SILENT Witness star Tom Ward is the latest actor to sign up for next month’s Spirit of Christmas carol concert in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. The actor who co-stars with Emilia Fox in the long-running BBC television drama, will
THIS time last year Kevin Pickworth was, by his own admission, a nervous wreck. At almost 20 stone and 5ft 10ins, Mr Pickworth, 53, was severely overweight and suffering crippling panic attacks because of it. But now, thanks to a specialist
FURIOUS campaigners have hit out at Oxford City Council for starting building work on a pool at Blackbird Leys Park before a decision has been reached on its Town Green status. A group of 14 estate residents opposing the city council’s plans to build
IT LOOKS like Christmas is on the cards again, and there’s one place in Oxford where that’s definitely true. St Michael at the Northgate, in Cornmarket Street, is playing host to Card Aid, a shop which specialises in charitable cards. Their shops sell
A FORMER American serviceman who overcame a life-threatening accident is aiming to raise £5m for charity. Tom Von Kaenal, 56, who now lives in Freeland near Witney, plans to ride from Brize Norton to Washington DC and back. His ambitious mission aims
Beaten away by the top two teams in the League Timmy wonders how we'll get on at home against the team who are third? He also finds some highlights from the defeat from an unlikely source - sportsmanship and praises Dannie Bulman...
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A COMMUNITY blighted by flytipping heaved a sigh of relief as metal gates went up around their bins. Residents of masionettes in Druce Way, on Oxford’s Blackbird Leys estate, spent years campaigning for something to be done about rubbish around their
WHEN Dave Jackson suffered a major stroke last year he was in a coma for three days and lost his memory, speech and vision. Following the stroke in September 2010, his family had no idea how long it would be before he would walk again. But after being
IT was a night to remember a very special young lady and raise thousands for a Bicester school close to her heart. In June this year popular teenager Olivia Jefferies, 18, known as Livi, died in a car crash in Adderbury. The Oxford High School student
A GRIM murder in an old pub and a mysterious lady on a white horse are just two of the spooky tales haunting Wantage folk. John Betjeman enthusiast Jim Mitchell is looking for stories to create the town’s first ghost tour as part of next year
A SUPERMARKET run by Budgens in Didcot is being taken over by the Co-op. The Co-operative Group has announced it is to buy the Budgens store on Broadway, along with two other stores in Wiltshire. The store will transfer to the Co-operative
A hit-and-run driver has this afternoon been jailed for nine and a half years. Rohan Crooks, 34, ploughed into Orville 'Dean' Francis in Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys, dragging the pedestrian under his green Lexus and leaving him with life-threatening
Goals from Lochie Craig and Arthur Galley secured a 2-1 win for Marston Saints over Summertown Galaxy in the A League.
