Stories for 1 June 2006

Abingdon

'Bin the knives' call

LETHAL weapons have been seized by police in Oxfordshire in their battle to stop violent offenders carrying knives.  more...

Chance for children to tune in

PRIMARY schoolchildren in Oxfordshire will be able to learn a musical instrument free, thanks to a £30,000 cash injection from the Government.  more...

A story of water down the drain

THOUSANDS of gallons of water has gone down the drain in north Abingdon in just two weeks despite a hosepipe ban and a looming drought order in the county.  more...

Opening up the gateways

KISSING gates, stiles and fences will be installed in a bid to open up Oxfordshire's downland countryside to walkers.  more...

'Fight, fight and fight again'

ABINGDON residents issued a defiant 'hands off our hospital' message when more than 200 people attended the first public meeting in the town on proposed changes to community hospitals.  more...

Doctor backs NHS moves

A WOODCOTE GP has welcomed the NHS Confederation's view that the UK needs fewer hospital beds.  more...

Bills for eye care no longer wanted

NHS managers are still footing the bill for a privately-run mobile eye unit which has withdrawn its service from south Oxfordshire due to a lack of patients.  more...

New plan for town hospital

A NEW plan for Townlands hospital, Henley, is being drawn up by local health care experts.  more...

Lorry driver faces prison for sex acts with teenager

A LORRY driver who slept with the daughter of a woman he met on the Internet has been told he will go to jail.  more...

Police chief on the beat

ACTING Chief Constable Sara Thornton went back on the beat at Abingdon last Friday to find out how neighbourhood policing is dealing with troublesome young people.  more...

Flats proposal for post office

ABINGDON'S main post office in the High Street could be transformed in a proposed £1m redevelopment.  more...

Art

Robert Medley/Old Master drawings: Christ Church Picture Gallery

Robert Medley, a well-known figure in 20th-century art as painter, stage-designer and war artist, has rather dropped out of critical circulation since his death in 1994. The show at Christ Church Gallery is a chance to revisit his work and assess its wide range indeed, to make a new judgement, since the score or so of works on show have been hitherto retained by the artist's estate.  more...

Robert Medley/Old Master drawings: Christ Church Picture Gallery

Robert Medley, a well-known figure in 20th-century art as painter, stage-designer and war artist, has rather dropped out of critical circulation since his death in 1994. The show at Christ Church Gallery is a chance to revisit his work and assess its wide range indeed, to make a new judgement, since the score or so of works on show have been hitherto retained by the artist's estate.  more...

Oxfordshire Craft Guild, Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock

The Oxfordshire Craft Guild is celebrating its quarter century in style. There is work on show from current, founding and past members, and the majority of the work is for sale, and commissions are welcomed. All the work is individual, interesting and executed to the highest standards. And as one would expect from a craft guild, the work draws on a wide range of media and materials: from delicate silver jewellery to stone carving, from ceramics to silk and from glass to wood.  more...

Bicester News

Four-vehicle crash closes road

A four-vehicle pile-up near Bicester today left one man trapped in his car and closed the road for more than two hours.  more...

Books

Glamorous world of an escape artist

Nicholas Coleridge is head of a multimillion-dollar publishing empire, and had no trouble finding a publisher for the novels he writes in his spare time. What is more surprising is that his latest novel is rather entertaining, as well as being quite readable.  more...

Business

Today's local share prices

AEA Technology 106.75 BMW 2722 Electrocomponents 255.5 Isoft Group 88 Oxford Bio 30 Oxford Instruments 203 Reed Elsevier 521 RM 176.5 RPS 204.5 Torex Retail 85.5   more...

Today's closing share prices

AEA Technology 106.75 BMW 2718 Electrocomponents 251.75 Isoft Group 90.25 Oxford Bio 29 Oxford Instruments 203 Reed Elsevier 525 RM 176.5 RPS 205 Torex Retail 85.25   more...

Cinema

French polish from Depardieu

Daniel Auteuil and Grard Depardieu have a mixed track record when it comes to working together. They each excelled in Jean de Florette (1985), but were decidedly off colour in The Closet (2001). They both contribute powerhouse performances, however, to Olivier Marchal's uncompromising cop flick, 36 (aka 36 Quai des Orfvres).  more...

Poseidon and United 93

From the moment (about 15 minutes in) a giant rogue wave crashes into the good ship Poseidon, capsizing the luxurious 20-storey ocean liner, Wolfgang Petersen's high-tech remake of The Poseidon Adventure barely pauses for breath. With composer Klaus Badelt whipping up the orchestra into a crescendo of deafening crashes and booms, Petersen goes full steam ahead with the outrageous action sequences, flinging his hapless, sodden survivors from one life-or-death set-up to the next.  more...

