Category: Thame news

IN response to the Thame Centre First campaign against a proposed large supermarket on the outskirts of Thame, a group of residents in favour of the proposal have started a campaign of their own and have issued the following statement:

“Thame NEEDS Tesco – TNT, was formed to represent the views and opinions of people in the town who welcome the prospect of a Tesco supermarket on Howland Road. We are all local people living in and around Thame. Many of us have lived here most of our lives.  We have no vested business interests or political ambitions. We represent a broad cross section of the Thame community; working people with young families, retired folk, young people keen to get a start in life.

“We care for Thame and are concerned about the future of the town as it faces changing times involving the building of hundreds of new homes.
We support the vibrant town centre with its mix of shops and services, but recognise that it does not meet the everyday shopping needs of many residents.  We strongly believe that Thame needs another supermarket that can offer what is currently unavailable, or unaffordable, in the town centre.  Many of us shop in big supermarkets in Aylesbury, Wheatley, Princes Risborough, Oxford or Bicester. But we’d prefer to spend our time and money in Tesco, in Thame.

“Wanting Tesco does not mean we do not support the town centre shops. We will continue to use them as we do at present if Tesco is built.
The argument that Tesco will affect town centre businesses carries little weight if the people who currently shop there continue to do so. And why would they change their habits when they already have the choice of shopping in other out-of-town supermarkets if they wished to?

“Thame is likely to have to cope with over 700 new homes in the next 10-15 years. Where will those new families do their shopping?  The town centre is already congested with very limited parking; it certainly will not be able to cope with the predicted influx.  If new homes are built, the town has a moral duty to provide the services needed to encourage owners to become part of the community. That includes adequate local supermarket choice. Forcing people to spend time and money in other towns will limit their involvement in, and appreciation of, the town they have chosen to live in.
As well as a much-needed choice of shopping, Tesco will bring new employment to the town. We are lucky to live in an area of low official unemployment, but the figures disguise the fact that new jobs would be very welcome among young people, parents with pre-school children, older people and those looking for part-time work.  And let’s not forget that this is not just about a supermarket but also about providing other commercial employment on the site with DAF and or other businesses.

“In the weeks ahead we will continue to talk to people in Thame, seek their support for our campaign and represent their views to the town council, the district council and other parties involved in the decision making process. ”

Details of the supermarket’s plans can be seen on the SODC website, Planning Application P15/S1637/O where comments of support can be made.

TNT, like the Thame Centre First group, has set up an e-petition for supporters to sign: LINK HERE FOR PETITION

For more information about Tesco in Thame, Contact: thameneedstesco@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ThameNeedsTesco

Information about the Thame Centre First campaign can be found on its website: LINK HERE

Link to related news stories HERE and HERE

IF you were one of the brave souls at the Thame Carnival Fete on Saturday, and you bought raffle tickets for one of the fabulous prizes,  you will want to know the numbers of the winning raffle tickets that were not claimed during the rain!

And if you had a go at guessing the length of the giant scarf at Thame to Thame’s stall, see below to find out how long it actually is!

The organisers have asked that ticket holders should be aware that prizes will only be given out on production of the raffle ticket, and that the book code will be checked against the books from which they came.

Raffle prizes can be collected from Racquets Fitness Centre, North Street, Thame (behind the Cattle Market) from 9am to 4pm each day this week. For collections outside this time please speak to Sue Martin-Downhill by calling 01844 261754. And here are the winning numbers:

White  19    Pink 388
Yellow 60   White 82
Pink 7          Pink 187
White 56     Pink 243
Pink 321     Yellow 62
White 29    Pink 285
White 40    Pink 400
Pink 68
Pink 382

Please ask for Sue Martin-Downhill when collecting your prize.

Thame to Thame’s stall, ‘Guess the length of the giant ‘Sherpa’ scarf’, raised a magnificent £100.90p towards helping to fund the rebuilding of the school in Thame’s namesake village of Thame (Tam-ay) severely damaged in April’s earthquakes in Nepal. This included £20 in donations and a contribution from Anne Croxford who sold her hand-made cards from the stall.

