Category: Thame news

FOLLOWING on from Wednesday’s review of the main Thame news stories of 2010 up to April, the rest of the year proved just as eventful.

The General Election on May 6, which saw the re-election of Thame?s MP John Howell, attracted a turn out of 73% in the Constituency ? the biggest for many years.

The sunny month of June sadly brought the death of two popular local men, ?The father of Thame allotments,? Ken Jones, who was also an ex manager of the Co-op store, and 29 year-old motorcyclist, Robert Thompson, who was killed in accident at a Bicester round-about. Thame?s very first Arts and Literature festival towards the end of June proved to be a huge success with 1,450 people attending 30 events, including poetry nights in pubs, over the weekend, June 25-27.

Early in July the beautiful land-mark Weeping Willow tree in the Memorial Gardens had to be felled by the town council because it was diseased and dangerous. But the gap in Thame?s townscape was soon re-filled with a replacement tree of the same species. Also in July, Thame responded to the hand of friendship extended by Romania, and the Thame-Sinaia Friendship group was launched.

The month brought an extended dry spell of weather and Thame fire station was kept busy putting out fires in hedgerows and railway embankments, and more seriously, a fire in the car park at Thame Show which damaged 22 cars. Thame Show was, for the first time, held during July, having been staged for generations during the third week in September.

Also in July, a town branding initiative was launched to help promote the town and ?Its Thame4Me? stickers began appearing in shop windows and on event posters etc. Soha became the first ?green? housing association to come up with practical ideas to mobilise neighbourhoods to adapt to climate change by encouraging everyone to reduce energy consumption in anyway they can.

It was during July 2010 that Oxfordshire County Council voted to take the controversial step of turning off the county?s speed cameras. (These are now due to be turned on again following a financial contribution from Thames Valley Police)

For ten years, Thame had been fighting for a new library to replace the small, inadequate building in Southern Road, and on August 2, a brand new, state-of-the art library, with computer, self-service equipment was opened.

For three days over the August bank holiday, a red double decker bus became a regular sight in the town when, in its 46th year, the now internationally renowned Towersey festival attracted top folk, blues and Roots musicians and drew some of Thame?s most colourful annual visitors to the town providing a much-welcome boost to the local economy.

Concerns over future funding for the Thame & District Day Centre began to emerge in August and the local community was asked to get behind fund-raising challenges, and as a result, in part, of local lobbying, the centre later received reassurance from the Buckinghamshire Hospitals Trust, its landlord, that it could stay for a reasonable rent, far from the

A Chinnor-based storyteller has given up her job to travel the world in search of stories which she will broadcast live on the web.

Victoria Parsons, who at 29 years-old is already an accomplished UK storyteller, has left her job writing subtitles for the BBC and flies off tomorrow, Friday, January 06, to dedicate herself full time to finding inspiration from the different cultures she experiences.

First stop for Victoria will be India, where she will take part in the biggest literary festival in Asia, in Jaipur which takes place from January 21 to 25.

The world tour, which includes Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka, has been planned for Victoria to gather, collect and write traditional oral stories which will be available fortnightly via her YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TaleTimeStories and her website http://taletimestories.com

?Story has the power to bring people together and I’m using the internet as a 21st century tool to achieve this,” explained Victoria. “Telling a story connects you there and then in a space and connection is something we are sadly missing in today?s society. My goal is to share stories as a means to a greater understanding between people.?

Aimed at eight to twelve year olds, Victoria?s stories will bring Gods and Goddesses, astrological myths and traditional folktales to life.

Victoria will be visiting schools, talking to locals and meeting other travelers to find her stories.

Tracey Smith, author/broadcaster on sustainable living said: “Victoria?s work will inspire parents the world over to slow down their pace, conjure up a few characters and set aside the time to create special memories with their children, before the opportunity to embrace it has sadly passed.”

When she returns to the UK in a year?s time, Victoria will be publishing her first book, Circle of Stars, which she will be writing on her travels.

