THE Mayor of Thame, Tom Wyse, would like a festive image of St Mary’s Church on the front of his charity Christmas cards this year, and is inviting the community of Thame to send in their photographs.
If you have captured St Mary’s Church in the snow, or perhaps at a particularly festive moment, please send your photo(s) to: rosie.collins@thametowncouncil.gov.uk.
You would be credited on the cards, which will be sold in Thame Information Centre in the lead up to Christmas, with all monies raised going to the Mayor’s charities – the Red Kite Family Centre and Thame & District Day Centre.
THE TAL Festival next week is to play its part in cementing the twinning between Thame and the beautiful Romanian town and mountain resort, Sinaia, also known as the ‘Pearl of the Carpathians’.
Dan Manea, Romanian award-winning architect, author of ‘Sinaia – Land of the Elites’ will cover the origins, destiny and development of the mountain town at Thame’s Barns Centre’s Small Hall on Sunday, October 15, at 1:30 pm.
The audience will hear the extraordinary story of the settlement that gradually became Romania’s summer capital, one of the favourite destinations of the elites, a famous stop-over for the Orient Express and with the most historical monuments per capita in Romania built over a period of 150 years of history. The talk is likely to inspire the audience not only to visit Sinaia for its outstanding natural beauty and beautiful buildings like Peles Castle, but also to discover the history which marked the place.
Dan Manea, former President of the Rotary Club of Sinaia, is connected to a number of local community fundraising projects like “Donate one penny for Caraiman” aimed to restore the 92 ft Heroes Cross on Caraiman Peak, built at 7,500 ft altitude in 1928, to commemorate Romanian soldiers fallen during the First World War. The monument was recognised as the tallest summit cross in the world by Guinness World Records in 2014.
TAL Festival organisers have generously waived the entry fee to Dan Manea’s talk. The event was planned with support from Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association and Sinaia-based ASPE Cultural Association.
SINCE 1974, parishes haven’t had a share of the business rates to spend – most of their income comes from the residents in a town via the precept. But larger parishes in particular still do a lot to support businesses, as they understand how much it helps the vitality and vibrancy of the community.
Thame Market Town Co-ordinator, Becky Reid
Thame Town Council certainly believes this and in late 2016, in addition to what they already do, they decided to employ a Market Town Coordinator to enable even more to be achieved.
The Late Breakfast – Monthly networking
Becky Reid will be attending the next Late Breakfast meeting in Thame to talk about her role, some new opportunities about to be launched for businesses in Thame, and how businesses can get involved to shape the future of Thame’s economic development.
For more information and to register: Visit – The Late Breakfast website HERE
THE organisers of the Thame Food Festival report that the move to the Thame Show Ground, and the festival’s new, two-day format, have proved to be a ‘winning formula’.
Alice Middleton’s winning cake
Thousands of visitors travelled to the showground over the weekend of September 30 – October 1, to sample the wares of 180 stalls, and to watch demonstrations from celebrity chefs, including Raymond Blanc, and stars of the TV Bake Off programme. The overall winner of The Great Thame Bake was Alice Middleton, from Thame, who was presented with a Magimix, the festival’s main sponsor, by Jane Devonshire. The attractions included a pop-up pub and restaurant, Gin garden and specialist dog treat stalls for the four legged show visitors, with demonstrations and fun Dog Shows by locally based, national charity the Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.
Why the move?
Though many people took to social media to say how much they had enjoyed the festival and welcomed the move, not everyone was so up-beat. Just as many people said that they missed the buzz and atmosphere of the festival when it was held in the town centre, and others resented having to pay the £5 entrance fee for each of the two days. The festival organisers had given as the main reason for the change of venue, that the crowded atmosphere in the town centre as the festival has grown over the years, was uncomfortable for many visitors and even dangerous for some. Also, the cost of running the festival meant that it was no longer viable as a free event, it was explained.
