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Category: Thame news

  • Bittersweet historic victory for Chinnor

    CHINNOR RFC welcomed Bishop’s Stortford to Kingsey Road on Saturday (01/04) knowing that defeat to the league leaders would end their own title chances and possibly a place in the play off for promotion to National division one.

    The visitors started well and early pressure led to a penalty in midfield kicked by scrum half Banks for a 3-0 lead.

    Straight from the restart, winger Luke Hibberd plucked the kick off out of the air and went in unopposed. Jonny Bentley converted for 7-3.

    It was end to end stuff already and Stortford capitalised on loose play from the restart to pressurise the Chinnor defence into giving away a second kickable penalty. Banks was successful to make it 7-6 after nine minutes.

    A period of sustained Chinnor pressure in the middle of the half was well defended by Bishop’s Stortford until on the 27 minute mark flanker Ben Manning cut through and went over near the posts. The conversion by Bentley made it 14-6.

    The visitors stormed straight back after Chinnor had lost a third line out and winger Rea took a hanging kick to stretch over the line near the corner. Banks converted to make it 14-13 after 32 minutes.
    Just before half time Chinnor captain Danny Barnes had to leave the field for suspected concussion with Junior Fatialofa coming on as replacement. The sides went in at the break 14-13.

    The second period started with plenty of turnovers and Stortford looking to use the wind at their backs. A penalty on 50 minutes to Stortford was kicked to the corner and from the lineout the forwards rumbled over to score and take the lead 18-14. Banks missed the conversion. Chinnor came straight back and from a lineout on the Stortford 22, scrum half Greg Goodfellow broke and fed Bentley to go over for a third try. Bentley converted to make it 21-18 on 56 minutes.

    There was no let up as Stortford looked to regain the initiative and replacement Nic Clancy scythed through the Chinnor defence to score a superb individual effort. Banks converted to make it 25-21 on 60 minutes.

    Bentley kicked a penalty to narrow the deficit to 24-25 on 64 minutes before a clean break in midfield by Ben Pienaar almost put the hosts in at the corner before winger Hibberd was bundled into touch.
    With 10 minutes remaining a break by Goodfellow into the Stortford 22 gave Bentley a second penalty opportunity which he gratefully took for Chinnor to retake the lead 27-25.

    From the restart Chinnor infringed but Banks missed the penalty which would put them back ahead. A second misdemeanour by the hosts from a scrum near halfway gave the scrum half a chance to redeem himself but again his effort went wide.

    Chinnor attacked as the clock ran down to try and get a precious bonus point but it wasn’t to be and this fierce and close fought contest ended 27-25. It was the first time the hosts had ever beaten Bishop’s Stortford and the game was a tremendous advert for tier 4 rugby.

    Bishop’s Stortford coach Andy Long said ” We are disappointed, it was a fierce match on a knife edge. We put ourselves in a good position to win. We will move on from this with 3 games left”

    Chinnor DoR Matt Williams was delighted with the victory but frustrated at letting the bonus point slip by: “The heart and desire the boys showed today makes last week’s result against Clifton an even bigger pill to swallow,” he said. “We now have given ourselves a real chance to fight to the end of the season with Old Elthamians.”

    Elsewhere Old Elthamians’ bonus point win over Barnes moves them into second place by virtue of games won. In all likelihood, Chinnor will now need to take maximum points from the three remaining matches to have any chance of being in the play off.

    Chinnor 27 Bishop’s Stortford 25

    Teams
    Chinnor
    Kieran Goss, Luke Hibberd, Danny Barnes (c), Bevon Armitage, Henry Lamont, Jonny Bentley, Greg Goodfellow, Tom Price, Mark Darlington, Joe Hutchinson, Nathan Hannay, CJ Osazuwa, Richard Thorpe, Ben Manning, Tom Burns
    Interchanges: Jay Tyack, Koree Britton, Ben Pienaar, Basil Strang, Junior Fatialofa
    Bishop’s Stortford
    Will Simmonds, Nick Hankin, Sam Winter (c), Johnny Neville, Jimmy Rea, Pier Dotta, Tom Banks, Will Roberts, Declan Caulfield, Sean Edwards, Jon George, Matt Tomlinson, James Apperley, Dan Elsom, Steve Ball
    Interchanges: Seb Brownhill, Tom McCrone, Rory Banks, Nic Clancy, Sam Coleman
    Scorers
    Chinnor
    Tries (time): Hibberd 5, Manning 29 Bentley 55
    Conversions (time): Bentley 6, 30, 56
    Penalty Goals (time): Bentley 63, 73