MANY families had a medicine cupboard stocked with potions to tackle all but the most serious of ailments. It was a necessary part of life before the National Health Service was created in 1948, unless you belonged to a works’ scheme or had private health
DON’T be fooled by the glum faces – these children had every reason to be proud of themselves. They had taken part in an art competition and against tough opposition from other city schools, they made a clean sweep of the prizes. They were all pupils
A FARMWORKER took revenge after being sacked by Georgie Moore, the famous hell-raising vicar of Cowley. The farmer-cum-clergyman rode around in a mule and trap and one day, the disgruntled labourer named Titcombe removed the chock holding the wheel of
WE NOW know the names of more than half the workers at the Hygienic Laundry at Abingdon. Gladys Carter, who sent in the picture right, was able to identify six people (Memory Lane, August 29). Now Alan Mooring, whose parents worked at the laundry in
THESE characters were certain to send the shivers down the spines of any audience. Members of the Margaret Sermanni School of Dance in Oxford staged a musical called I Ain’t Got No Body, a tale loosely based on the Frankenstein story. Three performances
STAFF at a pre-school near Wallingford are planning to create a garden outside their new building – after getting their third major boost in a year. Berinsfield Early Years Pre-School, which has 34 children aged three to five on its books, moved into
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W.D.Y.F.L. U14's knock out cup Bicester Town Colts Foxes 8 Carterton 2 Carterton came to Bicester full of confidence after two league wins on the bounce and took a 1-0 lead after only 6 minutes. This kick started the Foxes into gear. Colts Foxes
A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy from Blackbird Leys has won a multi-million pound NHS compensation package after he was left brain damaged by complications during his birth. Dontay Crooks was delivered at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital in August 2005
OXFORD: An Oxford-based think tank is calling for the Government to change its policy on drugs. The Beckley Foundation, based at Beckley Park, near Marston, has written to the Government to call for its approach to move away from criminalisation
OXON: A councillor will be in Parliament on Wednesday to call for a new railway to link Oxford to the east of the country. David Robertson, deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council, will attend the first meeting of the All Party Group
OXFORD: The Bishop of Oxford was one of 17 Bishops to yesterday oppose a planned cap on benefits. The Government is proposing to set a £500-a-week benefits cap for families in its Welfare Reform Bill. Rt Revd John Pritchard signed a letter that raised
LOVED ones killed on Oxfordshire’s roads were remembered by family, friends and emergency services in a special church ceremony yesterday. Thames Valley Police’s Road Death Memorial Service was held for the sixth year at St Mary the Virgin Church in
WHEN it opened in March 1969, dozens of motoring enthusiasts drove to the pub in some of the 155,000 Cowley-built cars which shared its name. But now The Bullnose Morris in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, is having a makeover to accelerate it into the 21st century
Oxford University should face the toughest test of their Varsity Match build-up when they host Northampton at Iffley Road tonight (7.15). The Premiership club have named a team similar to that which beat Newcastle in the Aviva 'A' League last
A SERIAL celebrity stalker has been jailed for again breaching a restraining order over “explicit” mail sent to a Big Brother winner. Mark Taylor, who has convictions for sending mail to Lily Allen, Fearne Cotton and Meg Ryan, bombarded reality
Wantage Town live to fight another day following a 2-2 draw after extra time away to Alton Town in a pulsating FA Carslberg Vase second-round tie on Saturday. The reigning Hellenic League champions thought that they had done enough to secure the victory
Ardley United stormed to the top of the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division with a 5-1 win at home to Henley Town on Saturday. They led 3-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Scott Bridges, Darren Beckett and Ryan Brooks. Ahmed
Headington Amateurs had to come back from 2-0 down at half-time deficit before scraping through 3-2 after extra-time at home to Woodcote/Stoke Row in the second round of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup. Toby Newell and former Oxford United defender Ross Weatherstone
Despite dominating the game, Banbury were unable to kill off the Evo-Stik Southern leaguePremier Division’s basement club, who made it a tense finish for the home fans. Banbury took the lead after 20 minutes. Glenn Walker interchanged
In a tight match against one of the Evo-Stik Southern league Division 1 South & West promotion candidates, North lost 3-1 at home to Paulton Rovers on Saturday. The hosts were unlucky to lose striker John Mills with a leg injury midway through the first
