Archive

People convicted of offences at Magistrates' Courts around the county recently   OXFORD Adrian Bottley, 23, of no fixed address, admitted shoplifting £33.03 of alcohol from Marks and Spencer in Oxford on April 12 and failing to surrender

FORMER Summer Fields pupil Lawrence Clarke will be lining up against some big names in the 110m hurdles on August 7. Incredibly, the 22-year-old only started training in the sport four years ago. Back at home in Christmas Common his mother

RECORD-breaking sailor Ludo Bennett-Jones was welcomed home after an epic 2,500 journey around Britain in a dinghy by a rather familiar face. Mr Bennett-Jones, 21, landed two records by becoming both the youngest and fastest person to circumnavigate

Introduced on The Paul O’Grady Show as ‘the only Irish Iranian in the business’, Patrick Monahan is bemused by the furore surrounding his birthright. After all he’s from Teeside and still managed to emerge unscathed on to the comedy stage. Katherine

Time stands still for no man. And that very much feels the case in Jericho right now, as this ancient little high street morphs around our ears and before our eyes, writes Sarah Mayhew. Picking up on this feeling of unrest, unknown, and the slight

THE biggest names in dance music are set to descend on a usually peaceful airfield for the largest, and certainly loudest, clubbing event of the summer. GlobalGathering, which takes place tomorrow and Saturday at Long Marston Airfield, near Stratford-Upon-Avon

A LANDLORD has been prosecuted for ignoring warnings over dangerous fire safety arrangements. Dong Lei, 44, was fined £2,250 after he continued to allow people to sleep on the top floor of his property in Stert Street, Abingdon, despite being told

THE police helicopter was deployed over Oxford this evening in the search for a missing person. The 24-year-old had gone missing from their address in Milton Keynes at around 7pm after threatening suicide, according to Thames Valley Police.

Such is the spectrum of coverage, hype, hard-selling and overwhelming dominance of the Olympics, that it’s easy to be put off. Taking part seems an insurmountable task of organisation and logistics. But don’t be intimidated. There are still ways

DR SEUSS’ THE LORAX (U) Animation/Family/Action/Comedy/Romance. Featuring the voices of Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms, Danny DeVito, Rob Riggle, Jenny Slate, Betty White. Directors: Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda Based on the book by Dr

KATHERINE MACALISTER finds a burger to rival her family’s secret recipe There’s a secret MacAlister burger recipe that gets passed down from generation to generation, and it’s legendary. My father honed and toned it and everyone who eats them is

GILES WOODFORDE talks to the cast of Much Ado About Nothing as they prepare for a very special performance In June 1895, it’s believed, the Oxford University Dramatic Society presented its first open-air production. The show? Alice

TIM HUGHES looks forward to the rescheduled Riverside Festival in Charlbury this weekend, which was postponed last month due to rain AMONG the biggest victims of the wet summer have been music festivals. Week after week, music-lovers have been

After 30 years of bringing the best of world music to the festival masses TIM HUGHES finds out how the organisers of Womad are preparing to celebrate the milestone THIRTY years ago a group of music enthusiasts came up with a new idea for a festival

WITH just one day to go until the Olympics officially begin, excitement around the county is at fever pitch. From the thousands of lucky ticket-holders to competitors like Hannah England, Fran Houghton and Pete Reed, the county has many roles to

CAMPAIGNERS have launched a £2m appeal to buy a Second World War airfield to create a Bomber Command museum. Charity Bomber Command Heritage (BCH) needs to raise the cash to make a bid for the flying field at RAF Bicester, described by English

A total of 45 fire fighters battled a blaze at the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway this morning. The fire, which broke out at around 2am, was in a 1930s train carriage which was due to be restored. Using high and low pressure water jets

HUNDREDS of families have been enjoying the sunshine in Blackbird Leys today. More than 1,500 people attended the Blackbird Leys play day - the second in a series of events organised by the Oxfordshire Play Association. Children have enjoyed