    Bishop’s Stortford
    Tries (time): Rea 31 Caulfield 51, Clancy 60
    Conversions (time): Banks 32, 61
    Penalty Goals (time): Banks 4, 9
    Referee: Mr Gareth Holsgrove
    Attendance: 1580
    Half time score: 14-13
    Full time score: 27-25
    Star man: Jonny Bentley – Chinnor

  • Affordable Housing for Oxfordshire – will the Housing White Paper deliver?

    THE government’s Housing White Paper, published in February, recognises the problems of affordable housing supply but does it find the solutions? Not yet, according to a broad group of organisations with an interest in this area, pulled together in an event co-hosted by CPRE Oxfordshire and the Oxfordshire Community Land Trust.

    “There was common concern that affordability is still linked to market prices,” says CPRE Oxon on its website, “rather than people’s actual ability to pay. We now hope to be able to agree a joint response to the White Paper consultation.

    If your organisation is interested in taking part, contact: campaign@cpreoxon.org.uk

    The white paper, entitled Fixing our broken housing market, sets out a range of reforms that the government plans to introduce to help reform the housing market and increase the supply of new homes. It has also launched a consultation on planning and affordable housing for Build to Rent.
    SEE LINK

    NB Over the next few years in Thame, 78 homes will become available under a shared ownership scheme. Details HERE

    SOURCE: CPRE Oxon

  • DAF to leave Thame

    Image courtesy of http://www.commercialmotor.com

    DAF is leaving its Thame Headquarters and moving to a new, purpose-build facility in Haddenham.

    The truck manufacturer and dealer network has been in Thame for 30 years and is expecting to move to the three-storey facility with an auditorium and almost 50,000 sqft of office space in July 2018. The £20m site with a four-bay workshop, will also provide training facilities.

    Senior executives from the manufacturer’s UK and Netherlands operations and parent company Paccar were joined at a ceremony last week by Simon Smits, the Dutch Ambassador to the UK, representatives from local authorities and the project management company.

    Tesco recently sold the site to Angle Property, after Tesco failed several attempts to obtain planning permission for a supermarket on the site.

     

    READ MORE via the http://www.commercialmotor.com website

  • Thame hairdresser’s charity leap for Air Ambulance

    Mel Banks

    AFTER a recent tragedy in Thame, when a little boy died, a Thame hairdresser has decided to jump from an aeroplane to raise money for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

    Melanie Blanks, who runs Maze hair salon in North Street, Thame, said: “After a recent tragedy in my home town I discovered that The Thames Valley Air Ambulance get no government support and depends solely on public funding. Hopefully none of us will ever need them but if we should then you can rest assure they will be there. That’s why I’ve decided to raise money for them.”

    Find out more about Mel’s Skydive and make a donation, visit Mel’s Justgiving page HERE

  • Not long left to enter your flag designs!

    THERE’S not long left for the people of Thame to submit their Town Flag designs. The competition is currently running and will close at midnight on Monday, April 10.

    The town council reports that it has already had some fantastic entries from a mix of age groups, but that it would be great to have even more!

    The new flag will be flown outside the Town Hall throughout the year, except when the flagpole is being used to mark special and significant occasions.

    The only requirement is that the design incorporates in some way the Town Council branding colours and town logo / crest.

    Go to www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/flag-competition to download a Design Pack and for more information. You can also collect a Design Pack from the Town Hall. Designs can be submitted electronically to info@thametowncouncil.gov.uk or to the Town Hall.

    The competition is open until Monday 10 April at midnight

  • ‘Eyesore’ building on the edge of Thame criticised

    A Young People’s Assessment Centre has been branded ‘a nightmare’ by Thame’s County Councillor, who has been facing questions about the visual impact of the building.

