Category: Missed a ThameNews story?

WHAT’S Cooking?, the well-established delicatessen and food shop in Thame, has a fresh, new look and re-opened this morning (Wednesday), offering more space, more choice and a new café.

As specialists in artisan produce, much of it locally sourced, What’s Cooking? wanted to offer a greater choice to customers and provide a bigger showcase for local food producers. One of the two Directors, Sally Dickinson explained: “We knew we needed more space and when the premises next door became available, we took the opportunity to add on a café and offer a greater range in a larger shop.

“For some time, our loyal customers were asking for somewhere they could sit down and enjoy the food they were buying from us, and the new café was the answer. It’s open for breakfast, light lunches, coffee and tea from 7.30 am to 5 pm, and you can now choose whether to take away or eat in.

“We’re especially proud of our coffee, which comes from small, artisan estates and is roasted by a local, wood-fired roastery in Witney, UE Coffee. UE only uses sustainable, organic beans from small estates. The roasters, the only ones in the UK, are wood-fired using sustainable locally sourced wood, which is much more carbon-efficient than gas.”

Alongside the deli and café, What’s Cooking? also has a catering operation that serves all occasions from a small private dinner party to a large wedding for 150 people.

Sally and her fellow Director, Tony Hazelton believe that the success of the Thame Food Festival shows just how popular local foods are and that locally sourced produce is here to stay. “While you can always purchase online – and What’s Cooking? is developing its website presence – there is nothing to beat the special pleasure you get from seeing, choosing and enjoying food that’s as fresh as possible because it’s locally sourced and perfectly crafted, which you can sit down to enjoy there and then, or take home to eat as part of a delicious meal,” added Tony.

The What’s Cooking? refurbishment involved local craftsmen too, and Sally and Tony are grateful to local suppliers Dymott Builders, Barr Joinery and Point North Electrical for their hard work in completing the conversion.

“Most of all,” said Sally, “We are delighted that we can now provide local producers with a larger shop window, where their food can be made available to a wider public who can spread the word about the wealth of wonderful local produce we have on our doorstep.”

What’s Cooking is at 6-7 Cornmarket, Thame.

VILLAGERS around Long Crendon and Shabbington, are being advised to close their windows as a huge pal of thick, black smoke emenating from a barn fire close by.  Around 20 firefighters and four engines are still tackling the fire.

The material feeding the fire is reported to be ‘mixed waste’ and to include plastics stored there.

More information as and when it becomes known. More of your pictures here LINK

FOR the eighth year running, Thame Town Council wants to hear about those people who help their neighbours, support local groups or go out of their way for others in their community, to recognise, to thank and celebrate those special people ‘who are working hard to make our community a safer, more vibrant and happier place to live’.

Nominations opened today Friday, (26/02) for suggestions of your unsung hero in seven categories:

Sporting Achievement
Someone of any age who has shown real dedication to their sport. Perhaps a player, a coach, even someone who supports your team from the side-lines.

Voluntary Individual or Organisation
Any person or group that has worked tirelessly for the good of the community. Thame is a hive of community activity, which local cause deserves your nomination?

Person of Courage
Someone of any age who has overcome personal adversity or who is facing special challenges on an everyday basis.

Lifetime Achievement
Someone who has made a real contribution to Thame over a long period of time. They could be anyone from a teacher or carer to a fundraiser or event organiser. This award can be made posthumously.

Young Achiever
A young person up to the age of 18 who has excelled in a particular skill or discipline. Maybe a passionate campaigner, a star pupil or a great musician.

Service with a Smile
A business or an individual that consistently provides a faultless and friendly service.

Creative Arts Achievement
Anyone who has contributed to the artistic life of Thame.

To make a nomination, visit the town council’s website and fill out the electronic nomination form, or pop in to the Town Hall Information Centre and pick up a voting card. You can find out more about the Town Awards and meet some of the judging panel at the Thame Market Community Stall on Tuesday, March 15, or outside the Town Hall on March 29. Follow the awards on Twitter using #ThameAwards

The closing date for nominations is April 8, 2016.

ARTSWEEK at John Hampden School has been an ‘out of this world’ experience this year, with the theme of Space, Aliens and Star Wars as their guiding force!

The Space theme saw the school hall transformed into an artistic galaxy far, far away, home to a pink planet and a green moon, inhabited by Ewoks, aliens, Wookies, droids and the odd princess. Darth Vader’s menacing presence was felt as he presided over the proceedings as a giant wall hanging and Tim Peak could be seen on his spacewalk, narrowly avoiding the Millennium Falcon and the Enterprise as they zig-zagged between the planets from our own solar system, speeding through the night sky.

The children took part in a wide range of artistic endeavours to enable the out of this world transformation, including printmaking of zodiac signs and planets, photography of fantasy space scenes, clay modelling of aliens, sewn Ewoks and planets, space marbling, painting and the ever popular junk modelling. They also researched the real spacemen and women who explore space today, British Astronaut, Tim Peak, who is currently circling the earth in the International Space Station, being one of the inspirations for the Artsweek theme.

The John Hampden staff and children were a diverse crew on the final dress-up Friday of the week, with a multitude of Darth Vaders, Princess Leias, Ewoks, aliens, spacemen and even Arthur Dent and The Men in Black to keep everyone in line! 

Once again, John Hampden school enroled an army of volunteer parents, grandparents, governors, guardians, carers, artists, teachers and teaching assistants, old and new, to support the children in their artwork (over 64!), who went along to help bring the pupil’s ideas to life. The school’s PTFA provided the means to fund the week, with a generous donation which enabled the school to provide a wealth of artistic experiences and resources for the children to enjoy.

As well as the arts and craft work, the staff set the children a challenge in the Artsweek Quiz, where they had to match the droid or alien to the right staff member who made it in the ‘Is this your droid or alien?’ competition, complete with a Star Wars prize for the winning entries.

At the end of the week, JHS friends and family were invited to take a small step for man and a giant leap for mankind into a fantasy galaxy, journeying through space-dust clouds and meteorites, past lightsaber battles and Storm Troopers to cross the final frontier and find the culmination of the school’s artistic endeavours at the Artsweek Fair-trade Café as a Friday finale.

“We were ‘lost in space’ for a while and it will take half-term to recover from our ‘out of this world’ experience, but the Force is strong at JHS and we will enjoy our hall in the weeks to come as a reminder of our inter-galactic adventure!” said the school’s Arts Co-ordinators, Jackie Nichols and Clare Field.