Archive

  • Didcot Casuals 7 St Edmunds 3

    In an eventful match played under grey skies but in good conditions, Casuals took an early lead after a great cross from the right was struck with venom by Aaron P. Aaron doubled the lead midway through the half after a great through ball by Harry T

  • Cumnor Minors 7: 0 Botley Boys

    Cumnor Minors went into this game against the league leaders wanting to earn their first 3 points of their campaign, having drawn against Oxford Blackbirds last week. They started the game brightly with a lot of possession and crisp passing. After

  • Teen burglar is spared jail

    A TEENAGE burglar “just, and only just” escaped being locked up after a house was burgled and the occupant’s car was burnt out. Scott Fitzgerald broke into a property in Herschel Crescent, Littlemore, and took a handbag containing the keys to a Mazda

  • Oarsome effort to boost forces charities

    A GROUP of students have set off from Oxford to Putney to raise money for forces charities. The team, who are all members of Oxford University Air Squadron, left Brasenose College Boat Club yesterday for the 180km row. Money raised will go to DecAid

  • BTCC releases provisional 2012 calendar

    The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship today issued its provisional race dates for 2012. Next season’s calendar will again include ten ‘rounds’, each featuring three races. The provisional dates are: March 31-April 1

  • £1.3m civic hall is officially opened after refurbishment

    DIDCOT residents checked out the changes at their newly refurbished civic hall at the weekend. The Britwell Road building closed in July last year and work started on the £1.3m refurbishment in January after the contract was finalised with construction

  • New playground opens after a 16-year wait

    SIXTEEN years ago, two 11-year-old girls living in Shipton-under-Wychwood wrote to the parish council asking for a new play area. On Friday – after an investment of more than £100,000, their dream has come true – to the delight of a new generation of

  • Free film festival fun for schoolchildren

    SCHOOL pupils in Didcot and Wallingford are being offered the chance to see top children’s films for free for National Schools Film Week. It is the largest film festival for schools in the world, and will see screenings at Didcot Cineworld and the Wallingford

  • ‘Girls flourish in a single-sex school’

    SINGLE sex schools give girls the “space to grow up” without the distractions of boys, according to the headteacher of Oxfordshire’s only girls’ state secondary school. Didcot Girls School is celebrating a record year of GCSE results. While the county

  • Walk on the wild side for charities

    CHARITY fundraisers laced up their walking boots and took to the countryside for a new annual event raising money for Age UK Oxfordshire and Earth Trust. More than 50 people took part in Walk on the Wild Side, a new joint venture between the two charities

  • First phase of university buildings are opened

    THE first new development in North Oxford’s new £500m street of university buildings has opened. Somerville College’s new £10m accommodation blocks are the first to be completed in the vast redevelopment of the former Radcliffe Infirmary site

  • Base's special place in aviation history

    THE vital role played by an Oxfordshire airfield in the development of jet aircraft has finally been recognised thanks to two brothers who grew up nearby. RAF Barford St John was used as the base for top-secret tests of Britain’s prototype jet planes

  • Pupils have poems and art printed in book

    AN Oxfordshire secondary school has honoured its talented pupils for the second year with a professionally published anthology of their artistic endeavours. Woodstock’s Marlborough School has compiled Paper Tigers II to showcase pupils’ best poetry,

  • Local share prices

    AEA Technology 2.7 BMW 4907 Electrocomponents 200.8 Nationwide Accident Repair 93 Oxford Biomedica 5.75 Oxford Catalysts 58 Oxford Instruments 829.5 Reed Elsevier 495.7 RM 98.5 RPS Group 186.6 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley

  • Man attacked by gang

    A gang beat a man in an attack outside a petrol station this morning, police have said. A 20-year-old man from Oxford, was kicked and punched by a group of Asian men outside the Shell garage in London Road, Headington, at about 1.30am. He suffered

  • Prodrive unveils expansion plans

    Hi-tech motorsport engineering firm Prodrive has revealed it is to create 100 jobs and move to new premises near its Banbury base. Chairman David Richards said the firm, which employs 450 staff in the town, had outgrown its current headquarters on Wildmere

  • Big cheeses out in force for awards

    THE eyes of the cheese world were on Churchill, near Chipping Norton, for one of the biggest dates in the cheese calendar. The British Cheese Awards saw 900 cheeses from across the country being judged by 55 experts. Among those being judged were 750

  • Hundreds gather to see steam train

    HUNDREDS of people lined railway bridges and station platforms on Saturday to see a special steam train celebrate the completion of track redoubling work on the Cotswold Line. The Cathedrals Express ran along the Oxford-Worcester route both ways on a

