Category: Thame news

THAME’S Mayor, Cllr Adam Buckland, will be on hand at 1.30pm on July 27, to judge the Flash of the Year contest, where traders compete to put up the best display of goods at this year?s Market Fun Day in Thame.

Stilt walkers, face painters, street entertainers, and the Town Crier will mingle with the crowds whilst kids can have free helium goods and have fun on the giant Mix FM slide.

At least a dozen groups and charities will be there to promote their cause, from the St John Ambulance to Thame Wombles, and this year the market traders have taken the Thame Youth Memorial Trust as their chosen charity.

Let?s hope for sunshine and a great day!

PHOTO: Flash back to a previous Thame market fun day

THE major road safety organisation in the county is warning that turning off the county’s speed cameras could result in more road deaths.

Oxfordshire County Council today voted to cut

A 71-year-old woman has been bailed for a second time, following a fatal road crash in which a Thame teacher died.

The woman was arrested after the crash on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. She has been bailed again until Monday, August 16.

Ellie Bongers, 32, died on Christmas Eve after being injured in a collision on the A4260 at Tackley on Sunday, December 20, 2009.

Mrs Bongers’s husband, Richard, was not seriously injured in the accidfent but there 19-month-old son Joseph was left in a critical condition and died in May.

Mrs Bongers was a former acting head of English at Lord Williams?s School, in Thame.

SCHOOL CHIDREN in Thame got a stark reminder of the possible consequences of not abiding by road safety rules thanks to Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service.

Seventy-five Year nine Lord Williams’s School pupils watched as firefighters cut free a live casualty from a vehicle during a mocked-up demonstration as part of a day designed to highlight crucial road safety messages.

Team building activities

The students also took part in a series of team-building activities at the recent event held at the Oxford Road school, including hose-running and dam-building. Many also completed an It’s A Knockout-style obstacle course.

Firefighters also pressed home several road safety messages, including the importance of wearing a seat beat, as part of Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service’s 365 Alive initiative, which aims to promote a safer community for everyone through safety education and prevention work.

Great success

Stuart Garner, Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service’s Risk Reduction and Strategic Partnerships Manager, said: “The day was a great success as the pupils engaged with all of the activities and hopefully learnt the importance of being able to work within a team.

“Road safety education is very important and it was good to have the opportunity to educate the pupils on the importance of always wearing a seat belt.”

Important messages

Richard Taylor, the Assistant Headteacher at Lord Williams’s School, said: “We were delighted to welcome Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service into our school. Our students had fun, worked together in teams and learned about the commitment and energy that is required to be a member of the emergency services.

“The cutting of the car was a profound but engaging demonstration of the consequences of road traffic accidents and it vividly grasped the attention of the students who watched it unfold.

“It was really a tremendous day and we’re very grateful that the firefighters who came and put so much effort into pressing home some very important messages.”

PHOTO: firefighters cutting free a live casualty during a mocked-up demonstration held at Lord Williams’s School, Thame.

THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses to a collision that led to three people losing their lives.

The collision happened around 6.40pm last night (18/7) on the A41 Bicester Road at the turning for Ludgershall and Brill near Aylesbury. A silver Toyota Corolla, travelling in the direction of Bicester, and a red Hyundai Coupe, travelling in the opposite direction, collided.

The driver of the Hyundai, a 28-year-old man from Chipping Norton, and the driver and front-seat passenger of the Toyota, a 79-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman respectively, both from Brackley were declared dead at the scene.

A woman passenger of the Hyundai was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital with serious injuries, and two children in the same vehicle, a boy and a girl were taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital with minor injuries. The road was closed until just before 11.30pm.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision. If anyone has information which could help police with their enquiries please contact PC Darren Carnell, Aylesbury Roads Policing Dept on 08458 505 505 quoting URN 1262 of 18/7/10.

THAME’s Twinning Association is off to Montesson, near Paris in September, and this year, our twin town of Montesson has organised a very exciting weekend, in this, the partnership’s ninth year.

The visit to Montesson – 24 to 26 September, 2010, includes a visit to Auvers sur Oise and passing by Chantilly (famous for its lace and cream!) and Senlis. Van Gogh spent the last three months of his life at Auvers sur Oise, painting 70 pictures in this short time.

For art lovers, especially of the Impressionists, this is a visit not to be missed. Chantilly is also very famous for it?s horse-racing and Chateau and as a very fashionable residential district. Senlis is a lovely old town with winding streets filled with boutiques and caf

A convicted murderer, originally from Thame, has pleaded guilty to raping a 15 year-old girl from Maidenhead.

Ronald Cheshire, who has long standing links with Thame, was already serving a prison sentence for the murder and rape of a 17 year-old girl from Bledlow Ridge in 1987.

He pleaded guilty at Reading Crown Court to one count of rape, one count of kidnap, and one count of false imprisonment.

