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Category: Thame news

  • 90 Not Out! in Thame High Street

    PROBABLY for the first time ever, Thame town centre was closed early one sunny, summer afternoon in order to offer people young and old the opportunity of celebrating a monarch’s birthday – by playing a game of cricket in the street, just as thousands of children everywhere would have done in the 1950s when our Queen came to the throne.

    No traffic, no parked cars, just kids playing cricket in the street in Thame town centre
    No traffic, no parked cars, just kids playing cricket in the street in Thame town centre

    On Friday, June 10, 2016, the local community joined together to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday. The Mayor of Thame, Linda Emery, bowled the first ball to Thame’s MP, John Howell. Other local dignitaries – Sarah Taylor, High Sheriff of Oxfordshire; Michael Waine, Oxfordshire County Council Chairman; Paul Harrison, South Oxfordshire Council Chairman; Steve Connell, Mayor of Didcot and Simon Brown, England Test Player (ECB ), all joined in the fun with local children in Thame High street.

    Simon Brown demonstrated game tactics to the budding cricketers and they were able to join in specific kids kwick cricket matches and practice in portable cricket nets. There were opportunities to play in crazy catch competitions, sky high catches, hanging ball batting, Batfast cricket and throwing practice.

    The whole cricket extravaganza was the brainchild of Mr Manoj Parmar, an Indian, ex pro cricketer and local sports mentor at MP Cricket Academy in Thame where the whole Academy team is dedicated to introducing children to the benefits of what Manoj describes as ‘this fabulous team sport’.

    Manoj himself was delighted with the way the ’90 Not Out’ street cricket event went, and concluded: “Special thanks must go to Thame Town Council and also every single parent that gave up their precious time to make this extraordinary event take place.

    “I couldn’t be happier to see so many kids running around, having fun playing cricket in Thame High Street.”

  • Macbeth – a breath of fresh air!

    Thame Players are celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death by staging an open-air production of Macbeth next month. It will be set in the gardens of the privately owned Edwardian house, The Elms, accessed from Thame’s Upper High Street, and follows their highly successful open-air Much Ado About Nothing there two years ago.

    ThamePlayersMacbethRehearsal1 (500x372)
    Ryan Whitney and Abi Tester who are playing Lord and Lady Macbeth rehearsing at The Elms

    Chris Parker, the Director, is taking the play back to its historic roots in eleventh-century Scotland. He explained: “I believe this production will offer a breath of fresh air for those who prefer their Shakespeare set in its original period. It will be authentic, including costumes and weaponry consistent with that period. I see Macbeth very much as a thriller, taking the audience on a nail-biting journey into the dark realms of human nature, complete with witchcraft and supernatural elements. At the same time, the impact of human frailty and lust for power are laid bare, as the characters are caught up in a tempest of their own making.”

    Chris is well-qualified to direct Shakespeare, having previously produced several other Shakespeare plays at open-air locations such as the Chiltern Open-Air Museum, Chalfont St Giles. He has been involved with Shakespeare projects at the Old Vic, Leeds Castle, and St John’s Smith Square, and has worked with the late Cedric Messina as well as at the Globe Theatre with Sam Wannamaker. For Thame Players, Chris has directed Present Laughter, How the Other Half Loves and Blithe Spirit.

    Macbeth is played by Ryan Whitney, and his emphasis will be on exposing the sinister nastiness of the Scottish king. Ryan has played both amateur and professional roles, including King George in The Madness of King George, Caliban in The Tempest, and Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

    Lady Macbeth is played by Abi Tester, whose experience with powerful, emotionally charged roles includes playing Joy in Shadowlands and Doňa Rosita in Lorca’s Doňa Rosita.

    To ensure the audience experience is as pleasurable as possible, Thame Players will be providing undercover seating for all and are encouraging audience members to bring a picnic to eat in the grounds, and additional refreshments will be available. These will include locally brewed beer, wines, hot or cold drinks, and delicious food provided by local caterer, Kirsty’s Kitchen, from whom picnics can be ordered in advance via email: kirstyskitchen@gmail.com

    Open-air productions like this are costly to stage and Thame Players are lucky enough to have the support of headline sponsor, Rectory Homes, as well as other local businesses, whose contributions will ensure that Macbeth is a memorable production – a breath of fresh air in every sense.