I RARELY respond to comments on my letters, however having read Glyn Limmer’s completely off-the-wall contribution, I feel a few balancing remarks are in order. To suggest that the EU was set up by German Nazis in cahoots with French Nazi collaborators
With regard to Paul Wilson's letter (Oxford Mail, November 8) in which he describes the EU as being undemocratic and a dictatorship. Surely it’s not necessary for me to remind him that here in the UK, while the House of Commons is democratic, we have
I must say, I am ABSOLUTELY against all plans to install CCTV cameras and sound recording equipment in Oxford’s taxis. Sure, the city council insists video footage will only be accessed by police or the council but human nature being what it is, I’m fairly
THE Daughter is a funky little mover. From a toddler in a tutu, she has matured to the cutting edge of pop’s contemporary movement and, if I had to live vicariously, this is the route we’d be taking. So this month I am dancing strictly every week. Dancing
IT seems that every time a new government takes the reins of power they feel the need to take the opposite stance of the previous politicians that were in power. Our previous Government befriended Gaddafi and in return his son, Saif, gave £2m
Oxford City Council is probably the first of many hysterical over-reactions to the Government’s proposed relaxation of control of entertainment through licensing. Two things are clear: they haven’t read the small print and are ignorant of the way licensing
RE (Oxford Mail, November 11), NHS Oxfordshire has launched a keep warm-keep well campaign. Health bosses have urged those aged 60 and over to heat their home well and eat well. Wow, NHS Oxfordshire, I suggest you contact urgently, caring David Cameron
I AM proud to reveal myself as Mr Toad, the starting-pistol-toting Latin teacher of Chris Shipton's early career in cartoons. His signed copy still adorns my study where, a little older and a little wartier, I still teach Classics. Chris has a remarkable
THE NHS spends almost £900 less a year on Oxfordshire patients than those in parts of London and the North, the Oxford Mail can reveal. But NHS chiefs claim it is because we are ‘healthier and wealthier’ than most. New figures reveal
Oxford City dropped valuable points in the Evo-Stik Southern Keague Premier Division title race when they could only draw 0-0 at home to mid-table Hitchin. Despite tomorrow’s FA Cupfirst-round replay at home to Redbridge, City boss Mike Ford still
ARMED with hot drinks and sleeping bags, about 30 volunteers spent a night out in the cold air to raise cash for an Oxford homeless charity. The annual Oxford Homeless Pathways fundraiser was held on Saturday night at St Clements Churchyard. Trainee
Abingdon United paid severely for missing an early penalty as they slumped to a disastrous 4-0 home defeat against fellow Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West strugglers Clevedon Town. In the first minute, Abingdon were awarded a penalty
CRAWLEY manager Steve Evans said that his side should have won Saturday’s match 10-1, writes MARK EDWARDS. And the outspoken boss added that he and his staff always act in a professional manner whether they win, lose or draw. “Not many times a manager
Didcot Town pushed high-flying Bideford all the way in an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Loop Meadow on Saturday. They showed renewed resilience, responding immediately after the visitors had taken the lead in the Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South
DESPITE fears it would be axed this year, the delayed Barton Bash brought hundreds out on a sunny day in November on Saturday. The estate’s annual fun day did not take place as usual in July after organisers called it off because they were
HIGHWAYS bosses want to create a single controlled parking zone covering the whole of Oxford. Council highways chief Steve Howell said discussions had taken place about controlling every parking space inside the ring road in the long term.
JAKE Wright says that Oxford United have to start games on the front foot if they are to get out of their sticky patch. The U’s have trailed 2-0 within 15 minutes in their last two games, and Wright admits that until that stops, the U’s will struggle
PARENTS and their children treated by a specialist maternity ward in Oxford returned on Saturday to give something back. Thankful mums and dads attended John Radcliffe Hospital’s Silver Star Unit’s annual Christmas fundraising party and fayre
OXFORDshire bureaucrats might as well come clean and put a big sign at the entrance to our glorious city stating: “Cars not welcome here”. County council officers’ aspiration to have all on street parking spaces subject to some form of regulation
OXFORD United boss Chris Wilder let his players know in no uncertain terms what he thought after seeing his side fall to their fourth straight defeat on Saturday. The manner of United’s 4-1 loss at Crawley left Wilder hugely disappointed with his side
A much inproved performance by Greater Leys. Horspath goals from Taylor Patrick, Jordan Axtell and Mason Wood. Well played both teams.
OXFORD University has pledged to consult with local residents before continuing its Headington developments. The promise comes as the university finalises its plans to purchase the Park Hospital site which is next to the controversial Old Road campus
