THE sun is shining this afternoon and the crowds at the Thame Show are making the most of the ice-cream vans, the pop-up bar and a huge choice of tasty pork sausages, pies from Wales, olives, sea-food and even honey and wildflower wine from Transylvania.Dogs of all shapes and sizes are being put through their paces – by owners of all shapes and sizes; horses (or is it ponies?), all beautifully groomed and gleaming, are jumping over poles, tightly controlled by equally smart riders vying to get round the course as quickly as possible without rattling too many poles.
In the main arena, there’s falconary, racing sheep and plenty else to keep the whole family amused and ‘wowed’, especially those children who are lucky enough to have the day off school for the occassion. Caged birds panting in the humid Domestic tent are tweeting away and some very elegant and quirky flower arrangements are getting a lot of attention. The giant onions, yard-long carrots and majestic green beans as straight as a die are drawing the admiration of gardeners old and young.
Fingers crossed that a return to the old calender-certainty of the third Thursday in September, the gorgeous weather and the bustling trade stands, will be enough to turn a profit for the show and ensure its return to the Thame social calender in 2015 and beyond.
THAME Town Hall has rarely seen the public gallery as full as it was on Tuesday night (16/09) for a meeting of the town council. The meeting was called to allow the Save The Elms petition group to explain their opposition to the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of the proposed Elms housing development’s inclusion in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, and for the council to explain the legalities of the plan and to explain its own rationale for including The Elms in the plan.
Thame town hall is filling up fast as local people take their seats, Angela Wilson (front L) and Tom Marianczak (front R) chat before the meeting
Tom Marianczak spoke on behalf of the Save The Elms petition group, and in his openig salvo, told the council: “We believe The Elms is a completely unsuitable and unnecessary location for development and our reasons for this cover environmental, historic and traffic issues among others. Furthermore, we believe The Elms made its way into the Neighbourhood Plan under questionable circumstances.”
Mr Marianczak claimed that the site under discussion, land at The Elms, just off the Upper High Street, was introduced as an ‘additional’ site at a later stage in the development of the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, by the Town Council, and that it was not formally analysed as the other six suggested designated sites were. “Instead it was presented to the people of Thame in the same way as the other sites despite never being identified as a viable location for development by the relevant planning authority,” he said.
Mr Marianczak quoted minutes from several meetings that had taken place involving the Town Clerk, the Developer, Rectory Homes and their consultants, and others with SODC Conservation Officers during the forming of the Neighbourhood Plan. His contention was that no town councillors or members of the TNP Working group had been involved in those meetings and that finally, on the November 20, 2012, Councillors were persuaded to pass the Plan for referendum, ‘without debating its content or being offered the opportunity to propose amendments’. The one single councillor who objected to building on Elms Field, claimed Mr Marianczak, was told that this was ‘not a Councillor decision’.
He went on to question the validity of the council’s explanation of how the number of houses to be permitted on the site, came to be increased from 35 to 45, and why a letter from English Heritage, expressing concerns about the site, was not presented to councillors, an omission later explained by the Clerk, as the letter having ‘arrived late’ after the end of the Consultation period.
“This situation that we are now in is because their (English Heritage) original opinion, that any development would ‘be deeply damaging’ was withheld from not only town councillors but also from the people of Thame,” he went on. “Surely this should have been made widely available through the regulation 14 statement in the Neighbourhood Plan? Yet this statement does not contain any of the responses from the Statutory Consultees which include English Heritage.
“Without such information available to them, voters could not have been expected to make a fully informed decision. It is no wonder then, that a very large number of our two thousand petitioners voted ‘yes ‘in the referendum and yet, now they have been furnished with more complete information, are asking to change the Neighbourhood Plan by having The Elms removed.
“I hope that we don’t need to tell you, councillors, that if The Elms wasn’t in the Neighbourhood Plan, it would be substantially more difficult, maybe almost impossible to get permission to develop the site. As it stands we currently face an application for development which is almost unanimously derided by the town yet stands a real possibility of being permitted.”
