Archive

  • Orchard Centre to double in size in £125m scheme

    A MULTI-MILLION-POUND scheme to double the size of Didcot’s Orchard shopping centre aims to turn it into one of Oxfordshire’s top shopping destinations. Hundreds of new jobs could be created in the first phase of a £125m expansion for the 10

  • Headington road changes set to go ahead

    CONTROVERSIAL changes to road layouts to slow down traffic in Headington are set to be agreed this week. Council chiefs hope the plans will make it easier for people to walk and cycle in the Old Road area, close to Oxford Brookes University. This should

  • ‘How I raised £7k but lost my family’

    IT STARTED with an unusual advert in a shop window, but five months on, has ended with interest from across the world, £7,000... and an estranged family. The Oxford Mail reported in October how Preston Likely, from Littlemore, was selling his identity

  • Fuel costs give car-sharing a boost

    WITH rumblings of an almost unthinkable £2 a litre of petrol, some drivers are turning to car-sharing to save cash. Since it was launched in August, Oxfordshire County Council’s car-share scheme, where drivers hook up online to share journeys, has attracted

  • Further look at slurry lagoon plan

    HEALTH inspectors are to look at a controversial plan for a slurry lagoon in Yarnton, outside Oxford. The Environment Agency, which carried out its own research, has called in the Health Protection Agency after neighbours raised concerns. The agency

  • A final chapter for the Old Bookbinders

    IT HAS played host to festivals, underground restaurants and gigs, but it is finally time for the Old Bookbinders to close its doors. The former factory, off Cowley Road, in Green Street, Oxford, was built in 1834 but had stood empty for years. It’s

  • Councils allow extra garden waste

    TWO councils are making up for garden waste collections missed following the snow before Christmas. Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire District Councils are allowing residents who pay for the brown bin service to put out extra waste

  • RAF’s giant transporter completes first mission

    A GIANT transporter plane unveiled by the Prime Minister has completed its first mission to Afghanistan. The RAF C-17 Globemaster III aircraft was delivered to RAF Brize Norton, near Carterton, in January, when David Cameron visited the base

  • Local share prices (PM)

    AEA Technology 4.1 BMW 4845 Electrocomponents 269.1 Nationwide Accident Repair 97.5 Oxford Biomedica 6 Oxford Catalysts 98.5 Oxford Instruments 642.25 Reed Elsevier 514.75 RM 154.25 RPS Group 212.5 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • Popular Poohsticks returns after washout

    IT was made famous by Winnie the Pooh and attracts hundreds of participants each year – it’s time for the World Poohsticks Championship. The annual event, which involves people dropping a stick from a bridge and following it downstream, will take place

  • Land Rover unveils special editions

    Hartwell Land Rover in Cumnor is fielding a hat-trick of Special Edition vehicles based on the Freelander, Discovery and Defender models. Dealer principal Robin Davis said: “These new Special Editions bring added depth to our line-up and present

  • Stewart Milne profits bounce back

    Timber frame house builder Stewart Milne is back in the black after turning around its fortunes. The company, which employs 115 at its Witney plant, recorded a £0.1m pre-tax profit for the year 2009/10, compared to a £27m loss the previous year. Chairman

  • Scales of justice

    DIDCOT Craig Evans, 18, of Larkhill Road, Abingdon, admitted driving without insurance and drink-driving in Hilliat Fields, Drayton, on January 2. Namely having 107 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, above the legal limit of 35mg. Fined £200

  • VAT deadline looms for British GP tickets

    Silverstone is urging fans to make the most of its 17.5% VAT freeze on tickets for the 2011 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix and AirAsia British Grand Prix (MotoGP). From April 5, VAT on tickets for the UK’s two biggest motor sport events

  • Kennington land fight goes on

    RESIDENTS are determined to continue their fight to prevent “one of the last undeveloped open spaces” in Kennington being built on. Vale of White Horse District Council threw out a plan for 16 homes off Simpsons Way in November because it did not provide

  • Developers free to build ‘unopposed’

    DEVELOPERS will be able to put up buildings unopposed because Oxford City Council will no longer tell residents through letters, it has been warned. Due to costs the council will stop sending out letters to let residents know of planning

  • Local share prices

    AEA Technology 4.3 BMW 4833 Electrocomponents 266.8 Nationwide Accident Repair 97.5v Oxford Biomedica 6 Oxford Catalysts 97 Oxford Instruments 633.25 Reed Elsevier 515.25 RM 153.5 RPS Group 210.1 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • Four Oxford United players told they can go out on loan

    Oxford United striker Jack Midson is joining Barnet on loan until the end of the season. Midson is out of contract this summer. He previously went out on loan to Southend for two months last November. Midfielder Simon Clist is also out

  • E-fit clue after Dorchester 'power surge' con

    Police today released an E-fit of a man wanted in connection with an attempted distraction burglary in Dorchester on Thames. At about 2.30pm on March 3, a man called at the home of a 76-year-old woman in Tenpenny, claiming that he had to check

  • Supporters quizzed on standing zone

    OXFORD United fans were quizzed on Saturday about the possibility of a standing area within the ground. A group of U’s supporters has teamed up with Oxford Brookes University to canvas opinion on a safe standing zone at the Kassam Stadium.

