Archive

  • Fairytale hits skids

    Cinderella On Ice promises magic and wonder as the internationally acclaimed Russian Ice Stars, including Val Vorobyeve and Valdis Mintals, pictured, bring their production of the well-loved fairytale to Oxford’s New Theatre from today until Sunday.

  • Road deaths church service

    VICTIMS of fatal road traffic accidents will be remembered in a multi-faith service organised by Thames Valley Police. The service for bereaved families and friends of those who have died on the roads will be held at 3pm on Sunday November 20, at St

  • Minister hails Foodbank example

    A GOVERNMENT Minister charged with turning the “Big Society” into reality has said there is scope for more volunteer organisations to spring up across the county. Civil Society Minister Nick Hurd praised Oxford Foodbank and the student-run Oxford Hub

  • £35,000 MOD grant

    MILITARY and non-military job seekers have received a financial boost from the Ministry of Defence. The MOD has handed over a £35,000 grant to Carterton Job Club as part of its community covenant grant scheme. It will help set up job search facilities

  • Taxi CCTV story sparks UK debate

    PLANS to install CCTV cameras recording sound and video in all Oxford’s taxis have sparked a civil liberties debate. The plans, as revealed in Monday’s Oxford Mail, will see all conversations recorded as well as video footage from the moment

  • Eddie still provides a first-class delivery

    A PAPER boy who has got the Oxford Mail out to his customers through wind, rain and snow has been named delivery agent of the year. Eddie Smith, 18, from Grove, was presented with a certificate and a Dawes Mirage bicycle, provided by Warlands Cycles

  • Joining forces to run new academy

    THE headteachers of Didcot Girls’ School and St Birinus School are mounting a joint bid to run a new academy in the town. A new secondary school has to be created to deal with the pupils who will move into the 3,300-home Great Western Park development

  • Young Tory won’t succeed Mitchell

    THE YOUNGEST member of the county council cabinet has ruled himself out of standing for the leadership. Arash Fatemian, 29, said he wanted to concentrate on his current Adult Social Care portfolio and representing his Kennington and Radley electors.

  • AEA shares slump after profit warning

    AEA Technology today issued a profit warning which saw its top boss leave the company and its share price collapse. Shares in the firm, which employs more than 100 workers, were trading at just 0.28p by the end of the day, a slide of more than 80 per

  • Local shares (PM)

    AEA Technology 0.28 BMW 4741 Electrocomponents 209.6 Nationwide Accident Repair 89.5 Oxford Biomedica 5.1 Oxford Catalysts 51.25 Oxford Instruments 985.75 Reed Elsevier 527.25 RM 71.6 RPS Group 183.75 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • So, this is a Today programme irritant too

    Writer Mark Mason complained in a recent Spectator article about the increasing tendency of politicians and public relations spokespeople to preface their replies in interviews on the Today programme and the like with the word ‘so’. Grant Shapps, for

  • Stage star shows his skills as an artist

    My two hours of wonder and delight at the National Gallery’s Leonardo exhibition last week were followed the next day with a visit to the other ‘must see’ on the current cultural front, Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre. More than

  • Was George the most fab of the four?

    Extracting the Mona Lisa from the Louvre proved too much of ‘an ask’ for the organisers of the National Gallery’s blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci exhibition. But La Gioconda is proving to have a rival in The Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani (‘The Lady

  • OxFork, Magdalen Road, Oxford

    Here’s a good one for you. When is a pop-up restaurant no longer a pop-up? When planning permission for its new premises comes through and it can stop flitting about and settle down. Like a bachelor delighted to be finally led up the aisle, OxFork

  • Indian, Thai or British? Take your pick here

    One restaurant — three different cuisines. The Tree Hotel is tucked away in the village of Iffley, which means its proprietors Rajinder and Kavita Pal, who took over nine years ago, have to work twice as hard as other hoteliers to attract customers

  • The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and Justice

    Baby makes three in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1, the fourth film based on the books by Stephenie Meyer, which brings the love story of a mortal and a vampire to a suitably bloody resolution. Like the climactic outing of Harry Potter, this

  • Father Christmas at Bicester Avenue Home & Garden Centre

    Make this Christmas really special with a visit to Father Christmas Until Saturday 24 December 2011 Tickets: £7.00 per child - includes a magical journey through a 'Winter Wonderland', a visit to Father Christmas in his grotto, a gift and

