Banbury's Mini WRC Team say they are just where they want to be after the opening day of the Neste Oil Rally Finland. Both the Prodrive-built cars are running with no problems. This evening Dani Sordo and Carlos de Barrio returned to
Two Oxford University students have won a top translation contest for their Russian and Welsh. Russian speaker Thomas Rowley and Welsh speaker Mair Roberts triumphed in a contest held by Veritas Language Solutions. “Translation is an important part of
The North Wall Arts Centre is playing host to an art installation which definitely looks cool. What Lies Beneath – The Return is a series of large paper sculptures which represent the bulk of an iceberg which is usually hidden underwater. The brainchild
A pensioner with Alzheimer’s who was missing for more than 24 hours was found lying down in a field. Ioan Phillips, 87, went missing from his home in Letcombe Regis, near Wantage, on Sunday afternoon. His family feared for the former
KATHERINE MACALISTER learns the art of baking cakes thanks to Daylesford’s Cookery School, near Chipping Norton. Where baking is concerned, it’s fair to say I’m no Nigella. In fact, in terms of domestic goddesses, she’s the one at the front
HORRID HENRY (U). Children/Comedy/Action. Theo Stevenson, Anjelica Huston, Mathew Horne, Siobhan Hayes, Ross Marron, Scarlett Stitt, Richard E Grant, Parminder Nagra, Rebecca Front, Prunella Scales, Noel Fielding, Kimberley Walsh, Jo Brand
ANDY FFRENCH INTRODUCES OUR NEW BOOK OF THE MONTH. * THE BOOK: SOFI Oksanen’s third novel Purge has proved such a stunning success it is being compared to the bestselling Dragon Tattoo trilogy of Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson
RACHAEL O’CONNOR enters the eye-popping Kiss to get a taste of its popular Friday Flavours night. Tucked between Oxford’s seriously popular Thirst and monster club Lava Ignite sits the small, but perfectly formed, Kiss Bar. To say that
DESPERATE times call for desperate measures and one Banbury businessman has taken matters into his own hands to help his son get a job. Bradley Elsmore wants to become an electrician. He has sent out more than 100 letters, emails and even knocked on
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (12A). Action/Romance. Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, Richard Armitage. Director: Joe Johnston.
If the summer holidays are stretching in front of you like a life sentence, and being behind bars is preferable to entertaining your children everyday for the next six weeks, then we sympathise. And to share your pain we’ve created a comprehensive, sanity-saving
With tankard in hand, TIM HUGHES raises a toast to Fairport’s folk-tastic Cropredy Convention. FROM far and wide they come – drawn inexorably to a north Oxfordshire hillside by the prospect of music, fine ale and good times. For folk fans
Tim Hughes looks forward to a weekend of music in the forest, at England’s most remarkable garden party. SECRET late night parties in the forest, swimming in shimmering lakes, a midnight masked ball, camping in rolling countryside and being
It’s dim up north, so people living at higher latitudes have bigger eyes and brains, research at Oxford University has found. As early humans moved further north they evolved more developed visual processing to help them cope with long winters and grey
THE RAF Benevolent Fund has agreed to help Carterton’s youth centre get back on its feet after council cuts. The Allandale Centre, in Burford Road, was one of 22 youth centres across Oxfordshire that lost funding in April. Oxfordshire County Council
A SUMMER of fun has been guaranteed thanks to a scheme being funded by Oxford City Council. The council has teamed up with more than ten different activity providers to make sure Oxford’s children don’t get bored this summer. Available
Former Bury keeper Wayne Brown has signed a one-year deal with Oxford United. He becomes U's boss Chris Wilder's eighth capture of the summer. Brown, 34, put pen to paper after playing in the U’s 1-0 pre-season friendly win at Brackley on Tuesday night
AEA Technology 3.4 BMW 6111 Electrocomponents 230.5 Nationwide Accident Repair 93 Oxford Biomedica 7.1 Oxford Catalysts 72 Oxford Instruments 964 Reed Elsevier 554.25 RM 116 RPS Group 236.1 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
LET’S be fair. How on earth can we trust David Cameron? He’s doing another U-turn. He stated weeks ago that the Government was cutting back on foreign aid. But he’s just come back from abroad and he’s going to tell the Commons that giving aid to poorer
MR Siret (Oxford Mail, letters, July 11), in the course of his long screed took the defence of the rebellious teachers. The result of their “teaching” is that 20 per cent of children leaving school do not know the three ‘R’s. And for that they want
