Category: Thame news

THE Conservative Party has won the seat of Henley in the General Election, with John Howell retaining the seat with a .6% decrease in his share of the vote compared to the last election in 2015. The turnout for the Henley constituency was 76.3% which compares to 70.3% for the 2015 election.

The official 2017 figures show that both the Labour and Lib Dems made gains, while the Green Party and UKIP reduced their share of the vote:

GREEN PARTY             1,864      3.3%      (2015 –   3,815)
LIB DEMS                      8,485     14.9%     (2015 –  6,205)
RADICAL PARTY             392      0.7%           N/A
CONSERVATIVE        33,749     59.1%     (2015 – 32,292)
LABOUR                        11,455    20.1%    (2015 –   6,917)
UKIP                                 1,154      2.0%     (2015 –   6,007)

You can read the full statistics on the BBC website HERE

A Thame based photographer has received a business boost from Retail Entrepreneur Theo Paphitis. Last week, Mark Hewitson, owner of Mark Hewitson Photography, tweeted Theo about his business during ‘Small Business Sunday’ and was one of six weekly winners to gain a retweet by Theo to his 500,000 Twitter followers.

The weekly initiative, set up by Theo in 2010, now has 1700 Small Business Sunday winners and supports small businesses all over the UK.

Business and retail entrepreneur and self-confessed Shopkeeper, Theo re-tweeted Mark’s message to his almost 500,000 followers and as a result, Mark Hewitson Photography  has over 150 more Twitter followers as well as a constant influx of phone calls and website enquiries about their photography services. They are also profiled on the #SBS website (www.theopaphitissbs.com) that is exclusive to all Small Business Sunday winners.

Mark explained: “I create family, pet and commercial images at my studio in Thame and it is great to have support from Theo in raising my profile. I am delighted that Theo has recognised my hard work and has helped spread the word about what I do to his following. Since winning the phone has not stopped ringing and the emails are coming in thick and fast, I am absolutely delighted with my win.”

Small business champion and Ryman Stationery, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue Chairman, Theo Paphitis, said: “We are thrilled to welcome new #SBS members every week and highlight just how important it is to support our small businesses here in the UK.  My vision is that everyone who has ever won an #SBS re-tweet from me becomes part of a friendly club; like-minded individuals who can share successes and learnings. The website and shop #SBS will also give a valuable profile to the winners chosen and I wish Mark Hewitson Photography every success.”

#SBS Winners also have access to the exclusive members’ selling platform www.shopsbs.co.uk where hundreds of winners are already selling thousands of products, from unique gifts and bespoke furniture to pet toys or jewellery. It is another opportunity for the #SBS winners to turn tweets into sales.

Anyone looking for a re‐tweet from Theo should tweet him about their business on Sunday between 5 PM and 7.30 PM and include the hashtag #SBS. Six lucky businesses are re‐tweeted every Monday at 8 PM and then invited to enter their profile on the new website, attend the annual #SBS networking event and take advantage of the networking opportunities.

FOR several years, the twinning between Montesson and Thame has seen much sporting action between some of its more dynamic members, including days of hiking and cycling on both sides of the channel.

 

This year, one English couple who have remained faithful to twinning since its creation 15 years ago, were invited to cycle through the canals of Burgundy for a week.

“500 km under a burning sun, along these magnificent waterways; a quiet journey punctuated by the 200 locks on the Canal de Bourgogne and the 116 locks of the Canal du Nivernais, as well the old lock houses that compete with each other with their charm,” said Elisabeth Charrière, Vice-president of the MontessonTwinning Committee.

After the effort of cycling, the group of seven – five French and the two English – were rewarded with periodic rests, often under the shade of the trees of the ‘Burgundy terroir’.

Elisabeth continued her description: “It is a ribbon of water, full of discreet life: ducks, grey herons, swans and many song birds; fish that we saw jumping from time to time. A human presence is also retained with fishermen, walkers, and quiet, recreational boats. On each side of the canal, we experienced a succession of all types of landscape: limestone coast, vineyards, groves, meadows and forests.

“The English couple, John and Sonja Francis, enjoyed the rich Burgundian terroir, tasting snails, local cheeses Epoisses and Saint-Florentin, and of course after the effort of the day came the comfort of the evening with some good bottles of Burgundy.

“The unusual heat of the season prompted us first to dip our feet in the canal and then, on the very hottest day with 35 degree F, to a real improvised bath in the beautiful refreshing waters of the river Yonne.