  • Kuldeep Singh's recipe for stir-fried chili lobster

    Doesn’t this dish look amazing? It is one of several that Kuldeep Singh and his chefs cooked for me to show just what they can do. This Thai dish, prepared in front of me by Sanjeev Chhetri in the Tree Hotel kitchen, features karachai, a member

  • How Corpus Christi College gained its precious cup

    Re-roofing the hall at Corpus Christi College earlier this year has concentrated attention on Oxford’s connections with Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536). The work has brought into sharp focus the remarkable frieze, high up under the rafters, which

  • Preview of the Royal String Quartet: Sheldonian Theatre

    The members of the Royal String Quartet came together by chance: “We were obliged to play together for a couple of semesters at the Warsaw Music Academy,” second violinist Elwira Przybylowska told me. “But we rapidly became friends”. That was 13

  • Iffley Music Society

    An uncompromising work by Benjamin Britten and two pieces by little known contemporary composers — it’s not exactly a recipe for box office success. In fact, Iffley Music Society had to turn people away because the parish church was full. OK, James Gilchrist

  • Santa at Templars Square Shopping Centre, Cowley

    Santa glides into Templars Square, joined by a couple of mysterious moving Christmas Trees! Saturday 17 December 2011 Performances between 10.30am & 3.30pm A Super Santa will arrive at Templars Square Shopping Centre bearing goodies and

  • Omid Djalili: New Theatre, Oxford

    I had a singular and simple wish for Omid Djalili’s new stand-up tour — that he would exhibit some material outside the over-worked topic of his Iranian culture. This wish was not entirely unfulfilled, yet not altogether granted. The stage was warmed

  • Santa at Castle Quay, Banbury

    The grotto is located opposite Castle Flowers in the Forge of Tooley’s Boatyard Until Saturday 24 December 2011 Friday - Sunday: 11.00am - 4.00pm Christmas Week: Monday 19 - Friday 23 December: 11.00am - 4.00pm Christmas Eve

  • Preview of Madame Galina at the Village hall, Fritwell

    Where do you start with a stout Welsh singer who likes getting up on stage dressed as a Russian ballerina called Madame Galina? I had no idea, but as his/her acid tongue, witty repartee and double entendres are quick enough to strip paint, I was on my

  • Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-35

    A blood red metal tower spirals skyward in the courtyard at the Royal Academy. A symbol of the space age? A monument to Meccano? A companion to Anish Kapoor’s Olympic tower? No, this is a scaled-down recreation of Vladimir Tatlin’s great glass

  • Winter show, Radley College

    The exhibition brings together the work of 11 very different artists. Pieces on show range from the statuesque to the diminutive. Definitely statuesque are the sculptures made out of recycled metal by Sophie Thompson, Andrew Thompson and Simeon

  • Written on the Heart: The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

    The celebration of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 50th birthday might justifiably have been marked by a revival of David Edgar’s ground-breaking adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby. As it is, Stratford audiences are being offered

  • Banbury Charter Christmas Market

    Market Place, Banbury OX16 8UE Sunday 27 November 2011 Time: 10.00am - 4.00pm Located in the centre of the town near Castle Quay, join in on the town's festivities when for the first time Cornhill in the Market Place will feature

  • Playing fields and 5-inch heels: The Old Fire Station

    A new era for Oxford’s Old Fire Station was kicked off — the metaphor is appropriate — by the young stage wannabees of Dream Studios Youth Theatre with Playing Fields and 5-inch Heels. The focus of this enjoyable feelgood show was the world of women’s

  • Preview of Burford Singers concert with double piano

    The Burford Singers’ autumn concert is a remarkable double bill that offers audience a rare opportunity to hear a Pleyel double piano in action. Renowned pianists David Nettle and Richard Markham will be joining the singers on Sunday for Rossini’s Petite

  • Treasures of Christ Church CD reviewed

    Drink provided an essential lubricant to the composition of Peter Warlock’s carol Bethlehem Down. Short of cash, Warlock and his librettist Bruce Blunt decided to flog a carol to the Daily Telegraph, and the words of Bethlehem Down were duly conceived

  • Art exhibition a celebration of love

    LOVESTRUCK artists are being recruited for a new art participation event in a venue where scores of Oxfordshire couples have tied the knot. The “Love Is...” exhibition will showcase romantic paintings, pottery, jewellery and sculptures by Oxfordshire

  • Wallingford scraps late-night opening

    WALLINGFORD’S traditional late-night Christmas shopping event has been axed due to dwindling support The festive shopping session dates back 30 years and Wallingford was the first market town in southern Oxfordshire to hold one. But in recent