Bookmakers have stopped taking bets on Sir Roger Bannister, who ran the first four minute mile at the Iffley Road running track, lighting the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony. Speculation about who will be lighting to cauldron

THE heartbreak of having a loved one with dementia is the subject of an author’s debut work. Fred Grundy, of Bicester, has used the most personal of experiences, his own mother’s demise into dementia. So raw and painful are the memories, Mr Grundy

ACTOR Steven Ramsden has just appeared alongside Johnny Depp in his latest Hollywood movie. Now he wants people to support the county’s other rising stars, by donating to the Jubilee Fund for Oxfordshire. The 24 year-old, from Cholsey near

THERE are three great new reasons to sign up for an Oxford Mail Loyalty Card – even more great offers and the chance to win £50 or more each week. The Loyalty Card now has its own dedicated page in the Mail every Saturday featuring an exclusive

WE have a special golden ticket for Blenheim Palace in the Oxford Times on Thursday, August 2. As part of our 150th birthday celebrations, we are printing a golden ticket that means if you pay for one day's entry to Blenheim Palace, you can return

WE are offering a free place on the Oxford Brookes Executive MBA, worth £18,130, courtesy of the university. The competition is open until Monday, August 13. Get the Oxford Times on Thursday, August 2 for further details on how to enter for

AS part of our cracking offers to celebrate our 150th birthday this year, we've teamed up with Debenhams to offer a cracking competition. Get your Oxford Times on Thursday, August 2 and you can enter the competition to win a makeover and £150 shopping

THE Red Arrows are a spectacular sight and we have teamed up with the Uffington Show to offer readers the chance to win three family tickets to the Bank Holiday event. Simply get your Oxford Mail on Thursday, August 9 for your chance to enter this

SUMMER may have finally arrived, but for those who fancy cooler temperatures, we've got a great competition in the Oxford Mail on Monday, August 6. We've teamed up with the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead to offer one lucky reader the chance to

WE are offering readers the chance to win a fantastic family trip to North Worcestershire as part of our Summer Value offers, on Thursday, August 2. We have two prizes to give away that include a family pass to the West Midlands Safari Park, a

OXFORD’S toilet revolution will soon begin to take shape with work set to take place on transforming the city’s public facilities. In just over a week, a three-year scheme is set to start which will see £445,000 spent on transforming the city’s

RUSKIN College says its scheme to build homes on Ruskin Fields is back on the table. The college’s hopes of building 150 homes on Ruskin Fields, beside the Oxford ring road, looked to have received a major blow when the council left it out of the

AS part of our Summer Value offers these school holidays, we have teamed up with the Heritage Motor Centre to offer readers £2 off entry. Get your Oxford Mail on Monday for the voucher for this discount for a great day out.

A date for a judgement in the legal battle for ownership of a £1m North Oxford property has yet to be fixed. Oxford County Court heard in February that 17 Warnborough Road was owned by now-deceased Nigerian chief Obasola Atobatele. Fellow Nigerian

There would appear to be a rather high incidence of error in pronouncements on literary matters from John Sutherland, the Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at University College London and a popular media pundit.

A golden jubilee that will not be celebrated at Christ Church this year, for obvious reasons, is that of a riotous rampage by students that took place there in the summer term of 1962. This was unlikely, I suspect, to have been reported, so I didn

RL Conference JACK Briggs scored a hat-trick of tries as Oxford Cavaliers completed the double over local rivals Swindon St George with a 50-32 comeback victory in their West of England derby at Oxford RFC. Having won 40-24 in Wiltshire

The postponed Witney Motor Show will take place from 6pm to 9pm in Henry Box School’s playing fields, off Ducklington Lane, today. The event was due to take place earlier this month but was cancelled because the site was waterlogged.

