Category: Thame news

LEADING food writer and broadcaster Sophie Grigson will be signing books and discussing her favourite recipes near the Food Hall, at this year’s Oxfordshire County and Thame Show.

The food hall will be packed with delicious seasonal food and drink during the show next Thursday, September 17, 2009, which happens to be taking place in the middle of the Local Flavours Festival taking part all over the county. Look out there for details of Thame’s own Food Festival with is taking place in and around Thame town hall in Saturday, September, 26.

The Oxfordshire County and Thame Show offers everything from precision military marching and 30ft high leaping quad bikes to dancing sheep, racing terriers and the finest quality livestock.

The Local Flavours Festival heads into its third week with a real ale festival, apples galore at Waterperry Gardens, free wine tastings and 11 farmers? markets full of local produce. Scroll down for details.

Have you taken the Eat Local Flavours Challenge or posted a Local Flavours blog in praise of your favourite farm shop, butcher, veg grower, baker or cake maker? Visit local flavours website
for more information.

Organised by the BBO Food Group with support from Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, Fallowfields Country House Hotel, Ascot Racecourse, Reading UK CIC and the National Trust, the Local Flavours Festival also covers neighbouring Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

Discover the real taste of locally produced food and drink at 180 foodie events including farm walks, wine tastings, farmers? markets, gardening and cookery courses.

LOCAL FLAVOURS FESTIVAL IN OXFORDSHIRE

Highlights of Week Three, 14 – 20 September:

THAME Rotary Club presented cheques to some of the charities it supported during the Presidential year of Marius Ciortan, at a special event last Friday (04/09/09).

The Recipients were, left to right in the photograph:
David Caswell ? Polio Plus, Rotary District 1090

Ann Mayou ? Chairman of the Governors, The Phoenix Appeal, Lord Williams School

Mary Stiles ? Trustee, Thomley Activity Centre

Linda Newton ? Thame Girl Guides

Marius Ciortan ? Immediate Past President and Romanian Foyer Trust

Joe Seed ? Micro-credit Malawi Rotary District 1090

Peter Todd ? President of Thame Rotary Club

Further details on the charities supported can be found on the Thame Rotary Club web site: LINK

A young soldier from Great Haseley, near Thame, who was killed in Afghanistan just days before he was due home, was killed by a road-side mine decided the Oxford coroner today.

Royal Marine, Dale Gostick, aged 22, a member of Three Troop Armoured Support Company, died at the Sangin crossing, Helmand River, in southern Helmand province, in May 2008.

Dale, who was driving a Viking armoured vehicle back to Camp Bastion, was killed instantly and two colleagues suffered multiple injuries from which they are not likely to recover enough to ever return to duty.

ON the day that Terry Wogan has announced that he will be leaving his job as morning presenter on BBC radio two, we bring you the news that he will be visiting Thame for a book signing.

Sir Terry, will be at Thame Town Hall on Wednesday, September 09, 2009, when he will be sign copies of his new book “Where Was I?”

The book will be on sale to be signed and dedicated by the man himself.

Sir Terry will leave ‘Wake Up To Wogan’ in the New Year to present a new weekend show on the network. He will be replaced by Chris Evans.

THE number of beds open at Thame Hospital has been slashed from 12 to 8 to coincide with a cut in medical cover at the hospital.

The new arrangements have been negotiated between Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust and a large private company which has said it can cover the hospital with only four hours of medical time per week. Local doctors maintain that this is not enough.

Local GPs say the were saddened last week to receive P45s from the PCT in respect of their work at Thame Community Hospital, but insist that their campaign to continue their responsibility for medical cover at the hospital goes on.

Dr Duncan Keeley said: “The PCT tells us that this reduction in the number of beds at the hospital is temporary, but we are very worried that it is a warning of further reductions to come, and that the changes the PCT are making to the medical cover at the hospital are a threat to the future of the hospital.

“We have offered to the PCT to use our practice?s prescribing savings to make up the financial shortfall between the cost of these new arrangements to the PCT and the cost of providing double the number of hours of medical care for the hospital from local doctors. We have even had offers of financial support from the community to make up this shortfall, such is the level of local concern.”

