her that the railway was there long before any of the houses were built in the area. Those houses shouldn’t have never

  • All to blame

    All three political parties are to blame for the cuts, locally and nationally, and it’s about time these politicians showed some sense of responsibility. Only the Green Party has had consistent foresight and learnt the lessons of history. After the

  • Softening up

    First you soften things up with the heavy artillery and then you send in the infantry. So the Tories have as many guns as possible firing off the same shells in the same direction: blaming the Labour government. Then we get the hand-to-hand fighting

  • 'A simple readjustment'

    House prices are under pressure, with properties across the county selling for less than originally asked. But estate agents say rather than heading for a crash, the market is simply readjusting. Alecia Bradbury, of Oxford-based agents Savills, said

  • One way to spend all your time in the pub

    Many people dream of owning their own pub, so buying one that has been converted into a house offers an attractive alternative. Former public houses tend to offer more living space, a larger garden, character features and a dash of local history. The

  • Drugs raid on flat follows tip-offs

    A DOZEN police officers broke down the door of an East Oxford flat yesterday in a dawn raid on a suspected drug user. Police obtained a warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act and raided the first floor flat behind Hamptons estate agent at The Plain roundabout

  • ATHLETICS: Amblers are out in force

    WHILE many Abingdon Amblers athletes were preparing for the Abingdon Marathon, the club sent a strong team to Birmingham to compete in the senior men’s National Six-stage Relay Champ-ionships on Saturday. Oz Ellis produced the fastest leg of their team

  • ‘My silly firework prank put family lives at risk’

    WHEN Lewis Colwell was sitting in a police cell after putting a lit firework through a letterbox on Halloween he knew he would pay for his “moment of madness” for a long time. Three years on, he is getting his life back on track after narrowly

  • Cyclists criticise schemes for Frideswide Square

    A SCHEME to redevelop Frideswide Square which would replace traffic lights with roundabouts risks creating “a hostile environment” for cyclists, it was claimed last night. Four options have been set out by Oxfordshire County Council to ease congestion

  • Untouched by the 20th century

    UNTOUCHED by the last century is how agents describe Chapel House Farm near Chipping Norton. The four-bedroom house, which has a Georgian-style facade, is in need of major renovation but comes with a self-contained three-bedroom cottage that has been

  • COMMENT: Get the message on fireworks

    Lewis Colwell behaved like an idiot. There is no doubt about that. The then 16-year-old put a lit firework through the letterbox of a house in Headington for a lark. He never expected it would leave the trail of destruction it did.

  • ATHLETICS: Harriers duo in title joy

    Woodstock Harriers’ duo Sophie Carter and James Bolton took the county senior women’s and men’s titles at Sunday’s Abingdon Mara-thon. More than 1,000 runners from all over the country took part in the race, which started and finished at Tilsley Park

  • BAR BILLIARDS: Withey lands crown

    PAULINE Withey was the toast of Oxfordshire after lifting the All England ladies singles title at Reading. Withey, who won the crown in 2003 and 2004, defeated Marilyn Izzard (Bucks) 2-0 and Jackie Peckham (Kent) by the same scoreline. She continued

  • AUNT SALLY: Roll up for finals night

    THE Greene King Oxford & District League’s finals night takes place at Rover Sports & Social Club, Roman Way tomorrow (7.15pm). Tickets, £3, are available from Keith Alder on 01865 767107 or 01865 221961. Pictures and report from the night will appear

  • A4074 closed after smash

    The A4074 near Woodcote has been closed in both directions after a crash involving for cars. One woman driver and five men have been taken to hospital for treatment but police said the injuries were not life threatening. The accident, close to The

  • Spending cuts lead to jobs fears

    EXPERTS were last night trying to work out the full impact of Government spending cuts on Oxfordshire. There were growing fears of wide spread job losses in the county’s public sector, including councils, hospitals, universities and the police

  • COMMENT: No sign of relief

    CUTS concern. Last night, it seemed, business and community leaders were still tapping away on calculators. The full effect of the Compre-hensive Spending Review may not be fully realised for weeks, if not months. However, that is no

  • 2010 Oxfordshire Sports Awards

    CHRIS Wilder and Oxford United head the nominations for the 2010 Oxfordshire Sports Awards. The U’s manager has made the shortlist for the coach of the year, while his side are in the running for the team of the year after their promotion at Wembley

  • Parky at the Pictures (In Cinemas 21/10/2010)

    The passing of Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol has cast a pall over French cinema in 2010. However, their nouvelle vague comrade Jean-Luc Godard, who turns 80 on 3 December, continues to make provocative and determinedly individual pictures like

  • Parky at the Pictures (DVD 21/10/2010)

    It's 98 years since Thomas Edison's film company released the first screen serial. What Happened to Mary? was produced in conjunction with McClure's Ladies' World magazine in 1912. But it was The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913) that instigated the

  • Volunteers needed to dig into East Oxford's past

    Oxford University wants to recruit volunteers and community groups to uncover East Oxford’s hidden history. At the launch of the university’s biggest outreach of its type yesterday, academics said they would spend the next four years working with residents

  • Gym’ll fix it to get estate loads fitter

    AN EAGERLY awaited community gym will open on an Oxford estate next month. And in a bid to get Barton fit and healthy, community leaders are offering free taster sessions for 100 people. When plans for Barton swimming pool were announced almost a decade

  • Food sale raises a grand

    PUPILS at an Oxford school raised £1,000 for victims of the Pakistan flood disaster. St Christopher’s School, in Temple Road, Cowley, where many families have relatives who were affected by the flooding disaster, held a fundraising food sale. Bi-lingual

  • Report racial slurs United fans urged

    OXFORD United fans are being urged to report any racist abuse they hear at Saturday’s home game. The club is backing a national initiative that includes a hotline to report racist comments or chants. The U’s face Northampton Town at the Kassam Stadium

  • Two Cornbury music festivals may be held

    A ROW has broken out between Lord Rotherwick, owner of Cornbury Park, and the organiser of the Cornbury Festival, which has been held there for the last six years. The dispute could result in two music festivals taking place within ten miles

  • County's uncertain future

    UNCERTAINTY surrounds the full impact of Government spending cuts on Oxfordshire. But there were growing fears of widespread job losses in the county’s public sector, including councils, hospitals, universities and the police. Half a million public

  • Chancellor's axe falls on Oxfordshire

    ORGANISATIONS from Oxford University down to the smallest arts groups are today calculating the impact of cuts of up to 40 per cent in funding. With schools, the local NHS and the county’s science community having been spared in Chancellor George Osborne