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Category: Thame news

  • Top soprano to appear in Thame

    AS part of her nationwide tour, Stars Are Rising The Live Tour, official number one,  best-selling soprano, Joanna Forest is appearing at The Players Theatre, Thame, on Friday, September 29, supported by the Thame Children’s Choir (TCC2).

    Described as one of the most exciting and important sopranos performing today, Joanna has performed to millions on the BBC, ITV, Sky and Classic FM and appeared at many prestigious  events including The Royal Variety Performance.

    At the Players Theatre, Joanna will be performing songs from her critically acclaimed debut album, Stars Are Rising, which made chart history when it was released earlier this year. She became the first independent artist to get to Number one in the Official Classical Album Charts, even managing to knock Alfie Boe off the top spot! The album also claimed Number one spots in the iTunes and Amazon Classical Charts.

    Joanna has been working with world-renowned orchestrator, conductor and pianist, Robert Emery, since 2015.  They created Stars are Rising, an album that is dramatic in scale, cinematic in style and gathers together an eclectic mix of powerful arias, cinematic classics and crossover versions of popular hits such as  Bowie’s Life on Mars and Slade’s How Does It Feel?  An animated video of How Does It Feel? went viral on the internet.

    After studying at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Joanna made her West End musical debut at just 13, performing at the Dominion Theatre, London in Bernadette The Musical. She also made her straight acting debut when she was cast by Michael Palin in his first play, The Weekend. Joanna broke onto the classical music scene in 2014, when she duetted with Britain’s Got Talent winner and global megastar, Paul Potts, at a charity concert in London’s Palace Theatre. Since then she has been performing across the country in stadiums, theatres and proms shows.

    Joanna is a keen supporter of charity and, having survived breast cancer at the age of just 21, now dedicates any free time she has to her role as an ambassador ‘Boobette’ for breast cancer awareness charity, CoppaFeel! (https://coppafeel.org/). £1 from every copy of Stars Are Rising sold is being donated to the charity.

    Stars Are Rising, The Live Tour, Joanna Forest performs at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame OX9 2DP on Friday, September 29, at 7.45pm.  Tickets cost £10 from Spear Travels, Greyhound Walk, Thame,  telephone 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk

    Thame Children’s Choir (TCC2)                                                                                               TCC2 was founded in November 2010 with administrative and financial support from the highly regarded Thame Chamber Choir. Directed by local professional conductor Duncan Aspden, the choir offers a special opportunity for boys and girls aged from 7 years upwards to learn to sing and enjoy a wide variety of music. Members come from a wide area in and around Thame so joining the choir is a great chance to make new friends.

    CoppaFeel!

    CoppaFeel! ® is a registered charity that exists to educate and remind every young person in the UK that checking their boobs isn’t only fun, it could save their life. They are the first breast cancer charity in the UK to create awareness amongst young people, with the aim of instilling a new healthy habit that could one day save their life. For more information go to https://coppafeel.org/.

    Thame Players is a registered charity run entirely by volunteers offering a varied range of productions all year round, from serious theatre to comedy and pantomime, including their own productions, visiting shows, and film screenings by Thame Cinema 4 All. For more information about Thame Players and how to join as a member or a friend, call 07938 857291 or visit www.thameplayers.co.uk

  • Join the TAL Art Trail

    THIS year, as part of Thame Arts & Literature Festival (TAL), Thame will host its first ever ‘Art Crawl’, giving festival goers the chance to stroll around Thame between events and explore the different venues celebrating art in the town centre. Running from Wednesday 10 – Saturday 14 October, the Art Crawl includes the ‘Sparksartists’ event shown in the TAL brochure. It will also feature established galleries, artist and makers shops; pop up art exhibitions at nine different venues; live art activities where you can watch an artist at work, and even get involved yourself; and a showcase of community arts groups, to inspire everyone to get creative.

    Thame has a wealth of artistic talent and this event hopes to be the first of many that celebrate this. For more information please visit: www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/thame-art-crawl where events are being added and updated regularly.

    Thame Town Centre shops are also getting involved in TAL by dressing their windows to celebrate the festival. The theme this time is ‘Jane Austen’, to celebrate the bi-centenary of her death.

  • No Cup win for Thame cricketers

    Image courtesy of the Wormsley Estate

    THAME travelled to the picturesque Wormsley cricket ground hoping to round off a hugely-successful season with a win in the Wilf Bennett T20 final.

    Thame won the toss and elected to bat, in front of a large crowd of their supporters. However, losing both openers early they struggled to get a grip on the game, with tight bowling and fielding from opponents Bicester and North Oxford. Despite a partnership between Callum Russell (37*) and Michael Beard (30), plus lusty blows from Adam Phippen, two middle-order run-outs put Thame on the back-foot as they only managed a total of 107-6 off their 20 overs.