  • Fans welcome new OxVox chairman

    THE new chairman of Oxford United supporters’ group OxVox has promised to breathe fresh air into the club. From this week Mark Sennett, 26, officially takes the reins from outgoing chairman Trevor Lambert, who has held the position since 2005. He says

  • City's schools face a baby boom crisis

    OXFORD’S primary schools face even more pressure on places than previously feared, after population experts forecast the birth rate would continue to rise. Thirteen city schools are already set to expand, because of increasing numbers of young

  • Estates warned of cancer risks

    PEOPLE living on estates in parts of Oxford and Banbury are more likely to get lung cancer, a county health chief has said. Residents in Barton, Rose Hill, Littlemore, Ruscote, Grimsbury and Neithrop in Banbury are more likely to contract the

  • St Clement's car park scheme revised

    UP to nine parking spaces will be saved under revised plans for student housing at Oxford’s St Clement’s car park – but a leading trader said the scheme was still too big. The developer, the Watkin Jones Group, has revised its proposal, now submitting

  • Police issue plea over M40 death crash

    Police today appealed for witnesses after a lorry driver died in a two-vehicle collision on the M40 in Oxfordshire. The driver, a 61-year-old man from Gloucester, was in a white Iveco 7.5-tonne lorry which was in collision with a large mobile crane

  • FOOTBALL: City duo boosts survival hopes

    Hemel Hempstead 0 Oxford City 2 (Steele 29, Barcelos 74) Oxford City gave their chances of staying in the Premier Division with a convincing win over the Tudors. Goals from Lee Steele and strike partner Felipe Bracelos saw Mike Ford’s side move nine

  • FOOTBALL: Late goal curtails Didcot’s fine run

    Truro City 2 (Hayles 9, Pugh 79) Didcot Town 1 (Lawrence 29) Didcot Town’s six match unbeaten run in the Premier Division came to an end following a controversial refereeing decision and subsequent late goal. The result leaves Didcot a point above

  • FOOTBALL: Lewis double in vain

    Gosport Borough 3 (Bennett 40, 55, Shaw 71) Abingdon United 2 (Lewis 30, 88) Abingdon United returned from the south coast empty-handed, despite a battling display against the high-fliers. After Alan Foster made several good saves in the Abingdon

  • FOOTBALL: North Leigh hammered

    Frome Town 8 (Ballinger 6, Brigham 28 Perrot 47, Thompson 58, 88 Lewis 67, 71, 76) North Leigh 0 North Leigh’s recent good form came to a shuddering halt following a heavy away defeat in Somerset in Division 1 South & West. Having ended Sholing

  • FOOTBALL: Hooky hold leaders to draw

    Hook Norton 2 (Howkins 53, 90 pen) Headington Ams 2 (Zaja 16, Hafiz 88) Leaders Headington Amateurs slaw their lead at the summit cut to six points after being held by a spirited performance from the strugglers. The hosts started the stronger, but

  • Marriage matters

    l AS nobody has commented on Peter Tatchell’s plea for ‘gay’ marriage in church (Oxford Mail, February 16) I take up my pen. Firstly, when homosexuals call themselves ‘gay’ it means, and is meant to mean, that straight people cannot be gay in the

  • Oblivious officers

    WE don’t often see police officers in the street unless in a car (and always in pairs nowadays) but when they venture out, I think they ought to be looking around them and noticing what is going on. I recently saw two police officers walking along,

  • Puzzling protest

    I WAS bemused by the protest by taxi drivers outside Oxford Town Hall regarding the installation of CCTV in taxis (Tuesday’s Oxford Mail). Not that many years ago, I drove Hackney carriages in Oxford and judging by the many problems encountered by drivers

  • Platform points

    AS chairman of North Hinksey Parish Council I feel obliged to write with reference to the recent article ‘Arsonists wreck £3,000 platform’ (Thursday’s Oxford Mail). This most recent article contained misinformation and statements from Robin Carr against

  • Youth centres help to develop good citizens

    LIKE many others, I was appalled by the decision of the county council which would see many of the youth facilities closed down throughout Oxfordshire. Does the council really know the importance of youth centres? I doubt it. Or does it, like many others