Lotte Duncan
‘So pround’
Lotte Duncan, Patron and organiser of this year’s food festival, said: ““It was so fabulous to see all the hard work of everyone come to fruition. And as part of British Food Fortnight, I am so proud that yet again alongside our main sponsors and feature stalls, we have given the opportunity for small artisan producers to showcase the wonderful diverse and delicious range of foods inspired from around the world; but produced here in Britain.”
Does the festival benefit the town?
Sonja Francis, a founder-member of the original Thame Food Festival, commented: “I’m glad for Lotte and her hard-working team that they felt that the festival move was a success for them, and I’m pleased that so many people enjoyed their visit. I’m sure it was all jolly nice, spacious and exciting. But my personal disappointment at the move is that the festival no longer benefits the town itself, which was it’s original intention.
“Unfortunately, over the last few years, the food festival grew away from it’s original raison d’etre which was to promote Thame’s food and drink offer and to support small food producers etc within a 30 mile radius of the town. As such the stalls and visitors were manageable and those that came were interested in supporting small and local producers.
Room for a ‘fringe’ ?
Joe from Deli @ No.5, offers cheese, cake and beer to the hard-working band, Swervy World, who entertained shoppers on the Thame Food Trail
I hope that next year’s Thame Food Trail (a toe in the ‘fringe water’ this year, organised by 21st Century Thame) will be expanded so that more businesses in the town benefit too. Some food and drink establishments have already indicated to me that they want to do more in the town next year. Most cannot afford to transfer their businesses to the show ground, especially for two days.
“The food festival now is a different beast – I’m not saying less good, but very different from its origins. I’m sure there’s room for both the main festival and a fringe event linking the town once again to the festival, if there is sufficient interest among the town centre food and drink operators. Time will tell.”
VISITORS to Thame Town Centre on Saturday, September 30, were in for a treat as they were invited to take part in all the fun of the Thame Food Trail, sampling food delicacies, drinks, and special offers put on for the day by town centre retailers.
Thame’s Deputy Mayor, Linda Emery, buys cheese and pickle after sampling the wares of the Deli @ No5 in Buttermarket, Thame
Eighteen food and kitchen shops, cafes and pubs took part in the Trail, a new event organised by 21st Century Thame, and sponsored by A Bell & Co, Steamer Trading Cook Shop, Rumsey’s Chocolaterie, and the James Figg. 21st Century Thame produced a leaflet, handed out on the day by volunteers, with a map to guide people around the venues. Places to visit on the Trail included Rumsey’s Chocolaterie, where you could watch chocolate-making demonstrations and sample chocolate, the Deli at No 5, where you could sample British cheeses, AGA Thame, who demonstrated scrumptious food cooked in AGA cookers, Umberto’s, where you could try delicious olives and Italian charcuterie, the Cross Keys, where you could sample artisan beers, Jack & Alice, where you could try red and white wines accompanied by cheese fondue, the Birdcage, where you could take part in connoisseur gin-tasting, What’s Cooking, where you could indulge in a Food Trail wild mushroom ragout, Treacles Tea Rooms, where you could have a second hot drink free, and the Spread Eagle, who were offering half price prosecco with two main courses. There were also displays of cookery books at the Book House and the Oxfam Bookshop, and live piano renditions of Elvis Presley numbers at the Coffee House.
The party atmosphere was enhanced by the Swervy World Band, entertaining everyone with music played on banjo, sousaphone, saxophone, percussion, plus vocals, right through the day. Everyone taking part thought the Food Trail was a brilliant addition to town centre activities and had excellent feedback from the public. Stephen Catherall of Steamer Trading Cook Shop said: “We were really busy and thought the event in town perfectly complemented the Food Festival on the Showground, with the shuttle bus taking people between the two places.” Cornfield Bakery also thought it was a great day, and their sourdough breads were eagerly devoured. Dian Parker of A Bell & Co said: “It was a great idea, and we were delighted to have a visit from Linda Emery, Deputy Mayor, who enjoyed our tasty fruited tea bread baked in Miele ovens.”