The doctors are continuing their appeal to the PCT and to the Strategic Health Authority for the decision to be changed.

Signatures are still being collected to the petition, which 2,500 local residents have already put their names to. The League of Friends of the Hospital and local GPs will be presenting their case to a public meeting in High Wycombe next Friday, September 11th, 2009, of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Buckinghamshire County Council.

The meeting is open to the public and the League of Friends of the hospital is organising a coach to take along any members of the local community who wish to attend that meeting. To arrange a place contact Elizabeth Orde-Brown on 01844 216515.

THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after a house was burgled in Sydenham, near Chinnor, yesterday (3/9/09).

At around 3.30pm, a woman was tending to some horses in the stable area of the property in Sydenham Road, when she saw a man walking through the courtyard towards the fields.

While the woman was asking the man what he was doing, she noticed another man leaving the porch area of the house.

The men left in a blue Astra.

The man the woman spoke to is around 5ft 4ins and aged in his thirties. He has a Mediterranean appearance with dark hair and eyes, large build and was wearing a black tracksuit.

The man seen leaving the house is around 6ft, slim, with fair hair and was wearing a light coloured jacket.

Det Insp Kev Elkins, leading the investigating, said: ?We are in the early stages of our investigation and following up every line of enquiry. At this stage, it is unknown what has been stolen.

?I urge anyone who might have seen these men, or the Astra, in the area, to contact me.?

ED AND BEN, ‘The marathon men’ have finally completed a gruelling 12 marathons in 13 days to raise funds for Thomley Activity Centre, in Worminghall, near Thame.

Over 310 miles from their starting point, Edd Nieburg, 23, from Steventon, and Ben Halliwell, 24, from Wantage, ran back through the gates of Thomley Activity Centre, welcomed by 200 people attending Thomley?s annual open day on Saturday (29/08/09).

Their target was to raise

THOUSANDS of locals and visitors from across the nation – and some from abroad, were rewarded once again with a programme of music, dance and family fun that makes Towersey Festival undoubtedly one-of-a-kind.

From internationally famous artists like The Waterson Family, Roy Bailey, The Blues Band, through the exhiliarating Mighty Zulu Nation, to Thame’s very own master of…well, anything he choses to play really, Wilber – the visitors over the three days were never short of something to feast the eyes and ears and the soul.

From the smallest gig ever, Wilber and eight fans chomping their way through fish and chips outside The Chippy in Thame’s Upper High Street, to the crowds watching the zany humour and bad magic tricks of Pete White’s Suitcase Circus (ably assisted by Wilfie, or was it Wolfie?) – the enthusiasm for this gem of a festival continues to grow every year.

There were some mutterings in the toilet queue and amongst some of the regular visitors about the fact that there was no arena this year, but the new format – a kind of moving feast of street theatre with different acts going on in different places -will no doubt take a bit of getting used to by those who have not known anything else. But the organisers hope that, unlike in previous years, where visitors who were unable to squeeze into the 500 seat arena and had very little to entertain them outside, more people would have been able to be entertained this year.

MORE PICTURES FROM TOWERSEY – enter:
‘Flickr thamenews’ into your browser to see more pictures from Towersey 2009

FIREFIGHTERS called to a burning car in the early hours of last Sunday morning (02/09), discovered a body inside.

The police were then called to the scene, a lay-by outside Thame, on the A4129 between Kingsey and Longwick, at around 2.30am.

The fire is not considered to be suspicious and no formal identification of the deceased has yet taken place.

AN environment group that helps communities plan for when oil runs out is attracting increasing attention in the Thame area.

The Thame and Haddenham Transition groups will be spreading their message at this month’s Thame Local Tastes festival and other up-coming local events.

BRING ALONG YOUR SURPLUS FRUIT

At the food festival on Saturday, September 26, the group will be demonstrating an apple press. Visitors will be invited to leave their contact details if they would like to take along surplus apples to an event in October, where the fruit can be made into juice.

NEW BOOK

The Transition group will also be promoting its newly published book about low energy food production.