Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Twelfth Annual Lace Event Raises Restoration Funds (Contributed)

    THAME’s twelfth, annual Lace Day took place recently in the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Thame, and raised much needed funds for restoration to the building.
    This year there were 196 Lace makers attending, some having travelled many miles for what has become a very popular event. They came from as far away as St Albans, Northampton, Slough, Moreton in Marsh and many other places. As usual there were some Lace Suppliers, selling thread, bobbins, pins, patterns and beads which is one of the attractions for the Lace makers as it is difficult to buy the materials required in ordinary shops.

    The organ was played throughout the day creating a very mellow atmosphere and, although bitterly cold, outside the sun shone through the windows the whole day and it felt very warm in the Church. Visitors were welcome to come and watch the lace makers demonstrating their skills. A raffle was held which raised

  • Road Closed After Gas Leak

    THE A418 road, between and Shabbington, was closed yesterday following a serious gas leak.
    The incident began when water contractors were excavating to find their pipes along the stretch of the road where a cycle path is currently being built. During that operation, the contractors noticed a corosion hole in a main gas pipe and immediately Southern Gas was called to deal with the problem.
    Workers in the near by offices of North Weston farm were evacuated for safety reasons and bowysers had to be called in to fill a header tank that feeds animal water troughs before it ran dry and caused air locks in the system. Local residents reported a very strong smell of gas and one farm worker reported feeling ill after working for several hours in and out of the farm.
    The road was completely closed to traffic between 5pm yesterday, (Tuesday) and 4am this morning, and today, Southern Gas say repairs have been carried out and the area is now safe.
    At the time of this report, some residents in the area were still without mains water.

  • Thame Badminton Men Return To Meet Rivals

    THE final match of the season for the Thame players was the return game against local rivals, Mill Lane of Chinnor.
    Although Thame had won the home match, the Chinnor players had the distinct advantage of their home court. With no promotion or relegation issues, this was a straight forward match.
    For the first time this season, the team was without Ben Cooper. As a result, Lance Adlam and Andy Scarlett started off the match. The low ceiling meant that the Thame pair were unable to use the high clear when in trouble. At the same time the Chinnor pair of Stewart Chapman and Roger Payne played a driving game that Adlam and Scarlett struggled to hold and they lost the first game.
    Although they were beginning to come to terms with conditions, the extra points they won were still not enough for the Thame pair to win. However, they were able to pass on tips to the youngsters, Gareth Allingham and Chris Daniels. Those tips, together with better movement, saw the Thame pair win the first game against Steve Gilmour and Martin Ray.
    The second game saw no change and the youngsters dominated the Mill Lane pair and won the second game and thus the rubber.

    The next rubber saw Adlam, with a redesigned pair of shorts, paired with Daniels for Thame, whilst Chapman paired up with Gilmour for Chinnor. Mill Lane started off well and kept forcing Adlam to the back and negate Daniels’ power. Having lost the first game, a tactical change saw Adlam trying to get to the front earlier and bring Daniels into play. The change worked and Thame won the next game to level the rubber.
    Although Mill Lane tried to compensate for the change in tactics, they were unable to deny Thame the win in the final game. Scarlett then joined forces with Allingham to play Payne and Ray. Scarlett changed his racquet to reduce the power off the strings and was immediately rewarded with success. With Scarlett’s serving accuracy, the returns were being set up for Allingham to kill off and give Thame an easy win. The domination continued in the second game to give Thame the rubber and an unbeatable lead in the match.

    Scarlett stayed on court to play with Adlam against Gilmour and Ray. He continued playing well and all round court. Adlam also showed improvement to give Thame the first game. In the second game, the Thame pair only had three turns at serving as they out- played Mill Lane without conceding a point.
    The last rubber saw Daniels playing with Allingham against Chapman and Payne. The Thame pair started of with confidence but began to make too many mistakes and this cost them the game. The Mill Lane pair stood fast when Daniels tried to smash his way to a win but were able to stump the tactic and went on to win the rubber.
    The match ended as it had at Thame with a 4 ? 2 win to Thame. The season has ended for this side with Thame a two wins, two draws and two losses record, but having allowed some players to gain valuable experience.

    By Andy Scarlett

  • Thame Swimmer Tipped For Commonwealth Gold

    A 23 year-old ex-Lord Williams’s student from Tetsworth, near Thame, is tipped to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne this week.
    Simon Burnett, currently based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, was described as ‘Britain’s biggest fish’ in the National Sunday papers, where the full story of his climb from early morning training in High Wycombe to making his mark at the Commonwealth Games Trials in Sheffield last August, was told.
    At Sheffield, Simon beat the Champion, Mark Foster, with a time that apparently would have won him a medal at last year’s World Championships.
    Read the full Sunday Times feature
     .

  • New Home For Players’ Ticket Sales

    THAME Players have announced that, following the closure of Thame’s Tourist Information Centre on March 18t, ticket sales for all their productions and most of the other live events at the Players Theatre, in Nelson Street, Thame, will be made from Tickets Anywhere in Greyhound Walk, Thame.
    Tickets will be available in person or by telephone on 0871 2227232, and payment will be accepted by cash, cheque, debit and credit card.
    The Players have expressed a big ‘thank you’ to Bryony Hordern, the owner of Tickets Anywhere, who has been extremely helpful and amenable in getting the new facility going.