At 6.45am last Thursday I was waiting to use the toilet in a café, when I was approached by a visitor in some distress. Although in urgent need of a toilet she could not bear to enter the midden which is the overnight toilet in Gloucester Green. I allowed
WHAT a tragic and unspeakably ignominious end to that once merely rubbish Sunday publication The News of The World, founded some time before the invention of even the most primitive telephone – unless Ralph Leavis knows otherwise. Still,
WHAT value can you put on Oxfordshire’s rural environment? The Government’s National Ecosystem Assessment put a value of £300 per person per year on the environmental services provided by nature, and there has been much press speculation about whether
AS Oxford’s bus companies prepared to launch their new joint ticketing system last week, the firms’ bosses and county council highways chiefs gathered for a photocall at the notorious High Street bus gate. So not the best time for an erring driver
COUNCILLOR JEAN Fooks should try to get her facts right. The pay-for brown wheelie bin service for garden waste she refers to (Oxford Mail, July 26), is proving remarkably successful. More than 10,000 Oxford residents are already using the new brown
OXFORD’s newspapers regularly carry articles written by people complaining about cyclists. A minority of all road users behave badly, but people seem to particularly blame cyclists for problems on our roads. However, we are in danger of losing sight
AFTER months of rumour, an empty building in Headington looks set to reopen as a Londis again. The 24-hour Londis shop in London Road closed in February, when a sign on the door said it had “gone into receivership”. Tesco last month denied planning
A HIGH-TECH Oxfordshire company has raised £650,000 to commercialise its pioneering transparent solar panels, that come in a range of colours. Oxford PhotoVoltaics, based at Begbroke Science Park, will use the investment from venture capital companies
A CUB pack’s time capsule containing a slice of 1970s life has been re-buried in Littlemore after it was discovered and opened last year. Members of the 28th Oxford Cub Scouts buried the metal box at Cardinal House in 1979, instructing anyone
The first draft of next season’s fixture list is now available on the Oxfordshire Chess website. In division one, newly promoted Bicester 1 kick off with a home match against league champions Witney 1 on Tuesday, October 4. Three days earlier — on Saturday
The annual rate of house price inflation in Oxfordshire has fallen for the first time in more than 18 months. Latest official figures for June released by the Government’s Land Registry show the average price of a property in the county is £237,079,
The annual rate of house price inflation in Oxfordshire has fallen for the first time in more than 18 months. Latest official figures for June released by the Government’s Land Registry show the average price of a property in the county is £237,079,
WORKERS at an Oxfordshire-based animal charity are staggered to have received a £100,000 donation from dead fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Burford-based Blue Cross was given the donation in Mr McQueen’s will but said it had never had any
A Didcot side won the Oxford City & County open mixed fours final, sponsored by Fred Winter “Jack High” Club Insurance. The four of Sally Gilbert, Richard Gilbert, Jane Murphy and Mark Hancock triumphed on shot difference after four rinks won their three
AEA Technology 3.3 BMW 6095 Electrocomponents 230.6 Nationwide Accident Repair 93 Oxford Biomedica 7.1 Oxford Catalysts 71.25 Oxford Instruments 963 Reed Elsevier 554.75 RM 117 RPS Group 237 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
Democrats Club went top of Group B in the Johnsons Buildbase Oxford Summer League after a 6-0 win at strugglers Royal Standard, writes PETE EWINS. In a low-scoring match, Billy Hill, Bob Parsons and Eddie Tebby won both of their games. Masons are
TOURISM bosses in Oxfordshire yesterday had millions of reasons to count down a year until London 2012. The world’s biggest sporting event will bring an estimated £5bn boost to the UK economy, and tourism boards are confident Oxfordshire can
SHAW GIBBS OXFORDSHIRE FOURSOMES LEAGUE Section 2 Magnolia Park 1 (1pt), Buckingham 2 (3) (Magnolia Park first): G Stirratt & G Scholes bt S Clarke & W Hearne 2&1, J Gardiner & M Cunningham lost to M Schofield & P Skinner 1 hole, J Richards & J Shell
OXFORD’S John Radcliffe Hospital is failing to meet an “essential standard” of quality and safety, according to the health watchdog. A report by the Care Quality Commission, released today, has said the hospital must improve the food service if offers