SPEED restrictions were introduced on the Rail network yesterday due to the heat — leading to train cancellations and delays for passengers. Between 2pm and 6pm, speed restrictions were imposed on the line between Oxford and London Paddington because

This column departed from its standards of strictest accuracy a couple of weeks ago when I wrote of Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap going out on tour for the first time to mark its 60th year and of my own ambition to see it, which I never have

It would be impossible to count the number of hamburgers eaten throughout the world every day as it’s a figure that now increases daily and which would certainly go into billions. Trillions perhaps? What is it about this flattened little pattie of

NEW intercity express trains are expected to cut journey times by six minutes between Oxford and London Paddington. The news was welcomed by commuters yesterday as the Government announced a £4.5bn contract for the new trains, helping to create

STEVE Naylor set a 5,000m personal best in the BMC Grand Prix at Solihull. The Woodstock-based athlete clocked 14mins 38.99secs to finish second in the C race. Although running for first-claim club Bedford & County, Naylor’s time was a

BAFA Community League OXFORD Saints clinched the Division 2 West Conference title, and booked their place in the play-off quarter-finals after winning 21-12 at Gloucester Centurions. Saints will face Milton Keynes Pathfinders in the last eight

VIKINGS are just half a point behind Group A leaders Didcot Conservative Club at the halfway stage of the Johnsons Buildbase Oxford Summer League, writes PETE EWINS. They closed the gap after a 3-3 draw at Democrats Club where Vikings’ Mike Jones

One of the earliest seeds of Christianity in England, from which the faith was destined to spread throughout the realm, was planted in what is now Oxfordshire soil. For according to the Venerable Bede, the missionary saint Birinus baptised King Cynegils

Based on the book of the same name Dr Seuss’ The Lorax is an environmentally conscious story of one boy’s noble quest to restore balance between avaricious mankind and Mother Nature. It’s a timely message in light of a recent report by the Organisation

‘It’s where I walk every day, or pretty much every day,” said Fred Cuming RA. “Camber Sands, about five or six miles from where I live, at Iden, near Rye.” I had been admiring Cumulus and October Sea, one I’d love to have placed a red dot by and

PLEASE may I, through the Oxford Mail, say the biggest thank you to Sarah, who works for Oxford City Council . She is one of the team at the council’s contact centre. What a star. She has gone out of her way to help me solve long-standing problems

The young companies attending MESH almost invariably produce a mission statement, probably dreamed up by an intellectually ambitious adult, that’s hard to live up to. Sisak Theatre’s Drama Youth Studio and Young Daska, from Croatia, performed The

Voices of Baghdad must surely be the most powerful work to emerge from the MESH youth arts festival. A programme note tells us: “When you live in Baghdad you dream of getting out and living just a moment without fear, without pressure of bombs; but

A pensioner died after his mobility scooter toppled over in Oxford’s Bonn Square. John Russell accidentally drove down steps on January 28, an inquest heard yesterday. The 81-year-old, who had existing heart disease, suffered multiple injuries

To assist in improving reading standards in our schools, the county council should see to it that every child should have an eyesight test in their first year at school. For the past 14 years I have been a reading help volunteer, working with children

Firefighters tackled a blaze in a second floor flat in Roebuck Court. They were called to the fire shortly before 9.37pm on Tuesday, which is believed to have started in a flat’s kitchen. It was quickly extinguished. No one was injured.

Oxfordshire high streets have again missed out on a Government scheme to help them thrive. The scheme will see 15 towns share £1.5m. The project is backed by retail guru Mary Portas. The first 12 Portas Pilot towns, who will share a £1.2m fund

THE Story Museum in Oxford has won £47,100 to teach volunteers how to become guides for visitors who are fascinated by fantasy. Twenty places are now available for adults, aged between 18 and 65, on the museum’s new Heritage Story Skills course

Harris Manchester College is to be applauded for its plans to build a ‘jewel-like’ clock tower and student rooms at Holywell Street in Oxford (Monday’s Oxford Mail). This exciting development offers an appeal to something most modern architects