  • Drop-off area ‘is dangerous’

    RESIDENTS near a Blackbird Leys school say parents dropping off their children are causing a dangerous hazard. Cars pack the streets around Windale Community Primary School in Windale Avenue at the start and end of each school day. And

  • Fallen soldier was 'a true warrior'

    A FACTORY worker and volunteer soldier who died in Afghanistan just days after his 28th birthday will be repatriated to Brize Norton tomorrow. Described by his commanding officer as a “true Yorkshire warrior”, Private Matthew Thornton, from 4th Battalion

  • Bus brings first-hand advice about uni life

    YOUNGSTERS in Eynsham have been given a taste of university life and finance by Oxford Brookes University students. The students visited Bartholomew School, in Witney Road, on Monday in the BrookesBus and took questions from about 100 sixth-formers.

  • County could soon welcome first woman bishop

    OXFORDSHIRE could have its first woman bishop by the end of the decade. That is the hope of the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev John Pritchard, following a milestone vote on plans to allow women to take the highest office in the Church of England. Bishop

  • Leys leisure centre rated 'good'

    Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre is “bright, clean and modern”, according to industry inspectors who visited the centre last month. The centre was rated ‘good’ after a two-day inspection by the industry standards body Quest. Inspectors also said the staff

  • Anger as villagers lose their 'lifeline'

    Villagers say they are being cut off from the world after a bus company announced it will no longer serve them. Thames Travel’s Go Ahead buses are to stop picking up passengers in Ardington on its number 32 service between Abingdon and Wantage next month

  • Youngsters to light up Christmas

    OXFORD youngsters are hoping to help shine a light on Christmas. They were making lanterns at the weekend for this year’s Christmas Light Night procession, which takes place at the T Building at BMW Plant Oxford in Cowley. Lead artist Emily Cooling,

  • Town must pay £143k legal bill

    DISTRICT council chiefs have refused to bail out Witney Town Council after it ran up a £143,000 legal bill fighting developers of a community hall. The town council wracked up the bill losing a legal case against contractor Beam Construction over alleged

  • Parking bonus for traders

    Abingdon traders are hoping for their best Christmas ever as shoppers get free parking from next month. Shopkeepers hope the two-hour free stay in council car parks from Friday, December 9, will increase trade. The move, which allows drivers the free

  • FOOTBALL: Duo sink Marlborough

    Josh Bishop and Craig Williams each bagged a brace as Carterton Rangers eased to a 7-1 win over AFC Marlborough in the Witney & District FA's Fred Ford Cup. Jon Dover, James Barker and Dan Smith got the others, with Darrell Collins replying for Marlborough

  • FOOTBALL: Casuals make it six of the best

    Mike Farrelly scored the winner as Didcot Casuals made it six North Berks League Division 1 victories in a row with a 3-2 success at East Hendred. The result saw them move level on points with Crowmarsh at the top of the table. Dan Cox-Rogers and Paul

  • FOOTBALL: McMahon hits a treble

    Jamie McMahon notched a hat-trick as RT Harris Oxford City FA Premier Division leaders Rose Hill kept up their 100 per cent record with a 6-1 hammering of Radley. Frankie Merola’s opener for Radley was cancelled out by Jack Hastings. McMahon’s treble

  • SCHOOLS' FOOTBALL: Martin's decisive double

    ANTHONY Martin scored twice as Vale of White Horse Schools made hard work of beating Swindon 4-2 in the ESFA Under 15 Trophy third round at Milton United. Robbie Cundy nodded home Owen Shaw’s corner after four minutes, and when Martin headed in No 2

  • FOOTBALL: Tower thriller

    TOWER Hill maintained their unbeaten run with a 4-3 victory at Aylesbury United in Division 1 of the Thames Valley Women’s League. Second-placed Tower took the lead through Karen Slatter, but Sarah Cole lobbed an equaliser. Kay Norton put Aylesbury

  • Rob Hall returns to United

    West Ham striker Rob Hall has returned to Oxford United on a month's loan. Hall, 18, scored six goals in nine starts during his loan from West Ham earlier in the season, before being recalled by the Hammers. He has since appeared on the bench for the

  • Boy robbed at knifepoint by gang

    A TEENAGER was robbed at knifepoint by four men who snatched cash from his wallet in East Oxford. The 16-year-old was walking along Circus Street at about 7pm on Saturday when he was confronted by the four men, police said yesterday.