The length of the scarf when unrolled measured just under 356 ft, that’s 108 metres ! Thame’s ex Mayor, Jeannette Matelot Green, came very close with a guess of 327′ 2″, and Lewis too was quite close with a guess of 370 ft, but the closest – with an estimate of 348 ft, was Becky, pink ticket no. 246 – just 7″ short of the actual measurement!

Becky wins a Cream Tea for two. FOR MORE Carnival Fete pictures, go to LINK (apologies for poor quality of some of the pictures; camera was very wet by the end of the afternoon)

THE out-going Headteacher of John Hampden Primary School, Thame, lead his ‘crew’ through the centre of  the town for the last time today,  to the stirring sound of the theme music to the film, Pirate’s of the Caribbean.

As the drizzle relentlessly descended, Alan Haigh, who is retiring from teaching at Christmas, nevertheless went ‘out with a splash’ as he cheerfully waved to well-wishing on-lookers, some sheltering under umbrellas and others determinedly ignoring the weather and making the best of it as the people of Thame always do.

Other entries in the carnival, themed this year around ‘The Movies’, included Frozen, Lego the Movie, Lion King, The Wizard of Oz and Hairspray – all equally as cheerfully and bravely in some cases, displaying a true, carnival spirit despite the weather.

The Mayor of Thame, Nichola Dixon, helped by the new Town Clerk, Graham Hunt, cut the ribbon to declare the start of Carnival 2015, and after much deliberation, declared John Hampden School and Tetsworth School (apologies for reporting it was ‘Tiddington’ earlier), joint winners of the Carnival Cup.  But the winners’ good fortune came at a price – they have to go and search and find this coveted treasure themselves, for the cup seems to have gone missing and is proving difficult to trace. So, whichever school manages to track down who has the Thame Carnival Cup, will get to keep it in their school’s trophy cupboard – just until next year.

Follow the LINK to see pictures of today’s Carnival procession. (More about the Carnival Fete tomorrow)

A group that is probably Thame’s most successful quiz team, tonight won the Thame Festival Quiz shield, in an annual event that has been running since 1993, on the Thursday before Thame Carnival.

Posting on her Facebook page tonight, Quizmaster Sue Boyle, who has run the Carnival quiz for most of those years, reported: “I have once again had the pleasure of presenting the Thame Festival Quiz Shield to the fantastic Wild Geese – deserved winners of this year’s quiz with a magnificent 200 points! Congratulations!

“The win tonight will mean that their name appears on the shield for the 10th time! Thank you to everyone who took part and helped us keep this important Thame tradition going – we first awarded the shield in 1993. Thank you too to Sue and Simon for their hospitality at Racquets.”

Most of the question rounds were based around the theme of the Carnival this year, ‘The World of the Movies’ and included a very challenging round where film posters, promoting  films with an American place-name in them had to be matched with a geographical location on a map of the US states.

The last question of the last round of the evening, ‘Spot the movie connection in the song’, brought the evening to a fitting end with quizzers joining in with ‘Saturday night at the movies’ by The Drifters.

Money raised from tonight’s event will go to the two charities chosen to benefit from this year’s Carnival (which is on Saturday, June 13), Rosie’s Rainbow Fund and The Skatepark Project.

MORE than 80 hungry foodies dined on a veritable seasonal feast when the Sandy Lane Farm Supper Club opened its doors to a one-off evening on Friday, May 15.

The occasion was a special supper club held in support of this year’s Thame Food Festival, raising important funds to help stage the annual celebration of local and artisan food that takes over the centre of Thame every September.

Cate and George Bennett from Sandy Lane Farm laid on the supper club in the lovely surroundings of their rustic barn, with many other festival supporters and volunteers chipping in to create a wonderful showcase of seasonal food and drink that mirrors the food festival itself.

Host for the evening was Thame Food Festival Patron Lotte Duncan, who welcomed guests and along with local cookery writer, BBC Good Food Magazine columnist and baking author Jane Hornby prepared a mouth-watering selection of canapés to set the scene for the good things to follow.