As with Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate, Verdi’s farewell gift to the world in the shape of his ebullient last opera Falstaff is a marked improvement on its Shakespearean original. This is chiefly because the Sir John of The Merry Wives of Windsor — the

Dozens of travellers were left suspended 300ft above the River Thames yesterday when a new cable car system linking two Olympic venues broke down. More than 30 cars, carrying around 60 people, came to a halt due to a technical problem with the

TEAM Oxfordshire’s ladies produced eight victories in their National Junior Athletic League meeting at Palmer Park, Reading. Radley’s Emma O’Hara and Oxford City’s Gina Sunderland bagged two wins apiece to help Oxon finish second in the Brent Division

THE number of abandoned wolf-like dogs is rising because of the popularity of vampire-themed films and shows, an Oxfordshire charity has warned. Blue Cross, which has centres in Lewknor and Burford, says the number of huskies and other wolf-like

SOME of your letters have started by saying: ‘I have never written to express my views before’ and now I join that ‘some’. Last week I supported a friend who has been weekly attending the Rock Choir group that meets at the Cherwell School in Oxford

ABINGDON Amblers’ Paul Fernandez finished ninth in the Anglo Celtic Plate 100km in Redwick, South Wales. Fernandez clocked 8hrs 15mins, which placed him seventh in the British championships and fourth Englishman home. And the 38-year-old helped

Sir – In answer to Anthony Morris (Letters July 19), can I make a couple of corrections. While he is correct that the city is being led by a “red flag”, it in no way relates to transport. Oxfordshire County Council is the highway authority. Rodney

Sir – Christopher Gray says The Merchant of Venice is 'without doubt' anti-semitic, and its enjoyment a politically incorrect guilty pleasure. On the contrary, it can be seen as a brilliant satire on the hypocrisy of religious and cultural intolerance

Sir – Chris Koenig’s article tracing the history of Oxford University refers to St Hilda’s as “the sole single-sex college”. I would like to point out that St Hilda’s voted to change the statutes six years ago, in 2006, to admit men as students and

Martin Graham styled them “the impossible-ists” — the doomy folk who claimed that Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle could never be satisfactorily presented in the little theatre fashioned from a barn beside his and wife Lizzie’s Gloucestershire home. Well

Sir – The multi-gifted Lina Lalandi died on June 8, aged 92 and deserves to be memorialised here in Oxford. A harpsichordist, clavichordist and singer of distinction, in 1962 La Lalandi founded with Jack Westrop, then Oxford's Heather Professor of

Headington posted their fifth century of shots this term in a 5-1 home win over Kidlington in Division 1 of the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries. RESULTS Division 1 Banbury Chestnuts 55 (0), Carterton 100 (6)

Carterton's Shane Cooper will make his Middleton Cup debut as Oxfordshire bid to upset reigning champions Devon in the quarter-final at Barnwood BC, Gloucester, on Saturday. He comes into the side in place of the unavailable Barry Lambourne, and

IT IS good news that Oxford City Council has dropped its plan to impose a 40mph speed limit on part of the A40 Northern Bypass (Saturday’s Oxford Mail). But it is bad news that the inspector at the public inquiry looking into the Barton West

Sir – Why are letting agents and the university in such a panic about HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) There are plenty of HMOs already in existence — sadly too many HMOs are not available to anyone but students. When the new Radcliffe buildings

Sir – I simply cannot let Christopher Gray's outrageous reference to Seb Coe as “a puffed up popinjay” last week go unanswered — what has Mr Gray ever done of note? Nothing, I suggest. He has clearly forgotten Coe won an Olympic gold medal, some

Sir – I refer to Duncan Enright's letter on July 12.  I very much live in the present and was merely pointing out that while Mr Enright was in Iffley, he may just have overlooked that 2,000 houses or more in Witney were given planning consent

Sir – I am writing to express my concern about the behaviour of the police which I witnessed on a visit to Oxford last week. On the morning of July 19, a friend and I were walking past an Oxfam shop when we saw three policemen holding a man face