Mr Marianczak then turned his attention to the matter of the public Elms Park itself, which is the subject of a second planning application for changes and additions, submitted by Rectory Homes, that are dependent on the proposed development of The Elms itself next door being approved
“This land, he began, “was specifically designated for the benefit of the residents of Thame. It has its very own unique character which is created, not least by the sense of nature provided by the adjoining informal parkland in The Elms. Allowing development of The Elms will change the character of Elms Park forever and remember that the development of The Elms doesn’t work without changes to Elms Park.
“This is pure exploitation of public land for the benefit of the commercial development. There cannot be many people in this town that would find this acceptable.”
Returning to the major call of the Save The Elms Petition group, that is to change the Neighbourhood Plan and have The Elms site removed from it, Mr Marianczak explained the reasons behind this plea: “Now that the Neighbourhood plan has been in place for over a year, we have seen it tested. And we have seen it ignored. The recent approval of the Cotmore Wells commercial development (https://www.thame.net/archives/16532) is undeniable proof that the Neighbourhood Plan is not binding in any way but is merely a guide.
“We question why our petitioners are constantly being told that the Plan cannot be changed to remove The Elms when the Cotmore Wells development clearly and openly violates the plan. There was no referendum or public consultation required to override the plan and, clearly, this sets a precedent – in many ways a very worrying precedent,” he said. “Through correspondence, most notably with the Head of Planning at SODC and more recently with MP John Howell, it has been made clear to us that there is only one source that can influence a change in the Neighbourhood Plan. That is you, the Town Council. Equally, you have proved your willingness to allow the plan to be overridden in the example of the Cotmore Wells development.
“As such, we ask that you, the councillors who have been democratically elected to represent the views of the residents of Thame, to take action. Although we have suggested a new referendum, there isn’t any necessity to do this. We’ve carried out our own public consultation on this matter by way of the petition and, without any funding, accrued over two thousand signatures against all development on The Elms and specifically removal of The Elms from the Neighbourhood Plan.
“We suggest that a small committee could be formed comprising a handful of councillors, members of our group, a senior planner from SODC and the Town Clerk, to advise on local government regulatory matters. The aim of such a committee would be to delete The Elms from the Plan and redistribute the housing to other, more appropriate sites as is already provisioned for in the Neighbourhood Plan. This will minimise the cost to the town, the timescale in which it can be implemented and preserve this historic piece of land for years to come.”
Mr Marianczak’s final plea to the town councillors drew sustained applause from the crowded public gallery, which caused the Chair to bring down her gavel: “We are currently lucky enough to be the custodians of this town,” began Marianczak. “We have chosen Thame to be the backdrop to our daily lives. We live here and we work here. We, the people of Thame are the lifeblood of this town and without us this whole town would cease to exist.
“We have elected our councillors to represent and enforce our views and we are now making a plea to each and every one of you. The Elms isn’t just a field with a few trees. It’s a living, breathing part of Thame’s past, present and future. You can be assured that this piece of land was here, undisturbed, long before you and I, and it will continue to be here long after we’re gone. The responsibility for the state in which it is left to future generations currently rests on your shoulders.
“Let’s not kid ourselves; there is no real need to build houses on this land. There are no hordes of vagrants roaming the streets of Thame waiting for these houses to be built. We have been forced into a position by misfortune, by misinformation, by greed and short-sightedness. And we have an opportunity at this point in time to make a change. To correct a mistake. To right a wrong.
“We ask you to consider this issue rationally and without prejudice. This issue is bigger than you and I. It is bigger than any ego; it is more important than any personal conflict that may be influencing you. We are at a crossroads in time where Councillors could sit back and allow the exploitation of an incredibly important part of Thame. But you do have an option. You can listen to the people who you represent and you do have the power to make a change to preserve this wonderful piece of land.
“Do you want to be the council that is remembered for not listening to the people that gave you the power in the first place? Instead, look to the past for inspiration for the future and protect this land as people have done for us, because once it is gone… it can never be returned.”