  • Famous shark property available to rent

    IT’S one of Oxford’s most controversial landmarks and now it can be yours to rent for the princely sum of £2,500 a month. BBC Radio Oxford presenter Bill Heine is moving out of his famous Headington Shark home and is looking for tenants, with a monthly

  • FOOTBALL: Ace Ellwood

    DANNY Ellwood’s equaliser earned Harwell a 2-2 draw with Summertown in the Oxfordshire Youth Invitation League’s Under 17B Division. Ellwood had put Harwell ahead from James Wynne’s header, but Ed Rixon and Dash Ward hit back for Summertown.

  • SCHOOLS' FOOTBALL: Oxford cruise

    OXFORD City defeated Vale of White Horse 3-0 in the second round of the ESFA Under 13 Trophy. It was a deserved win for for Oxford, who were quicker to the ball and stronger in the tackle. Horatio Hirst gave them the lead after 15 minutes, and Ahmed

  • Children raise Games awareness

    IT’S less than a year to the Olympics and children in Oxford showed their excitement yesterday. Primary school pupils from around the city came together to perform an Olympic opening ceremony at St Gregory the Great secondary school in Cricket Road.

  • FOOTBALL: Holders crash out of cup

    Sutton Wanderers produced a scintillating performance to knock out Cricthleys UTV League's Ridgeway Cup holders Cholsey with a 3-0 second-round victory. Mike James gave the hosts the lead with a stunning volley over his shoulder. Chris Stringer and

  • FOOTBALL: Wheeler goal seals victory

    Kennington moved to within two points of Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division leaders Adderbury Park with a 2-1 victory against Garsington. Stephen Lewis gave Kennington an early lead when he headed in Nick Giles’s free-kick at the near post.

  • Conscription

    Having followed the letters from your readers on the subject of National Service, may I add my twopennyworth? I was conscripted as a National Serviceman in early 1947 in a ‘supposed’ two years. Following UK postings, I was shipped out to Egypt (Canal

  • Circus cuelty

    I’M sure most of your readers remember Anne the elephant from earlier this year. Anne was an elderly, arthritic elephant travelling with Bobby Roberts Circus. She became an overnight celebrity when footage was released showing Anne being beaten by her

  • Poor policing

    I don’t know if it is apathy or just a bad decision, but it is easy to make an incorrect judgment without having all the salient facts available. But once again it would appear that someone within a Thames Valley Police call centre has made an incorrect

  • Bus route axing is a real blow to villagers

    Please may I express my disgust and anger at the stoppage of route 32 through the villages of Ardington and Lockinge. This is a service that has run for many years. Parent company Go-Ahead (that seems inappropriate), which owns Thames Travel

  • FOOTBALL: Tuckey brace sinks Strikers

    OXFORD MAILS GIRLS LEAGUE REBECCA Tuckey’s second-half strike secured Banbury United’s 3-1 victory over Stonesfield Strikers in the Under 11 League. Goals from Tuckey and Lauren Paynton put Banbury 2-0 up, but Annie Mundy pulled one

  • THE DISABLED SPACE: Keep calm and carry on chaps

    LET'S play a game: What am I? I’m a mere 26 inches wide, made of a combination of titanium and flesh. What on earth could I be? Well, here are some more clues. I’m 6ft and also 3ft. The latest Hollywood Terminator? No, if only. In fact, I am... a

  • Campaigner dies at fireworks bash

    A UNIVERSITY lecturer and environmental campaigner collapsed and died from a heart attack shortly after setting off fireworks at a party he was hosting for neighbours. Dr Joe Weston, who taught planning at Oxford Brookes University and led the campaign

  • FOOTBALL: Eynsham too hot for Yarnton

    Eynsham Res brought Oxfordshire Senior League Division 2 high-fliers Yarnton Res down to earth with 2-1 victory. Ollie Page gave Eynsham the lead before Liam Rainbow made it 2-0 after the break. Ben Fouracre pulled one back, but Eynsham held on. Horspath

  • FOOTBALL: Lethal Liam is Eynsham star

    GILES SPORTS WITNEY YOUTH LEAGUE LIAM Varney smashed a brilliant double hat-trick as Eynsham saw off Garden City 9-0 in the Under 11 B League. Jack Simmonds chipped in with a brace, while Ben Weller was also on target. In the A League, Tower Hill