Oxford United have sold out their allocation of 2,920 tickets for the npower League Two clash against Swindon Town at the County Ground on Sunday, August 21. The remaining 357 tickets, which went on general sale today, were snapped up by U's fans within
A FORMER Cowley car worker man deliberately killed himself with helium gas in a motel room, an inquest heard yesterday. David Hill, a 62-year-old who worked for BMW, was found slumped on the floor by the receptionist at a Travelodge in Sutton Scotney
IT’S surely every young person’s dream to be in a famous pop band. But how many actually make it? The answer, of course, is next to none. Two Oxford dancers, however, are urging music-lovers to follow their dreams after being picked to star
Headington bowlers hit new heights in the finals of the Oxfordshire championships at Shiplake Village by winning the four main disciplines for the first time. Mark Charlett took centre stage by regaining his singles title with a 21-15 win over clubmate
OXFORD Ladies duo Maggie Edwards and Anne Clarke won the County Shield on their home course at Southfield. The pair carded 56 points for the 27-hole event, aided by a chip-in for birdie at their 19th hole. Frilford Heath’s Sue Russell and Sara Alden
AN elated Hannah England will go into this weekend’s Aviva UK Championships and Wor-ld Trials in Birmingham brimming with confidence. And there is good reason for that after the 24-year-old smashed her 1500m personal best in Barcelona last week. In
Banbury Central’s Caroline Campion was crowned Oxfordshire ladies singles champion with a 21-15 win over clubmate Mo Cox at South Oxford. Campion also triumphed in the triples, teaming up with Carole Galletly and Stella Amos to beat clubmates Annie Gilkes
Carterton completed the double over champions Headington A with a 4-2 victory in Division 1 of the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries. Following their 3.5-2.5 away triumph – which was determined on rink wins after the two sides
With weeks of school holidays stretching ahead, a swimming pool in the garden could come in handy. Pimm Farm in West Oxfordshire has a forty-foot pool plus tennis court, stables, ponds and paddocks in its 14-acre grounds. The 16th-century farmhouse,
SITES across Oxford are being needlessly earmarked for student homes in a city with a chronic shortage of affordable housing, Oxford City Council has been told. Oxford residents’ groups warn an extensive student home building programme will leave the
A £57m Oxford University scheme to create a science campus in Headington looks set to be approved by Oxford city councillors. As part of the deal, the university is expected to fund a car parking scheme in East Oxford in the face of concerns about traffic
DRAYTON Park’s Nick Elmey stormed to victory in the BB&O 12-and-under Championship at Beaconsfield. The 12-year-old shot 76 off his 15 handicap for a five-shot victory and landed the nett prize for good measure. The Wychwood’s Steven Stanhope was pipped
A dilapidated 1960s block in Jericho has been given a new lease of life with a £1m makeover. Juxon House in Juxon Street was refurbished and four luxury penthouses grafted on to the top floor. Oxford-based Lucy Properties, which owns the building, also
The north Oxford conservation area is one of the city’s most sought-after spots. It stretches from St Giles in the south to Frenchay, Staverton and Belbroughton Roads in the north, and runs from the banks of the Oxford Canal in the west, to the River
THE leader of Oxfordshire County Council last night admitted Oxfordshire’s social care system was “just about bust”. Keith Mitchell expressed sympathy for an Alzheimer’s sufferer who became a victim of the county’s bed-blocking crisis after
IT was a ticket-only affair as some of Oxfordshire’s youngest film buffs got the red carpet treatment for a star-studded charity film première. The regional première of Horrid Henry – the film version of the popular book and TV series – was held at the
ASHLEY Walton clin-ched his third Frilford Heath club championship, despite a jittery finish. Walton finished three shots clear of Sandy Bolton after rounds of 72, 67 and 75, but had looked totally dominant with nine holes to play of the 54-hole event
ALMOST half of hospital A&E patients have to wait more than three hours to be seen, with hospital chiefs blaming bed-blocking for delays. Figures obtained by the Oxford Mail show 3,392 out of 6,822 people had to wait three hours or more in May at the
A LEADING union representative last night warned that radio services at BBC Oxford were not yet out of danger. In an email to BBC staff on Monday, director-general Mark Thompson said the corporation “won’t be closing any local radio stations or television