    The BNOCC innings started well for Thame, with a Michael Higgs wicket, but from there a pivotal second-wicket partnership and poor bowling all but took the game away, despite a flurry of late wickets. Only Hassam Mushtaq found his line on the day with his spell of 4 overs 1 for 11, but unfortunately this wasn’t enough, BNOCC winning with two overs to spare and by 6 wickets.

    A disappointing end to a very successful Cup run but the great performances of the club’s youngsters bode well for next season and beyond.

    Meanwhile, the club won the final two friendlies of the season – on the 9th against Hetairoi (Guy Holmes 100*- pictured and 3 wickets for Lewis Ludlam) and on the 17th against Northfields CC (Harry Thomas 63) – while the Women’s team lost a close match against an experienced South Moreton team on the 17th, with runs coming from Beth Johns and Mel White. The Women’s team will finish their season at the Bicester softball festival on Saturday 30th.

    Source: Contributed

  • October fair to go ahead!

    THAME Town Council and the Logndon and Home Counties Section of the Showmen’s Guild are pleased to confirm that the Thame October Fair will go ahead as normal on 13 and 14 October 2017.

    In a statement today, Thame Town Council said: “We look forward to a successful and enjoyable event for all concerned.

    “The Guild and Thame Town Council have also committed to talk further re the terms for both the September and October Fairs for 2018 onwards and are both convinced that agreement will be reached in the not too distant future. “

  • Thame fair- briefing paper

    A new statement regarding the cancellation of the Thame fair has been issued by Thame Town Council:

    “By refusing to sign a reasonable one year agreement, the Showmen’s Guild has caused the Cancellation of the Thame Fair in September. Two press releases were issued by Thame Town Council to explain the situation. There has been continued interest in further background information, and this briefing paper has been prepared to answer the questions raised.

    You can read the FULL briefing paper by following the link:

    https://www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk

     

  • Protecting our beautiful countryside in an age of ‘monetisation’

    DAME Fiona Reynolds, former Director-General of the National Trust, is to address a Chilterns’ audience about “The Fight for Beauty: Our Path to a Better Future”- her recent book about the evolution of protecting the beauty all around us, in an age when everything it seems, has to a monetory value.

     

    Dame Fiona Reynolds will be at the Elgiva Theatre, Chesham, on the evening of Tuesday, September 26. she will explore an alternative vision for society and the environment – a theme that will be taken up in relation to the Chilterns and other protected areas by Sue Holden, Chief Officer of the Chilterns Conservation Board and Howard Davies, Chief Executive of the National Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

    According to a recent review of the her book: “We live in a world where the drive for economic growth is crowding out everything that can’t be given a monetary value and it’s getting harder to find space for the things that really matter but money can’t buy, including our future. Fiona Reynolds proposes a radical but simple solution to inspire us through the beauty of the world around us. Delving into our past, examining landscapes, nature, farming and urbanisation, she shows how ideas about beauty have arisen and evolved, been shaped by public policy, been knocked back and inched forward until they arrived lost in the economically-driven spirit of today.” (LSE uncredited)

    Tickets for the event are selling fast and are available to buy from the Elgiva Theatre or online at www.elgiva.com. Local producers, Auberge du Chocolat and Chiltern Icecream, will also be on hand to showcase their products before the event, with a book signing (cash sales) by Dame Fiona afterwards.

  • New generation fire engines for Oxfordshire

    OXFORDSHIRE fire crews have begun to take control of the next generation of fire engines, after a collaborative partnership with neighbouring fire sevices. The resulting agreement will see a total of 37 new fire engines over the next four years, and aligned working practices between Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. New features of the new fire engines include:

    L-R: Cllr Peter McDonald (vice chair Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority), Cllr Judith Heathcoat (Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue) and Cllr Angus Ross (Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service)
    • Larger (22mm) hose reels to enable water to be delivered more quickly to extinguish fires
    • Battery-powered extrication equipment, which is easier to carry and less bulky than hydraulic equipment previously used to cut casualties from vehicles; eliminates potential hydraulic hose hazards and removes generator noise from rescue situations
    • Improved mobile lighting for better visibility at the scene of an incident
    • A more comfortable seating area for crews. This is especially important as firefighters are typically spending more time in the fire engine, completing prevention work such as Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSCs)

  • Watch cricket in the beautiful surroundings of the Getty estate

    THAME Town Cricket Club’s T20 team has reached the final of one of the county’s two big T20 competitions, the Wilf Bennett Cup, and the club is hoping that lots of locals will make the short journey to Wormsley, near Stockenchurch – just 20 minutes drive away to support them.

    Image courtesy of the Wormsley Estate

    Wormsley is a very prestigious cricket venue, on the Getty estate, a beautiful 18th century Estate in the Chiltern Hills, and the match begins at 11am this Saturday, September 16th.

  • Big T20 end-of-season challenge for Thame cricketers

    AFTER the celebrations of the Thame Town Cricket Club’s momentous promotion to the Home Counties Premier League, Division One, for the first time in its history, the club’s attention has now squarely turned to the plans for the new clubhouse.