Mark Boyle, author of The Moneyless Man and founder of Freeconomy said: ?Stories play a huge role in the types of society we create. Every moment, of every day, we are enacting a story that has evolved over millennia; and almost always, unknowingly. Until we change these underlying, silent stories, very little will change in society. What Victoria is really doing is teaching children – and more importantly, their parents – that there are many ways we could live, some potentially much better, and that this way is but one.?

Victoria will be updating her website two or three times a week from where ever she is in the world. A story map on her site shows where she is currently traveling. Her itinerary includes India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka and will take a year to complete.

THAME, Oxfordshire 06/01/10

AS Barley Hill School in Thame begins the new term with a new headteacher, the outgoing Head, John Hulett has spoken about the changes in support for education during his time and reflecting on his 16 years at the school.

Writing in the school news letter, Mr Hulett has written: “In my early years here the Local Authority used to play a much more central role in supporting teachers than it does today. I used to receive regular visits from our local adviser and friendly advice from our area education officer. Support for headteachers now comes largely from external providers and the Local Authority community has changed greatly and diminished in size.”

Mr Hulett expressed his appreciation for the support of The Thame Partnership of local schools, and talked about how he had valued his close working relationship with the other Thame schools’ heads and how their priority had always been cooperation and collaboration and never competition.

He thanked Chris Neal who was Chair of Governors at the school when Mr Hulett became headteacher and the current Chair, Paul Nicholas, as well as the many parents and community representatives who had served as Governors. He also paid tribute to the parents for their high level of interest and support to their childrens? education, which he said, ?..is one of the great strengths of the school.?

Mr Hulett went on to thank, what he called, “.. an
incredibly energetic and talented team of teachers,” and concluded that leaving behind the community that is Barley Hill School, “…would leave leave an
enormous hole in my life.”

Sam Eels Taylor, who is the current Vice Chair of Governors at Barley Hill School, said: “John will be sorely missed. We have now welcomed a new Head Teacher, Anne Stopforth, an experienced head from Reading who started the role this week and we are confident that she will build on the excellent foundations laid by John.”

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has issued a statement about the disruptions to its kerb-side waste collections in December.

Steve Bishop, Strategic Director for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils, said: ?Waste collections were cancelled on Monday 20 December and Tuesday 21 December because of the treacherous conditions on many roads, where compacted snow was unsafe for our contractors? 26 tonne collection vehicles and the icy conditions on pavements were dangerous for collection crews.

“Collections went ahead as planned for the rest of that week on roads assessed as being safe although further cancellations arose in some of the residential roads which remained treacherous until the thaw. As a special measure wherever possible, on safe main routes, on Thursday and Friday that week crews collected waste from houses that had been missed earlier that week.

?We did not attempt to catch up collections from those who had had a missed collection in order to safeguard collections for the majority of residents unaffected by the snow and ice disruptions. Crews worked to the previously agreed and publicised Christmas timetable. This schedule involves crews working the next three Saturdays to catch up with collections missed because of the Christmas bank holidays.

“Collections in both districts will return to normal on Monday 24 January.

?Had we attempted to catch up those two days of missed collections, it would have meant disrupting the Christmas schedule for all 100,000 households across South Oxfordshire and the Vale rather than just the minority of households whose collections were cancelled due to snow/ice.

?We do apologise to any residents who we were unable to collect from for the inconvenience this has caused. Anyone who did have a missed collection can put out a reasonable amount of extra side waste with their next collection.?

For further information, and to check the Christmas schedule for both South Oxfordshire and the Vale, please visit www.morecycling.co.uk or call 03000 610610.

AS we leave 2010 behind and wonder what 2011 holds for Thame, we look back at the highs and the lows of the main news events of the past year.

The year 2010 began on a very sad note, with the death of popular Thame teacher, Ellie Bongers after the car she was travelling in was involved in a collision on Christmas Eve. Her toddler son, who was seriously injured in the crash, survived for several months but died in May.