Country Matters

Listening to sweet voices

GILES WOODFORDE talks to the composer Bill Ives about Magdalen College Choir's new recording What's in a name? Well, the Director of Music at Magdalen College, Bill Ives, still retains the ancient Latin title of Informator Choristarum Instructor of the Choristers. Straightforward enough, and wholly appropriate for the director of a choir that was founded in 1480.  more...

SEE WOOD FOR THE TREES

Project asks the public for volunteers and information to map special trees in the region, writes ELIZABETH EDWARD As newly-planted trees are generally likely to outlive those who plant them, often by several generations, the original significance of these plantings can become lost in the mists of time. Even a plaque recording the event may disappear over the years.  more...

Cricket

CRICKET: Rowant edge home

Aston Rowant beat Thame Town by two runs in a low-scoring thriller to reach the second round of the Bernard Tollett Oxfordshire Cup on Tuesday.  more...

CRICKET: Shipton crash out

Twice national champions Shipton-under Wychwood are out of this year's npower Village Cup.  more...

CRICKET: Shipton crash out

Twice national champions Shipton-under Wychwood are out of this year's npower Village Cup.  more...

CRICKET: Super Hole hammers Henley

A spectacular display of hitting by Stuart Hole helped Oxford to beat Henley by 16 runs and reach the fourth round of the Cockspur Cup.  more...

Dance

Cafe Reason, Pegasus Theatre

Butoh originated in Japan in the late 1950s. It's a slow-moving dance form in which white-faced performers with shaven heads go on some sort of spiritual journey. Caf Raison's five women and two men have kept their hair but, for the rest, they conform to the style on which their work is based.  more...

Spanish steps

Rafael Bonachela, a young choreographer with a fast-growing reputation, has founded his own company, which gives its first performance at the Everyman, Cheltenham, writes our Dance Critic DAVID BELLAN Rafael Bonachela was for many years a leading dancer of the Rambert Dance Company, but he hails from Spain, near Barcelona. Dance, he says, was in his blood from an early age, even though he had never seen a dance performance.  more...

Didcot

Chance for children to tune in

PRIMARY schoolchildren in Oxfordshire will be able to learn a musical instrument free, thanks to a £30,000 cash injection from the Government.  more...

Dash to swans' rescue

INTREPID swan rescuer Diana Davies nearly had to admit defeat when she was faced with a swan's nest and eggs being swept away on the swollen River Thame at Dorchester.  more...

The golden stalwart

A DIDCOT man has been awarded one of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's top honours.  more...

Opening up the gateways

KISSING gates, stiles and fences will be installed in a bid to open up Oxfordshire's downland countryside to walkers.  more...

Albert Hall performers

A GROUP of dance students from Didcot swapped a local park for one of the most famous stages in the world last Sunday.  more...

'Bin the knives' call

LETHAL weapons have been seized by police in Oxfordshire in their battle to stop violent offenders carrying knives.  more...

'Fight, fight and fight again'

ABINGDON residents issued a defiant 'hands off our hospital' message when more than 200 people attended the first public meeting in the town on proposed changes to community hospitals.  more...

Doctor backs NHS moves

A WOODCOTE GP has welcomed the NHS Confederation's view that the UK needs fewer hospital beds.  more...

Bills for eye care no longer wanted

NHS managers are still footing the bill for a privately-run mobile eye unit which has withdrawn its service from south Oxfordshire due to a lack of patients.  more...

New plan for town hospital

A NEW plan for Townlands hospital, Henley, is being drawn up by local health care experts.  more...

Lorry driver faces prison for sex acts with teenager

A LORRY driver who slept with the daughter of a woman he met on the Internet has been told he will go to jail.  more...

Driver dies in A417 smash

A DRIVER died after his car left a country road and crashed into trees on Sunday night.  more...

Birch trees blamed for serious problems

NEIGHBOURS living in Didcot say enormous silver birch trees overhanging their gardens are causing their drains to block and their driveways to crack.  more...

Didcot News

Woman killed as car drifted into path of lorry

A father paid tribute to his "delightful and wonderful" daughter who was killed when her car drifted into the path of an oncoming lorry.  more...

Eating Out

Stylish transformation but pub remembers its roots

ANOTHER trip out another friend driving me to their favourite pub, The Red Lion, Yarnton, which is closer to my home than my usual haunts in Abingdon or Wallingford.  more...

Editorial Comment

Scandal of tax credits system must be addressed

It is scandalous that the Government has allowed the tax credit system to become such a shambles.  more...

Education

Terence gives young people right tools

£3.3m fund works to empower children and give them more responsibility, writes MONICA SLOAN A growing trend for pupils to interview their prospective teachers is one of the signs that children are being encouraged to take on more responsibility in society.  more...