Helen Johns of 21st Century Thame said: “We have a fantastic variety of shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs and kitchen shops in Thame, and it was a pleasure to put together an event that showcased the fine food, wines, beers, and kitchen accessories they offer. We are very grateful for the support of our sponsors. The positive feedback suggests our Food Trail event will definitely not be the last!”
• The eighteen venues taking part in the Thame Fun Food Trail were the Book House, A Bell & Co, Umberto’s, Steamer Trading Cookshop, the Coffee House, the Deli at No 5, the Cornfield Bakery & Café, Jack & Alice Wine Bar & Pantry, Rumsey’s Chocolaterie, AGA Thame, The Cross Keys, Oxfam Bookshop, The Spread Eagle Hotel, What’s Cooking, the Birdcage, the James Figg, Treacles Tea Rooms, and the Six Bells. It is hoped that more venues, including the Swan Hotel and the Jollybrew Tea Company, will join the Food Trail next year.
• 21st Century Thame is a partnership between local businesses, community groups and town and district councils, coming together to help ensure Thame stays vibrant and viable as a market town. 21st Century Thame works with the community to generate resources so that investment is made into projects that improve and add value to the town, including Thame Carnival, Thame Tidy Day, and Small Business Saturday.
ON Saturday, September 30, Thame Women’s Cricket team travelled to the last softball cricket tournament of the season, at the new sports facility, Whitelands in Bicester, and came away with a victory.
On a very blustery day, Oxford, a club with a well-established women’s team, and Thame faced each other, with the format being decided as the best of three games.
Oxford had a very good start scoring 49 off their 6 overs, but Thame responded with an impressive 52, with boundaries coming from Sally Brentnall, Mel White and Bridget Cooper. The second game saw strong batting performances from Antonia Barnes and Celeste Cooper, but it wasn’t quite enough to beat the Oxford side.
Going into the third game all square showed how the sides were evenly matched. Thame started with some tight bowling from Sally Brentnall and Sarah Sanderson and eventually restricted Oxford to 38 runs. Strong batting again from Thame, including an impressive 25 from Bridget Cooper, ensured Thame finished in the lead with 45 runs and were crowned the day’s winners!
A fantastic day was had by all and the win ended the women’s season on a high. Women of all ages and abilities are welcome and Thame cricket club would love to see you next season, so do come along ! Just contact Sheena Beard on sheenabeard@btinternet.com. More details at http://www.thamecricket.org.uk/womens-cricket/
WORTHING started well on Saturday (30/09) by depriving Chinnor of possession for the first five minutes and probing deep into Chinnor’s territory. Then the game began to see-saw with both teams looking threatening.
Chinnor No 8 Jack Ramhaw was sin binned after 10 minutes for an alleged high tackle. Worthing were soon down to 14 men as well when full back Leeming was deemed to deliberately knock the ball forward preventing a Chinnor try. The referee awarding a penalty try to Chinnor giving them a 0-7 point lead.
This spurred Chinnor into an attacking mode with Oscar Heath breaking through the defence with the pack in full support. After several phases of play the ball was whipped wide for Phil Chesters to score an unconverted try in the corner. 10 minutes later and another blind side attack saw Chesters’ sprint around the Worthing defence for his second try converted by Bentley.
Worthing then fought back and found breaches in the Chinnor defence to put flanker Kemp Price in for a try converted by fly half McLean to reduce their arrears to 7 -19. Chinnor’s response was a Health half break with exquisite handling between Manning and Bentley to put Goss through a gap to score on half time with Bentley converting for a 7 – 24 lead.
The start of the second half was all Chinnor with driving runs by front row Lawrence and Gilding supported by Green and Manning forcing Worthing back to their try line where they defended magnificently. Eventually a darting run by Lamont and a switch pass to Hamilton enabled him to find the room to score a try converted by Bentley.
