THE Forget Me Knot Café at the Chinnor Village Centre is ready to offer information, support and activities for residents on Mondays, and has a programme of events coming with up that has something for everyone.
The Café provides information, peer support and fun activities which are aimed at helping people with co-ordination, brain stimulation, and general health and well-being, for people suffering with dementia, mental health issues, old age or isolation. Everyone is welcome, including those who may want to go along your carer.
The Forget Me Knot Café meets twice monthly, 10.30-12.30pm, at Chinnor Village Centre. You will be welcomed with a cup of tea and biscuit. They start with fun seated exercises, followed by a visiting expert. At the end of the session, they play parachute games, juggling, throwing balls, flat football, floor netball, finishing the session with a poem, lyrical or a reading. The programme is as follows:
5 October – Music for Health – Dororthy Howlett
19 October – Singing for Health and Wellbeing – Julia Hollander
2 November— Singing/Drumming for Health with Jan Stansfeld
16 November- Music therapist – Ellie Ruddock –
30 November – Tea Dance – sing along and dance if you feel like it Mick Sayers
14 December – Christmas Carols – sing along with mince pies and mulled wine
For further information, contact 01844 353733 or email: chinnorvc@hotmail.co.uk
AMONG the many coffee mornings held in aid of the MacMillan Cancer Support ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ last Friday (25/09), were two hosted by local businesses, PCMS Design and IMS Mortgage Advisers.
Staff from PCMS Design prepare to serve cake
Spokesperson Debbie Mellor for PCMS Design, a Haddenham based architectural design and project management company, said: “There were plenty of homemade cakes on offer, along with tea and coffee. We would like to thank the staff from John Clegg & Co and Rectory Homes for stopping by and helping us raise an amazing £100 and, of course, eat the cake!”
Ivona Lord, who runs IMS Independent Mortgage Advisers in Thame, said: “We had lots of local people popping in for coffee and cake and we managed to raise £207.68 for Macmillan. Mabel the cow, who was loaned to us from Thame.Net in Jordans Courtyard, Thame, was a major talking point and wore her Macmillan balloons with great pride!”
THAME Town Cricket club brought to an end their most successful season last Friday, with the adult awards evening at the Church Meadow clubhouse. The 1st XI batting award went to Will Sutcliffe and the bowling to Hassam Mushtaq.
1st XI batting award winner, Will Sutcliffe
The main achievements of this season have been:-
– the 1st XI winning the Cherwell League, Division 1, for the first time, in an unbeaten season and were promoted to the Home Counties Premier League
– they also completed the double by winning the Wilf Bennett Trophy (T20) against Oxford Downs with a young side
– the 3rd XI reached the Division 9 cup final
– the “Crick-fit” programme brought together cricket and Thame’s female population for the first time, culminating in Oxfordshire’s first-ever softball cricket
tournament for women
– some big wins for the under-9, under-11 and under-15 junior teams in their respective leagues
– the club added two more ECB level 2 coaches to their ranks, bringing the total to 9 (8 at level 2 and 1 at level 1)
As for the future, off the field the club will be looking to push ahead in 2016 with its plans to develop a new clubhouse. On the field, the club will start winter nets for juniors (boys and girls) and adults, in January.
Following the success of Crick-Fit, plans are also being made to bring more cricket opportunities for women, starting with winter nets. Thame aIS also looking to recruit new players – men, women and children – for next season and anyone interested can just go to the club website http://www.thametowncricketclub.org.uk/ and click on the “contact” tab.
THAME High Street has been chosen as one of the top ten of ‘England’s Greatest Places’, as nominated by the British public, and now that voting has begun, the number of votes will determine the overall winner to be crowned ‘England’s Greatest Place’.
England’s Great Places is a competition designed by the RTPI, to celebrate some of our most attractive and inspiring places, and the role planners have played in helping to protect or shape them for England’s communities. The judging panel was asked to choose a winner for each region. A very successful competition was held last year in Scotland.
An eminent panel of judges, chaired by RTPI (Royal Town Planning Institute) Past President, Professor Peter Fidler, have chosen their top 10 greatest places in England, after members of the public nominated 700 of their favourites as part of England’s Greatest Places competition.
A famous national park, a multi-billion pound regeneration scheme, two cities, a waterfront all feature and a local high street (Thame’s) are on the list.