    Cllr Nick Carter helped cut the first sod before building work began on the new Children’s Assessment Centre

    Since the fencing obscuring the building blew down in the wind some weeks ago, and hedging that was apparently supposed to have been planted failed to materialise since it was built around 18 months ago, several people, including town councillors, have complained about the way the building looks from the road, one calling it ‘an eyesore’.

    According to County Cllr Nick Carter, speaking at the anuual Thame Town Meeting on Tuesday evening (28/03), he had been unable to get any answers from Oxfordshire County Council, who run the assessment centre, about when the landscaping required will be completed. “The whole site has been a nightmare to be honest,” he said. “When the building was 4/5ths finished, the contractor (Ed.EIC) ‘went bust’ and so there was a transition period between contractors. The building was then occupied before it should have been. All I can say is that I will keep a watching brief.”

    Town Cllr Ann Midwinter said that the town councillor had no idea what goes on in the building, and that it had never been invited to visit and look round. Cllr Nick Carter said that he would try to arrange such a visit.

    LINK to background to this story

  • ‘No magic wand’ to fix Thame’s potholes

    SPEAKING at the annual, Thame Town Meeting last night (28/03), ex Mayor of Thame, Cllr Peter Lambert, compared Park Street to ‘a ploughed field’ before asking County Cllr Nick Carter, when the street’s pot holes were going to get fixed.

    “I live at the end of Park Street,” Cllr Lambert, Landlord of The Cross Keys pub, continued, “and it’s getting so bad now that I regularly see cars swerving to avoid potholes, including those outside the primary school; this is becoming a very dangerous spot.”

    But Cllr Carter was unable to offer him much hope, stating that Park Street was not a top priority of the county council and that it was his understanding that any major work was unlikely, but that some patching was due to be carried out sometime between September and December.

    Cllr Carter went on to say that there are 4,000 miles of roads needing repair in the county and that the problem was mainly due to ‘an enormous decrease in government grants for roads last year. “In that context,” he went on, “I am trying to make sure Thame has a fair a shout as possible but there are some more, very heavily used roads that are used more.

    “Patching is the best we can hope for,” he concluded.

    Thame resident, Matthew Robinson, stated that he, and others in the town were ‘fed up with the neglect of the roads’ and that ‘it was about time Thame’s voice was heard.” He had done some research, he said, into various sources of government funding, including a Pothole Action Fund. (LINK Government allocates £1.2 billion roads funding to councils) Read Matthew’s full statement HERE

    Cllr Carter responded: “Rest assured that if there is a pot of money, then Oxfordshire County County Council will be bidding for the maximum amount it could get!”

    Town Cllr Mary Stiles pointed out that not only cars are affected by potholes, but that they are dangerous for cyclists too. “We want to encourage people to cycle more,” she said, “not put them off riding their bikes because of the state of the roads.”

    The Town Clerk, Graham Hunt said that the town council was just as concerned about the state of the Parish’s roads and that every day people go into the town hall to report problems. He reported that the town council was in discussion with the county council about taking over responsibility for car parks, and that TTC was currently looking at transport issues as part of a Transport Plan (see LINK) which could present opportunities to feed back to the county council to get something better for Thame. “However, there is no magic wand,” he said, and thanked Matthew Robinson for his research, adding that the town council will keep looking for answers.

    Useful links – Oxfordshire County Council’s Fix My Street weblink HERE
    Government’s ‘Report a pothole’ website: LINK

  • Could you contribute to Thame Day Centre’s future?

    THE Thame and District Day Centre is looking for experienced and committed people to join its Board of Trustees. The current Chair of the Trustees, Tyrell Gillman, explained the role of the Board:

    Sewing flowers at Thame & District Day Centre

    “The Board of Trustees sets the overall strategy and direction for the future of the Day Centre, to ensure the continued support for the senior members of the community of Thame and the surrounding area in the way that has existed since Thame & District Day Centre started thirty years ago in 1986,” he said.

