Archive

  • Fire crews called to tackle caravan fire in South Oxford

    Firefighters in Oxford have been called to tackle a caravan fire. Two fire engines were sent to Old Abingdon Road after being alerted at 8.02pm. The blaze created plumes of smoke which could be seen from across the city. Didcot town

  • Woodstock school celebrates its historic 75th landmark

    OLD faces were welcomed back to recall their time at The Marlborough School in Woodstock as it celebrated its 75th anniversary. On Monday four previous headteachers, the Bishop of Dorchester and the Duke of Marlborough visited for a series of events

  • New Orchard objections centre on bus route and parking fears

    HIGHWAYS bosses have objected to the £50m redevelopment of the Orchard shopping centre due to concerns over a proposed new bus route and a lack of parking. Oxfordshire County Council has raised concerns about the lack of detail regarding the new

  • Residents cook up a storm as lessons prove a hit

    HOUSING association tenants in Cholsey rolled up their sleeves and got messy in the kitchen for a series of cooking lessons. Former Wallingford School food technology teacher Angie Johnson, 44, has been giving the tutorials for the last six weeks

  • School goes green with solar panels and new programme

    HUNDREDS of solar panels have been installed at a Bicester school in the biggest scheme of its kind at a primary in Oxfordshire. Bure Park Primary School had 240 solar panels put in over the May half-term, enough to generate 53,200kWh a year and

  • Kind-hearted Casey chops long locks for charity

    AT THE age of six, some girls dream of growing their hair to the glamorous lengths of Disney’s Rapunzel. But a youngster from Didcot instead set her sights on the humbling ambition of raising money for children’s charity Little Princess Trust,

  • Times Tech: The ‘surprise’ that nobody was surprised by

    David McManus looks at Apple Music, the tech story of the week As this is supposed to be a technology column, it would be remiss not to pick up on the biggest news of the past week as once again Apple gathered to perform a carefully managed presentation

  • A fresh focus on apprentices

    Ben Holgate looks at what Government’s commitment is likely to mean in workplace Construction, logistics and high-tech industries are expected to be key areas of growth for apprenticeships in Oxfordshire as the Conservative Government proceeds

  • Profile: Bob Chilcott - Meet the social musician

    Nicola Lisle talks to one of the country’s most popular composers as he turns 60 Bob Chilcott has two passions – music and people. Throughout his distinguished career as a choral composer and conductor, those two passions have been inextricably

  • Quad Talk: Smutty constellations and old bowling alleys

    William Poole is really having too much fun in his college library I have been turning over the pages of hundreds and hundreds of antiquarian books in my college library. I’ve been looking for early marks of ownership, annotations, cries of joy

  • First Person: I’m a wildlife introduction agency!

    Hugh Warwick says there’s a lot more to hedgehogs than just prickles Hedgehogs, hedgehogs, hedgehogs…some people think that is all I ever talk about. And there is some justification for this misapprehension. I have written two books about hedgehogs

  • Gray Matter: Divert yourself with a juicy gossip collection

    Is he or isn’t he? A topic that has dominated conversation at myriad dinner parties – those that I attend, at any rate – forms the basis of a whole book, most entertainingly written by Michael Bloch and published by LittleBrown. Receiving my copy

  • Christ Church Meadow will get a visitor centre

    PLANS to build a new visitor centre beside Oxford’s Christ Church Meadow have been approved. The centre for the meadow, which attracts about one million visitors a year, will include a shop, college ticket office, cafe and toilets. It will

  • Wallingford school project helps kids conquer bedtime fears

    MANY people will remember a time when they were terrified of monsters hiding under the bed. But children at Fir Tree Junior School in Wallingford conquered their fears when they took part in an art project that saw them make their own versions

  • Review: Calamity Jane @ New Theatre, Oxford

    In the programme they printed the names of the cast of Calamity Jane in alphabetical order. Quite right too, for if ever there was a show in which all 16 artistes were stars, then this was it. Tuesday's audience at the New Theatre was treated to

  • Review: An Unholy Mess by Joyce Cato

    Jan Lee reviews An Unholy Mess by Joyce Cato, who writes crime without the gory detail Jacquie Walton, who has lived near Oxford all her life, began her career at the age of 20 with romantic novels using the pseudonym of Maxine Barry. She then

  • Soak up the high life upon the roof at The Varsity Club

    Yvonne Oppon talks about the heady heights of her first year at The Varsity Club It’s a slightly chilly day today as I write this, but I’ve chosen to sit up on The Roof at The Varsity Club and look over Oxford’s mesmerising skyline, away from the