Janet Askew, President of the RTPI said: “All our finalists are clearly much loved and appreciated places both by local residents and the people who visit them. We wanted to recognise special places like those on the list which are cherished because they have been protected, carefully planned or have been improved by the planning system. I am looking forward to seeing who the public now vote as England’s Greatest Place.”
A delighted Helen Johns, who coordinated, Thame’s recent Great British High Street, bid, said: “It is great news to hear that Thame High Street has been chosen as one of ten finalists in the RTPI’s England’s Great Places Competition. As the judges say, the character of our market town and its High Street have been protected and enhanced over time thanks to exemplary community support and innovative neighbourhood planning. These are the same qualities that have been noted by the judges in the Great British High Street Competition 2015, in which Thame was entered recently. Thame is also being recognised in that competition (details will follow soon) and, without doubt, it is a blend of community support, creativity and determination that contribute to making Thame so special – truly one of the Great Places in England. ”
The top ten Regional winners of the 10 ‘Greatest Places’ are:
Letchworth Garden City, East of England
Peak District, East Midlands
Brindley Place, Birmingham, West Midlands
Kings Cross Regeneration, London
Kielder Park, North East
Liverpool Waterfront, North West Thame High Street, South East
Bath, South West – joint winner
Bristol, South West – joint winner
Saltaire, Yorkshire
A specially commissioned trophy will be presented to each local authority to mark their award.
Voting is open until Friday 20 November and is very easy. Just Tweet or Instagram your vote for your chosen place to: #RTPIgreatplaces
FOLLOWING our report of exciting archaeological finds during a recent ‘dig’ at the site of a new housing development, (SEE LINK), more information about the evidence of human activity dating back around 6,000 years uncovered there, has emerged.
Chris Ellis, Senior Project Officer at Cotswold Archaeology, and Gemma Deacon, Sales Manager for Bloor Homes South Midlands, with some of the finds discovered during an excavation of the Thame Meadows site
The remains of prehistoric monuments and settlements going back to the Neolithic period were among the exciting discoveries made during a seven month excavation of Bloor Homes’ Thame Meadows site, in Oxford Road. Archaeologists have described the dig, which was carried out by experts from Oxford Cotswold Archaeology, as one of the most significant undertaken in Britain this year, and one that ‘far surpassed’ their expectations.
Rare monument found
One of the most important finds was the discovery of a rare causewayed enclosure dating back to around 3,700BC, one of only 80 such monuments known to exist in Britain. Consisting of one or more circuits of bank and ditch, they are the earliest known monuments made by some of the earliest farming communities and were constructed to enclose areas of open space where communal gatherings to conduct such things as rictuals would take place.
Loomweights in a Saxon sunken-featured building at the Thame site
Chris Ellis, Senior Project Officer at Cotswold Archaeology, part of a joint venture with Oxford Archaeology, said: “We have come across an amazing mass of archaeology from 6,000 years of human history, all on this one site. For the sheer density and range of archaeological features and the long period which they span, this has been the most fascinating and exhilarating excavation I have been involved with in my 25-year career.
“To encounter this amount of archaeology on just one development site is almost unheard of, and the discoveries have sparked a great deal of interest among academics. It’s one of the most significant digs to have taken place in Britain this year. Particularly, the discovery of a ‘new’ enclosure in British archaeology is extremely rare, so to discover such extensive remains of one on a relatively small project like this is extremely exciting.”
Human remains
Archaeologists also uncovered the remains of at least three roundhouses from the early Iron Age period (700-400BC), and more than 150 pits, used for storing grain and later disposing of rubbish, some containing human remains where settlers had buried the dead.
Discoveries from the Roman period (AD43-410) include a number of enclosures which housed corn drying ovens, while around 14 small Saxon buildings, dating from the 6th to 7th Century AD and believed to have been textile workshops, were also uncovered. Flint tools, pottery and combs made from animal bone were just some of the thousands of artefacts discovered.
Chris explained that the site possessed several attributes which had made it an attractive location for settlers through the ages. He said: “People settled here because of the well-drained sandy geology, its prominent position in the landscape and its fantastic vistas to the north and south.”
The finds from the excavation will be housed with the Oxfordshire County Museum Service, and it is likely some of the objects will be displayed in Thame Museum.