  • WI ladies took tour of Parliament

    MEMBERS of Cowley Women’s Institute learned all about the workings of the Houses of Parliament during a visit to London in 1967. Their guide was MP John Ryan, seen here with the party outside the St Stephen’s entrance to the House of Commons at the start

  • The changing face of Wheatley

    THE four teenagers in the first picture were the right ones to have around in an emergency. The foursome from Wheatley Park School won a Red Cross first aid competition in 1984. Seen with their trophy are, from left, Robert Gray, 17, Catherine

  • Good days in the glove trade

    CHERRY Fathers has fond memories of her two years working at an Oxfordshire glove factory. She recalls: “I made the fingers and sewed them together. It was a wonderful, happy place.” Mrs Fathers, whose maiden name was Fidgett, was prompted to write

  • Rugby men got county call-up

    THESE were the rugby players who represented Oxfordshire in 1950. The picture comes from Hazel Wood, widow of John ‘Chipper’ Wood, who had an outstanding career in the sport. As we recalled (Memory Lane, December 6, last year), he played for Oxford

  • MAN ABOUT TOWN: Nightmarish vision of a body in meltdown

    To see or not to see, that is the question... And over the Past few weeks, it’s a dilemma I’ve found myself wrestling with. Obviously, I’m quite a stoic person, not someone given to even simple displays of emotion, but at times over the past month, the

  • Cash was king in Cowley pay packets

    THESE were probably the most popular people at the Morris Motors’ car factory at Cowley. They paid the wages of the thousands of employees at Oxford’s industrial powerhouse. The picture shows the staff who worked in the wages and accounts departments

  • First car was hard going

    THERE were thousands of old pre-war cars still on the road in the late 1950s, many of them truly unroadworthy. There was no MoT test, and they were cheap to buy and run, with petrol costing just a few shillings a gallon. Our first car was a 1935, Model

  • Dancing girls were stars of stage

    THESE four girls took to the stage of the New Theatre, Oxford, with ease. They danced with John Inman in pantomime in 1980 and later that year appeared again as page boys, above, with the London Festival Ballet in Sleeping Beauty. They were, from left

  • WI veteran created pageant costumes

    WHEN the Women’s Institute at Headington, in Oxford, decided to stage an Elizabethan pageant, it faced one problem – who would make the costumes? They didn’t have to look far. One of its oldest members, 85-year-old Mrs C Bowman, stepped

  • Long delays after fatal M40 crash

    A LORRY driver killed in a fatal collision on the M40 on Saturday is believed to be from the Gloucestershire area. The crash, which closed the southbound carriageway for most of the day, happened at about 8am. Ambulance, fire and police crews were called

  • War hero’s stolen medals recovered

    TWELVE years ago, medals bestowed on a war hero and distinguished police commander were stolen from his family’s Oxfordshire cottage. But this weekend they were returned to their rightful home after being discovered in a farmer’s field just 20 yards

  • RESULTS March 19-20

    FOOTBALL. NPOWER LEAGUE TWO. Oxford Utd 2, Crewe 1. ZAMARETTO SOUTHERN LEAGUE. Premier Div: Hemel Hempstead 0, Oxford City 2; Truro City 2, Didcot Tn 1. Div 1 South & West: Frome Tn 8, North Leigh 0; Gosport Boro 3, Abingdon Utd 2. UHLSPORT HELLENIC

  • Cameras start rolling on The Hobbit

    Filming has started on director Peter Jackson's production of The Hobbit in New Zealand. The $500m, two-movie production has suffered from a series of problems including studio funding problems, a threatened actors' boycott and ulcer surgery for Jackson

  • Wilder’s praise for two-goal Constable

    Chris Wilder acknowledged the value of a player like James Constable as the recalled centre forward hit a double to get Oxford United back to winning ways. ‘Beano’ struck with a goal in each half to help the U’s beat Crewe 2-1 in npower

  • COMMENT: Rightful place

    It was fantastic to hear the medals earned by First World War hero Ralph Sheldon have been returned to his family where they belong. After the war, he worked his way up to one of the highest positions in the Metropolitan police force, was responsible

  • Hindu celebration

    MORE than 250 people of all faiths gathered on Saturday at Sandhills Primary School, in Oxford, to celebrate the Hindu Holi festival, which marks the arrival of spring. Padma Ramachandrappa, pictured, of Hollow Way, Cowley, said Hindus used bright beautiful

  • COMMENT: County must look to its future needs

    OXFORD’S rising birth rate will put added pressure on our struggling primary schools at a time when public spending is being slashed. Headteachers already report that school places are “like gold dust”. The county council says it has

  • Pair spared jail after pub attack

    TWO men who assaulted another pubgoer walked free from court after the judge said they were provoked by the victim. Theo Dalton, 19, and Steven Mundy, 22 had admitted charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm over the attack on Ricky