Entertainment

Everest's greatest mystery

THEATREGOERS at Chipping Norton on Saturday, June 10, will investigate the real-life mystery of mountaineer Andrew Irvine, who died on Mount Everest 82 years ago.  more...

Rowing fun for the young

A FULL day of activity, with a chance to meet some true sporting Olympians, is taking place at the River and Rowing Museum, Henley, on Sunday, as part of the museum's half-term activities, designed to offer something for the entire family.  more...

Packed programme for summer festival

THE 11th Wantage Summer Festival gets under way on Saturday, June 10, and this year organisers promise that it will be bigger and more exciting than ever.  more...

Food

Salmon Fillets Poached in beer, serves two

This recipe is inspired by Richard Fox's The Food and Beer Cook Book (Senate Books, paperback £12.99). Beer and fish sounds an unlikely combination but by selecting a Belgium fruit beer (cherry flavour kriek being the best, though raspberry works quite well too) you can obtain a great flavour combination. Try drinking a glass of chilled cherry beer with the poached salmon for that extra touch. It is a superb summer dish which is easy to cook and takes just a few moments to prepare. Just right as a starter when serving a barbecue.  more...

Hop on the wagon and add some beer

Eat more beer is the message that comes through Richard Fox's recently published Food and Beer Cook Book (Senate Books, £12.99). Actually beer buffs have been cooking with beer for years, and not just with real ale. They have been splashing everything from barley wine to stout into their stew pots, and to great effect.  more...

Gardening

Visit peonie heaven

Long Wittenham garden by the Thames is full of unusual Mediterranean treasures Chisholm and Gay Ogg are opening their three-quarter acre garden, Evelegh's, on Sunday for the National Gardens Scheme. Their Thameside garden at Long Wittenham, just north-east of Didcot, is full of peonies, irises, roses and flowering shrubs and it should be at its best.  more...

Visit peonie heaven

Long Wittenham garden by the Thames is full of unusual Mediterranean treasures Chisholm and Gay Ogg are opening their three-quarter acre garden, Evelegh's, on Sunday for the National Gardens Scheme. Their Thameside garden at Long Wittenham, just north-east of Didcot, is full of peonies, irises, roses and flowering shrubs and it should be at its best.  more...

Golf

GOLF: Maggie bags county brace

OXFORD Ladies dominated the OLCGA Alternative Silver meeting at Burford.  more...

GOLF: Drayton take halfway lead

UNBEATEN Drayton Park leapt to the top of Section 2 in the Shaw & Co Oxfordshire Foursomes League after defeating Magnolia Park 2-1.  more...

GOLF: Kitted out

LONG standing Chipping Norton member Roger Wroe has provided a complete set of new sweaters and shirts for the club's junior team.  more...

GOLF Results round-up

FRILFORD HEATH The Grandmothers' Trophy Div 1: 1 G Buck 37pts, 2 B Sandys-Lumsdaine 32, 3 J Manson 30.  more...

GOLF: Simpson on song

Paul Simpson showed he was a man in form by scooping two titles in the space of a week.  more...

GOLF: O'Connor called up

Frilford Heath junior Katherine O'Connor has been selected to play for Wales in two prestigious international events in July.  more...

GOLF: Edwards leads the way

Oxford Ladies dominated the OLCGA Alternative Silver meeting at Burford.  more...

GOLF: Drayton take halfway lead

Unbeaten Drayton Park leapt to the top of Section 2 in the Shaw & Co Oxfordshire Foursomes League after defeating Magnolia Park 2-1.  more...

Headlines

Burford Beer Festival

BURFORD Beer Festival takes place on Saturday, July 1.  more...

The secret of a happy life

GOOD things come to those who wait as a Witney couple celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary found out.  more...

Arsonists torch former school

ARSONISTS have torched a former school building in Witney.  more...

Arsonists torch former school

ARSONISTS have torched a former school building in Witney.  more...

Leader

A burning question

We are all for public consultation. Decisions are often improved for asking those they affect. Sometimes, however, decisions are so tough that consultation does not help. At that point, we expect our politicians to lead.  more...

Time to progress

The report of District Auditor Andy Burns into Oxford City Council confirmed what we all already knew. It is performing poorly and the taxpayer is not getting good value for money.  more...

Boatyard future

It was inevitable that the boating community would lose their battle with British Waterways to stay at the Castle Mill boatyard. It owns the site and the courts have backed its right to clear it.  more...

Do we pray for rain or sun?

It is good that the post office looks set to remain in the centre of Abingdon. We are, however, not entirely convinced by Primeco's plans to redevelop the existing High Street premises.  more...

Keep posted

It is good that the post office looks set to remain in the centre of Abingdon. We are, however, not entirely convinced by Primeco's plans to redevelop the existing High Street premises.  more...

