THAME Youth Memorial and the Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association will be challenging your general knowledge with their joint, Winter Quiz Night coming up at Barley Hill School, in Thame.
Sue Boyle will be the leading the Winter Quiz Night on Friday, January 16, which begins at 7 pm for a 7:30 pm start. People of Thame and neighbouring villages are being invited to form teams of six for the evening. The entry fee is £5 per person. There will be loads of raffle prizes; bring your own drinks and nibbles.
Iain Biddle, Thame Youth Memorial’s Chairman said: “After several years of fundraising and planning, we were delighted to unveil Thame Youth Memorial to the public in September 2013. Whilst the fundraising to complete the memorial and garden was completed a year ago, we must cater for the sad fact that more names will need to be added to the memorial each year, as well as the memorial and garden requiring ongoing maintenance. This quiz will help us to meet the costs that will be incurred.”
Marius Ciortan, Thame-Sinaia Association’s Secretary added: “We are delighted to be able to join our efforts with those of Thame Youth Memorial in organising this quiz night. This year in September we will celebrate three years since Thame has been twinned with the beautiful Romanian mountain town of Sinaia. This quiz will help us to meet some of the transport costs of local groups visiting Sinaia during the Sinaia Forever Festival at the end of September 2015. This festival will be attended by community representatives of all Sinaia’s twinned towns around Europe.”
A FLOOD warning for the River Thame and Chalgrove Brook has been issued by The Environment Agency today, and updated at 19.24.
Location: River Thame from Marsworth to Dorchester including, Long Marston, Rowsham, North Aylesbury, Cuddington, Thame, Shabbington, Ickford, Waterperry, Cuddesdon, Wheatley, Quarrendon, Drayton St Leonard, Overy, the Chalgrove Brook at Chalgrove and Stadhampton.
The River and Flooding forecast is as follows: Levels on the River Thame and Chalgrove Brook remain high, especially in the Thame Bridge and Stadhampton areas. Flooding of low lying land and roads is expected to continue. Levels are forecast to stabilise over the next 24 hours. Property flooding is not currently expected. The weather prospects are to expect a largely dry night tonight and a dry day on Monday. LINK to Environment Agency
THE FILM: Boyhood – WHEN? Saturday, January 10, 2015 – Details: USA 2014, 166 minutes, 15 Certificate – Directed by Richard Linklater, Starring Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Rosanna Arquette, Lorelei Linklater.
YOU know those movies that span decades of a character’s lifetime, with different actors at different stages of life? Or the ones in which the kids grow up but the adults seem to stay exactly the same, perhaps with a few streaks of grey? Richard Linklater’s answer to such cinematic challenges – his response to the quest for ultimate naturalism and authenticity – was to film the same people every year, for twelve years.
Starting with the then six year-old Ellar Coltrane, and filming every summer until he turned 18, this film documents a boy called Mason from primary school until his first day in college. The result is an utterly unique, thrilling, superbly intelligent and beautiful portrait of growing up – the family holidays, the difficulties at school, the day-to-day banalities, the girls, the getting drunk, the usual stuff. Mason’s parents are divorced: Rosanna Arquette is his hard working mother with a tendency to hook up with the wrong guys; regular Linklater collaborator Ethan Hawke is the charming but feckless dad.
The film is also a portrait of parenting, of the uncertain steps and their unknown consequences, of the difficulties and the rewards, the essential unknowables of a child’s inner life. And it also brings home the fact that it all goes so quickly, that what feels like an eternity as a child seems to vanish in an instant from the perspective of the parent.
Hard to describe as anything other than a masterpiece, and on every list of the best films of 2014 if not the decade, Boyhood is not to be missed. View the trailer here.
THAME United secured a club record on Saturday (27/12) with its 11th consecutive league victory in a relatively comfortable win against Oxford City Nomads.