Sir – I’m really pleased the west area planning committee turned down the application for a hotel at Redbridge as reported last week. The proposed Travelodge hotel was much too large, had nowhere near enough parking and would have loomed over a sensitive

After a seven-year hiatus, Stowe Opera has risen phoenix-like at a new venue: the magnificent Winslow Hall, a Grade I-listed mansion situated just over the Buckinghamshire border. The house is now owned by Christopher Gilmour and his wife Mardi,

TRANSPORT chiefs are bidding for cash from central government to pay for upgrades to some of Oxfordshire’s most dangerous junctions for cyclists. Oxfordshire County Council will be bidding for cash from a pot of £15m made available by the Department

I HOPE James Styring (On Yer Bike, Oxford Mail, July 10) was just pulling our legs when he wrote: “The main advantage to the cycle track between BMW and Headington Roundabout is that you don’t have to stop continuously at traffic lights. Now

NORTH Oxford professional Lee Jackson secured a three-stroke victory in the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Alliance Pro Am at Lambourne. Jackson shot a two-under-par round of 70 to finish well clear of runner-up, Lambourne pro Scott Marshall. His

An update from the corridors of power HOLIDAYS are a minefield for politicians. Far from a well earned break from public scrutiny, the annual summer sojourn shines a harsh spotlight on those in power (think Tony Blair holidaying in the homes

Being diagnosed with cancer would knock anyone for six, but Henley playwright Caroline Bowder fought back by writing a play about her experiences. The result is the rather whimsical The Body, seen at the Town Hall last week as part of the six-day

Christopher Luscombe’s reworking of Arthur Wing Pinero’s Dandy Dick offered a feast of theatrical silliness to rival that supplied on the Aylesbury stage last September by One Man, Two Guvnors. Truth to tell, this rollicking Victorian farce proved

There is both humour and pathos in Nia Williams’s clever new musical, Daddy’s Girls, which premiered at the Burton Taylor Studio Theatre last November and returned this week for two nights at the Old Fire Station. Three half-sisters have heard that

Sir – Oxford’s Labour administration’s accounts show an underspend of £500,000 in the year 2011/12, after carrying forward some £643,000 for projects not completed as expected in that year. The papers to the executive board on July 4 proposed that

Sir – The most human solution to the Barton expansion of the city is to move this part of the ring road down into a tunnel, and then have proper roads and paths above the ring road to link the new communities to the city. I appreciate that this

As the Garsington Players gathered for their last production at the manor — at least during the Ingrams era — it was wonderful to see the sun shining, allowing those of us who arrived early a chance to wander in the glorious gardens. The opening

AN expert in ancient history who became a tutor and fellow at Brasenose College in Oxford has passed away. David Stockton, who died on July 10, rose to become the college’s senior proctor and was an author of books and articles in his discipline

THE first Oxford man to swim the English Channel died earlier this month after suffering from cancer. Gordon Hill died on Wednesday, July 11, in Sir Michael Sobell House hospice, aged 83. His love of swimming began at an early age, when he

A CITY council policy preventing Oxford and Brookes universities moving into new buildings until they each have fewer than 3,000 students living in city homes has been branded “a total sham”. The claim has been made by East Oxford residents, who

Carterton's Alan Prew quest to become Oxfordshire singles champion was finally realised with a convincing 21-9 win over Banbury Borough’s Mark Sykes on finals day at Oxford City & County. Prew, a three-times runner-up, put together a run of

Today we talk to Ian Curtis – former cricketer, founder of Oxfordshire ClimateXchange and development officer at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment   WHAT I’M CALLED: I’m called “weird” by the kids. And “Dot” is the politest

BANBURY’S Jose Phillips won a javelin gold medal at the British Masters National Championships in Derby. Phillips took the vet 45 title with a throw of 47.19m, defeating second-placed Alan Hough by more than four metres. Radley’s Jackie Breslin