A few adventures slowed down the journey,” explained Elisabeth: “Just two punctures, and a tick bite that was complicated because the pharmacist did not succeed in removing the head of the insect, requiring us all to accompany the victim to the local doctor.

Summing up the adventure, Elisabeth said: “We have all improved our English and our English friends have progressed in their French. Effort, laughter and incidents have only strengthened our already faithful friendship.”

Contributed by Jehan-Jacques Peyre, Correspondent for Le Courrier des Yvelines, from an original report by Elisabeth Charrière
Translated by Google and Sonja Francis !

See more images HERE (copyright Sonja Francis)

NB For those of you interested in reading the original French version of the article that appeared in Le Courrier des Yvelines (the local paper for Montesson, Thame’s twin town), here it is:

L’amitié franco-anglaise se construit aussi à vélo au fil des canaux.

Depuis plusieurs années, le jumelage entre Montesson et la ville Anglaise de Thame se vit sportivement par l’action de quelques membres dynamiques. Cette année un couple d’Anglais, fidèles du jumelage depuis sa création, a été invité à randonner à vélo sur les canaux de Bourgogne durant une semaine. « 500 km sous un soleil ardent, le long de ces magnifiques voies d’eau, trajet tranquille rythmé par les 200 écluses du Canal de Bourgogne et les 116 écluses du Canal du Nivernais et les anciennes maisons éclusières qui rivalisent de coquetterie et invitent à la pause » témoigne Elisabeth Charrière, vice-présidente du Comité de Jumelage.  Après l’effort, le riche terroir bourguignon au menu
C’est un ruban d’eau plein de vie discrète : canards, hérons cendrés, cygnes et nombreux oiseaux ; poissons que l’on voit sauter de temps en temps. La présence humaine y est aussi retenue : pêcheurs, promeneurs, tranquilles bateaux de plaisance. De chaque côté du Canal c’est une succession de tous types de paysage : côtes calcaires, vignobles, bocages, prairies, forêts. Le couple Anglais a pu apprécier le riche terroir bourguignon, avec dégustation d’escargots, de fromages locaux Epoisses et Saint-Florentin, et bien sûr après l’effort le réconfort du soir avec quelques bonnes bouteilles de Bourgogne.
« La grosse chaleur inhabituelle pour la saison nous a incités d’abord à des bains de pied dans le canal puis à un vrai bain improvisé dans les belles eaux rafraîchissantes de l’Yonne », raconte Elisabeth. Quelques péripéties ont un peu ralenti le périple : deux crevaisons, une piqûre de tique qui s’est compliquée car le pharmacien n’ayant pas réussi à enlever la tête de l’insecte, tous ont accompagné la victime chez le docteur.

« Nous avons tous amélioré notre anglais et nos amis anglais ont progressé en français. L’effort, le rire et les incidents n’ont fait que renforcer notre déjà fidèle amitié ».
Jehan-Jacques Peyre

 

THE Thame Store Net scheme, the system whereby shops can speak to each other and the police, has saved just under £1000 worth of stock being stolen through shopliftings.

The first batch of offenders since the scheme was launched, have been placed on the Shop Watch scheme and are now banned from all the Thame shops involved. This, say the Thame Community Policing team in its latest newsletter, has reduced the amount of calls for Anti-Social Behaviour and shopliftings from the town.

You can reach the full report HERE

A General Election Forum, held in Thame last night (Monday), attracted so many local people that the event had to be reconvened in the Church next door. The hustings was organised by the combined churches of Thame, and was booked to be held in St Joseph’s church hall.

But the sheer number of local people who wanted to see and hear their candidates talk about the issues that would help them decide where they would mark their cross on polling day, surprised many people.

Four of the five candidates standing in the Henley Constituency (which includes Thame) attended, Robin Bennett – Green Party, Laura Coyle – Liberal Democrats, Patrick Gray – Radical Party, John Howell – Conservative and Oliver Kavanagh – Labour Party. UKIP’s candidate, Tim Scott, did not show up.

The candidates were asked a variety of questions, including subjects such as the lack of affordable housing in Thame, funding for Education, how the country should treat immigrants and asylum seekers, Children’s health services and freedom of movement for EU citizens. Thame.Net tweeted live from the forum and for those unable to follow our twitter stream, here is a flavour of the main questions discussed:

Education

The first question of the evening came from a teacher at Lord Williams’s School, who asked John Howell about education funding, saying that her school was due to lose hundreds of thousands of pounds in the proposed Education Funding Formula. She invited him to visit her school and help them ‘choose the 25 teachers that will need to go!’