Gemma Deacon, Sales Manager for Bloor Homes South Midlands, said: “It’s been absolutely fascinating to see the wide variety of items uncovered by archaeologists during the dig. It really is amazing to think that the site contained objects spanning almost 6,000 years of human history. The site has clearly been a popular location for human settlers throughout the ages and we believe our Thame Meadows development will prove just as attractive to house hunters looking for their perfect home in the Oxfordshire countryside.”
The Thame Meadows site is around 9.4 hectares in size and is located to the north of Oxford Road, directly opposite Lord Williams’s School and now that the archaeological excavation is complete, Bloor is about to begin building 203 new homes on the land, the first first of which are set to be released for sale in the winter.
A barrister from Thame who dodged rail fares from Haddenham Station into London for two years, avoided being sent to prison today.
Peter Burnett who dodged paying rail fares for two year (Image courtesy of central news
But 43 year-old Peter Barnett, a father of three, was given a 16 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to pay back nearly £6,000 to Chiltern Railways.
He dodged the full fare by getting off at Wembly Station and using his Oyster Card to travel on into London. He eventually gave himself up to Railway staff after first running off when challenged about his story at Marylebone station. The City of London Magistrates Court, where that Barnett was sentenced today, heard that he had previously received a conditional caution in 2010 for a similar offence.
Deputy District Judge, Olalekan Omotosho, told Barnett that his serial fare-skipping was a serious offence and that there was a need, not only for him to be punished for the offences, but that others needed to be deterred from committing similar offences. She told him: “It is a shame, really, because you had it all. It remains unclear why you acted so badly. You let yourself down and your family down, particularly in light of your profession as a lawyer.”
Peter Barnett is now unemployed as a lawyer and according to his lawyer, hopes to do charity work in the future.
Chinnor RFC’s poor start to the season continued as Bishops Stortford scored six tries in a convincing 36-20 win at Kingsey Road.
Apart from Hopkins’ third minute penalty for Chinnor, after the visitors were penalised for driving up at the scrum, the first half was all one way traffic for Stortford’s dominant pack. A rolling maul from a penalty for a Chinnor player in front of the kick lead to the first Stortford try from Steve Ball, Gallagher converting for a 7-3 lead after seven minutes. The dose was repeated five minutes later from Gill. A long kick downfield was fumbled in goal by the Chinnor defence allowing Stortford’s Hankin to dive over the defender to ground the ball for a 17-3 lead.
Another rolling maul was pulled down by Chinnor resulting in a yellow card for Darlington and a penalty try for the bonus point. The conversion from Gallagher put the visitors ahead 24-3 at half time.
Shortly after the break, Stortford went further ahead with a try from Neville, converted by Gallagher for a 31-3 lead on 47 minutes. Chinnor came back with tries from Burns and Owen, both from driving mauls after penalty line out drives. Stortford increased their lead when replacement Baxter Wilson easily crashed through the home defence for an easy run to the line in the 77th minute and a 36-13 lead. With the last play of the day, Chinnor’s Goodfellow nipped around the blind side of a scrum for a try. Hopkin’s conversion closed the match out for a 36-20 win to Bishops Stortford.
Chinnor
Marcus Beer, Robbie Martey, George Blewitt Jack Adams, Ricky Hopwood, Bertie Hopkin, Frank Jones, Jamie Townsend, Mark Darlington, Andy Berry, Sam Blewitt Tom Burns, James Tyas (c), Ryan Long, Joe Vandermolen
Interchanges: Loma Kivalu, Michael Owen, Ben Manning, Greg Goodfellow, Junior Fatialofa
Bishops Stortford
Nick Hankin, Mike Gallagher, Sam Winter, Johnny Neville, Jimmy Rea, Tom Coleman, Tom Banks, Rory Young, Declan Caulfield, Sean Edwards, Matt Tomlinson, Hamish Irving, Steve Ball, Richard Gill, Mark McCraith
Interchanges: Tom McCrone, Dave Aldam, Baxter Wilson, Arran Mahoney, Pierfrancesco Dotta
PURPLE Dreams Productions will be returning to The Players Theatre on October 16, kicking off their ‘Next Stage’ tour with Love Games, written and directed by critically acclaimed Tobias Nicholls.
“When Isaac Williams set off to catch his usual bus, little did he realise that he’d meet the most important people of his life ….. quickly falling for kind-hearted Sophie, he finds himself fighting for her affection with rival suitor Chris. It’s not until Sophie’s feisty friend Zoe shows up though that it becomes apparent that everyone is playing ‘Love Games’.