  • Special visit by Kofi Annan

    FORMER UN secretary general Kofi Annan visited Oxford to launch the UK wing of an international charity inspiring young Africans to take to the airwaves. Mr Annan launched the Children’s Radio Foundation at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin

  • Residents share memories of life in the 50s

    RESIDENTS of Oxford’s Cutteslowe estate who grew up together in the 1950s were reunited at a party at the weekend. They gathered at the Green Road Club in Kidlington on Saturday to share memories. Linda Perks, 62, of Bodley Place, Cutteslowe

  • Cupcake treats for residents

    TWO Oxford mums gave a sweet surprise to residents at an Oxford care home. Julia Atkinson and Linda Williams visited the Isis Care Home in Cornwallis Road, Cowley, to chat to residents and hand out a treat to mark National Cupcake week. The pair, both

  • Villagers show off greener homes

    VILLAGERS in Hook Norton, near Banbury, opened their doors to the public to show off the energy-saving devices they have fitted to their homes. The Green Homes Open Day was staged on Sunday, with seven homes in the village welcoming in 40 visitors.

  • Bumper harvest

    MEMBERS of the congregation at Marston Neighbourhood Church brought their homemade fruit and vegetables to a scout hall to display the produce for a fundraising competition. The church staged the contest called The Big Veg at the scout hall in William

  • Last in series of summer fun days

    FAMILIES enjoyed the last of a series of summer fun days staged by the Oxfordshire Play Association at the Hill End residential centre in Farmoor. The group, which runs projects to encourage play across the county, has put on four Playday events at venues

  • Running the half-marathon for a special cause

    MORE than 2,000 runners will be pounding the streets this week to complete their training for the first Oxford Half Marathon. Sunday’s race from the Kassam Stadium in Grenoble Road is expected to raise about £10,000 for East Oxford hospice

  • Jobs to be axed at building firm

    The continuing downturn in the building trade could spell dozens of job losses at a Witney firm. Bosses at Stewart Milne Timber Systems which employs 119 staff at its base in Curbridge Business Park, Downs Road, say up to 40 jobs will go across the division

  • UPDATE: Cogges Link Road inquiry postponed

    The public inquiry into controversial plans for a road to relieve traffic pressure in Witney town centre has been postponed. A planning inspector was expected to hear the case for a link road through Cogges, as well as opposition to the scheme from campaigners

  • MOTORSPORT: Culham stages title deciders

    Titles will be up for grabs when the Red Bull Pro Nationals Motocross series roars into Culham, near Abingdon, this weekend. The final round will see riders going for glory in three championships at the two-day event on Saturday and Sunday (10am to 5pm

  • MOTORSPORT: Oxford to stage dirt track meetings

    Oxford Stadium are to stage two more British Dirt Track meetings. Dirt track solos, quads and mini bikes race on the speedway track for British Championships points on Friday, September 30. The meeting will also feature some classic dirt track racing

  • HOCKEY: Bennett belts a brace

    Ted Bennett’s double helped Oxford Hawks to a 3-1 home win in a friendly against Oxford. Sam Chilvers set Hawks on the way in the 16th minute when he picked up a long pass from Tom Coppin, beat a defender, and slotted his shot home. Bennett smashed

  • DARTS: O'Shea and Monk set for Red Lion

    World stars Tony O’Shea and Aaron Monk are set to toe the oche at the Red Lion in Kidlington next month as part of the Legends In Your Local Tour. O’Shea, known as Silverback, has been runner-up in all four of the British Darts Organisation’s former

  • DARTS: Lockyers star on debut

    Brother and sister Kieran and Michelle Lockyer starred on their debuts as Oxfordshire Youth beat Middlesex 14-3 at Hillingdon. Eleven-year old Kieran won 2-1 in the under 18s’ 7-2 victory. Oxon’s other wins came from Luke Stallwood, Ryan Bull, Matt

  • DARTS: Workers end wait for title

    Cowley Workers ended a frustrating run of near misses by being crowned Men’s Summer League Section 2 champions with a thumping 8-1 home win over Marsh Harrier A. Steve James gave Marsh Harrier the lead, but then it was all one-way traffic.

