Category: Thame news

A FAMILY of three, including a young child, had a lucky escape earlier this afternoon when their car was involved in a collision with a container lorry in Thame.

The collision occurred at around 12.30pm today as the car the family were travelling in was leaving Youens Drive, off Jane Morbey Road, and the larger vehicle was driving towards the industrial area of Jane Morbey Road.

The fuel tank of the lorry was ruptured and the front of the car completely smashed in, presenting fire crews from Thame with a fuel spillage in danger of seeping into nearby drains or igniting in the hot weather.

Fortunately none of those involved in the collision were seriously injured.

A THAME composer has been commissioned by the Cultural Committee of the 2012 London Olympics to contribute to a special film project about the sport of table tennis.

Joe Cutler and a couple of friends who play in a string quartet, decided to apply to be involved in the PRS (Performing Rights Society) Foundation’s New Music 20×12 project, over a pint in the Cross Keys pub in Thame.

The 20×12 project is an independent commissioning programme consisting of twenty new pieces of music, each of 12 minutes in length, celebrating the talent and imagination of the UK?s musical community as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Joe?s work will be called ?Ping? and will involve him collaborating with his brother who is a table tennis coach and a leading England-ranked player, three other players from The Fusion Table Tennis Club based in South-East London , The Coull Quartet, which includes his wife Rose, and visual artist Tom Dale.

The project is still in the evolutionary stage and the actual table tennis table that will feature in the film will be specially made to act as a projector and will have film projected on to its surface. The whole thing will be set up as an installation and be one of 20 projects shown throughout one day in July 2012, at the South Bank Centre.

You can read much more about Joe?s project and how he intends to develop the project on the PRS Foundation New Music 2012 website: http://www.prsformusicfoundation.com/newmusic20x12/index.htm

Find out more about Joe Cutler himself, his background and music making HERE

RAYMOND BLANC, celebrity guest at Thame Food Festival: “All of these villages are coloured with this wonderful food and drink festival. A whole community here is coming to the Festival, celebrating; connecting with food and just having fun.”

The organisers behind the growing success of Thame’s food festival, having recovered from all their hardwork, have today issued a big ‘Thank You’ to demonstrators, stall-holders, volunteers and others that made the day such a glorious success:

Their statement says: “Thame Food Festival was undoubtedly a staggering success. Now in its fourth year, the Festival is growing and growing with nearly twice as many exhibitors on show this year and amazing support from thousands of local people and visitors from afar. Crowds were huge and the town centre was full to capacity.

“Festival Patron, Lotte Duncan, sold over 700 cakes at her stall as well as hosting a great cooking demo in the main kitchen area, and appearing at the Aga shop. ‘What a day! I was asleep within minutes of getting home!’she told us afterwards.”

Celebrity guest chefs in the main demo kitchen in Montesson Square included Mark Peregrine and Adam Johnson from Le Manoir aux Quat?Saisons, Steve Love and Ian Craddock from head sponsors, McCormick Schwartz, Giancarlo & Katie Caldesi, Matt Thackwray and Liz Panter from Cavendish Events, Lotte Duncan, Nigel Rumsey of Rumsey?s Chocolaterie and Cornfield Bakery which has shops in both Thame and Wheatley.

As well as their demo, McCormick Schwartz shared the demo kitchen area handing out free goodie bags and presented a fabulous hamper for the raffle. This was won by Sheila Hoffman of Dobbins Lane, Wendover.

The one-day cookery course at The Rayond Blanc Cookery School, was won by Christine Austin-Crowe of Rosemary Lane, Haddenham, the Fortnum & Mason’s hamper by Julie Ewing of East Street, Thame. The dinner party for eight at one of the show homes on the Windmill Road new housing development, donated by David Wilson Homes, was won by Patricia Newbury.

As BBC Oxford said in their TV news report later in the day, there was a “vast array of food and drink on display” and the stallholders included The Chiltern Brewery, Tims Dairy, Daws Hill Vineyard, Merchants of Vino, Le Manoir, Chiltern Natural Foods, I?m Japanese, The Six Bells, What?s Cooking, Mortimer Chocolate, Cavendish Events, Chillis 2 U, Anne?s Kitchen, Time Out Caf

A LOCAL woman has been banned from driving after an incident in Waitrose car part in Thame.