    “Expressions of interest from those with accountancy, social media and fundraising experience would be particularly welcome. Trustees normally meet five times each year with occasional extra meetings that may need to be called for a special reason. Further opportunities get involved and to contribute are substantial and, are to some degree, at an individual trustee’s discretion.”

    If you’re interested in finding out more, or want to apply for the post of Trustee of the Thame and District Day Centre, contact Tyrell by phone on 01844 214906 or e-mail: GTyrellgillman@aol.com

  • Adwell House garden open this Sunday

    THE beautiful garden of Adwell House, near Thame, currently blooming a sea of daffodils, will be open to the public on Sunday, April 2, for the second time, in aid of Sobell House.

    To mark the beginning of Spring, Tom Birch Reynardson and his wife Imogen are kindly opening the garden of Adwell House when visitors will be welcome to go and enjoy the beautiful landscape, and admire the Springtime daffodils.

    Proceeds from the event will be donated to Sobell House as the hospice continues to strive towards its target of raising an additional £4m over four years to expand its services.

    The garden of Adwell House, with its perfect lawns and impressive array of ancient trees, has been developed by many generations of the Birch Reynardson family and spans over around fifteen acres.

    Friends and family can enjoy beautiful Spring colours including a sea of daffodils where the Birch Reynardson’s have planted about 30,000 daffodils with 300 different varieties over the past three years.

    The proceeds from the event will go to supporting the hospice, which provides specialist palliative care and support to approximately 3,000 adult patients and their families each year across the county.

    Dominique Cadiou, Head of Fundraising at Sobell House, said: “For the second year running we’ve been fortunate enough to invite our supporters and the wider public to come and admire the beautiful gardens at Adwell House.

    “We’re delighted that the Birch Reynardson’s have opened the gardens once again to raise money for Sobell House and help us to raise public awareness about our plans.

    “We are investing £9m to grow the level of end of life care that our team offers. Last year we had £5m already in place and we set out to raise an additional £4m. The fundraising has been going well and we’re excited about what this year can bring. Events like these will really help us move closer towards our target.”

    Tom Birch Reynardson said: “We’ve had a personal experience with Sobell House and seen for ourselves the level of care for the dying and the bereaved that the hospice offers. Their approach to palliative care is second to none. There is an increasing need for hospice care in Oxfordshire and Sobell House’s plans for expanding their services are ambitious and require local support.

    “I hope the sun comes out for us and we have a great turn out to support the hospice.”

    The gardens at Adwell House will open on Sunday, April 2, from 2pm to 5pm. Entry is £5 on the day and all proceeds will go to Sobell House. For more information visit http://www.sobellhouse.org.

  • Town mucks in to ‘Tidy Thame’

    MORE people than ever turned out for the annual Thame Tidy and Moreton Muckout Day last Saturday (25/03), with over 20 groups on the day and the Scouts working on Thursday and Friday evening clearing the Southern Road recreation ground and some of the surrounding road.

    Some of the residents of Lea Park cleared paths with shovels, and the Stones Close allotment holders set-to on the Thame park road bridge by cutting back loads of overgrown hedging and clearing the path to enable buggies to pass freely. They filled six, one tonne bags of waste!

    It’s refreshment time, as Morton residents takes a break from mucking out Moreton

    There were eight drop-off points for litter and recycling on the day which were gathered up on the day by ASM and taken to the playing field by the scout hut for collection by Biffa on the Monday. The skip there was sponsored by Unicarriers.

    Rosie Bryant, who organised the event for 21st Century Thame,  said: “We need to be proud of where we live! This needs to be the most pleasant place to be and it drives me insane when people just leave their rubbish after a picnic and just leave their junk in our lovely public places, like the phoenix trail.

    “On the day, we had great support from residents and community groups. A group of local residents did a brilliant job on the phoenix trail and we had lots of individuals turning up to help. The Grace Church who meet at Lord Williams lower school, cleared Towersey drive and Queens road and even our Mayor, Linda Emery turned up and worked with a a group on Chiltern Vale.

    “We had additional support this year from the Thame Lions club who helped handing out litter pickers all day. We also thank ASM who drove around in a van collecting rubbish from the collection points, and the Fire Service who picked up old dumped bikes etc and, the weather was perfect too.”