    Macbeth will be held at 32 The Elms, Upper High Street, Thame OX9 2DN from Tuesday, July 5 – Saturday, July 9, inclusive. Evening performances will be at 7.45pm and a matinee at 2.30pm on Saturday (doors open from 6.15 pm daily and from 1pm on Saturday). Tickets cost £10 and £9 (concessions) from Spear Travels, telephone 01844 217228, or you can book online at www.thameplayers.co.uk

  • ‘Nice weather for ducks!’

    THAME’S familiar community spirit was illustrated in bucket loads last weekend when the day after the best Thame Carnival for years, the persistent rain threatened to overshadow the annual Thame Round Table Duck Race.

    Hundreds came out, appropriately dressed to deal with the worst weather and watched as around 1800 rubber ducks were launched from Thame Bridge to start the race. As always, Captain Ducky was on hand to interrupt proceedings in his amazingly crafted, paddle powered pallets, with Pirate Peter trying not to sink his bath/boat contraption!

    'Splash' the pirate, aka Peter Butt
    ‘Splash’ the pirate, aka Peter Butt

    One of the race organisers, Tim Lancaster, explained the proceedings: “The pirates helped the ducks along their way, entertaining (we hope!) the crowd as they followed the flow down river, with a mixture of terrible jokes and collapsing watercraft!”

    Fellow organiser, Neil Shorter, continued: “The Duck Race is always a highlight of the year for our members to run, whatever the weather. We are grateful to the people of our community that came out to support us; even we, ourselves struggled to want to come out in the rain!

    “It was all worth it though, as over £3,500 was raised, all of which is donated to local groups and charities.

    “We would also like to thank all the friends of Thame Round Table,” Neil added, “including the Fire Service, Peach Pubs, Helpful Hirings and KnowledgePoint for sponsoring and supporting the event.”

    Winning tickets were:
    1st- 1727
    2nd- 962
    3rd- 509

    Seesaw.org.uk, are one of Thame Round Table’s charities to benefit from their activities.  Seesaw is an Oxford based grief support Charity, providing support specifically to young people that have lost family members.

    Twitter: Thame Round Table @Thame753
    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ThameDistrictRoundTable753
    Website: www.thame.roundtable.co.uk

  • Anti-social behaviour quashed by ‘listening’ police team

    THAME’S Neighbourhood Policing Team has claimed victory over anti-social behaviour in the town and surrounding villages, after listening to complaints from local people. In its latest monthly update, the team reports:

    PCSO_back“In Thame, you said there were young people causing anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Southern Road. The Thame NHPT have acted on this information, carrying out regular patrols, we have identified the individuals and disrupted their behaviour by issuing tickets where necessary and issuing warnings in relation to the manner of their driving.

    “In Chinnor, you reported that young people were taking drugs in White Field and the Dug Outs in Station Road, Chinnor. The NHPT have responded to this by asking the community to call us as the incident is happening. We have been carrying out high visibility patrols to disrupt this offending and been gathering intelligence to identify who is involved. We have responded to these calls and located four young people. Stop searches were conducted following reasonable grounds to believe the young people were in possession of drugs. Two of the young people were found to be in possession of drugs and have been dealt with by officers and received cannabis warnings which will be recorded on Thames Valley Police systems.

    Independent Mortgae Solutions (RGB) - R1

    “In Wheatley, you reported fly tipping on Waterstock Road and that there is CCTV available. We viewed CCTV and someone was seen dumping takeaway rubbish out of a car door. We tracked down the owner and paid them a visit and provided suitable advice.

    “In Wheatley, you reported a group of rowdy students hanging around a bus stop, near to a residential cul-de-sac where there are a lot of elderly residents, at the end of school day. The young people were banging on windows and tipping over bins. We contacted the school who had a teacher stand with the students at the bus stop after school. Subsequent to this, you reported that when the teacher wasn’t present the students would start to misbehave again. We attended the bus stop and gave the students suitable words of advice and there have been no further issues since.”

    You can read the complete June 2016 Update from the Thame Neighbourhood Policing team HERE

  • Proud night for Thame businesses

    IT was a proud night for Thame at the Oxfordshire Business Awards on Friday (18/06), where Thame-based StuartBarrCDR walked away with the Apprenticeship of the Year Award, its MD and former Apprentice, Stuart Barr, was named the Shaw Gibbs Young Business Person of the Year 2016, AND Thame Food Festival received the Heart Cultural Event and Tourism Award.