Lynda Hawes, 67, of Worminghall Road, Oakley, admitted driving a vehicle in Waitrose car park, Thame, while unfit through drink.

She as fined

AN estimated 12,000 people visited Thame on Saturday to experience the town’s very own brand of hospitality and vitality, in the form of its fourth food festival.

The cliche ‘something for everyone’ was never more true than for the variety available of locally grown food, drink, spices, oils, cakes, bread, biscuits, olives, cheeses, cookware, Japanese food, meats and teas, to name just a few.

Demonstrations included using herbs and spices, with sponsor, McCormick Foods, Country Delights with TV cook and Chinnor deli and cafe owner, Lotte Duncan as well as Wedding canapes, Italian cooking with Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi, chocolate making and a cook-off between Le manoir aux Quat’Saisons and Aylesbury College.

Henrietta Lovell, otherwise know as The Rare Tea Lady, gave an entertaining and facinating talk at The Spread Eagle on the providence and philosophy behind her very special teas, and her campaign to ‘de-bag’ Britain and persuade us to use higher grade and better value lose tea again as we did in the past.

For younger family members, The Cottage Bakery ran childrens’ workshop all afternoon teaching them how to work with dough to produce an amazing variety of tortoise shaped loaves to take home, and The Good Biscuit Company was kept busy all day with youngsters wanting to join in with biscuit decorating.

The competition for the best Thame Tart, new for this year, drew lots of entries and was won by Shirley Edwards who lives in Thame. The judge was the inimitable Food Festival Patron, Lotte Duncan. She told ThameNews.Net: “What an absolutely fab day! Thame Food Festival this year was bigger and better than ever. The streets were thronged with food lovers from both the local area and afar and it makes me so proud to have been a part of it.

“Such a wonderful event! I’m already looking forward to next year with immense anticipation.”

Local Deli owner, Sally Dickinson of What’s Cooking in Cornmarket, Thame, has taken part in all four Thame Food Festivals. She said: ” ?What a staggering food and drink success and a proud moment for Thame?s businesses and the wealth of wonderful producers from the region!?

PHOTO: Local people took their own apples along to the food festival to be pressed into juice by the Haddenham In Transition’s group’s apple press

?THAME Food Festival touches the hearts of people because it is a real festival.? Giancarlo Caldesi supporter and celebrity guest chef.

Only one day to go to the fourth Thame Food Festival tomorrow and what promises to be the most tongue ticklingly, tastily fun-filled festivals yet!

Patron Lotte Duncan will be cooking in the main kitchen and demo-ing in the Aga shop. Celebrity guest Raymond Blanc will be in attendance throughout the day and will be signing copies of his new book ?Kitchen Secrets?.

Celebrity guest chefs in the main demo kitchen in Montesson Square will include Mark Peregrine and Adam Johnson from Le Manoir aux Quat?Saisons, Mr X from the Great British Menu, Steve Love and Ian Craddock from head sponsors McCormick Schwartz, Giancarlo & Katie Caldesi, Cavendish Events, Lotte Duncan, Nigel Rumsey and Cornfield Bakery.

There promises to be some fantastic culinary prizes for the raffle on the day, including a voucher for a one day cookery course worth

TWO Thame sister pubs are to go head to head to boost the coffers for Macmillan Cancer Support with world record attempt to whip up the most cappuccinos ever made in an hour!

It will be all hands on deck between 10am and 11am at The Thatch and The James Figg in Thame, next Friday, 30th September, when each of the pubs? baristas will be attempting to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records by steaming up the largest number of cappuccinos ever made in one hour, all for a good cause.

The world record attempt is in support of this year?s ?Macmillan World?s Biggest Coffee Morning? which is due to take place across the country next Friday, with all donations for the coffees going straight to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The current world record stands at 106 cups in an hour; the teams at each of the two sister pubs are aiming to smash this with their sights set on 150! To ensure everything is above board, the attempts will be independently witnessed and filmed, with the footage being sent to Guinness World Records afterwards.