  • Sport Relief fundraiser

    Your readers will remember the BT Sport Relief Challenge: Walliams v Thames, where David Walliams completed the incredible feat of swimming 140 miles of the Thames in just eight days. The event was a great success and BT would like to thank all who made

  • I wish Keith the best

    I much regret, as a mere constituent, the resignation of Mr Keith Mitchell from office at County Hall. Obviously he could not please everybody, but he is a man of rare charisma and dedication and will be hard to follow. I particularly enjoyed his ability

  • VHS can still be played

    RE letter, November 4, regarding unwanted video tapes. I assume they are VHS, and if so, these can still be played on existing equipment. In my case a £4.99 lead connects my TV receiver (recorder) to the TV enabling me to still play my 120 VHS tapes

  • A moral deficit

    As A carer for a 97-year-old who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, I am concerned as to what is happening to adult social care services run by Conservative-led Oxfordshire County Council. My relative worked from the age of 14 until she was 65. Now that

  • Oxford United fans in sleepover for tickets

    Three Oxford United fans were taking no chances when it came to getting tickets for Swindon. Danny Ferguson, Tom Chivers and Alex Pepper were determined to get their places for the big match – and so slept in their car outside the Kassam Stadium overnight

  • Oxford United consider fourth stand for local derby

    Oxford United fans are in a real hurry to get their seats for the eagerly anticipated derby clash with Swindon Town next year. And the speed in which the remaining home tickets are sold will determine whether the club decide to get a fourth, temporary

  • Academy enables youth club relaunch

    THE Sweatbox Youth Centre in Wantage is to relaunch next month, a year after it was threatened with closure. But the centre’s future is now looking bright after King Alfred’s Academy stepped in to help hire staff and pay for the building, after Oxfordshire

  • Body found in multi-storey

    OXFORD: A dying man was found in a stairwell by a security guard at the Westgate car park. Peter Rouse, 37, from Blackbird Leys was discovered at the Norfolk Street side of the multi-storey car park at 8.41pm on November 5 and was taken to the John Radcliffe

  • Second man charged with murder

    A SECOND man has been charged with murdering Denis Witney on the same day a 29-year-old was told he would stand trial in April over the death. Wayne Cattell, 36, of no fixed address, was yesterday charged by detectives following the death of the 39-year-old

  • Cancer test on TV could be lifesaver

    DAVE HOGG volunteered to go on the This Morning TV programme yesterday to raise awareness of prostate cancer and save lives. The decision may end up saving his own. Mr Hogg, 67, was one of 30 Oxfordshire men who appeared on the ITV show

  • Failed robbery

    SUMMERTOWN: An 18-year-old woman fought off a man who tried to snatch her purse as she walked along Banbury Road. The victim was near Staverton Road, when she was confronted by the man who demanded the purse in her hand at about 9.30pm on Friday. She

  • Rape victim tells of ‘hellish’ ordeal

    THE PENSIONER raped in her own home by a boy has said she will not let it ruin her life. The grandmother in her 70s was attacked after the rapist – who police have described as aged between 14 and 16 – talked his way into her home by claiming

  • Man arrested over stabbings

    A 29-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested after a dad and son were stabbed in their Berinsfield home as they tackled burglars. The suspect, from Abingdon, was arrested yesterday in connection with the raid at the Wey Road property on October 25. The 17-year-old

  • COMMENT: Don’t delay men. . . get tested today

    You could be forgiven for assuming that as prostate cancer IS the most common cancer among men, the male population would already be well-versed, fluent even, in the causes, symptoms and treatment of this devastating illness. Especially

  • COMMENT: Rent with a bite

    Radio Oxford presenter Bill Heine is hoping to become a landlord and rent out his home in Headington. The terraced property comes with four double bedrooms, four bathrooms, a small garden, fitted kitchen and, unusually, a 25ft fibreglass shark

  • UPDATE: Boy charged with raping pensioner

    A 14-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged with the rape of a pensioner attacked in her own home. The teenager - who cannot be named for legal reasons but is from Banbury - has been remanded to appear at Banbury Magistrates’ Court later today.

  • Lab tour for photographers

    A LAB in Oxfordshire is giving amateur and professional photographers that chance of joining a special behind-the-scenes tour. The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is holding a “photowalk” on Thursday, November 24, to let science-loving snappers take

  • Headington man reveals his tunnel vision

    IT’S 600 metres long, costs £33m and would take traffic off the streets of Oxford, according to one Headington man. Noel Hodson is proposing digging a new Headington tunnel after becoming frustrated at a 45 minute trip to get a mile from the