In Thame, on a very cold day on January 3, 2010, there was a mixture of laughter and tears when street entertainers, music and a helium balloon launch celebrated the lives of all the town?s young people who had died in tragic circumstances, and a special garden of remembrance was dedicated to them in the Memorial Gardens in the Upper High Street. Funds continue to be raised for a memorial structure, the latest effort, a Christmas party at The James Figg, raised over

THAMES Valley Police is appealing for information after a man exposed himself to a woman in Thame on Friday (31/12).

The incident happened at 12.30pm as a 42-year-old woman was jogging along the Phoenix Trail, the walking and cycling path that leads from Thame to Princess Risborough.

The woman was jogging along the trail and was near to the bridge at Thame Park Road when she saw a man standing on a raised platform area besides the trail. As she approached him, he exposed himself to her.

The man is described as white, approximately 45 years-old, of medium build and with mousey brown hair. He was wearing sunglasses, a white T-shirt, a dark-coloured jacket, possibly brown, and what the victim believes were jeans.

PC Andy Smith said: ?I would like to speak to anyone who was in the area on New Year?s Eve who may have seen this man about, and might know where he came from or went to.

?Perhaps someone recognises this description and knows who this man is? I would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak to me as soon as possible.?

Thame’s Neighbourhood Sgt, Steve Hookham, told Thamenews.net this afternoon: “As a result of this incident we shall be increasing our foot and patrols and cyle patrols by PCSOs in the area of the Phoenix Trail behind Thame, to one or two per shift.”

Anyone with information should contact PC Smith via the 24-hour Thames Valley Police Enquiry Line on 0845 8 505 505. Alternatively, you can contact the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Earlier this afternoon, fire and rescue crews from Thame and Wheatley were called to reports of a dog stranded after falling through ice in a lake near Tiddington.

The owner met the first crews arriving in Sandy Lane and led them to the lake which was a about half a mile from the road. On arrival the crews found the dog hanging onto the edge of the ice about 5m from the bank.

Fire-Fighters using wading poles to break the ice and wearing specialist dry suits entered the lake and were able to break a pathway and wade close enough to rescue the dog which by this time was in some distress. Once the dog was carried back to the bank he was covered using Fire-Fighters’ tunics and placed in a kit bag to keep warm then taken to the owner?s home in the Fire and Rescue Service 4×4 where a vet was called.

Watch Manager, Andy Ford from Thame, said: “On our arrival the dog was obviously very cold and was not going to be able to hold on for much longer, but fortunately we were able to get to the dog safely using specialist dry suits and get him to shore where the crews started to warm him up by covering him with their tunics.

“Thankfully the owner and his family had not tried to rescue the dog by going in after it which could have proved very dangerous. There have been a number of similar incidents around the county attended by Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and I would like to remind people to take extra care around frozen rivers and lakes and also keep dogs on leads. The ice can be very thin in places and especially now the ice is starting to thaw.”

Advice for dog walkers:

* Keep your dogs on leads at all times near frozen
water.
* If your dog gets into trouble, do not follow it
onto the ice.
* Make no attempt to try to rescue it, you will put
your life in danger.
* Call for help – Call the emergency services 999.
Tell them exactly where you are and what has
happened.
* Do NOT attempt to go out onto the ice yourself.

HAVE you seen this cat anywhere in the Thame area?
Anyone with any information about this missing, much-loved pet, please contact:
Kay English: 07921459309

LATEST information and advice regarding gritting, waste, etc from Oxfordshire County Council:
Snow update

CHILDREN from the Thame area are being invited to sign up this month (December, 2010) to take part in a world record breaking attempt for the most people signing and singing at the same time.

The national charity SignHealth is hoping 15,000 schoolchildren including several hundred from Thame, will join in with the event taking place on February 9, 2011.

Steve Powell, Chief Executive at SignHealth, said: ?Our Guinness World Records? sign2sing project is an attempt to break the record for the most people singing and signing a song simultaneously.

?The current record is 13,418 people and we?re hoping to smash this, while also raising awareness of deafness and the work we are doing at SignHealth. The event will also be a fundraiser for the charity through sponsorship from businesses and a suggested donation of