Ex Residents Association Chair defends the process
The next speaker was Angela Wilson, who was Chair of the Lea Park Residents’ Association, and heavily involved in the formation of the Thame Neighbourhood Plan. She told the meeting: “The Thame Neighbourhood Plan gave the whole of Thame the opportunity to have its say. I wrote a letter to the local press saying to the people of Thame that they needed to form Residents’ Associations, if they didn’t have one already, because they needed to have their voices heard and to influence what would happen. People could have become involved if they had wanted to.I believe that the people of Thame have had the opportunity to say what they think.
“If there was no neighbourhood plan,” she continued, “all the houses would have been built on one site which was SODC’s preference. A great many people came and explained their view and we were able to present the options. There was wide consultation and the people said ‘yes’.
At this point there were shouts of ‘Not true!’ from the public gallery.
What are the legal factors around changing the Neighbourhood Plan?
Beryl Guiver, South Oxfordshire District Council’s Planning Policy Officer, was then called upon to explain the legal status of the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, in response to the call from the Save The Elms Petition group, for a second referendum on the TNP, and, in her own words: “Why such a request would not be viable.”
She explained that, although it is not clear in the regulations, the plan could theoretically be altered but the whole process, consultation, pre-submission, Examination and Referendum would have to be gone through all over again. “If you wanted to change the (site) allocations,” she said, “you would need to demonstrate a change of circumstances since the (original) allocation had been made.”
She added that if the site was taken out of the plan, the landowner could challenge the change and may be eligible for costs. Another hazard, she said, was that others could press for the same for other sites. Also, as the plan for The Elms has been submitted, if it was refused or not determined, it could go to appeal which could go through before any new plan and a new referendum could be completed.
What did the councillors have to say?
Cllr Nichola Dixion asked Ms Guiver if the change of circumstances that could trigger a site being looked at again, had to be something specific, for instance, something like a burial site. Ms Guiver replied that it would have to be something like that, which provided new evidence that would make the site inappropriate to be developed.
Cllr David Laver asked if allowing an increase in the area of the Commercial land at Cotmore Wells farm to be extended beyond that in the Neighbourhood Plan, breached the plan. Ms Guiver responded that this was a ‘very different’ case because an allocated site had been extended rather than removed, and that it had been justified by allowing local businesses to stay in the area and by so doing, support the local economy.
Cllr Peter Lambert asked her if removing The Elms from the plan would prevent a developer from submitting in a plan anyway. Ms Guiver replied that there would not, because there is provision for ‘infilling’ within urban areas. Both the TNP and SODC’s plan includes provision to look at sites within urban areas.
What was the town council’s rationale behind including The Elms in the Neighbourhood Plan?
During the agenda item for the council to explain the rationale behind The Elms’ inclusion in the TNP, Cllr Mike Dyer sought to clarify three points. The first was that it was ‘not a fair point’ to say that The Elms was the only site not included in the original six draft designated sites for development, because the Lord Williams’s school site too had arisen as an additional site. Secondly, he said that it ‘was not the job of councillors to decide on the sites, but that some councillors, as individuals in the groups may have influenced decisions. Thirdly, he stated that the late letter from English Heritage was considered as it went to the consultants, Tibbalds (who helped devise the TNP) as part of the documents for consideration, and he added that the letter was available for councillors to see though not brought to their attention.
Cllr David Laver said: “The English Heritage representative should have made any objections they had at the Examination meeting. ” The reply was that English Heritage did speak at the Public Examination and that as a result of what was stated, the Examiner recommended that they changed the wording of their submission (To help put this statement in context, here’s a LINK to a news report of the Examination, including some of what English Heritage said: https://www.thame.net/archives/8283 )
Cllr Mike Weply reiterated SODC’s policy as expressed in the Core Strategy that allows for some ‘backland development’ in gardens and fields etc, some of which have been passed and others rejected. He suggested that if The Elms plan was turned down, an appeal could be made to Whitehall. Ms Guiver added that Government polices also have to be taken into consideration when plans are looked at for developments in existing settlements and urban areas.
Referring to suggestions made earlier in the meeting by Mr Tom Marianczak that The Elms was introduced late as a possible site, Cllr Mike Dyer said that Public displays of plans about The Elms were provided for the public in November 2012, as a possible site. Then, he said, a paper was delivered through every door in Thame showing the preferred options, including The Elms, and the public asked to comment on them. “The accusation that The Elms ‘was sneaked into the plan’ is wrong!” he said, and accused Mr Marianczak’s group of spreading ‘misinformation’.