STEVE Naylor’s record-breaking season continued as he cruised to victory in the Waddesdon 5K. The Woodstock Harrier clocked a course record 15mins 23secs to win the race, while teammate Sophie Carter won the women’s race in 17.52. l NOEL Blatchford,
TEAM Oxfordshire finished a highly-creditable third in their final National Junior League meeting of the season in Peterborough. It brought down the curtain on a very satisfying first year, and augurs well for the future. Despite a long journey and
OXFORD City’s youngsters finished joint-sixth in the Wessex League after an impressive showing in the final round of the season at Horspath Road. City finished second behind Basingstoke in the match, and joint-sixth out of 20 teams. In the last round
So, are you feeling Olympic fever? Maybe not quite yet. But now we are within a year to London 2012, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. Oxfordshire seems determined not to miss out with tourism bosses jostling for trade. Many
It sounds at first as though you are being tricked. Tricked because you think the metallic, churring sound throbbing in the gloom cannot possibly be made by a living creature. Tricked because whatever is responsible for the din seems to be all around
Sites across Oxford are being needlessly earmarked for student homes in a city with a chronic shortage of affordable housing, Oxford City Council has been told. Oxford residents groups warn that an extensive student accommodation building programme will
NEW signing Andy Whi-ng says he is determined to keep his place in the Oxford United side after completing his comeback from injury in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Birmingham. The former Leyton Orient defender missed Saturday’s 1-0 win against MK Dons, but
AARON Woodley’s spectacular strike gave a strong Oxford United XI a 1-0 victory at Brackley in last night’s pre-season friendly. United made ten changes to the starting line-up of the side that beat Birmingham City 2-0 24 hours earlier, including goalkeeper
A high-tech Oxfordshire company has raised £650,000 to commercialise its pioneering transparent solar-panel material, which comes in a range of colours. Oxford PhotoVoltaics, based at Begbroke Science Park, will use the investment from venture
A biotech company is “coming home” to Oxford by opening a new base near the city. The firm, e-Therapeutics, is currently based in Newcastle but bosses have targeted expansion following a £16.6m cash injection raised by selling shares and a desire to
Oxfordshire has more than its fair share of public sector workers, particularly in the fields of education and health. But now, just as some were beginning to believe the Government’s claim that workers were transferring fairly smoothly from a declining
I only recently learnt that Leyda (as in Chile’s Leyda Valley) means ‘the way’; significant because the blue train station that is depicted on the certain labels of Viña Leyda wines was the last stop for trains travelling from Santiago to the Pacific
Sir – Almost half of households in the Cherwell district — that’s 23,000 homes — will see their bin collection day change, some earlier in the week and others later, so the potential for hiccups is huge. We’ve used every possible means to
Sir – First of all, we would like to thank you for your forbearance and understanding of our recent study of the existence of Good Samaritans in Oxford. During the past week, the psychology class at the Oxford Prep Experience has been undergoing an experiment
Sir – You reported (July 14) that Oxfordshire County Council hopes to save £300,000 pa by charging for stair lift maintentance — hitherto free to 800 disabled residents in the county, some of whom cannot afford to pay much towards the costs. Lateral
Sir – I would like to expand upon last week’s letter, concerning the county council’s cuts to adult social services. On further reflection, my letter might appear solely as a panegyric against the political leadership of the county council, whereas there
Sir – Your leading article of July 21 is a powerful reinforcement of the overwhelming case against the proposed development of the St Clement’s car park site. The Local Plan of 2005 allocated the site for the residential housing of Oxford University
Sir – I fully agree with the comments of Roger Moreton (Letters, July 21) concerning the congestion caused by students visiting the city. From casual observation, the influx this year seems to exceed previous years by some way and to be in Oxpens Road
Sir – Having just completed a Royal Horticultural Society gardening course, I was a little alarmed to see Val Bourne urging us to give our roses a high phosphorus feed to encourage flowering because “potassium is for roots and phosphate for flower”.