Letters

Penalise the water bosses

Further to the letter by Richard Anderson (Oxford Mail, May 27), of course, the present trouble with the water supply is the water companies' fault.  more...

Poor bus service

Why is it that some parts of Oxford, such as Littlemore, get such a dreadful third-class bus service?  more...

Don't waste your food, it can be recycled

Sir I read with interest the letter (Improve performance, May 26) from Oxford city councillor Jean Fooks, portfolio holder for a cleaner city.  more...

Let's have more leaks

Sir If I understand the situation correctly we get the majority of our water from aquifers, which are at perilously low levels because of insufficient rain. It seems to me that if Thames Water manages to repair the leaks in the water distribution network, the underground water levels will only get worse. Perhaps we need many more leaks, not fewer, to help replenish the aquifers! I am told that Thames Water has sold seven reservoirs for housing. If they consider that aquifers are the major source of water, could Farmoor reservoir be the next to go?  more...

Rents are not highest

In the report University accused of aggressive rent rises (May 26) you incorrectly stated that the most expensive college in Oxford was Somerville and that we charge students up to £3,575 per year.  more...

Terrible experience

Sir Well done to Craig Simmons for highlighting the appalling pollution and congestion caused by the open-top tourist buses in the city centre (Backing for clampdown on open-top buses, May 19). Not only do they create a terrible experience for cyclists with their belching fumes they also slow down the traffic, creating more pollution. There is no joined-up thinking by Government. How can they subsidise these buses on the basis that they travel every ten minutes whether they are empty or not? This has gone on for too long.  more...

Condemned together

Sir Your correspondent, Tony Morris, (Letters, May 19) condemns the bishops who opposed the Joffe bill for doing so although they are unelected. Given that Lord Joffe and every other member of the House of Lords who supported his bill is also unelected, I take it that they stand condemned too.  more...

Ignorant tosh

Sir Your reporter Christopher Gray is generally tedious, sometimes amusing and occasionally insufferable. An example of the latter was his comment (Gray Matter, May 19): "To which Bishop Harries would reply . . . ."  more...

Sensible energy mix

Sir There seems to be confusion in some people's minds over the role of Didcot A power station in meeting our electricity needs (Report, May 19). Yes, it is true that the station emits large quantities of carbon dioxide, but this gas is not a pollutant in the sense of harming health. Indeed, the growth of all plants depends upon extracting carbon from the atmosphere.  more...

Clinical excellence

Sir My father, 82, was recently admitted late on a Saturday night to the John Radcliffe following a fall at home. Not only was he well looked after by the ambulance crew, but he received excellent attention in A&E and was then transferred to the Medical Decision Unit for assessment before, happily, being discharged some 12 hours later.  more...

Disqualifying remarks

Sir On May 19 you published two letters from Green Party members about planning issues. Councillor Sushila Dhall complained that she had had to exclude herself from an area committee meeting which was considering the proposed health centre on the Radcliffe Infirmary site, because she had already criticised the proposals publicly. Every city councillor understands perfectly well that you cannot take part in a 'quasi-judicial' planning process if you have announced your conclusions before hearing the arguments.  more...

Welfare standards high

Sir So far the most vociferous lobby in the animal research debate is that of the "animal rights" movement. However, next Saturday, June 3, those of us who support animal research will have the opportunity to join others in the second Pro Test demonstration; those who are undecided about the issues will have the chance to hear about the importance of animal testing to our everyday wellbeing.  more...

Poor sports

Sir I thought of an excellent spontaneous idea to occupy two energetic sons aged two and five to banish cabin fever on a wet Bank Holiday afternoon. We went to explore Blackbird Leys Sports Centre.  more...

We'll keep you in know

Sir How right your correspondent is to say that Oxford's abysmal recycling record is not for want of trying on the part of many local residents. We know that the vast majority want to see the city's record improved, though we also know that a similar majority have grave reservations about the half-baked plans recently proposed. We have to carry people with us if any recycling scheme is to work and for that we need proper consultation and better information.  more...

What did Plato know

Sir Like so many victims of metaphysical thinking before him, Ken Weavers too when driven into a debating corner attempts to extricate himself by resorting to persuader words and to some imagined authority (Letters, May 26).  more...

Peace at the last

Sir Tony Augarde recently remarked, rightly, on the number of common phrases that have entered the English language from Shakespeare and the Authorised Version of the Bible. However, these works were for centuries accessible to few but the gentry and the clergy, whereas as C.S. Lewis pointed out in a talk I've failed to track down from the 17th until the mid-20th centuries the vast majority of the English population listened every Sunday to the wonderful rhythms of our Book of Common Prayer. In this year, when we are commemorating Thomas Cranmer, it is worth reflecting how tremendously our language continues to be affected by his phrases from the beginning of this day until peace at the last.  more...