This saucy comedy offers plenty of love, lust with laughter, and lies.”
Buy tickets online HERE and from Spear Travels, in Greyhound Walk, Thame 01844 217228
Tickets £10 Concessions £9
Tobias Nicholls
“Tobias Nicholls is 35 and has lived in Norfolk for most of his life and has spent all his working life in the theatre, either off stage, covering everything from steward through technical and to general manager, or on stage as an actor –writer which is his first love. As well as his work he had also formed Purple-Dreams as an ‘am-dram’ group and through the quality of his writing and acting won many awards both as an actor and for his original scripts.
“In 2011 he left his day job at the theatre, turned Purple-Dreams into a professional touring theatre company and has taken his writing talent to entertain a much wider audience by touring theatres. Now into the third year of his self-funded tours, the journey has taken them from Essex to Bridlington across country to Cumbria and back with many places in between, and as well as being critically acclaimed as a ‘rising talent’ he is gaining the reputation of delivering high quality audience entertainment.
The plays range from comedy’s through to much darker dramas but in all of them there are twists and turns in the plot which keep you guessing right to the very end. Tobias is the creative director and writes all the plays as well as directing and acting in them. When he is not in theatres he and Purple-Dreams do T.i.E. and pantomimes in schools, and away from the group he has also been doing film and TV work.
Writing about Love Games, one critic wrote: “The gags just keep coming” and another described it as “..a treat for those who love theatre.”
FOLLOWING the success of last year’s joint quiz hosted by the Thame and District Twinning Association and Thame United FC, the event is to be repeated on Friday, October 23.
The Quizmaster will be Brian West, whose last high level appearance was at the Mega Thame Quiz in aid of the Thame to Thame Nepal earthquake appeal.
Start time if 7pm for a 7.30pm at Thame United Football Club, Meadow View Park, Thame OX9 3RN. Teams of six, £5 per person. Proceeds to be split between Thame Twinning and Thame United FC. Bring your own nibbles and buy drinks from the bar, and there will be a raffle.
Contact Linda: 07805 229556 / lindaemery@btinternet.com to book a table.
Natalie Coleman with the four proud Thame school pupils
CHILDREN from the three Thame primary schools opened last weekend’s Thame Food Festival with BBC One’s MasterChef winner 2013, Natalie Coleman, in a bid to inspire other young foodies to cook.
Lyla Davies, aged 10 from John Hampden County Primary School, Emily Tattersfield, aged 10 from Barley Hill Primary School and Orlagh Roberts and Daniela Gonzalez both aged 10, both from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, took to the stage with Natalie when she gave the festival’s first ever cookery demo devised especially for children.
Natalie, who has recently taken up the role of Ambassador of Central Street Cookery School at St Luke’s Community Centre in London, was first up on the demo stage this year with a 45 minute session just for children. With the help of the four girls, she used her demonstration to encouraged children to learn about food and pick up new skills and ideas that they could try when they cook at home.
As well as joining Natalie on stage, the four children took home a signed copy of her cookery book1, after convincing her and festival patron Lotte Duncan to pick them to take part.
“We challenged the children to tell us why they wanted to cook with Natalie and get a place in the spotlight at this year’s Thame Food Festival,” said Lotte. “We know that children love to cook and that being able to cook is a great thing to be able to do. It’s fun and brings the family together, plus it’s a good way to give children valuable skills for life.
“Helping children gain these skills is also a passion of Natalie’s which is why she chose to cook especially for and with them at the festival,” she said. “Now, more than ever it’s important for children to learn about food and get into cooking right from the beginning.
“We had a fantastic reaction to the competition with all the children and their teachers getting behind it, and had some brilliant reasons making it very hard to pick a winner! In the end we picked four. I have to say that it was truly fantastic to see them rise to the challenge on the day – all of them did a wonderful job and were so excited to be on stage helping Natalie!” she added.
Ivona Lord, who runs IMS Independent Mortgage Advisers in Thame, said: “We had lots of local people popping in for coffee and cake and we managed to raise £207.68 for Macmillan. Mabel the cow, who was loaned to us from Thame.Net in Jordans Courtyard, Thame, was a major talking point and wore her Macmillan balloons with great pride!”