    Tony Long, Chairman of Thame Players, said, “When looking for a venue to replace the TIC when it closed, we felt it was essential to find somewhere in the heart of the town centre, somewhere that would be comfortable with selling theatre tickets and somewhere where the costs of providing the facility would enable us to hold ticket prices at their current level. Tickets Anywhere meets all these criteria perfectly and we look forward to establishing a long lasting relationship with them.”

    The Players have also given a big thank you to Ben, Julie, John and all the people who have helped to privide the ticket facility at the TIC, and wished them all the best and every success in the future.

  • Fair Trade Fashion Success

    AT a time when ‘Ethical purchasing’ is bucking the retail trend, by growing nationally, a Fair Trade fashion show, staged by a Thame retailer, has raised

  • Thame outplayed at Bromsgrove By Bob Dixon

    THAME United were outplayed in their League match on Saturday by mid?table Bromsgrove Rovers.
    This was the 13th time this season that the young, and relatively inexperienced, United team have conceded four or more goals. It was a game, which Bromsgrove controlled, and in which, apart from a 20-minute spell, Thame failed to threaten.
    The first goal came after 14 minutes, when Neil Davis met a left wing cross and fired home at the near post. Thame then had their good spell and Tom Goffe was unlucky to hit the woodwork and to see another goal-bound effort saved by keeper Lee Evans. Just before half time Paul Moore ran onto a defence splitting through ball, and although Paul Searl parried his shot, Moore picked up the rebound and finished from close range.
    Two minutes after the restart Rovers all but killed the game when Davis got his second from 18 yards. The on-form Davis completed his hat-trick with a near-post header five minutes before the final whistle blew.

    Thame United: Searl, Bradley (Hopkins), Hocking, Tregurtha, Eason, Raja, A. Rhodes (Way), N. Rhodes (Morgan), Goffe, Moore, Groves.

    The Semi Final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup will now be played on Wednesday, March 29th (7.30) at Oxford City’s ground, Court Farm Place.

    This game is between Thame United and the winners of the North Leigh and Banbury United tie (which is scheduled for next Tuesday 14th)

    Also, last Tuesday’s postponed fixture against Paulton Rovers has been rescheduled for tomorrow 13th.

  • Chinnor To Play Most Important Match In Its History – Amended Kick Off Time

    CHINNOR 1ST XV’s are due to play what has been billed as ‘The most important match in its history.’
    The Powergen South West Division match against Weston-Super-Mare, will be played on Saturday, March 18, kick off 3pm.
    Chinnor are currently leading SW Division One with Weston in 2nd place. This is the first of a doubler-header on consecutive weekends which will decide the championship and who will be promoted to National League Division Three South.
    For more details check Chinnor RFC’s web site:
    Link

  • Thame Musicians Win Indie Votes

    THAME based Indie band, The Powders, are through to the quarter finals of the KIAC Indie Song of the year competition.
    Lead guitarist and popular guitar teacher, Kevin Lucas, who lives in Thame,said: “A big THANKS to all who voted for us in the third round of the KIAC indie
    song of the year 2005. We are now in the quarter finals and today’s the day for casting your vote!!! We’re up against Butterflies by Minipop, so make your way to web site
     and please vote vote vote!! “

    The Powders’ next gig is at The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, on Saturday, 18 March.

  • Chinnor 2nds Beat Old Rivals Aylesbury

    SATURDAY saw another great win for Chinnor RFC 2nds in their league match against old rivals, Aylesbury by 81 points to 5.
    Well led as usual by Captain Tom Wood, this was a side with eight under 21-year olds, and Nick Grimsdell and Will Batting making the team for the first time.
    Chinnor forwards took control of the scrums, mauls and loose play from the first kick and linked up well with the back line, which too were in top form. The inter passing between forwards and backs was outstanding as was the ball retention by the whole team. Aylesbury were given a master class in rugby by a ?village team?.
    Chinnor 2nds came out of the blocks on fire with tries by Adam White, Ben Hewitt and Richard Williams all converted by Williams and Chinnor 2nds led by 21 points to Nil in the first six minutes. Once Aylesbury came to terms with the onslaught, the game then settled down and they gave as good as they got. Chinnor had to do some very good defensive work which showed what they whole team were capable of.
    It wasn?t until the 30th minute before Chinnor hit a another purple patch with tries by Alan Cawston, Ben Hewitt?s second after being set on his way with a break by Adam White from his own half, and Jon Brooks after great forward play. All converted by Williams in a seven-minute period. Chinnor ended the first half 42 points to Nil.
    Aylesbury scored by an interception after five minutes of the second half and were unable to convert.
    Chinnor then had another run of tries; this time seven tries at 5-minute intervals. Ben Hewitt?s third, Captain Tom Wood, new boy, Nick Grimsdell, Alan Cawston?s second, Ben Hackshaw, Ed Devine, followed by another by Nick Grimsdell after a fantastic solo run from his own half.
    Williams converted two of the tries and Chinnor finished the game 81 points to 5.
    The second half three youngsters Will Batting, Brendan Davis and Dan John substituted the old heads of Tom Wood, Jon Brooks and Paul Fincken.
    This bodes well for Chinnor?s future with so much talented young blood being given a run in the seconds and having them more than hold their own, and learning their craft from some very good old heads.

    Tries:13 – Ben Hewitt 3; Alan Cawston 2; Nick Grimsdell 2; Tom Wood 1; Richard Williams 1; Ed Devine 1; Adam White; Ben Hackshaw;
    Jon Brooks 1 each.
    Conversions: 8 – all by Richard Williams

    Walter McGuicken