Drop stinking boxes

Sir How sad, if predictable, for our county council leader to dismiss European Car-Free Day as "silly tokenism", for it will of course remain ineffective for just as long as he, and motorists like him, choose to ignore it. But how wonderful if we could really have a day without all those noisy stinking metal boxes.  more...

We don't want new bridge

Sir I doubt whether anyone living along the A415 between Abingdon and Witney was surprised that a new bridge is necessary at Newbridge (New bridge will replace historic river crossing, May 12). The heavy goods traffic has only increased since traffic lights were installed north of the river, and it is a rare day when I am not held up in Marcham to allow an enormous container lorry to navigate the bends in the old road.  more...

Don was offside

Sir Michael Montgomery is very arrogant in implying that his university may claim exclusive right to the name of Oxford (Letters, May 26). For the city's major football club to revert to the title of Headington United would be ridiculous, since it is no longer based in Headington. Cowley United would be even more ludicrous: for one thing, the Kassam Stadium is not in Cowley (don't they teach geography in the university?), and for another, there are at least three other Cowleys around the country. It would be encouraging if local academics could take pride in all of our city's institutions, and not persist in the blinkered view that Oxford consists of nothing outside of its college walls.  more...

Roads chief insulated from delays

Sir You were good enough to publish my letter on this matter in your current issue. I have just read your front page piece quoting Cllr Robertson on the subject. It seems to me he is remarkably insulated from the consequences of these works. I accept that noise pollution needs to be taken into account in timing the work, but local residents have instead to put up with the noise pollution of a much larger than usual number of engines of stationary vehicles (continuing late into the night because of extravagant lane closures where nobody is working), to say nothing of the extra atmospheric pollution.  more...

Swimmer's thanks over pool

Sir, May I use your columns to congratulate Peter Harbour and his associates for retaining our much-loved outdoor pool?  more...

Pledge please

Sir, It is good to see that, at last, work has started on the site that the Didcot cinema and arts centre will occupy.  more...

Forced out

Sir, It is regrettable to say that the new Didcot development has seen the needless demise of businesses.  more...

Funds mystery

Sir, I was puzzled by Councillor Bill Service's letter in The Herald (May 18).  more...

Dumping plan

Sir, Local people have been generous to the power station owners, RWE npower, in allowing them to turn our environment into an ash dump. Perhaps we should consider how generous they plan to be in return.  more...

ID card tip

Sir, Fellow Abingdonians who may wish to save themselves a bit of cash and a lot of hassle might consider renewing their passports now, even if not yet due to expire. This would save them spending £40+ we will have to pay for the new ID card, which, willy-nilly, is shortly to accompany the passport.  more...

Scare story

Sir, It seems an increasing number of people are now supporting Thames Water's giant reservoir proposal, alarmed by a threatened drought order.  more...

Music

The Makropulos Case, English National Opera, London Coliseum

The audience is transported, in ENO's mesmerising new production of Janacek's Makropulos Case, to the 1920s Czechoslovakia in which this unsettling and deeply moving work of art was created. After the brilliance and lyricism of the overture, wherein brass fanfares and drumrolls recall a past of pageantry and colour, the curtain rises slowly very slowly on an all too boring present. It is the time of a grey bureaucracy, scuttling about its business of filling in forms, pushing papers and deciphering documents, in bare and brutal buildings, frighteningly presented in Charles Edwards's designs.  more...

Reem Kelani CD reviewed

I first heard Palestinian singer Reem Kelani with Israeli saxophonist Gilad Atzmon's band Orient Express. Listening to these two musicians from conflicting countries sharing the same stage was an unforgettable experience. A spine-tingling charge came from the extraordinary power and emotional intensity of Kelani's voice backed by Atzmon's equally inspiring sax playing. It was also inevitable that two such focused musicians would not be able to occupy the same bandstand for long. They might share the same political outlook but have their own musical paths to follow.  more...

Foggerty's Fairy, Oxford University Gilbert and Sullivan Society

For this term's production, the Oxford University G&S Society bravely ventured into GWOS territory that's Gilbert Without Sullivan to the uninitiated.  more...

Don Giovanni, Chipping Norton Theatre, and touring

Chipping Norton Theatre's production of Don Giovanni is a considerable achievement. Scaling down an opera of this magnitude to fit small venues is no easy task, but director Caroline Sharman and her design team have managed to make it seem as though the opera was written for such cosy, intimate settings, rather than for the much grander setting of the National Theatre in Prague, where it premiered in 1787.  more...

Who's On Where in Jazz

THE highlight of the week is certainly Julian Joseph and his Electric Band at the Spin on Thursday. Julian Joseph is acclaimed internationally as a virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer who is a performer of inspiring thoughtfulness and imagination. All this apart from his even-handed and intelligent work as a broadcaster with Radio 3.  more...