Referring to ‘the late’ English Heritage letter, Cllr Peter Lambert said that the letter did arrive late, but it was then put up on SODC’s website ‘where any councillor worth his salt would have looked at the website and read it with all the other information’.
Cllr David Laver then admitted he had not been aware of that letter. “I knew English Heritage were concerned early on, but was not aware of any concerns later in the process.
Cllr Helena Fickling said that no decision had been made yet by the council about the proposed development of The Elms. She added: “The Neighbourhood Plan was the result of a consensus and we have to accept the collective decision.” Cllr Welply added that the plan had been described by the Inspector as having gone ‘above and beyond’ what was expected of a Neighbourhood Plan.
The Mayor, Cllr Matelot Green, concluded that she though the TNP was ‘a sound document’ and told those in the public gallery that they had ‘ addressed themselves very well’. She added that she hoped they would attend future council meetings in such numbers.
The council voted to retain The Elms in the Neighbourhood Plan.
Statement from the Town Clerk
Helen Stewart, the Town Clerk, told the meeting: “There have been a lot of latent comments about my behaviour in this. All the evidence is available for your perusal at any time. This site is sensitive and controversial but there was nothing in the process to prevent it being in the plan. You can check my behaviour and performance.
“This town is not just The Elms,” she said, and suggested that some of those present should stand in the local elections in May 2015.
In a statement on Wednesday (17/09) the town council said: “The call for a referendum has to now be put aside and we must focus on any application that comes before the Town Council to ensure all the concerns being expressed about the development by the group (ED. Save the Elms petition group) are given serious consideration.”
A new face has been out and about in Thame this week, finding her way around and introducing herself to the community.
PCSO Isobel Hignell
Isobel Hignell has joined the Thame Sector Community Policing team as a PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) and has been shadowing her supervising officer, PSCO Jackie Madden, who has been in the area for over nine years, and a familiar face in the town.
Isabel hails from near Kingston Bagpuize but has lived in Oxford more recently since leaving her family home at Millets Farm. She joined Thames Valley Police after studying Animal Care and completing her Policing degree at Oxford Brooks University.
Although she could have become a Police Constable, Isabel told Thame.Net: “Rather than be involved in responding to crime, I found I was interested in crime prevention and the community side of policing and already, after a couple of weeks, I’m really enjoying meeing the people of Thame and listening to their concerns. I’m looking forward to my time here very much.”
HUNDREDS of local people, including many from Thame, lined the lanes and hills around Chinnor, Princes Risborough and the Chiltern Hills on Friday (12/09), to see the top guns of World cycling, race by in the Friends LifeTour of Britain road race.
Sir Bradley Wiggins (front) rounds a bend, captured by Benjamin Kelsey
Two of the most popular places for spectators to gather were undoubtedly Chinnor Hill, where Thame’s Mark Ansell commentated for BBC Radio Oxford, and Kop Hill, where a lively and enthusiastic contingent from the High Wycombe Cycling Club, were able to spur on their heroes, including Sir Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish and the day’s Stage winner, Alex Dowsett racing for the Movistar team.
High Wycombe CC cheer a Belkin Pro Cycling team racer up Kop Hill; He’s just behind Tom Moses of Rapha Condor JLT
John Francis from Thame, a member of the High Wycombe Cycle Club, was there. “It was so good to be part of an occassion where you felt so ‘at one’ with, what feels like, the great family of cyclists,” he said.
“With other great sporting occassions, you feel remote from the action, but standing there on Kop Hill, it felt more like a shared experience because you knew you’d done the climb yourself. It was good fun and so exciting to be within touching distance of our cycling heroes. I hope the competitors got some encouragement from those who came out on the road to support them.”
The Tour of Britain is the UK’s top professional cycle race, and took place from 7th – 14th September across England and Wales. Stage six on Friday was a 203km route starting in Bath and finishing in Hemel Hempstead. It included 60 km of undulating Oxfordshire countryside from Wantage to Chinnor, with the testing ‘King of the Mountain’ climb up Chinnor Hill.