AN innovative project is giving Banbury school leavers confidence as well as helping the environment and getting them from A to B. Since February, about 80 bikes have been collected from Alkerton Household Waste Recycling Centre to work on by young

Imagine all the elements of your fantasy family festival. Headline live music acts? Check. Skate parks and fashion shows? Check. Circus performers, pyrotechnics, talking trees and a bouncy Stone Henge..? Check! And not only is the weather lined

Sir – An Oxford tour guide made a disparaging remark about the actor Richard Burton as a student at Oxford University. Her remark set me off to do some research on this subject. Richard Burton was a student at Oxford in 1943. He was an 18-year-old

A FORMER East Hendred school teacher has died aged 94. Mary Fry taught at St Amand’s Roman Catholic Primary School for 14 years. She passed away on May 21 in St Katharine’s House in Ormond Road, Wantage. Miss Keegan (as she was) was born in

SO, a crane topples over into a ditch damaging the verge along the Woodeaton Road, Woodeaton (Oxford Mail, July 18). No sooner had this happened when Oxfordshire County Council comes to the rescue to repair the damaged road. Who pays for this

First performed in 2007, Miriam Margolyes’s one-woman show focusing on the women in Charles Dickens’s life and fiction gets revived for the great author’s bicentennial year. And what a treat it is. Over two hours, Margolyes shows the breadth of her

After an intimate-scale performance of Walton’s Façade a month ago, conductor John Lubbock turned his attention to Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll at his latest OSJ Prom. As a programme note remarked: “The music is unusually intimate and restrained for

Twenty-eight homes in North Hinksey suffered a power cut on Tuesday night. Southern Electric said power was cut off at about 6.30pm after a fault in an overhead cable and was fixed shortly after 11pm.

WITH just days to go to save a Manet painting for the nation, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum is closing in on £7.83m to buy the Impressionist masterpiece. The Ashmolean has now raised more than 93 per cent of the total needed to acquire Manet’s portrait

Sir – Having grown up in the inter-war years when only boys and men were considered capable of using wood and metal for work or leisure handicrafts, I have been amazed by the extremely high standards of design, manufacture, construction and finish

Council bosses have been warned that compulsory recording of conversations in taxis would break the law. During a ruling against Southampton City Council, information commissioner Christopher Graham also announced a similar scheme which was explored

Two evenings of perfect weather were Bampton Classical Opera’s reward for 20 years’ work unearthing 18th-century musical jewels (of various caratage), as summer finally arrived last weekend and the loyal audience was transported back to days of chirruping

The ninth man charged with involvement in an alleged child sex ring in Oxford appeared in court. Bilal Ahmed, 25, from Maidenhead, was remanded in custody after appearing at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court yesterday, charged with conspiracy to

FRONTLINE staff from Oxfordshire’s ambulance trust will help provide emergency care for Olympic spectators. Fourteen frontline staff from the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) have volunteered to help the London Ambulance

YOU won’t need an alarm clock tomorrow when handbells, church bells, cow bells and bike bells ring out in unison across Oxfordshire to celebrate the start of the Olympic games. The project – called All The Bells – was the brainchild of Turner Prize-winning

RESIDENTS in Blackbird Leys are formally opposing plans to develop the Oxford Stadium. Blackbird Leys Parish Council has officially agreed to support the continued use of the Oxford Stadium for sport. Proposals to demolish the stadium and build

THE rail industry couldn’t have picked a worse day than yesterday to announce its flash new £4.5bn fleet of trains that will apparently cut six minutes off the trip between Oxford and London Paddington. That announcement is unlikely to have been

A burst water pipe in Headington, Oxford, has now been fixed, but Thames Water was last night still not sure what caused it. Water started gushing out of the pipe in Old Road early on Tuesday morning, meaning about 2,000 Thames Water customers

TWO brothers were yesterday given jail sentences following a 14-year row over failing to dig up waste from their golf course. Only an appeal saved Michael, 75, right, and Ronald Wyatt, 69, left, being put into a cell after a judge lost patience