News

Thames Water's dilemma over drought

Drought dilemma 'Targets have been met everywhere except in London, and we were investing record amounts in infrastructure' NICK TENNANT Thames Water Water shortage. . . If a drought order is imposed, Mick Fry, of of MRF Window Cleaners, will not be able to use the pole system that he has invested inf=Helvetica Cond bi Picture: Sean Dillow d=3,3,1Romantic notions about returning to the old days, but standing round the standpipe instead of the village pump, lose their shine when you imagine yourself bonding with the neighbours and discussing communal washing arrangements in the rain. The Environment Agency has released a "drought prospect report", calling on Thames Water to apply immediately for a drought order to ban all non-essential uses of water. So far, Thames has resisted such calls. Could the company's resistance have anything to do with the fact that Thames's German owners, RWE, have recently put the whole leaky edifice, complete with its shambolic network of Victorian infrastructure, up for sale? After all, talk of shortage and standpipes would hardly attract buyers.  more...

Thames Water's dilemma over drought

Romantic notions about returning to the old days, but standing round the standpipe instead of the village pump, lose their shine when you imagine yourself bonding with the neighbours and discussing communal washing arrangements in the rain. The Environment Agency has released a "drought prospect report", calling on Thames Water to apply immediately for a drought order to ban all non-essential uses of water. So far, Thames has resisted such calls. Could the company's resistance have anything to do with the fact that Thames's German owners, RWE, have recently put the whole leaky edifice, complete with its shambolic network of Victorian infrastructure, up for sale? After all, talk of shortage and standpipes would hardly attract buyers.  more...

A scrap over waste

Time is rapidly running out for the county to decide how best to dispose of its rubbish any delay could be costly for the environment and council-tax payers The clock has been ticking for many months now. No matter how much we in Oxfordshire cut back on the rubbish we leave out, regardless of how diligently we recycle, the county is moving, some might say sleepwalking, to the end of the landfill road.  more...

A scrap over waste

Time is rapidly running out for the county to decide how best to dispose of its rubbish any delay could be costly for the environment and council-tax payers The clock has been ticking for many months now. No matter how much we in Oxfordshire cut back on the rubbish we leave out, regardless of how diligently we recycle, the county is moving, some might say sleepwalking, to the end of the landfill road.  more...

Airfield homes plan turned down

PLANS to build 85 houses opposite Bicester airfield have been refused by a planning inspector, it was announced today.  more...

Car crash closes road

A FOUR-VEHICLE pile-up near Bicester this morning left one man trapped in his car and closed the road for more than two hours.  more...

'Get rid of gravestones' says councillor

UNSTABLE gravestones in Bicester's cemetery have been laid flat and could be thrown away if not claimed by relatives within two years.  more...

Residents welcome dispersal powers

RESIDENTS living in a Bicester estate plagued by anti-social behaviour have given the thumbs-up to new police dispersal powers.  more...

Opinion

UNINTENDED COMEDY IN ANNA'S MEMOIRS

The scene is London's Cambridge Theatre where Anna Massey is about to take the stage as The Reluctant Debutante in William Douglas-Home's play of that name. Things are looking good for Anna, as we learn from her autobiography Telling Some Tales (Hutchinson, £17.99). Nerves had been a problem during the pre- London tour but they were calmer after some stage business "which, thank the Lord, I timed to perfection. From this moment everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the whole evening was a triumph".  more...

Other Sport

BOXING: Guntert to fight on

Jake Guntert has vowed to fight on after suffering the first defeat of his professional career.  more...

BOXING: Guntert to fight on

Jake Guntert has vowed to fight on after suffering the first defeat of his professional career.  more...

BOWLS: Oxon aim to go one better

Oxfordshire open their EBA Middleton Cup campaign against the Isle of Wight at Shanklin on Saturday determined to go one better than last year when they finished national runners-up.  more...

BOWLS: South Oxford celebrate

South Oxford entertained an EBA team to mark the club's centenary year, going down to a strong side 144-97 in a six-rink match.  more...

BOWLS: Oxon fall in opener

Oxfordshire went down 137-106 to Surrey in their opening Home Counties League fixture at Croydon.  more...

BOXING: Guntert loses out

Abingdon middleweight Jake Guntert has vowed to fight on after suffering the first defeat of his professional career.  more...

Oxford News

Family pay tribute to tragic 20-year-old

The family of a man found hanging from a tree in a nature reserve have said the reasons why he apparently chose to take his own life are a mystery.  more...

120 drivers fined in seat-belt check

Police took just five hours to catch 120 drivers not wearing seat-belts during an operation held after the first anniversary of one of Oxford's worst road accidents.  more...

MP condemns huge tax credit blunders

Families in Oxfordshire have been overpaid in tax credits by £13.1m - and many now face the prospect of having to pay the money back.  more...

