SCHOOLS and colleges reported improved A-Level results as nervous youngsters got their hands on their exam scores. Headteachers praised hard-working students amid a UK drop in A* and A grades, the first time in more than two decades. Of Banbury
AVRIL Lawton got into the swing of things in the last in a series of community games events in Banbury. She took part in a dressing-up race at Sunday’s CV and ER 2012 Community Games at Church View, Banbury. Visitors enjoyed races, juggling
Firefighters cut a man free from his car after he crashed on the M40. The accident happened yesterday on the northbound carriageway, between junction six at Lewknor and junction seven at Milton Common, at about 8.30pm. A spokesman for South
A woman driver needed hospital treatment after her car crashed into a lamp-post near Didcot's swimming pool. The accident happened near Didcot Wave in Newlands Avenue at about 8.20pm on Tuesday. Thames Valley Police spokesman Adam Fisher said
Two teenage robbers threatened a 23-year-old cyclist with a knife and stole his wallet and mobile phone. The incident happened on Monday between 10.15pm and 10.30pm on the cycle track near the Heyford Hill Roundabout on the Eastern Bypass, Oxford
SCORES of north Oxford residents packed a special public meeting to call for an “overall strategy” to solve parking problems around Cutteslowe Park. The county council has proposed new restrictions to counter congestion problems which have plagued
POLICE officers might be looking younger but this potential new recruit still has a while to join the boys in blue. Leo Harte, two, was among visitors to a family policing day at Oxford Brookes’ Gipsy Lane campus on Saturday. The event featured
OXFORD City Council could net more than £172 million if it sold off its most expensive housing stock, but opponents have warned against the move. A report for the Policy Exchange thinktank calls on the government to force councils to sell all housing
AEA Technology 0.075 BMW 4764 Electrocomponents 224.3 Nationwide Accident Repair 61.5 Oxford Biomedica 2.1 Oxford Catalysts 65.5 Oxford Instruments 1290.5 Reed Elsevier 576.25 RM 79.4 RPS Group 240.6 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley
A Sunday Times article this week by Bryan Appleyard about Clive James contained this sentence: “Martin Amis once told me that when asked how James liked his steak, he would reply: ‘Knock off its horns and wipe its arse.’” I disapprove of this for
Diver Tom Daley has been parading himself like a porn star on television, as a picture in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph made clear. It was no surprise at all to learn that the show in which he appeared in his state of ludicrous undress — see above —
In what struck me as one of the least persuasively argued letters ever to have appeared in The Times, Lord Jones of Birmingham — a title masking the identity of former CBI head honcho Digby Jones — last week praised privatisation for a new spirit
I consider myself particularly fortunate that pals Debbie and Stephen Dance bought themselves a dinner for four at their local in an auction of promises to raise money for Diamond Jubilee festivities in the Baldons. That’s because they courteously
As autumn approaches so does the Blenheim Palace Literary Festival at Woodstock, which gets under way at Blenheim Palace from September 12 to 16. This year, the festival is staging some excellent food and drink events, including coffee, tea and chocolate
I suppose many of us cannot cross Folly Bridge without a nod and a smile towards the sign proclaiming the Salters company, the venerable boat builder and hirer, and operator of river cruises, from whom Christ Church don Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis
Sectarian violence in Northern Ireland cast a long shadow over the country for more than 30 years. The cycle of bloodletting largely ceased with the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement but deep emotional scars remain, providing film-makers
As part of the £12m revamp of Kensington Palace recently unveiled, a new permanent exhibition explores the life and reign of one of the palace’s most famous residents, Britain’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Victoria. There are four new visitor
First he revels, then he rants, the two phases in the career of Timon of Athens being perfectly caught in another spellbinding performance from Simon Russell Beale. Timon’s switch from magnifico to madman is triggered by the big spender’s sudden