  • Film review: London Road is a dark story re-told

    Damon Smith reviews the film version of London Road, documenting the 2006 discovery of the bodies of five women in Suffolk Event cinema – live screenings of theatre and opera productions, exhibitions, music concerts and other entertainment – has

  • Our room with a view at Lancaster London

    Katherine Macalister gets a bird’s-eye view of the capital from the grand four-star Lancaster London hotel That’s the wonderful thing about London. However well you know think you know it, it can still surprise you, and seeing the Serpentine unfolding

  • Clown Tweedy steals the show at Giffords Circus show

    Katherine MacAlister checks out Giffords Circus’s ‘best ever’ summer offering – Moon Songs Tweedy the Clown greeted our arrival at Giffords with his usual tricks and mischief as the crowds milled outside the famous circus tent for Oxfordshire’s

  • Rush-hour traffic builds around Oxford

    Rush-hour traffic is beginning to build up on routes in and out of Oxford this evening. Drivers are facing queues on the A40 between Eynsham and Oxford. And Stagecoach has told bus passengers there are delays on its S2 service of up to 17 minutes

  • Review: Oxford Revue @ Oxford Playhouse

    There was a time not so long ago when the Oxford Revue and the Cambridge Footlights each occupied almost a week of the Playhouse summer schedule. No more. Shrinking slowly – even, oddly, as the appetite for stage comedy increased – the two outfits

  • Van Morrison is all set for Blenheim Palace ball

    Tim Hughes and Clive Davis look forward to the return of a musical legend to the historic backdrop of Oxfordshire’s greatest stately home One of the most prolific singer-songwriters of our time, with a formidable back catalogue – and a reputation

  • A variety of musical treats at Burford Festival

    Nicola Lisle looks forward to this weekend’s performances in Burford Burford Festival is all about variety, so it’s no surprise to find that its musical offerings this weekend include a youth guitar ensemble, a cabaret-style evening of songs from

  • Highlights - Kismet, The Moody Blues and more

    Glam rock Visconti & Woodmansey O2 Academy Oxford Saturday ticketweb.co.uk Bowie’s former rhythm section (and producer) unite for a run-through classic album The Man Who Sold the World joined by special guests and relatives of the original

  • For Art's Sake with John Umney

    John Umney, the organiser of Memory: 7 Views by 7 Photographers – an exhibition of work by seven photographers from across the UK, at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital in Headington The work we are showing is about that most fallible of human functions

  • Dispatches from the danger zone with Abed Qusini

    Photojournalist Abed Qusini tells Katherine Macalister about life in the firing line When Abed Qusini’s best friend and fellow photo-journalist Nazeh Darwazi was shot right next to him in April 2003, by an Israeli bullet according to eyewitnesses

  • 'Grey water' turns Marston stream bright green

    A STREAM turned green in Marston yesterday, reportedly caused by "grey water". A spokesman for the Environment Agency said it had heard reports of bath and sink water – known as "grey water" - leaking into the stream. Thames Water is currently

  • Two men from Oxford charged with drugs and assault offences

    TWO men have been charged in connection with drugs and assault offences, police have said.  Officers said Dexter Williams, 26, of Fairacres Road, Oxford, was charged on June 5 with one count of grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of

  • Loss for tools firm after trade sanctions

    OXFORD Instruments has lost about £8m in annual revenue due to ongoing EU trade sanctions against Russia prompted by the country’s intervention in the Ukraine. Chief executive Jonathan Flint said: “In January there was an unexpected tightening

  • Government’s apprenticeship growth targets school leavers

    CONSTRUCTION, logistics and high-tech industries are expected to be key areas of growth for apprenticeships in Oxfordshire. It comes as the Conservative Government proceeds with its ambitious plan to create an additional three million new apprenticeships

  • Buses delayed on Botley Road by heavy traffic

    HEAVY traffic on the Botley Road is causing delays of about 20 minutes. Oxford Bus Company tweeted saying: “Services operating on the Botley Road are suffering delays of approx 20 mins due to heving traffic going into Oxford.”   Services

  • Taking a walk on Oxford's wild side

    Marc West escapes the hustle and bustle of the city to experience Oxford Wild Walks – part of a fortnight of nature events It is said, that in London you are never more than six feet away from a rat. Who knows if the old adage is true of our fair

  • Nibbles: The Kingham Plough, The Fleece and more

    * The Fleece on Church Green in Witney has re-opened its doors following a complete refurbishment. Rebecca Jones, general manager, said: “We wanted to make our guests feel at home, and that was our inspiration in redecorating. We decided to emphasise

  • Starting Up: Bean to Oz and now we’re roasting

    Starting Up with Victoria Troth @ The Missing Bean In early 2009 Ori and I were finishing our studies at film school in Sydney, and planning our return to the UK. Although very interested in film, we also had another passion – coffee! We had

  • Can anyone throw any light on the bus routes?