Bailiffs evict boatyard squatters

They risked their lives and their homes.  more...

Rain heads off tougher drought restrictions

Heavy rain which made last month the wettest May for 23 years have made it less likely that tougher curbs on the use of water will be imposed.  more...

Strike threat deepens at universities

Oxford Brookes University is the "most belligerent university in the sector", according to union members now threatening all-out strike action in an escalating dispute over pay.  more...

OAP wrestled with bag snatcher

A pensioner chased a mugger down an Oxford street before passers-by came to her aid, a court heard.  more...

Pupils' 'Sunbrella' invention wins enterprise prize

The Sunbrella - an umbrella which keeps you warm as well as dry - was the winning invention at a competition for school pupils styled on the BBC television show Dragons' Den.  more...

Recipes

Spinach and poached eggs

ONE of my friends is harvesting fresh spinach on a sort of cut-and-come-again basis at the moment. The more leaves she cuts and distributes to her friends, the more succulent new shoots burst out of the plants.  more...

Restaurants

Prezzo's cheery staff keep food coming on a busy night

Prezzo was one of the first restaurants to open at the Oxford Castle development actually, I think it was the second and definitely the first to close. I arranged a rendezvous with friends there one evening and was dismayed to find the doors bolted and lights switched off. Had I imagined the bustling scene there a few days earlier? I might have thought so, except that I'd picked up a copy of the menu.  more...

Share Prices

Today's local share prices

AEA Technology 106.75 BMW 2722 Electrocomponents 255.5 Isoft Group 88 Oxford Bio 30 Oxford Instruments 203 Reed Elsevier 521 RM 176.5 RPS 204.5 Torex Retail 85.5   more...

Speedway

SPEEDWAY: Cheetahs maul Swindon

Oxford Cheetahs' fans were in raptures on Wednesday night following a thrilling 47-43 victory over Swindon Robins in one of the most hard-fought derbies seen at Oxford Stadium, writes John Gaisford.  more...

Tennis

TENNIS: Henman facing battle

Oxfordshire's Tim Henman (pictured) faces an uphill task today when he resumes his French Open second-round match trailing 6-3, 6-2 to Russia's Dmitry Tursunov.  more...

Thame News

Boy hurt in collision with car

A boy was taken to hospital with head and chest injuries after a road accident yesterday.  more...

Theatre

Anything Goes, Milton Keynes Theatre

There's no chance of the SS American taking anyone by surprise: the luxury liner's foghorn is so loud that it must be audible all over central Milton Keynes. The ship is leaving harbour, and the passengers are getting acquainted over champagne cocktails. For instance, there's drunken financier Elisha Whitney. "I wancha to shell all my shares in Amalgamated," he slurs at his assistant Billy Crocker. But Billy has other things on his mind. "I'm in love," he informs Reno Sweeney, an explosive mixture of goodtime girl and gospel singer. "And I'm in cabin 13," she replies, quick as a flash. Meanwhile, it's becoming apparent that appearances can deceive: Moonface Martin may look like a minister of religion, but he's actually a hapless gangster.  more...

Buddy, New Theatre, Oxford, and touring

People were dancing in the aisles at Oxford's New Theatre on Monday night, as the hit musical Buddy opened on a week-long visit. And who can blame them? This rock 'n' roll fest complete with infectious tunes, great choreography and feel-good humour is truly irresistible.  more...

From Russia with love

Twelfth Night in Russian? Here in Oxford? GILES WOODFORDE meets a man who knows just how passionate they are about the Bard in St Petersburg McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Moscow in 1990. And what on earth has that got to do with Declan Donnellan, co-founder and joint artistic director of the Cheek by Jowl theatre company, you may ask? Well, I met Declan in a surprising Hampstead survivor a good, old-fashioned caf, the sort of place that serves a traditional English breakfast at all hours. The caf is famous because, supported by a hoard of local residents, it saw off an attempt by McDonald's to turn it into its Hampstead outlet.  more...

From Russia with love

Twelfth Night in Russian? Here in Oxford? GILES WOODFORDE meets a man who knows just how passionate they are about the Bard in St Petersburg McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Moscow in 1990. And what on earth has that got to do with Declan Donnellan, co-founder and joint artistic director of the Cheek by Jowl theatre company, you may ask? Well, I met Declan in a surprising Hampstead survivor a good, old-fashioned caf, the sort of place that serves a traditional English breakfast at all hours. The caf is famous because, supported by a hoard of local residents, it saw off an attempt by McDonald's to turn it into its Hampstead outlet.  more...