Chris Wilder was encouraged by Oxford United ’s opening game on their US tour against Seacoast Utd Mariners and reserved special praise for the performances of his front three. Deane Smalley and Sean Rigg were both on target, while James Constable

Sir – The announcement of the biggest investment in our railways for 150 years means all the pieces are in place to give Oxford the railway station and transport hub that a ‘World Class City’ requires. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University Sport and Modern Art Oxford commissioned John Gerrard to make this artwork, as part of the London 2012 Festival. Gerrard composed it during his Oxford-based Legacy Fellowship. The result

A “convergence of talent” is how Marios Papadopoulos describes the nine-day piano jamboree that is arguably the high spot of the Oxford Philomusica’s annual calendar. Now in its 14th year, the festival continues to attract piano legends such as John

In June 1895, it’s believed, the Oxford University Dramatic Society presented its first open-air production. The show? Alice in Wonderland, staged in Worcester College gardens exactly 30 years after Lewis Carroll’s book was published. Incidentally

WITH the London 2012 Games starting tomorrow, the history of the Olympics is being told in a new exhibition at Banbury Museum. Dreams of Gold will run until September 8 at the Castle Quay shopping centre attraction. It includes news clips from

Writer Frances Hardinge was persuaded to write her first children’s book by fellow Oxford author Rhiannon Lassiter, who then submitted it to her own editor at Macmillan publishers. The story, Fly By Night , won the Branford Boase First Novel award

Deane Smalley says he is enjoying the best pre-season of his career after rediscovering his form in front of goal for Oxford United . The striker took his tally for the summer to three goals in as many games with a penalty in the 2-1 win against

A WOMAN has been taken to hospital with serious leg, back and head injuries following a crash on the Northern Bypass this morning. Police said one lane of the westbound carriageway near the Cutteslowe Roundabout was closed, although other traffic

A 22-YEAR-OLD woman who was slapped with an injunction over noisy behaviour breached it twice within a month. Jade Kelly was given the antisocial behaviour injunction on June 19 after more than a year of complaints from neighbours. But the

Tomorrow it will begin its final journey. After 70 days, 8,000 miles, 8,000 runners and a Hyde Park party attended last night by 80,000 people to mark its final stop, the Olympic Torch will pass through the maze at Hampton Court Palace before setting

Intrepid wildlife explorer Steve Backshall is just at home hunting for beetles and frogs in a nature reserve in Didcot as he is tracking tigers in Nepal; and Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre is exactly where dozens of children found

It's often thought that British cinema went into abeyance between the end of Ealing's golden age and the eruption of the social realist new wave in the early 1960s. Despite the passing of producer Alexander Korda (who had often seemed the last man

It was a racing certainty that numerous DVDs would be released to coincide with the Games of the XXX Olympiad. The majority are shameless cash-ins concentrating on sporting highlights or London tourist traps. But a handful seek to focus on more unusual

TO Oxford schoolboy Nicholas Hardie C.S. Lewis was just a friend of his father’s who sometimes gave him books. For Christmas in 1950 he was handed a signed copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, inscribed with the words ‘Nicholas Hardie,

Warblers have been a topic of conversation among birding folk in Oxfordshire recently who have noticed a depletion of numbers with the once common willow warbler now markedly reduced and even the most common of the warblers the chiffchaff not as

ALLOCATION of parking permits for a block of flats in Headington has been changed after complaints from residents. Residents of Holyoake Hall said making them ineligible from having parking permits was affecting the value of their homes. Since

Oxford United defender Liam Davis will have surgery for the second time this summer today in an effort to cure a groin injury. Even if the operation is a success, the left back, who did not travel with the squad for their US tour this week, is

A birthday cake makes a child feel special on their big day, but sometimes for various reasons it is hard for families to give their childen one. Four years ago Henriette Lundgren set up an Oxford community group called Free Cakes for Kids. Her