Going in to the game, Manager Mark West made a couple of changes to the side, with goalkeeper Matt Tapping making his debut for the first team and Conor McDonagh returning up front. And it was United who were quickest out of the blocks with an Adam Morris free kick from 25 yards going just wide after two minutes. The Nomads, who throughout looked to play the ball from the back, were unable to get in to the game, and United nearly took the lead on nine minutes when a delightful cross from Ben Gray was met by a glancing header just wide from Dan West.
The visitors then started to press, without really testing Tapping, and McDonagh, West and Morris all combined well to almost break the deadlock on 20 minutes. That duly arrived on 24 minutes when the Nomads failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Morris on the edge of the box, whose powerful left-footed drive gave the keeper no chance. Whilst the Nomads increasingly saw more of the ball, they were still unable to penetrate a well-marshalled home defence and, before the first half was over, both McDonagh and Gray went close to extending the lead.
United started the second half the stronger of the two sides, but Tapping was called in to action on 51 minutes when he acrobatically pushed over a drive from 25 yards. Ellis Hercules then had a header cleared off the line from a Luke Ricketts corner before, on 57 minutes, a West drive was deflected wide. Mid-way through the half Dan Jones replaced Gray and a short while later it was 2-0 when West capitalised on a defensive error before calmly placing the ball wide of the visiting keeper. It was nearly 3-0 on 78 minutes when McDonagh, through on goal, saw his shot agonizingly shave the outside of the post. Then, on 85 minutes, substitute Niall Hodgkins played the ball through to Ricketts whose effort cleared the bar. This, as it transpired, was something of a recurring theme as a West effort three minutes later ended with a similar outcome. Nevertheless, by this stage it was game over as United held on for another three valuable points.
Thame United 2 Oxford City Nomads 0
The win moves United up to third ahead of the home fixture on Saturday, January 3, 2015, against Ardley United.
FOLLOWING the stabbing of a partially disabled man from Thame, the victim’s attacker, himself a former Thame man, has been jailed for four years.
John Cheshire, 51, formerly from Thame but now of Bicester Way, Aylesbury, had previously pleaded guilty to robbing Timothy Kitchen, at the victim’s home in Pearce Way, Thame.
John Cheshire
Oxford Crown Court heard how the father-of-four knew his victim and that at about 10pm on June 15, 2014, he went to Mr Kitchen’s home and started making demands for money. When Mr Kitchen refused to hand over his bank card, Cheshire stabbed him in the left shoulder with a pair of scissors. He then ‘pushed and shoved’ his victim into a corner of the room, knocking items off shelves and injuring Mr Kitchen’s back.
The defendant then threatened to stab Mr Kitchen in the throat, while two accomplices stole two TVs and a laptop, which were later recovered.
Cheshire had previous convictions for burglary, causing actual bodily harm and possessing drugs and according to his defence, has struggled with addictions to alcohol, cannabis and cocaine.
Cheshire was also ordered to pay a £120 victim surcharge once he is released.
IN a pulsating local derby, Chinnor RFC overcame Henley Hawks for the first time ever in a league match, to record a 28-21 victory at Kingsey Road, raucously and rapturously received by the largest crowd of many years.
Photo courtesy of Dave Winpenny
The first half was a tense and well contested affair with most of the play in the middle of the pitch as both sides struggled for superiority. Chinnor struck first after a sharp rolling maul. Angell stepped in to snatch the ball from the back and was driven over for Chinnor’s first try of the day. Keohane’s extras put the home side ahead 7-0 on 7 minutes. Comben struck two penalty goals for Henley but missed two others to make the half time score 7-6 to the home side.
The second half was in sharp contrast to the first – with end to end play and as many opportunities spurned as taken. Shortly after the restart, Jack Hayes scored Chinnor’s second try under the posts after a delightful flick pass from Fatialofa. Keohane’s conversion increased the Chinnor lead to 14-6. Chinnor were beginning to show growing superiority when Long was yellow carded. This only served to spur Chinnor on as Haile burst through the middle. His pass to the surprisingly speedy prop Cambareri was transferred at pace for Manning to touch down to increase the Chinnor lead to 19-6.