    The Stuart Barr team celebrate after receiving their double award
    The Stuart Barr team celebrate after receiving their double award

    Accepting his award, Stuart said: “Thank you for recognizing that what we do is fantastic. We believe our apprentice scheme is great and it’s an honour to have this seal of approval. Watching the video clips on the big screen of our apprentices makes us realise how far our apprentices have come – it’s a feeling of great satisfaction. Many of our previous apprentices are now in key roles within the business, with huge responsibility; they really are our future. Thanks again, this means the world to us.”

    Alison Isherwood (Left) and Lotte Duncan show off their certificates at the Oxfordshire Business Awards 2016
    Alison Isherwood (Left) and Lotte Duncan show off their certificates at the Oxfordshire Business Awards 2016

    Lotte Duncan, posting on the Thame Food Festival 2016 Facebook page, said: “we are over the moon! This the second time we’ve won this award and it’s a great recognition of all the hard work our team, supporters, volunteers and sponsors do.”

    Around 500 people attended the Awards Dinner at the Four Pillars Hotel in Sandford to celebrate the best of Oxfordshire business.

  • Firefighters tackle burning cottage at Great Haseley

    OXFORDSHIRE Fire and Rescue have confirmed that they are currently attending a fire at a large thatched dwelling in Great Haseley, Oxfordshire. ‎

    fire_great_haseley (500x315)

    The service has been on the scene for over three hours and GM Jason Crapper has reported that it is expected that firefighting crews are likely to be working through the night dampening down the property.

  • Woman’s body recovered from the river Thame

    THE police have confirmed that the body of a 72-year-old woman was retrieved from the river Thame this morning.

    police_helicopter

    The Police were called to the river Thame, at the end of Priest Way behind St Mary’s Church, at 11.40am after receiving a report that a woman was thought to have gone into the water there.

    The Ambulance and fire service, as well as a police helicopter also attended the scene and began searching for the woman.

    Independent Mortgae Solutions (RGB) - R1Connie Primmer, a spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police, is reported to have said that the woman was recovered from the water but had sadly died. Her next of kin have been informed and an investigation is under way. The woman’s death is being treated as ‘unexplained’ at this time.

    SOURCE; The Oxford Mail

  • ‘Best Thame Carnival I’ve been to!’

    SO tweeted Thame style guru, Katy Dyer;  Quote: “What a fab day at @ThameCarni2016  – definitely the best I’ve been to!” Judge for yourself and view Thame Carnival 2016, in colour LINK HERE and for the black and white photography fan, LINK HERE

    And the winner is...Kubota
    And the winner is…Kubota

    PLEASE NOTE – Any of these images may be downloaded for PERSONAL use only – To request copies for commercial or print reproduction, please email: editor@thame.net

  • Thame fire fails to dampen the spirits of young cricketers

    FIRE crews from across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire poured into Thame High Street on Friday evening (June 10) as children and their families were enjoying a Street Cricket event in the area.

    Firecrews attending to the fire in Thame High Street on Friday evening around 6.45pm
    Firecrews attending to the fire in Thame High Street on Friday evening around 6.45pm

    The fun continued despite the drama being played out just along the High Street, at the rear of the Treacles Cafe.  Incident commander at the scene,  Andy Ford from Thame Fire Station, told Thamenes.net that it appeared that a fire in a bedroom of a first-floor flat at the rear of the property, had spread to the roof space.

    “Fortunately, there were no casualties,” reported Andy, “and fire crews wearing breathing apparatus were able to extinguish the fire to prevent it spreading, though extensive damage was caused to the bedroom.”

    An investigation into the cause of the fire is on-going.

  • School celebrates the royal birthday with cake and Samba

    BARLEY Hill Primary School, Thame, celebrated Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday on Thursday, June 9, with a Street Party in glorious sunshine.

    Street Party 2016 cake (300x400)

    The event began with Year Four playing their brass instruments followed by the woodwind players. Each year group had been given a decade from the Queen’s reign and wore costumes from the era and performed a dance during the afternoon, as well as producing art work and relevant pieces of writing earlier in the week.

    The Queen’s birthday cake was cut by the oldest and youngest boy and girl, as well as a little boy whose birthday fell the same day.

    The grand finale was a whole school samba dance. A fantastic afternoon was enjoyed by all!

    SOURCE: Contributed by Barley Hill School