    DOES anyone know anything about the 2 and 20 groups of bus routes? I know, way back in time, that Kidlington was served by the 20 group of routes, which then became the 2 group, as they are today. I know that the 21/21A ran from the city centre

  • Grizzled old grump

    Sir – It’s not often I find myself in agreement with your relentlessly self-promoting arts and restaurant critic, Christopher Gray. I had, however, to applaud his attack on modern fads and fancies in the side column to Gray Matter (May 28). Butter

  • ‘Shame on the council’

    Sir – I walked down Cornmarket the other day and passed a rather bedraggled old man in a wheelchair playing a small tin whistle. He played a tune that I know so well – Dirty Old Town by Ewan MacColl, a tune about the city I grew up in, Salford, in

  • Recognition for vets

    Sir – On June 5, the Daily Telegraph issued an article written by their chief reporter about recognition by France of 6,000 UK D-Day survivors who may die before they can be presented with their Legion d’Honneur. We simply do not know how many

  • Lord Segal’s remarks

    Sir – If Paul Hornby (Letters, June 4) had examined the context of Lord Segal’s remarks in the Lords in 1965 condemning Oxford town planning, he would find that Lord Segal’s criticism, which I discussed with him after his speech, was prompted by the

  • Turner’s painting

    Sir – Turner’s painting of Oxford High Street should certainly be acquired by the Ashmolean Museum in view of its local interest. One may hope that it will be joined later by the companion painting of a view of Oxford from the direction of Sunningwell

  • Already breaking up

    Sir – Whilst travelling along the Iffley Road recently I noticed that in several places the road surface has started to break up where it appears to be subsiding slightly. It is only a couple of years since this road was excavated and relaid. Michael

  • Risk to the disabled

    Sir – As a severely disabled person and wheelchair user, and particularly in my position as chairman of Unlimited Oxfordshire, can I add our concern to other voices about the risks disabled people will face in Frideswide Square in the future, and those

  • Monorail solution

    Sir – A recent article made the suggestion that tram-trains may be a viable solution to the transport problems of Oxford and surrounding area, including a Witney-to-Oxford link. Richard Stow (of Railfuture) displays realism in his assessment that

  • ‘Train story is wrong’

    Sir – Your prominent front page article (June 4) about the impact of building HS2 is seriously misleading. To say that building the railway will bring “10 years of misery” to residents of North Oxford is totally wrong. You quote “campaigner” Keith

  • No trouble with number

    Sir – A recent bus timetable explains why number 4 buses have been painted purple. It’s to make them “much easier to identify”. Reassuring for those who cannot read the number 4, but what about people who use other routes? I hope they won’t all

  • ‘I am in a good position to comment on former Lewis pub’

    Sir – Having been born on Risinghurst estate nearly 70 years ago, as a former landlord of the pub and author of an ebook titled C S Lewis in Oxford: A Guide for Visitors, I believe I am qualified to comment re the decision to either keep the Ampleforth

  • Buses do damage

    Sir – I am not sure that buses are the main cause of congestion, as Mr John Clezy thinks (Letters, June 4). I do, though, think they are the main cause of road damage in Oxford. In both the city centre and in some suburbs, roads that are bus routes

  • Drive-in sex reply

    Sir – For Mr Daniel Emlyn-Jones to raise the issue of sex in a layby toilet and turn it into a personal snipe at the Catholic and Methodist churches takes some skill. Yes, I am one of those who finds you tasteless, naive and morally bankrupt. You

  • Identifying insects

    Sir – I assume Alison Myres (Letters, June 4) is familiar with the differences between bees and wasps, however, her description of the material from which the nest was made and the fact that she was aggressively stung leads me to wonder if her blue

  • Count your blessings

    Sir – Perhaps those who object to some night trains coming through their neighbourhoods, carrying materials to/from the construction depot in Calvert, will appreciate the plight of those who live near the Calvert depot. The latter will be subject