The race passed Wallingford, passed through Nettlebed, Cookley Green, Christmas Common and Chinnor before heading off into Buckinghamshire. Part of the route used the Chilterns Cycleway, the very popular on-road cycling route which was launched four years ago. The Cycleway is a 170km circular route which passes through some of the best scenery in the Oxfordshire Chilterns.
Anyone who has been inspired by the professionals to get on their bike can find out more about the Chilterns Cycleway and other great local cycling routes at www.chilternsaonb.org/cycleway
The hosting of Stage six of the Tour of Great Britain was the culmination of the work of the Cycle Chilterns Project, which teamed up with Dacorum Borough Council, Buckinghamshire County Council, Oxfordshire County Council and the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
The legalities of Neighbourhood Planning, food theft, cycling the Western Front & vandalism
IN response to a call for a second referendum on the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, an explanation as to the legal status of the Plan will be made at a meeting of Thame Town Council on Tuesday, September 17.
A recent public meeting called by the Save the Elms Petition group
The agenda item is in response to a call for a second referendum from The Elms Petition Group, who are against development on the land know as The Elms, off Thame’s Upper High Street, and want it removed from the plan. As things stand at the moment, there would have to be a second vote by the people of Thame, to make any changes to the Neighbourhood Plan.
The council will also address various statements made by The Elms Petition Group questioning the rationale for including The Elms as an allocated site in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, in the first place.
THE Neighbourhood plan will also feature in the same meeting when a planning application for a total of 187 homes, and various aspects of Highways access to the proposed development on land east of Thame Park Road (Neighbourhood Plan – Site C) will be discussed.
A WOMAN from Thame has been sentenced by Oxford Magistrates Court for stealing food from a Thame store.
Hannah Bayliss, 18, of Chowns Close, Thame, admitted stealing £10.82 worth of food from the Esso convenience store in Thame, on April 21. She was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £10.82 compensation and a £15 victim surcharge.
THE police are appealing for witnesses after a wooden bench in Upper High Street, Thame, was damaged. Two names; ‘Danni’ and ‘Reec’ were engraved into the bench. The damage was reported at 4.30pm on August 22, and is thought to have happened earlier that day.
If you don’t want to speak directly to the police, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers https://crimestoppers-uk.org/ anonymously on 0800 555 111. No personal details are taken, information is not taced or recorded and you will not go to court.
FOLLOWING a previously successful bike ride in 2012, a team of cyclists from Buckinghamshire Fire & rescue Service will cycle the route of the Western Front in memory of two colleagues, Keith Holland and Peter Soulsby.
The ride is also in remembrance of those from Buckinghamshire and elsewhere who gave their lives during the first World War. The group’s nominated charities for this event will be the Firefighters Charity, The Royal British Legion and the Florence Nightingale Hospice. You can support them by visiting: https://www.justgiving.com/Tim-Parkins0
MOST of us have known a friend or relative who has been supported through a life-limiting illness, by the Florence Nightingale Hospice in Aylesbury, but not all of them may realise that it can only function through the goodwill of donated funds. Often these funds are raised by crazy, brave, kind-hearted individuals and groups who go out of their way to challenge themselves in return for sponsorship by friends and colleagues.
The Haddenham Hillbillies with staff outside the Florence Nightingale Hospice
ON the morning of Wednesday, September 17, a group of 15 ‘Haddenham Hillbillies’ will saddle up to take on a three-day cycling challenge from Thame to Montesson, France, Thame’s twin town, in a bid to raise over £9,000 for Florence Nightingale Hospice in its 25th anniversary year.
Thame businessman, cyclist and Haddenham resident, Justin Shardlow explained: “We decided to commemorate the Hospice’s 25th anniversary by cycling 90 miles a day, for three days. Training has involved three to four weekly cycle rides taking in as many hills as possible. The route from Caen to Montesson is very hilly but having the Chilterns to train in has been a great help. Typically we ride as a group on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, plus Saturday and/or Sunday mornings.