Sir – The long-overdue switch to joint ticketing and timetabling of city bus services is indeed very welcome, and the county council is to be congratulated for using the last government’s legislation to good effect. But, before we grow accustomed to
Sir – Earlier this month I had the pleasure of driving north from Romsey along the A36. It leads over a rise into Wiltshire and opens a view of lovely English countryside enhanced that day by the sun shining on Salisbury Cathedral. My way home was the
Sir – As both car driver and cyclist, I sympathize with the cogent cases made by three cyclists (Letters, July 21) for not using the Botley Road’s unsafe and inconvenient cycle path. However, no such excuses can be made in other parts of the city, where
South Korean cinema has found an increasingly receptive audience in this country over the last two decades. Emerging from the `hallyu' new wave, directors like Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook, Hong Sang-soo and Kim Jee-woon have used dark humour and often
Suspicions must always be aroused when a film claiming to have been shot in a single continuous take includes the name of an editor in its credits. But the hype is central to the illusion in Uruguayan Gustavo Hernández's The Silent House, which insists
Sir – There is an urgent need for significant improvements in provision in what is supposed to be a major cycling city, not to mention the generally woeful provision in the wider county but I doubt this is going to happen soon. In the interim, a simple
Sir – Richard Bowen (Letters, July 14) complains that cyclists on Botley Road don’t use the cycle path on the pavement. I would like to apologise if he’s been held up by cyclists who stay on the road (as is their right, by the way). The problem is caused
Sir – Oxford’s newspapers regularly carry articles written by people complaining about cyclists. A minority of all road users behave badly, but people seem to particularly blame cyclists for problems on Oxford’s roads. However, we are in danger of losing
Sir —You recently reported that Five Mile Drive Recreation Ground had been shortlisted in Oxford City Council’s search for new cemetery space. On Monday, July 25, the following petition signed by over 500 residents of North Ward was submitted to the
Sir – ‘Give us a road-train’ was the title of a letter in your edition of July 21 from Peter Headicar. I am afraid that I have almost given up on my idea that this kind of transport will ever come to Oxford city centre. My first letter on the subject
YOUNGSTERS are revving up for a summer of fun with activities at an Oxford farm. The Trax project, based at Red Barn Farm in Woodstock Road near the Pear Tree interchange, is hosting six weeks of activities – including such diverse past-times
PARENTS say they will not give up on plans to open a 800-pupil “free school” in Harwell despite education chiefs saying they could not demonstrate enough demand. The New Oxford School Trust applied to set up a school linked to hi-tech companies
In a way, architect John Melvin explains, everything really grew out of a cockleshell. For a moment it is difficult to know whether he is talking about the Greek goddess of love, Wadham College or his new book on what is good and bad about Oxford
In the middle of the heavily built-up area of East Oxford lies Boundary Brook Nature Park, one of Oxford Urban Wildlife Group’s greatest award-winning achievements. Boundary Brook Nature Park was one of the group’s first projects that followed the aim