  • Concerns understood

    Sir – As someone that lives alongside the main railway line I can understand the concerns of Wolvercote residents voiced in your paper when they see their branch line is to be turned into a mainline. Some months ago I suggested in your letters

  • Teatime @ The Folly, Oxford

    I had heard about the Alice In Wonderland Afternoon Tea boat trips so contacted The Folly (river cafe, restaurant and boating) but was told the Alice trips were only for large private parties. Instead they suggested afternoon tea in the restaurant

  • Chef’s special recipe: Dongpo Pork

    Chef's Special with Jun Li from Sojo, in Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford Jun Li, 40, is currently SoJo’s Head Chef, joining the team nearly three years ago. He hails from Shanghai and is married with a teenage daughter. He started preparing simple

  • We should have holiday to mark this rail change

    YOU remind us (It Happened In..., June 3) that third-class rail travel was abolished in Britain and renamed second class on that date in 1956. I have never quite understood why this extraordinary progressive measure is not celebrated by an official

  • New food outlet would harm the existing ones

    I WAS brought up in Kidlington and know the owners and managers of the local businesses and definitely think that this application for a new takeaway should be discouraged also. There is absolutely no need for another takeaway in Kidlington as

  • Takeaway owner has no right to moan about rival

    DID the takeaway owner in Kidlington who is moaning about his trade being taking away by another takeaway opening (June 4) think about others when he was opening his business? I don’t think so. What a cheek to complain. NIGEL ALDSWORTH 

  • We are paying more for an unreliable bus service

    I WOULD like to thank our caring Government and council. They certainly have the public’s interests at heart. We are advised to use local public transport to save congestion on the roads. For years we have had the “past it” buses which continually

  • Our street musicians are not antisocial nuisances

    HAVING experienced serious antisocial behaviour for years, sadly from someone now deceased from a drug overdose, I know first-hand how upsetting and thoroughly draining it can be. I am therefore rather perplexed as to the new antisocial public

  • Clampdown risks leaving city without its character

    I WALKED down Cornmarket the other day and passed a rather bedraggled old man in a wheelchair playing a small tin whistle. He played a tune that I know so well – Dirty Old Town by Ewan MacColl – a tune about the city I grew up in, Salford in the

  • Pub can have great future if it gets the right backing

    IT was with great interest that I read the letter (Pull it down: This pub’s far too big for a commercial venture, June 9) regarding the Ampleforth Arms. Quite frankly, I think we should be applauding and supporting those who are trying to save

  • Don’t knock those trying to save site for the community

    I FELT I had to respond to the letter from Ron Brind (June 9) regarding the future of The Ampleforth Arms, Risinghurst. I too, like Mr Brind, was born in Risinghurst 70 years ago and I still live on the estate today. I can recall what the estate

  • Swimming star in sync for Euro debut

    SCHOOLGIRL swimming star Genevieve Randall has flown to Azerbaijan this week to represent England with Team GB. Genevieve, of Faringdon, flew out from Heathrow on Tuesday to compete at the first European Games. The King Alfred’s Academy, Wantage

  • Politics: Should MPs receive a £7,000 pay rise?

    Unless there is a U-turn in the next month, our Members of Parliament are set to get a £7,000 pay rise, taking their total salary to £74,000. The pay rise was recommended in 2013 by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the

  • BOWLS: Oxfordshire fall to Berkshire blitz

    OXFORDSHIRE let slip a winning position as they lost 122-111 to Berkshire in their second Middleton Cup match of the season. The hosts led by ten shots after five ends, were 11 ahead after ten and a huge 18 up after 15 ends in their South Group

  • ATHLETICS: Great Britain call delights Nathan Douglas

    Nathan Douglas says it is great to be back on the international stage after receiving his first call-up since last year’s Commonwealth Games. The 32-year-old Oxford City AC triple jumper will compete for Great Britain & Northern Ireland at

  • Didcot murders: Family to have funeral today

    The funeral of murdered Janet Jordon, Philip Howard and Derin Jordon will take place at Oxford Crematorium, St John’s Chapel today. The service for the family-of-three is planned to start at 3pm and the family has requested bright colours to be

  • BOWLS: Oxfordshire duo bid for glory with England

    OXFORDSHIRE’S Katherine Hawes and Carole Galletly bid to help England seal a hat-trick of British Isles Women’s International Series titles at Royal Leamington Spa, starting on Sunday. Galletly (Banbury Central) will play at lead with Hawes (Oxford

  • Yellow weather warning for Oxfordshire from midday tomorrow

    HEAVY rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Oxfordshire as the county has been given a yellow warning from the Met Office. From midday tomorrow until 7am on Saturday the Met Office said we're likely to see isolated severe thunderstorms. 