    With the start of work delayed temporarily, due to higher-than-expected tenders, the club, with the help and support of Thame Town Council, has now entered a busy month of work to get the project ready for the starting gun to be fired.

    On the cost side, discussions are well under way with the various contractors who submitted tenders, in order to bring the costs within an acceptable budget. On the fundraising side, the club is asking all its members, friends and supporters to help, in one or more of these three ways:-

    • By sponsoring a brick in one of the interior walls of the new clubhouse – full details can be found and a card downloaded from – LINK
      (or just call 07968-201152 for a card).
    • by making a donation, however small, on the club’s crowdfunding site – LINK  (or just google the words “crowdfunder Thame cricket club”
    • if you have a business and would like to help, please contact Andy Jinman (email – marketing@thamecricket.org.uk) to talk about sponsorship or advertising that would benefit both parties

    Club spokesman, Andy Jinman, said: “This new clubhouse will not only benefit the men, women and children in the cricket club, but also Thame Hockey Club, as a social centre, and local community groups that will use the new spaces for their activities.”

    Finally, on the field of play, Thame’s Sunday XI beat wandering side, Hetairoi, last Saturday, September 9, by six wickets, with Guy Holmes making 100*. The season will come to an end this weekend, with the club’s T20 team battling it out against Bicester and North Oxford for the Wilf Bennett Cup, at the Wormsley Estate’s ground, starting at 11am on Saturday 16, (free entry). That will be followed by a friendly match at home on Sunday 17, and the Women’s team taking part in a tournament at South Moreton on the same day.

    SOURCE – Contributed

  • Thame fair cancellation – update

    FOLLOWING the news that the Thame September fair will not go ahead later this month, and the many comments and questions on social media, Thame Town Council has issued the following update:

    Image courtesy of Iain Fairweather

    “FOLLOWING enquires from residents and businesses and the discussions on social media over the weekend, we are sorry to inform you that in spite of last ditch efforts instigated by the Town Council that the Guild have decided that the Thame Fair in September should still not go ahead. The Town Council sincerely wants the tradition of a town centre fair at the same time as the old Thame Show to continue, but on terms that are fair to both the Guild and the Town. The Town Council must always budget to ensure that it is not subsidising a commercial operation. We know that the Guild has charged their showmen around £32,000 in rent for each of the last 3 years and have put that up by around another £4,000 (12%) this year, more than enough to cover the modest £979 increase (from £27,521) in Town Council charge, the first increase in three years, in spite of ever-rising costs. The amount being charged by the Town Council this year is £28,500 (not £33,900 as publicised by Guild members on social media). The Town Council offered a fully reasonable one-year, rather than four-year, agreement but the Guild would still not sign the agreement by a new deadline of 5pm on Monday 11 September 2017.

    “At the Full Council meeting on 15 August 2017 amendments to the Fair Agreement were approved to accommodate specific requests from the Showmen’s Guild. The Guild had the opportunity to come along to this public meeting to address Councillors of any concerns that they had. There were some members of the public and press at that public meeting, but no representation from the Guild.

    “There has been much discussion about the costs to the Town Council. The Town Council is responsible for event management, event layout and emergency evacuation procedures and uses independent, accredited, local tried and tested contractors who give the best value and provide an excellent service to the Town and the Guild. Security, safety and clear-up is paramount. The risk of chopping and changing proven suppliers in a high profile town centre event is not outweighed by constant minimizing of cost. This year additional security measures have been required following advice from the police and in light of the current heightened security terrorist threats.

    “Fair operations are also different in each and every Town with operational requirements assessed by the relevant authority. One service at one cost in one town is not necessarily appropriate in another. Security in Thame includes the manning of three major and two minor road closure points, along with ensuring relevant and safe access for businesses and residents in a vibrant town centre. Comparing costs only is not necessarily meaningful. It was in April 2008 that the Town Council became the official organiser of the fair with roles and responsibilities defined to ensure that the concerns raised by the emergency services were significantly improved. To that end the Town Council to date have fulfilled these responsibilities with the Showmens Guild.

    “It should be made clear that there will be no provisions in place to enable the September Fair to take place this year as the Showmens Guild of Great Britain have refused to sign the one year Agreement.

    “In the spirit of partnership the Town Council is hoping to work with the Showmens Guild to enable the October Charter Fair and future fairs to take place.

    “Members of the Town Council would also like to clarify further points that have been aired on social media. Thame is privileged that there are other independent organisations that undertake other festivals for Thame residents. This year they have given support to Music in the Park, Thame Carnival, Thame Town Music Festival and Thame Arts and Literature Festival.

    “The management of the Show Ground (and events held there) are completely independent of the Town Council which has not been involved in any way in influencing, allowing, cancelling or deciding the location of events held there.”