The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company made history with a rare fully-professional production of the final Savoy opera, The Grand Duke. A bold move, perhaps, as Gilbert’s storyline — involving a theatrical troupe plotting to depose the miserly Grand
The Phoenix Piano Trio (Jonathan Stone, violin, Marie Macleod, cello, Sholto Kynoch, piano) is a comparatively recent creation: the Trio made its debut at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building in February 2009. But although the group was recently
It was quite a shock initially: at the Barbican the words actually seem to come out of the singers’ mouths, not from loudspeakers. This production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel comes from Opera North, whose singers don’t, of course, need
You have a new picture. Where to put it? Take something down, shift things around, a radical rethink, or what? Imagine if you have 29 works of art from the 1950s — rarely-seen paintings, photographs and sculptures — on loan from the Arts Council
In vino veritas; and so in Guinness, whiskey and poteen. Much booze is consumed and much that is true spoken in the three plays — unconnected save in their authorship — that make up DruidMurphy. They are presented by Druid in a welcome return to
FOR many people, a company ‘away-day’ conjures up images of swanky hotels, pamper days, paintballing or team sports. But East Oxford children’s respite hospice charity Helen & Douglas House decided to keep things closer to home for their fundraising
ABINGDON’S Guildhall is preparing to take the next step in a £1.2m revamp which could bring a cinema to the town. Abingdon Town Council was given £1.2m to take on the historic grade II listed building in April last year. Vale of White Horse
DOZENS of homes in Wallingford are to have their gardens dug up and tested for contamination. People living in Charter Way, Hawthorn Close and Hazel Grove have received letters from South Oxfordshire District Council alerting them testing is
THE seventh Oxfordshire Classic Vehicle Show takes place over the Bank Holiday. Vintage cars will be on show at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, on Sunday and Monday. The event runs from 10am until 4pm each day. For details, visit classicshows.org
THE clink of china and the sharing of stories filled the room at a special tea party. Contact The Elderly works across the county to bring senior citizens together for afternoon tea at volunteers’ houses. Pam Thomas, who hosts a tea party at
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Jamie Busby, the teenager badly injured in a violent clash at the weekend, was last night said to be getting better. Mr Busby, 19, suffered a serious head injury after an incident in Corn Street in the early hours of Saturday. Last night a
OXFORD has been named the seventh most expensive town or city for renters in the UK. According to figures released last night the average rent in the city is £891 a month — £185 more than the average monthly rental price for the rest of the country
A chihuahua was mauled to death by a Staffordshire bull terrier in the town centre on Monday. Two-year-old Chico was killed in the attack, which took place while he was being walked by owner Ashleigh Church, 16, in Church Green, Witney, at 4.30pm
The Olympic Games gave Rail operator Chiltern Railways a boost with 797,000 people travelling to London during the event, 9.5 per cent up on the same fortnight last year. The firm laid on extra trains and made significant changes to its timetable
Reigning champions Cricketers B are the new Greene King Oxford & District League Premier Section leaders following a 3-0 win at home to Three Pigeons in their top-of-the-table battle, writes ANDY BEAL. However, the match was much closer than
A COUPLE have spoken about how they saw first-hand the plight of Syrian refugees fleeing from their homes. Wadham College student Thomas Stocker, 23, and his wife Abigail, 24, a teacher at Faringdon Infant School, ended up on holiday in Jordan
HAVING resisted replying to Mrs Alba Thorning’s many baffling letters, I feel I have to respond to the letter from Mr M L Grey, (Oxford Mail, August 17). Mr Grey says that Roger Federer lost rather than Andy Murray won during their tennis match in
A coroner has recorded an open verdict after a Didcot man died at Beachy Head. Andrew Acreman, 32, of Broadway, died at the cliffs near Eastbourne, Sussex, on February 16 this year. An inquest into his death was held at East Sussex coroner’
OK, let’s all give Thames Valley Police a large pat on the back for giving good causes £88,109 from the sale of criminals’ property (Oxford Mail, August 13). And while we are thanking the local law enforcement, let’s too thank the criminals.