The following background information is courtesy of Mix 96:

In May 1980, two 15-year-old girls were walking in Switchback Road North, Maidenhead. They were approached by Cheshire, who was driving a car. He tried to grab both girls, one girl escaped but her friend was taken away and seriously sexually assaulted.

Officers from the Major Crime Review Team, working with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Forensic Science Service, uncovered new forensic evidence, which led to the arrest and charge of Cheshire on the 7th of April 2010.

Detective Superintendant Barry Halliday said ?Cheshire?s guilty plea shows he knew the evidence against him was too strong to dispute.

?This result shows that Thames Valley Police remain committed to the careful review and re-investigation of unsolved historic serious sexual assault and homicide cases. Offender?s who think they have got away with a crime years or even decades later, should be aware the MCRT will be doing their utmost to bring them to justice and solve crime.

?I hope that today?s result will give victims of serious sexual crime the confidence to report incidents, the confidence that they will be investigated fully, and the confidence that Thames Valley Police will work tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice. This applies to offences both historic and current.

Cheshire will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court in September.

THE thought of driving almost 3000 miles in a car costing less than

THE village of Haddenham, near Thame has, for the fouth year running, won the Best Kept Village in Bucks competition. As the village won the Pushman cup last year in the category of rural population of over 3000, it will this year, be presented with the Tindall cup which is awarded to one of the winners of last year?s cups.

Congratulations have gone especially to village handyman, Jim Ayers and to Cllr John Wheeler, who between them work hard to keep the village looking good. Thanks also go to villagers who pick up litter when they see it, to those who keep village flower beds tidy and to volunteers who maintain the Snakemoor Local Nature Reserve.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON IN THIS VIBRANT VILLAGE?

Sat 17th Fete. Kingsey Fete will be held from 2pm in the Tythrop House gardens ? by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Nick Wheeler. Enjoy music by the Jazz Band, stalls, children?s games and home baked cakes and tea. Proceeds go to Kingsey Church and village organisations.

Sat 17th Line Dance. The Pondarosa Line Dance group has its next social evening/dance (8-11pm) at Haddenham Village Hall. Entry at the door is

HEAD for the Local Flavours marquee at this year?s Oxfordshire County and Thame Show on July 31, to feast on strawberries, wine, artisan breads and much more, all produced in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.

Give your tastebuds the time of their life with spicy chutneys and hot mustards, luscious cordials and fruity gins, squidgy cheeses and flavour-packed meat pies.

What?s your verdict on Oxfordshire?s school dinners? Food with Thought, the county council?s catering service, is demonstrating dishes made with ingredients from local farms.

Have a go on the Taste of Adventure. Explore the five senses we use to eat: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell in this game run by Slow Food Oxon.

More than 30 stalls in the Local Flavours marquee are selling jams, biscuits, breakfast cereals, organic meat and vegetables, cold pressed rapeseed oil, yoghurts, quince preserves and delicatessen goods.

Top Oxfordshire producers in the Local Flavours marquee include:

Supreme Sausages from Chalgrove with their 12 varieties of sausage ? taste before you buy
Shaken Oak Mustards from Hailey, Witney with award-winning mustards and preserves
Oxford Cheese Company with squidgy and delicious cheeses
Brightwell Vineyard from Shillingford Hill, Wallingford with award-winning wines
Millets Farm Centre from Marcham with strawberries and other soft fruit, summer salads and vegetables
The Old Farmhouse Bakery from Steventon with artisan breads, cakes, buns, quiches and pies
The Granary Delicatessen from Watlington with a cornucopia of speciality foods
Quince Products from Aston Rowant with the county?s unique quince cheeses and preserves
Joining them in the Local Flavours marquee are many Buckinghamshire-based producers, Gloucestershire?s top cheese-maker Simon Weaver Cotswold Organic Dairy and Berkshire?s Sheepdrove Organic Farm.

The Local Flavours marquee is also the place to find out how to get funding from the LEADER programme for food, agriculture, community and forestry projects in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

The Local Flavours marquee is run by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (BBO) Food Group CIC www.local-food.net to showcase an amazing range of delicious summer food.

BBO Food Group gives marketing and trade development support to food and drink producers from the three counties, publishes a highly regarded Food Guide, and organises the Local Flavours Festival. Funding comes from Oxfordshire County Council, Cherwell District Council and The Midcounties Co-operative.

Patrice Garrigues, Ethical Trading Manager at The Midcounties Co-operative, says: ?As a member-owned, community retailer we believe in local sourcing and supporting local suppliers. Our Local Harvest scheme enables us to offer quality local products sourced from a 40 miles radius in our food stores from various suppliers. By supporting smaller suppliers it strengthens our relationships with the communities in which they operate. And reducing food miles ? the distance that food travels from field to fork ? is also better for the environment.?