“With the nights drawing in, our evening rides are usually about 20-25 miles. Our weekend rides are longer, usually around 50-60 miles. Some of the group also rode from Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, back to Haddenham, Oxfordshire, recently as a training exercise which was just over 100 miles in total.”
A travelling supporter bus will also be leaving Thame on the same day to cheer on the cyclists as they leave England, and on their arrival in Montesson, they will be met by a contingent from Thame, organised by the Thame & District Twinning Association. A welcome party of Montesson cyclists, dignitories and other local supporters will also be waiting to welcome the Haddenham Hillbillies to France when they arrive on the Friday evening of September 19.
Nuffield Health, Portsmouth, has kindly offered to open its doors as a ‘freshen up’ point for the challengers before they make their ferry crossing to France.
Justin added: “We’re hoping to raise £9,125 for this wonderful cause – a £1 for every day it has been open.”
UPDATE: In response to a request for its views on the report below, the following statement has been received from Rectory Homes: ““Now that a planning application has been submitted for land at The Elms, we are required to undertake an archaeological survey of the site. A vehicle attempted to gain access on Monday, September 8, using an established right of way, to carry out this work. Unfortunately access was refused, despite repeated polite requests. We have now had little choice but to instruct our solicitor to ensure that we can have unhindered access in future.”
ORIGINAL REPORT: AS a proposed housing development on land at The Elms in Thame, continues to be the subject of much controversy in the town, a neighbouring landowner has refused permission for a large earth-moving vehicle to gain access, via his drive, to the site.
A JCB digger operating at The Elms, last year (Image copyright of Richard Jeffries
The equipment, described as a 22 tonne, New Holland excavator, was apparently intended to be part of an archaeological investigation commissioned by the site’s owners, Rectory Homes, as requested by the local planning authorithy.
Mr Peter Webb, whose property adjoins the site, today explained his actions: “An employee of Rectory Homes knocked on my door on Monday (08/09) and told me he wanted to take a low-loader carrying an excavator into the field via my drive and needed me to unlock my main gate. The equipment was parked on a double yellow line and obstructing the pavement outside my gate.
“Rectory Homes has a right of way into the field, dating back to the time when the field had a dividing fence down the middle. The Right of Way had been disused for some 15 years due to the fact that tenant sheep farmers preferred to use the larger entry through The Elms. Rectory Homes has recently closed off its own entry, according to the employee, as part of the work they are doing on the Elms Barn conversion. As a result, in accordance with the RoW, my drive was used by the contractor who did the haymaking this year. No problem. The hasp and staple, and the lock on the gate to the field was supplied by Rectory when they bought the property but was installed for them by me. No evidence of not complying to the RoW here I think.
“However, on Monday I questioned why Rectory Homes wanted to take a large excavator into the field because they surely could not do any work until they had planning approval. I was not given any reason and the demand for access was repeated. I asked the excavator rental people whether they could guarantee that trees would not be damaged. They couldn’t do so. I then asked what the width of the low-loader was. They said ’12 feet’. I then said that in that case entry was impossible and they drove away.”
The driveway in Upper High Street, Thame, along which the mechanical digger was intended to pass
Mr Webb alleges that while these discussions were on-going, a Rectory Homes employee spoke to his (the employee’s) boss, Simon Vickers, who, alleged Mr Webb: “…. told him to tell me that I would regret my refusal. This attempt to intimidate me has been reported to the Police.”
Mr Webb continued: “It should have been obvious to Rectory Homes that a 12ft wide low-loader will not go through a gate which is substantially narrower.” Mr Webb said that shortly after the incident, he received what he described as, ‘a threatening letter’ from a Rectory Homes lawyer.
“The lawyer is being told to go ahead with a court action if they (Rectory Homes) wish, but to be prepared to explain how they proposed to get the machinery through two insufficiently wide gates. They had, and still have, the option of bringing in a smaller machine, preferably a wheeled unit, through my gate, or of re-opening their own field access if a large machine is imperitive,” Mr Webb added.
Mr Webb confirmed that an SODC Planning Officer had told him that no work on the site would not normally be permitted before Planning Permission had been granted, but that in this case, Rectory Homes had been asked by SODC to dig some trenches as part of a required archeological survey.