  • RUGBY UNION: London Welsh line up friendlies

    London Welsh will begin their preparations for the Greene King IPA Championship season with a pre-season friendly at Esher on Friday, August 14. They will then play further friendlies at Coventry on Saturday, August 22 and Ebbw Vale on Friday,

  • RACING: Milton Harris is refused training licence

    Milton Harris has been foiled in his bid to regain his licence to train at Culworth, near Banbury. Harris, 56, had hoped to take over from the recently-retired Anthony Middleton, for whom he had been working as a racing manager. But the British

  • Jewellery is stolen in Cholsey

    Two watches and two necklaces were stolen in a burglary in Cholsey. Thames Valley Police said the offence happened at about 1pm on Tuesday when access to the property in Station Road was gained through a rear door. A man wearing a beanie cap

  • School bell gets new home after ringing daily since 1859

    BICESTER’S oldest primary school will ring the changes as it moves its 156-year-old bell to a new site. St Edburg’s Church of England School in Cemetery Road yesterday took down the school bell, which has been rung every day since opening in 1859

  • Oxford Uni brain activity centre gets upgrade

    An extension to Oxford University’s brain activity centre has been planned at Headington’s Warneford Hospital. The university has submitted an application to Oxford City Council to extend the Oxford Centre for Brain Activity on Monday. The

  • Thursday, June 11

    8:32pm   Fire crews called to caravan blaze in South Oxford. 5:43pm A44 Woodstock Road at Begbroke closed northbound after recycling truck catches

  • Parky at the Pictures (in Cinemas 11/6/2015)

    Some films come with so much baggage that it is impossible to view them without preconception. Tod Browning's Freaks (1932) provoked such revulsion at test screenings that MGM cut the picture by almost a third. Yet even this 64-minute version was banned

  • Parky at the Pictures (DVD 11/6/2015)

    The mind of a writer is very much to the fore in Norwegian Eskil Vogt's directorial debut, Blind. Having forged a solid reputation as a scenarist with compatriot Joachim Trier's Reprise (2004) and Oslo, August 31st (2011), he proves that he has a visual

  • BOWLS: Banbury on a roll with another whitewash

    BANBURY Central enjoyed their third successive whitewash in Division 1 of the Oxfordshire League, sponsored by Bridle Insurance. A 6-0 victory over Shiplake moves them level on points with leaders Headington A – who beat West Witney 5-1 – but having

  • Lead flashing stolen in Didcot

    Lead flashing has been stolen from six porches in Didcot, police have said. Thames Valley Police said the lead was stolen from six properties in Great Western Drive between 5pm on Tuesday and 7am yesterday morning.

  • Dropped cigarette leads to house fire in Headington

    An elderly man was rescued from his flat in Headington after a fire broke out. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze started shortly before 9pm, on Tuesday, in a sheltered housing block in Colemans Hill. A fire engine from the

  • RUGBY UNION: Rowan White sets sights on England sevens bid

    JUST a few days after finding out she had missed out on a place in the England Under 20 squad, 17-year-old Rowan White received another international call-up. White, from Great Milton, has been selected for the England Under 18 sevens training

  • From the milkshake bar to speedway and 60 years of marriage

    A FORMER builder and Brown Owl from Botley are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary today. Peter Ballard, 80 who ran his own building business, PB services, and Margaret (nee Phipps), 80, who served 35 years as brown owl for the second Botley

  • ATHLETICS: Rachel Masser breaks Otmoor Challenge course record

    WOODSTOCK Harriers’ Rachel Masser smashed her own course record by 64 seconds to win the ladies individual silver plate at the Otmoor Challenge. Masser defied hot and gusty conditions to complete the half-marathon road and track course in 1hr 26mins

  • ‘Give us a quid and make sure Cowley Road Carnival rocks’

    COWLEY Road Carnival organisers are urging people to give a quid to the city’s popular street party. Thousands will head to East Oxford when the carnival returns in less than a month’s time on Sunday, July 5. But Cowley Road Works, the charity

  • D-Day veterans reunite at the grave of Pegasus Bridge hero

    EX-SERVICEMEN and members of the public came together to remember one of Britain’s greatest soldiers Major John Howard. The war hero led British airborne forces on a daring raid on June 6, 1944, to capture Pegasus Bridge, a mission that would prove