WE WERE genuinely pleased to see column inches in your paper reporting on the three applications to run local TV licences in Oxfordshire (Oxford Mail, August 20). I thought it would be useful to clarify that BBC Oxford television news is broadcast
THREE fallen war heroes were brought home from Afghanistan in a solemn and moving ceremony in Carterton yesterday. Hundreds of friends, family andcomrades gathered to pay their final respects to Lieutenant Andrew Chesterman from 3rd Battalion The
KIDLINGTON’S success in the Steve Dixon Memorial Cup final had added significance as it saw the club capture their first trophy since rejoining the Oxfordshire Cricket Association. The Stratfield Brake outfit have undergone many changes since they
WHILE I applaud Alistair Thompson (Viewpoints, August 8) for getting his life back together and unable to offer any advice to him other than to keep up the good work, I wish to offer anyone else reading his letter – don’t go to prison! In other words
IN HER comments (Viewpoints, August 16, Today’s Big Issue), Gill Jaggers, following the Olympics, highlighted the need for excellent sports facilities in Oxford to encourage kids and was concerned that they just weren’t available. As the biggest
IT’S TIME Oxfordshire local authorities cleaned up their act where recycling is concerned. Reports from the Friends of the Earth have said that nearly £3-4bn is wasted in rare materials like steel, rubber, wheat and rare earth metals being sent
THE funeral of Felicity-Kate Roberts will be held on August 31 at Down Crematorium, Brighton. The 31-year-old was found dead in woodland near the Louie Memorial Playing Field, Botley, on August 15. An inquest into the death of Ms Roberts, of
WHAT Chris Boswell has found, when trying to buy paintings by local artists, doesn’t surprise me (Viewpoints, August 16). Gallery wall space is expensive and the owners want to hang works that have been produced by artists that are reasonably well
MARK David Chapman, who shot and killed former Beatle, John Lennon, 32 years ago, will have his seventh parole hearing this week. While many would like Chapman to remain in prison it might be prudent for them to read Portia’s speech – “The quality
There are some situations, glimpses of a life lived and missed, that fill you with such indignity, that they never leave you and you live out the rest of your days wracking your brains, wondering if you could have changed the outcome in some way,
I HAVE become increasingly concerned with immigration, especially the large influx from the eastern European countries. As a person born and bred in Witney, having many conversations with locals, the feeling of being in the minority in our own
JOHN Mills grabbed a hat-trick as North Leigh won 3-1 at Cirencester Town in the Evo-Stik Southern League. It was 0-0 at half-time in the Division 1 South & West clash, but the Millers came out all guns blazing. Man-of-the-match Kieran
MORE than 300 new jobs have been created in southern Oxfordshire by the creation of a government Enterprise Zone one year ago. DHL Express, which opened on Monday, is the latest firm to move to Milton Park, one of two major employment sites in
WHAT I AM CALLED: Mo Merchant. MY AGE: 70 years young. WHAT I DO: I am a part-time coach driver taking pupils to Matthew Arnold School in Arnolds Way, Oxford from Kingston Bagpuize, Southmoor, Fyfield,
Sir – I read with interest about the county council’s decision to stop parking in Witney High Street, including blue badge holders. I am the first to agree something needed to be done about the congestion caused by vehicles parked on the double yellow
Sir – With reference to the removal of disabled parking spaces in the High Street, could the county council move the taxi rank to the Market Square, the middle bit outside the Angel pub, and let disabled drivers park where the taxis now sit?
Sir – How I agree with James Robertshaw’s refreshingly sensible letter (August 8). I too have become increasingly concerned about immigration, especially the large influx from Eastern European countries. As a person born and bred in Witney,
It is no surprise that residents of Witney have backed proposals to retain and refurbish the historic Corn Exchange as a community venue. And they are ready to put their money where their mouth is, with many saying they are prepared to pay higher
THE sound of traffic in the centre of Woodstock will be replaced by music on Saturday and Sunday as the annual Woodstock Live festival takes over the square. A line-up of 20 musicians and groups will play both days from 1pm into the evening.