The Lib Dem candidate, Laura Coyle, refuted his reply that there will be a real-terms increase for all schools, adding that under her party, what she called ‘the vanity project’ of more grammar schools would not happen.

For Labour, Oliver Kavanagh promised a programme of investment in education. An audience member said directly to John Howell that one Thame primary school had spent time and money building a kitchen to provide school lunches for pupils, only to now have to scrap it as the free school lunch policy was being abandoned by the government.

The Radical Party candidate, Patrick Gray, said that ‘current policies are strangling the futures of our young people’. He said that his party wants power ‘back in the hands of people, meeting locally and saying what they want’.

There was a rumble of derision from some sections of the audience as John Howell blamed the previous Labour government for the state of economy and said that ‘a strong economy’ was what his party had to offer.

When asked about cuts to Policing and fighting terrorism, John Howell said that more surveillance officers had in fact been employed. While for the Greens, Robin Bennett talked about suggestions of a report on terrorism funding which is expected to criticise Saudi Arabia, bring ‘suppressed’ until after the general election.

Immigrants and asylum-seekers

In response to a Thame resident’s question about what each party would do to help immigrants and asylum seekers, International cooperation is the only way to solve the fundamental causes of refugees, suggested the Radical Party’s Patrick Gray.

John Howell said the government had helped 3000 children from the immigration camps. This was not enough, said Liberal Democrat, Laura Coyle. “We should welcome refugees and asylum seekers with open arms.”

The Green candidate said that only 350 children had been taken in by the UK last year. The Lib dem candidate said that her party would limit detention in asylum centres to 28 days, calling the current system of inderminate lengths of stay as ‘inhuman’ and ‘barbaric’.

Housing

A member of the audience said that despite earning a reasonable salary, she had looked into several schemes to help her get on the housing ladder in the area, but £330,000 for a two bedroom house is not ‘affordable’!

Abandonment of a national consensus after the war, that everyone should have a decent home, is what is at the root of the housing shortage and high prices, said the Radical party’s Patrick Gray.

John Howell mentioned Neighbourhood planning as the way for local people to influence housing development in their areas, a policy he helped introduce. He suggested that the proposed completely new, settlement at Chalgrove was an opportunity to put infrastructure in first, before any houses were put in.

On the subject of free movement of workers between the UK and the EU, the Radical party’s Patrick Gray said that it was ‘folly’ to restrict immigration from the EU. “We need their skills in many occupations” he said, and that we would be “shooting ourselves in the foot” if it were curbed.

John Howell said that be believed that a reciprocal agreement on EU workers would be made during the Brexit negotiations.

Candidates’ final statements

Winding up at the end, the Green candidate, Robin Bennett, said: “We will work for environment and the most vulnerable in our society.”

In his final statement, Patrick Gray said: “Vote for the Radical Party for a more equal and optimistic future.”

Seeming to concede that a Labour win was unlikely in Henley, Oliver Kavanagh suggested that a vote for his party would nevertheless “send a strong message to Teresa May” that her party would not have things all their own way in a future parliament.

Laura Coyle for the Lib Dems said in conclusion: “We certainly did not vote to leave the EU in the way she (Theresa May) is preparing us to. We want Britain to remain open and tolerant.”

John Howell, the sitting Conservative MP, after criticism from the floor of the government cuts to Education, the NHS, the police etc, said that only a strong economy could support such services, and that he was proud of what his government has done for the country. This evoked some noisy, negative responses from some members of the audience.

Conclusion

It cannot be denied that the general feeling among the audience at this Thame General Election Forum was one of hostility toward the sitting MP, John Howell (who made a hasty retreat at the end) and the Conservative government in general, which perhaps is to be expected after seven years of austerity and cuts, whether one believes them to have been necessary or not. But an observer could not fail to have been surprised at the lack of apparent support for the Conservative party that has dominated the Henley constituency for so long.

But to jump to any conclusions about an earth shattering routing of John Howell’s party, would be unwise – those dyed-in-the-wool Conservatives ‘who would vote for a toy, blue bunny if it were put up’ as they say around Thame, would probably not have felt the need to come to a forum and hear alternative views. Also, it was raining last evening and there were very few young people attending which, if the pundits are to be believed, could make a difference if they are moved to come out and vote.

Listening to the questioning and the response to replies from the politicians, the over-riding impression was that those who had taken the trouble to come, had decided that they want to vote for an alternative, and had come along to size up the alternatives before making up their minds – whether they intend to vote tactically or not.

Only in the early hours of Friday morning, June 9, will we and the candidates discover whether or not the Henley Constituency has been rocked at its political foundations – or just shaken up a bit.