Worthing fought back again with a driving maul but were dispossessed on the try line by a sterling Chinnor defence. A Hamilton counterattack was stopped just short of the line but the ever present Bentley picked up to score and convert his own try.
Despite Chinnor’s dominance Worthing never gave up and centre Kiba Richards crashed over for a try converted by McLean. Chinnor then finished off an all round team effort with centre Orisi Nawaqaliva crashing into the 22 metre area sucking in the Worthing defence then spinning the ball wide creating a two man overlap with Lamont trotting in for the final try converted by Bentley, for a convincing 14 – 45 victory.
Third place Chinnor now face league leaders, Cinderford away next week in what will be a crucial match in fight for the championship, despite being so early on in the season.
STAFF from Haddenham based PCMS Design, held a Coffee Morning on Friday, September 29, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, and challenged colleagues to ‘Guess the Height of the Cake’.
Colleagues, nearby office neighbours and clients of the firm came together to have a chat and to share some delicious cakes and desserts.
A ‘Guess the Height of the Cake’ competition and generous donations on the morning raised a grand total of £317. This is the third year that PCMS Design has supported the charity and each year the total has grown.
Guests included staff from Haddenham-based businesses John Clegg & Co, Manan Ltd, Milkshake Marketing, Rectory Homes, Turville Valley Wines and Rosetta Capital Limited.
PCMS Design would like to thank everyone who attended and generously donated cakes, and for helping to raise a fantastic total for such a good cause!
THE first LWS (Lord Williams’s School) Business Breakfast meeting of the new academic year takes place on Monday, November 6, at 8am and will focus on the digital skills gap among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
This will be an open meeting for employers to hear about current training and education provision in IT and digital skills, share their experience and help identify ways forward.
FOLLOWING an allocation of 775 new homes for Thame, already allocated for in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, and now mostly all built, and then the SHMAR report (a county-wide Strategic Housing Market Assessment) which suggested Thame would need to build even more new homes by the early 2030s, now comes another proposal for calculating housing need, this time from the government.
In a statement, South Oxfordshire District Council has stated: “The government is currently consulting on a number of changes to planning policy and legislation, which includes a proposed approach to calculating housing need. Until any government guidelines are finalised and published, SODC is required to work on the existing housing needs figures. It will also need to consider economic growth, affordable housing and the need for new infrastructure.
“We will work to ensure the inspector considering our Local Plan will take any changes to guidance into account during the examination process,” concluded the council.
When will the Draft Local Plan be published?
In the meantime, residents can have their say about South Oxfordshire’s Final Draft Local Plan which will set out how the district should be shaped until 2033. This will be published on October 11.
Between that date and November 22, residents can have a say before the plan is submitted to the government for consideration by a planning inspector.
HOW and WHERE the homes will be delivered
Oh yes, and then there’s the joint draft housing delivery strategy to have a say about too! Land owners and developers have been submitting potential sites to a register for consideration for development. The list of dozens of sites in Thame already submitted, can be seen HERE Or check out the interactive map HERE
SODC have said that feedback from previous public consultations has been taken into consideration and has helped to shape the Local Plan through the various stages to this point.
They have also pointed out: “It is important to note that the planning inspector will be giving more weight to comments on the technical soundness of the plan – this means the comments need to relate to the legality of the plan. From October 11, look out for a factsheet and a short video on SODC’s website to help explains what this means.
Public meetings
Public meetings are planned throughout the district for residents to find out more and submit comments. The meeting in Thame will be held at the Town Hall on November 13, between 3 – 7 pm. But, anyone unable to attend one of these events, can view the final draft of the Local Plan and submit comments via the council website.
It is expected that for the final plan will be submitted to government by the end of 2017, and expect a public examination of the plan, including comments and evidence gathered, to take place early next year.