“That information should have been communicated to me by Rectory Homes,” concluded Mr Webb. “But it would not have assisted the impossible task of entry.”
EDITOR: An email request to Rectory Homes for comment on this incident is awaited and will be published as soon as possible.
MANY people from the Thame area who have ever visited its twin town in France, were sad to learn this week of the death of a wonderful old lady, described as ‘a little mascot’ pairing the two towns of Thame and Montesson.
The late Alice Williams, in 2010, aged 98 years.
Less than five feet tall, and often to be seen bustling about the town on little bowed legs, Alice Williams, 102 years-old when she passed away last week, was an unforgettable character to everyone who met her. She had married an Englishman, a soldier she met as a shop girl, while serving tea to British soldiers in Paris after the city’s liberation in World War II.
She eventually married ‘her Norman’ and lived with him in the north of England until his retirement, when they returned to France and settled in Montesson. Widowed for over 30 years, Alice always yearned for England and was happy to speak English and to have contact with her many friends from Thame when they visited Montesson, and especially liked to invite special friends round to her little flat to take tea in her English, china tea service, and biscuits in the English fashion.
In a statement, the Montesson Twinning Committee said: “Alice often made sure to be present at the annual Fete de Carmen to meet our English friends and talk with them in English with her delightful French accent.
“Alice was a very engaging personality, with dynamism to spare, and led a lifestyle so British. She had happily celebrated her 100th birthday in the nursing home Sartrouville where she lived for the last few years of her life, after which she had an article in the Journal of Montesson dedicated to her.”
The Mayor of Thame, Jeannette Matelot Green, a former Chair of the Thame & District Twinning Association, recalled meeting Alice: “Alice Williams was a lovely lady. I will always remember her sitting in her apartment in rue Felicien Lesages having come downstairs to meet me already in her late nineties. She served tea and then showed me photographs of her dear husband, who was English, and reminisced about her life in England. I was sad to hear she has left us but she made a great century !”
Alice Williams’s funeral was held on Monday, September 8, at the Notre Dame de Montesson church. She will be greatly missed when the Thame and District Twinning Association visit Montesson in a couple of weeks-time on September 19, for the weekend.
THE ‘Thame Remembers‘ project continues to discover more about those men from Thame who died during, or as a consequence of WW1, and the latest Newsletter highlights the story behind the search for the illusive Charlie Boiling. Here’s the story behind finding out exactly who he was:
Rifleman Tom Bowen, lays a Thame Remembers commerorative cross on the memorial stone of Private Charlie Boiling
THERE are four people named Boiling on The Thame War Memorial; three are readily identified but C Boiling does not appear in the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) records. A Charles Boiling does appear on a medal record card and the Silver War Badge records, shown on MilitaryGenealogy.com. He is listed as a Private (16826) in the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry and so things started to look promising. The 1911 Census shows Charles, age 15, living at 11 Park Street, Thame, with his father, also Charles, and mother Agnes, all born in Thame. Parish records confirm his baptism as February 6, 1896, and he was buried on December 29, 1920, age 25.
Armed with a year of birth for Charlie Boiling, returning to Ancestry searches, there he was – the subject of one of the burnt army records to survive. Though a little singed around the edges, it was learned from this that Charlie ‘joined up’ on December 14, 1914. at Oxford. He served in England until September 20, 1915, when his unit was sent to France, and on November 16, 1915, he was sent to fight in Salonica. Records show that Charlie was wounded in the right thigh and left leg on August 18, 1916, and was medically evacuated back to England on October 19, 1916.
At his medical discharge hearing in December, 1917, Charlie wrote: “Would like to learn a trade that did not entail walking.” He was finally discharged on January 28, 1918, and his silver war badge issued on January 31, 1918. His character reference on discharge was excellent, saying that he was reliable, trustworthy and always willing and hardworking.
Charlie returned to Thame, but unfortunately his mother Agnes was buried in November, 1918, aged just 46 years. His father Charles survived to age 68, only dying in 1939.