?The Thatch and The James Figg are both really popular places for locals to hook up with friends and colleagues for a catch-up over coffee, so we thought it would make sense for us to do our bit to help make next Friday Macmillan?s biggest ever coffee morning,? explains Frazer Sutherland, owner The Thatch and The James Figg. ?The teams have had a few practice runs so are all fired up and ready to go, it?ll be interesting to see which pub makes it into the Guinness Book of World Records.?

No money will be taken by the pubs for the coffees on Friday morning, instead they will donate a sum of

A THAME woman has spoken of her relief as her decades-long battle to have her property decontaminated is won, as the diggers move in to begin the work.

Sam Gee lives in one of four properties built in the early 1970s on the site of the old Thame Gas holder in Wellington Street, Thame, in the house originally owned by her parents. Suspicions began around 1975 when residents noticed a strange smell. Plants didn?t seem to grow properly in the strange, black soil and most alarming of all, they noticed that some of the stones in the ground in their gardens were blue – apparently a sign of the presence of cyanide.

Mother of three, Sam, told Thamenews.Net that she had been wrangling with the developer, the landowner and South Oxfordshire District Council for many years over who was responsible for dealing with the contamination and who should pay.

?The most distressing aspect about the whole thing,? said Sam, ? has been the lack of information and communication from SODC throughout. At one point they just told us to wash our hands! Further along the line, they did eventually promise to keep me informed but that fizzled out until I was told I would have to pay for the work.?

SODC has now appointed contractors to dig out the whole of the area around the four properties, carefully removing and taking away all the affected soil to a depth of about a metre and a half. They will then lay down a special membrane to prevent any further seepage up into the soil and infill with new top soil.

?Although I have lost so many childhood memories with my dad?s plants and his workshop etc getting trashed, and little things like my daughter?s baby footprints in the concrete taken out, and the graves of our dead pets over the years having to be disturbed, I am looking forward to being able to have a proper garden again and not having to worry about my children playing outside in the garden.?

Because of the contamination, the four properties affected have been blighted by a bad reputation, but now, as Sam said, ?We can genuinely say that only have we got the safest garden in Thame, we?ve probably got the the safest garden in England!?

PHOTO: Sam Gee and two of her children spot a patch of black, contaminated soil in what was their front garden

THAME’s MP, John Howell was guest of honour at an event hosted by 21st Century Thame recently, to learn about the work undertaken by the Partnership and to see for himself the fruits of the organisation?s hard work on behalf of the community.

John was joined at Thame’s new, state-of-the-art library by representatives from South Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire Rural Community Council (ORCC) as well as other partnership members, to hear details of the work and take a tour of some of the town centre projects, specifically some of the retail businesses stunningly transformed as part of the shop front improvements scheme.

Local businesswoman and Chair of 21st Century Thame, Cat Young addressed guests ahead of the town ?walk about?. She explained how the Partnership had been working together over the last two years to introduce a wide range of initiatives aimed at promoting Thame, encouraging tourism, attracting business and ensuring that Thame maintains and builds on its position as one of Oxfordshire?s most important market towns.

The projects have been funded by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), match funded by SODC and with the help and support of Thame Town Council.

Cat, who is a Partner of Thame-based business, STW, in North Street, outlined some of the projects’ key achievements which included creating promotional material to inform and welcome visitors and newcomers, implementing a highly successful Loyalty Card scheme designed to support local traders, installing no less than four blue plaques (within Oxfordshire, the most ever approved at one time!) and – soon to be completed ? placing way markers on the heritage trails around the town. She explained that positioning planters on the approaches to Thame and extending the coverage of the Christmas lights will benefit visitors and residents alike.

?Thame is a vibrant and thriving community,? Cat said, “and those of us who work or live here already know what a great town it is. But to ensure it stays that way requires us to continually find ways to make it even more attractive to residents, businesses and visitors.?

She added: ?The energy and enthusiasm of the volunteers in 21st Century Thame is remarkable and shows what a commitment there is to making sure Thame stays well and truly a shining star on the map of Oxfordshire!”