Travel

A jewel of a day

Lovers of gems are bound to enjoy Birmingham's jewellery quarter, writes SYLVIA VETTA Guys may think it is not for them but if you are interested in our industrial heritage then it will be your gem, too! In the nineteenth and early twentieth century Birmingham was like today's China. If you bought a souvenir in Egypt it is likely to have been manufactured in good old Brum. At that time, 70,000 people worked in Hockley. Although Birmingham pieces were included on a Knights Templars inventory in 1308, tremendous expansion took place because of the great industrialist Matthew Boulton. His lobbying succeeded in getting an assay office built in 1773.  more...

A jewel of a day

Lovers of gems are bound to enjoy Birmingham's jewellery quarter, writes SYLVIA VETTA Guys may think it is not for them but if you are interested in our industrial heritage then it will be your gem, too! In the nineteenth and early twentieth century Birmingham was like today's China. If you bought a souvenir in Egypt it is likely to have been manufactured in good old Brum. At that time, 70,000 people worked in Hockley. Although Birmingham pieces were included on a Knights Templars inventory in 1308, tremendous expansion took place because of the great industrialist Matthew Boulton. His lobbying succeeded in getting an assay office built in 1773.  more...

Wallingford

Chance for children to tune in

PRIMARY schoolchildren in Oxfordshire will be able to learn a musical instrument free, thanks to a £30,000 cash injection from the Government.  more...

Dash to swans' rescue

INTREPID swan rescuer Diana Davies nearly had to admit defeat when she was faced with a swan's nest and eggs being swept away on the swollen River Thame at Dorchester.  more...

Opening up the gateways

KISSING gates, stiles and fences will be installed in a bid to open up Oxfordshire's downland countryside to walkers.  more...

'Bin the knives' call

LETHAL weapons have been seized by police in Oxfordshire in their battle to stop violent offenders carrying knives.  more...

'Fight, fight and fight again'

ABINGDON residents issued a defiant 'hands off our hospital' message when more than 200 people attended the first public meeting in the town on proposed changes to community hospitals.  more...

Doctor backs NHS moves

A WOODCOTE GP has welcomed the NHS Confederation's view that the UK needs fewer hospital beds.  more...

Bills for eye care which is no longer wanted

NHS managers are still footing the bill for a privately-run mobile eye unit which has withdrawn its service from south Oxfordshire due to a lack of patients.  more...

New plan for town hospital

A NEW plan for Townlands hospital, Henley, is being drawn up by local health care experts.  more...

Lorry driver faces prison for sex acts with teenager

A LORRY driver who slept with the daughter of a woman he met on the Internet has been told he will go to jail.  more...

Theatre: cash or curtains?

CRUNCH day is arriving for Wallingford's Sinodun Players and the plans to refurbish their listed Corn Exchange Theatre.  more...

Wantage And Grove

Chance for children to tune in

PRIMARY schoolchildren in Oxfordshire will be able to learn a musical instrument free, thanks to a £30,000 cash injection from the Government.  more...

Pupil transformed by balancing bean bags

THIS time last year, Stuart Jones' dyslexia was fast turning him into a juvenile delinquent. Branded a nuisance, a trouble maker and threatened with exclusion, the schoolboy from Grove and his parents were at the end of their tether.  more...

Lost buses a 'body blow'

LOCAL councillors have attacked the county council's decision to end funding for a bus service linking Wantage and Faringdon.  more...

Opening up the gateways

KISSING gates, stiles and fences will be installed in a bid to open up Oxfordshire's downland countryside to walkers.  more...

Albert Hall performers

A GROUP of dance students from Didcot swapped a local park for one of the most famous stages in the world last Sunday.  more...

'Bin the knives' call

LETHAL weapons have been seized by police in Oxfordshire in their battle to stop violent offenders carrying knives.  more...

'Fight, fight and fight again'

ABINGDON residents issued a defiant 'hands off our hospital' message when more than 200 people attended the first public meeting in the town on proposed changes to community hospitals.  more...

Doctor backs NHS moves

A WOODCOTE GP has welcomed the NHS Confederation's view that the UK needs fewer hospital beds.  more...

Bills for eye care which is no longer wanted

NHS managers are still footing the bill for a privately-run mobile eye unit which has withdrawn its service from south Oxfordshire due to a lack of patients.  more...

New plan for town hospital

A NEW plan for Townlands hospital, Henley, is being drawn up by local health care experts.  more...

School move 'best for students'

KING Alfred's Community and Sports College in Wantage becoming the county's first foundation school would be in the best interests of students, says principal Nick Young.  more...

Driver dies in A417 smash

A DRIVER died after his car left a country road and crashed into trees on Sunday night.  more...

Witney News

Firefighters and police called to car fire

Firefighters and police were called to a car fire in Park Street, Charlbury, at about 12.30am today.  more...

Firefighters and police called to car fire

Firefighters and police were called to a car fire in Park Street, Charlbury, at about 12.30am today.  more...

  
Restrict search to 1 June 2006