Guests tucked into fantastic artisan English charcuterie including Dorset air-dried beef and dry-cured salamis from Capreolus Fine Foods and Curious Foods, balsamic dipping oils, Belazu accompaniments and artisan ciabatta from the Cornfield bakery, all piled high onto sharing boards.

Delicious smoked BBQ beef and pork from the Smoke Yard Kitchen and Sandy Lane Farm was teamed with a choice of seasonal salads using ingredients fresh from the fields of Sandy Lane Farm and from the kitchens of What’s Cooking in Thame, and to finish there was a delightfully refreshing gooseberry and elderflower ice cream with pink gooseberry sorbet from Ledbury’s Just Rachel Ice Cream with light shortbread biscuits made locally by Hannah Bakes.

Wines chosen to match each course were specially selected by Jerome Harlington from Trailblazing Wine and the meal ended with irresistible Rumsey’s chocolates and coffee served from the quirky pop-up Horsebox coffee shop.

“Our first ever supper club was a big success and much enjoyed by everyone around the table as well as all of us who helped to organise it,” says Lotte Duncan.

“We had a truly wonderful night and the atmosphere was lovely. As I looked across the barn with all its twinkly candles and gorgeous decorations, all I could hear was laughter and chatter and the sound of people having a great time. We ate and drank well, made new friends and talked excitedly about this year’s food festival, which I know is going to be more fantastic than ever.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who made the evening possible. A lot of hard work went into it and we really appreciate that, alongside the presence of all our supporters, guests and sponsors – it couldn’t have happened without them.”

As part of its on-going sponsorship of the Thame Food Festival, Ronald Peet, Anne Battson, Stephen Woods and Robert Pinheiro from Withy King entertained clients and key referrers at the supper club. They reported fantastic feedback from their guests:

“Thank you for a delightful evening. We were very impressed with the food and of course the company! It was very kind of you to invite us.”

“What an amazing experience in magical surroundings.”

“What a perfect setting for such a wondrous evening of local food and wine”.

Whilst the supper club may have been a one off, there is plenty more in store at this year’s Thame Food Festival which takes place from 9am to 5pm on Saturday 26th September 2015 in the heart of Thame town centre. For more information please go to www.thamefoodfestival.co.uk.

SOURCE: Contributed

JUNE 15, 2015, marks the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and the Oxfam Bookshop in Thame has assembled a superb collection of books on the fact and fiction of the Napoleonic era, in its window display.

Dick Jennens, Shop manager, said: “‘The volunteer team have taken time to collect a great selection of books on this momentous event and the era that preceded it. We are excited and delighted to offer for sale two very special collections:”

History of the Peninsular War, by Sir Charles Oman, 1996, Greenhill Books, in seven volumes, published as a facsimile edition, of the 1930 original, all in Very Good condition with dust-jackets priced at £250.00

A complete set of the 12 Matthew Hervey novels by Alan Mallinson, published by Bantam Press between 1999 and 2015; all are First Editions in VG condition complete with dust-jackets. Three volumes are flat signed by the author. A remarkable set, priced at £400.00.

“This is a great opportunity to purchase two wonderful sets of books relating the fact or fiction of Napoleonic times, and when sold will generate much needed income to fund our work fighting poverty and suffering,” added Dick.

The Oxfam Bookshop, Thame, has been trading since December 2000 and has gained great support from donors, volunteers and customers. Since opening the shop has generated in excess of £1.5m for Oxfam. It is currently supported by 90 volunteers who give on average five hours of time each week. The eldest volunteer will shortly be 94 years of age, the youngest 14 years. We also have a very active online sales operation.

Oxfam is a global humanitarian, development and campaigning organisation working with others top overcome poverty and suffering, established in 1942 in Oxford. We now work in nearly 60 countries on a diverse range of projects, from community health care to providing emergency water sources and sanitation.

For every £1 donated to its general funds, 82p is spent on the emergency, development and campaigning work, 9p is spent on support and governance and 9p is invested to generate future income.