Gloucester City 0 Oxford City 1 (Mills 73) A SUPERB free-kick from Jack Mills earned Oxford City their first win of the Blue Square Bet North season at Gloucester City. Midfielder
Minor Counties Championship IT was a bitter-sweet day for Oxfordshire as they completed a comprehensive five-wicket victory over Wiltshire at Devizes. Oxon did all they could do, but Cornwall had already thrashed Wales by ten wickets to secure
Sir – The parking restrictions recently imposed in Witney High Street are a good example of authority sitting on high at their desk and deciding how they might tidy up the street a bit and allow traffic to flow through without stopping. I would
Sir – It may well be true that the Witney Mill redevelopment scheme “should have incorporated a museum proudly displaying the engine of Witney’s development in the Industrial Revolution” and that Witney is “devoid of cultural assets”, as claimed
Sir – As we all crammed into my neighbour’s living room in the middle of Witney, willing Mo Farah on to win the Olympic 5,000m race, I thought for a moment how my country had taken him from his native Somalia in order to join his father here in England
Sir – The theme of the London Olympics was to inspire a nation and they certainly did. Sport in Britain as a whole is in a very good place right now. August 4 is being claimed as one of the best days in British sporting history, seeing a total
A MAN who served in the Army for six years has admitted attacking three teenagers. Shannon Constantine punched a boy in the face and hit him with a stick. His violence, which took place in Abingdon in February 2011, also included assaulting
DOORSTEP crime in Oxfordshire has fallen by eight per cent in the last year. The county bucked the national trend with a drop in reported incidents of rogue traders from 524 between April 2010 and April 2011 to 480 the following financial year.
DIDCOT Town goalkeeper Marcus Belloli is set to return between the sticks for tonight’s Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West trip to highly-fancied Sholing. Belloli was taken to hospital at half-time after being caught in the face
CHRIS Wilder hailed his Oxford United side after a 2-0 victory over Southend United sent them top of npower League Two. Tom Craddock came off the bench to score both goals as the U’s made it six points out of six to move up to first place on goal
WHEN Paul and Serena Courtney bought a family pet dog they had no idea the part she would play a major role in their son Steven’s health. Steven, nine, had been desperate for a pet dog and immediately formed a bond with cocker spaniel Molly, now
THE RINGLEADER of a gang who punched and kicked a man unconscious in a mass brawl has been jailed. Reuben Campbell-Maasz was part of three car loads of men from Oxford who descended on Abingdon town centre after hearing a friend’s girlfriend had
A BACKPACKER seriously injured in a Thailand road crash has now left hospital. Ryan Elson has been “overwhelmed” by support shown by people from Wantage and Grove. Wantage carpenter Mr Elson, below, was left in a coma after a moped accident
A FOOLPROOF disguise and a meticulously planned getaway would rate highly on any armed robber’s to-do list. But such thoughts were clearly a long way from the mind of bungling raider James Allan. Allan’s catalogue of errors began when he selected
IAN Lenagan rejected a third transfer bid for James Constable last week to avoid compromising Oxford United ’s promotion challenge. The U’s turned down an improved offer from Bristol Rovers on Friday, which officially ended the Pirates’ interest
JAMES ALLAN’s robbery Martin’s newsagent was of high comedy, as anyone who watches the security video will attest. But we are glad to see Judge Risius did not let the farce sway him in delivering a decent sentence of three years for what was, ultimately
SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has a duty to its citizens to be far more forthcoming over its decision to test gardens at dozens of homes for signs of contamination. The council is planning to conduct soil studies at 40 homes in three streets
Martin Scarrott bought six CCTV cameras to protect his Barton home and family from crime. But four of the cameras were vandalised last December. The latest police statistics show car theft, arson, and robbery are all on the rise in the estate
PEOPLE are being invited to explore Bicester’s hidden past in a free walk that was launched to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Bicester Heritage and History Walk takes in historical spots in the town centre, Kings End, Market Square and Garth
GROUPS across Oxfordshire are hoping to share a grant pot of £10,000. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, energy provider Opus Energy is offering grants of up to £3,000 for community groups across the county and neighbouring Northamptonshire and