  • RUGBY UNION: Chippy battle back in derby

    BB&O round-up CHIPPING Norton battled back to defeat Bicester 27-23 in the Premier Division at Oxford Road. Bicester led 20-8, but could not quite hold on after injuries forced them to play with 14 men. No 8 Dan Spencer put Bicester ahead with a

  • Police called to supermarket fight

    Shoppers watched on in horror as two men fought in the aisle of Budgens in Broadway, in Didcot. Police were called on Friday night after violence broke out in the shop at 9.38pm between two men in their 20s. It is believed that the pair, who are not

  • Chinese show coming to Oxford

    TV show China’s Got Talent will be coming to Oxford next month on the hunt for the next lucky star of the future. It is the first time the show, which attracted 600 million viewers last year, has looked for competitors outside of China. Oxford is one

  • Merchandise ‘cheapening the image of Oxford’

    THE hooded sweatshirts are a familiar sight on students and tourists around the dreaming spires of the city. But now Oxford University has been accused of going a little too far in its merchandising efforts with the Oxford Collection of homeware

  • RUGBY UNION: Butts blunt Bulls

    Midlands 2 West South BANBURY Bulls will have an ‘honesty session’ following their 43-7 defeat at leaders Barkers Butts. Bulls capitulated at the end of a tough match, which had seen them take a first-half lead. No 8 Simon Brand said: “The players

  • RUGBY UNION: Bellinger shines as Grove march on

    Southern Counties North JOE Bellinger’s man-of-the-match display helped Grove to a 32-8 victory at Aylesbury. He impressed at No 8 and lock, after switching positions, scoring two tries as Grove’s slicker atacking and better discipline proved crucial

  • HOCKEY: Hawks beaten

    Promoted Oxford Hawks went down 2-1 at St Albans in their opening Conference East game. St Albans took the lead with a well-drilled short corner routine. But Hawks worked their way back into the game and a well-executed two-on-one play from youngsters

  • No champion of freedom

    RE the United Nations vote. If, as predicted by much of the media, the United States uses its veto to oppose the Palestinian application for statehood at the Security Council this coming week, it will finally explode the myth that America is the champion

  • The horse bolted long ago

    THE General Medical Council, backed by the British Medical Association and others, is proposing induction courses to render those overseas physicians hoping to join the NHS aware of the language and general communication skills expected – alongside the

  • Different rules for ‘them’

    Why when politicians say that there needs to be wage freezes, redundancies and cost-cutting exercises throughout the public sector, they don’t mean themselves, just us minions. JOHN J MONAGHAN, Cotman Close, Abingdon

  • Try life without television

    OH YES, let’s all retune those TVs, set up those digi-boxes and while we’re about it, dress up as chickens, place celery in our ears and dance in the street shouting hallelujah! For we must be completely raving bonkers watching all that rubbish that

  • ON YER BIKE: Get your mitts on some bike gloves

    A colleague sent me a link to a video the other day: tinyurl.com/invisiblehelmet. It shows a novel design for a cycle helmet that acts like a car air bag. The device stows in a thick collar and activates automatically in the event of a crash. In the

  • RUGBY UNION: Gilbert stars in captain role

    National 3 South West LIAM Gilbert marked his captaincy debut with two tries and an outstanding display as Chinnor romped to a 50-3 victory at Bridgwater & Albion. Flanker Gilbert, who was filling in for regular skipper Joe Winpenny

  • RUGBY UNION: Captain Allen at the double

    National 2 South HENLEY Hawks crushed Clifton 52-3 at Dry Leas to maintain second spot. Captain Tom Allen led the way with two tries as Hawks made it four wins from four. Fly half Wiliam Blair put Clifton ahead with a fifth-minute

  • Driver for gang of card skimmers jailed

    THE driver for a gang of card skimmers has been jailed after going on the run for four years. Ioan Gherasim was one of six people who came to Oxford in June 2007 and attached an electronic device to a city-centre cashpoint. He returned to his native

  • D-day for campaigners over road

    CAMPAIGNERS battling against a controversial road in Witney have said today is “the last roll of the dice”. From 10am this morning, an inquiry will begin looking at Oxfordshire County Council’s case for building the Cogges Link Road. The inspector

  • Convalescent idea

    IF funding, staffing and complex policies and were no object, I would advocate the establishment of a modern version of nurse-managed convalescent homes to relieve the hospital bed-blocking problems. THELMA SANDERS, Headley Way, Headington

  • Exchanging pleasantries

    RE David Diment’s letter (Viewpoints, September 16) complaining about it being none of the shop assistant’s business to ask if he had a good day. Mr Diment would feel a lot better if he asked them if they had had a good day and wished them a good day

  • Poor excuse for no service

    Once again Stagecoach and the authorities have proffered excuses to support their claim that buses cannot operate through Rivermead Road, even though their drivers have recently shown that it is possible (OxfordMail, September 10, Residential Street Ok