Although Charlie was buried in St Mary’s churchyard, his grave is not marked, which gave the Thame Remembers team a problem when it wished to allocate a Thame Remembers cross to his final resting place. Funeral Directors, Surman and Horwood, heard about the dilemma and Charlie’s sad story, and offered to erect (gratis) a stone for him close to where he is believed to be buried.
So, finally, on August 3, 2014, Rifleman Tom Bowen, placed a Thame Remembers cross against a headstone placed in honour of Pte Charlie Boiling. Tom said he was particularly moved as Charlie was the same age, when he died, as he is now and his regiment, The Rifles, is a successor regiment to the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry.
DID you know that Thame is the second most used location for the filming of Midsomer Murders (The most featured is Beaconsfield), and that the popular TV series is now watched in 193 countries world-wide?
Towersey Morrismen ‘collapse’ after performing at the Midsomer Murders evening in Thame
Put these two facts together, and add in the mix a huge increase in the number of foreign tourists wanting to come and visit the quintessential England that they see portrayed in the programme, and you have a heady brew that is capable of invigorating the local economies of the places featured, including Thame’s -or ‘Causton’ as it is know in Midsomer Murders. Top of the foreign visitors’ lists are pubs and English beer, and they love markets, fetes and festivals – and guess what? Apparently Thame is known to be one of the friendliest welcomes in the South East!
Seeing the potential for its market towns and villages, South Oxfordshire District Council was quick to register the domain ‘http://www.visitmidsomer.com/‘ and has since produced a raft of initiatives, including Midsomer Murder Trails and leaflets, and made connections with Tour Companies, to bring in these valuable visitors and their spending power.
To explain the phenomenon and how it can be embraced to work for local businesses, a special event, including a dramatised murder mystery play by Thame Players and a dancing display from Towersey Morris, was held at Thame town hall last Thursday, September 4, to an invited audience including local businesses such as Bed & Breakfast owners, Eateries, pubs, book shops and gift shops, etc. They heard first from author, Chris Behan, who wrote the book ‘Exploring Midsomer’. He spoke of how he, a Liverpudlian, first came to Thame in 1959 as a visitor then, and how since he had came to mourn the loss of the railway station and the cobbled streets, now mostly gone.
Chris mentioned many Thame locations featured in the various episodes of Midsomer Murders including Thame Park, the Fuji photographic shop, Rumsey’s Chocolaterie (transformed into a camera shop in the fictional town of ‘Luxton’), Thame town hall (featuring Barnaby’s wife singing Christmas carols outside in ‘A Maiden’s Splendour’), Market House in Upper High Street and Thame market, to name just a few.
Sarah Osborne, one of SODC’s Midsomer Murders promotion team, revealed some stunning figures, including that visitor numbers to the Midsomer Murders website, half of whom are from abroad, had increased by 50% each year from 2011. Rather than just a short-term blip, Sara pointed out that many of the countries now seeing Midsomer Murders are seeing the first episodes and that it has been estimated that the interest for such programmes lasts about a decade after the series itself finishes, and so a lucrative 15 years is on the cards for businesses involved.
For a future promotional idea, Chris Behan showed a photograph of a special red plaque (along the lines of the historic blue plaques that Thame already has for the previous homes of famous, local people) which the owner of the Argyle Pub in Henley had stuck on the wall outside commemorating the episodes filmed in his pub. The number of tourist visitors to his pub has since increased amazingly!
Because Thame is a border town between Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, close to Haddenham & Thame Parkway station and on the 280 bus route, Sarah pointed out that Thame is ideally placed as a centre for visits to Buckinghamshire villages featured in Midsomer Murders, like Haddenham and Long Crendon, and to Oxford city.
For Thame, she said: “Midsomer Murders is the icing on the tourist cake.”
Any businesses who want to know more about the possibilities for them from the Midsomer Murders phenomenon, can contact Sarah Osborne or the Economic Development team via the website: http://www.visitmidsomer.com/contact/
Dogs of all shapes and sizes are being put through their paces – by owners of all shapes and sizes; horses (or is it ponies?), all beautifully groomed and gleaming, are jumping over poles, tightly controlled by equally smart riders vying to get round the course as quickly as possible without rattling too many poles.