  • Mercury: The poison blighting everyone’s life

    ENERGY saving lightbulbs and the complaints against them: Mercury was banned by law in England in the 1800s, due to medical evidence. But since then we have all been exposed to mercury in every area of our lives – dentistry, some non-organic

  • RUGBY UNION: Campbell clinches it for Witney

    South West 1 East GARETH Campbell’s late try ensured an injury-hit Witney made it three wins from three with a 22-16 victory over Bletchley at Hailey Road. A tense finale saw Witney leading just 17-16 before the lively scrum half pounced on the stroke

  • Road closed after tractor smash

    A tractor and car crashed in East Challow last night, closing the road for more than two hours. The collision happened at 4.40pm on the A417 and fire engines were called from Wantage and Oxford to cut a man from his Honda Accord. He

  • FOOTBALL: Let's put it right, says City boss Ford

    Oxford City boss Mike Ford has called on his players to finish the job when they travel to Didcot Town for Tuesday's FA Cup first qualifying round replay. In Saturday’s first game, Didcot fought back from a goal down in a 1-1 draw. Didcot keeper

  • Club given something to cheer about

    CHEERLEADERS have been jumping for joy after their club received recognition for its work. The Witney Wolves Cheerleading Club, left, has received Clubmark status, a Government award for high-quality sports work with youngsters. Head coach Kim Brady

  • Undelivered mail found by ex-wife

    A CITY postman has avoided jail despite admitting hoarding more than 6,000 items of undelivered mail. Allan Brimblecombe, of Mayfair Road, Cowley, admitted at Oxford Magistrates’ Court to tampering with post destined for Oxford homeowners and

  • City sex attacks: man is released

    A 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of a series of sexual assaults in Southfield Road, Cowley, will not face charges. Police confirmed that no further action will be taken against the Oxford man due to a lack of evidence to link him with four attacks

  • Bus duo hailed unsung heroes

    WHEN Arthur Pearson turned the ignition key on his first day as a bus driver, rationing was still in force and the NHS had not been launched. More than 63 years later, the world may have changed but Mr Pearson remains a firm fixture. He even

  • United's new physio Lord relishes new challenge

    ANDY Lord is relishing the task of getting Oxford United’s injured players back into action. The 30-year-old takes over as the club's new physio this week, and says he cannot wait to get stuck in and see both his work, and that of the players, paying

  • COMMENT: Lack of dignity

    THERE is definitely something distasteful about Oxford University cashing in on its brand by licensing out furniture. The university has built its reputation over centuries for being one of the finest learning institutions in the world. Is

  • COMMENT: Tampering with post affects trust

    THERE is something that really gets the public’s goat whenever a dishonest postie appears in court. It’s probably because we’ve all been victims of post not turning up, whether it is through malicious and thieving intent or just the Royal Mail

  • Royal Marine shot dead in Afghanistan

    A Royal Marine has been shot dead after his patrol was ambushed in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence said the Royal Marine, from 42 Commando, was shot in the Khorgajat area of the Nahr-e Saraj district yesterday. It has

  • MOTORSPORT: Smith to be a monster man

    Bradley Smith says the chance to move to MotoGP was too good to reject after signing a three-year deal that will see him compete in the World Championship in 2013 and 2014. The 20-year-old, from Forest Hill, near Oxford, who races in the Moto2 World

  • Village unveils new children's centre

    A NEW £890,000 children’s centre has opened in Southmoor, near Abingdon. The centre, in the grounds of John Blandy Primary School, has been funded by Oxfordshire County Council and will be run by charity Spurgeons. It will share the building with Southmoor

  • Scouting in need of more leaders

    MORE than 100 Oxford youngsters want to join the Scouts but cannot because of a shortage of adult leaders, the new district commissioner has said. Paul Thompson, 26, is thought to be one of the youngest district commissioners in the movement and hopes

  • Fare rise is ‘last straw’

    A EURO MP has told the Government that an average eight per cent rise in rail fares is “the last straw” for commuters. South East MEP Peter Skinner urged Transport Secretary Philip Hammond to rethink the price hike and meet rail campaigners from the

  • Mozart's 'Requiem' Extended for Oxford Charity Concert

    Saturday 8th October sees the Oxford premiere of an extended version of Mozart's 'Requiem' performed in Oxford Town Hall by the Birmingham Christadelphian Choral Society & Orchestra under their conductor, Derek Wroughton. Profits will all go to the international

  • U11's Athletics Challenge

    On Friday 7th October the Oxfordshire Athletics Network are hosting an U11's Athletics Challenge at Horspath Athletics Track, Oxford. All children in school Yrs 5 and 6 are welcome - no athletics experience is necessary. Cost per athlete is £2.50 and