Keohane further increased the Chinnor lead to 25-6 with two well struck penalty goals. Henley upped their game and bursting through tackles, scored two tries in two minutes from Murphy and Hirskji-Douglas in the 69th and 71st minutes. Comben converted one to close the score to 25-18. Henley then seemed to find extra territory and pace as they strove to close the gap still further. However, Chinnor took some of the steam out of their efforts with a penalty goal from Keohane on 75 minutes to increase the home lead to 28-18. With two minutes to play, Henley took the pragmatic decision to go for goal from a penalty on the 10 metre line for a losing bonus point. Murphy’s kick was good and reduced the gap to 28-21. Henley continued to press for the last two minutes but the Chinnor defence held firm for a notable Chinnor victory, 28-21.
The key to Chinnor’s victory was their desire to win. Their speedy and hefty tackling in the first half stopped Henley gaining the fluency for which they are renowned. As a result, much of the first half was stalemate as Henley attempted to get their game going as much as Chinnor were determined to stop them. For this, Chinnor were fortunate to have a back row of high energy and impact. The trio of Tibbatts, Long and To’oala were highly destructive and every Henley player must have woken up with bruises on Sunday – particularly those who had not benefitted from meeting Alfie first time round at Dry Leas, due to his early departure from that match. The back row were augmented by a second row that played in the loose like a second back row – Ben Manning always seeming to be in the right place at the right time to tackle or carry the ball. The front row were solid at scrum time with Cano prominent. His colleagues, Williams and Camareri were very mobile and Camareri, popping up in the 13 channel showed the speed and skill necessary of that position to put Manning in for the third try.
Henley could not find a way through and the normally reliable Comben was off target for several penalty goal attempts. Things changed in the last quarter for Henley with the introduction of replacements Hirskij-Douglas (a former Chinnor player) and Connor Murphy. Murphy was the difference between the sides first time round at Henley. He made an immediate difference to the pace and direction of the Henley attack and was instrumental in both of their tries. He even took the long range (and most pragmatic) successful penalty kick at the end of the match to gain a losing bonus point. His continuing availability (dually registered with London Irish) may be most significant in Henley’s promotion run-in.
Chinnor’s backs deserve plaudits for their aggressive defence with the crowd mistaking Fatialofa for an Exocet missile at times. They also showed great invention. Hayes’ try came from a delightful feint and flick pass from Fatialofa that bewildered the opposition. Keohane, strangely selected at wing, was most reliable from the tee and did much good work from an unusual area of the park.
In this famous victory, every player had claims as star player but perhaps Ben Manning’s omnipresence gives him the laurels marginally ahead of Ryan Long and Junior Fatialofa.
And a word for the huge crowd whose enthusiastic support did much to make the occasion even better. And, in case you missed the match score: Chinnor 28 Henley 21.
Heady days.
Teams: Chinnor: Jake Olley, George Blewitt, Jack Hayes, Junior Fatialofa, Ed Keohane, Sam Angell, Frank Jones, Ricardo Cano, Locryn Williams, Guido Cambareri, Ben Manning, Toby Salmon, Andy Tibbatts, Ryan Long. Alfie To’oala
Interchanges: David Coutts, Dave McKee, Loti Molitika, Reece Boughton, Reuben Haile
Henley: Tom Allen, Xavier Andre, George Eastwell, Fred Pierrepoint, Jake Randall, James Comben, Tom Parker, Tom West, Stuart Philpott, Jimmy Litchfield, Dave Clements (c), Will Woodward, Matt Payne, Tom Hall, Robbie Stapley
Interchanges: Hugo Milford-Scott, Dave Manning, Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas, Ryan Newman, Dan Barnes
THAME United were knocked out of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup on Saturday (20/12) as Banbury-based, Easington Sports, deservedly progressed to the next round.
The home side, who prior to the game were second in Division 1 East, came in to the game with a clear plan, played to their strengths, and punished United accordingly. An indication of the afternoon to come for United came after only five minutes, when Cockerilll was forced to push a drive from Steve Howkins wide of the post. The respite, however, was only short lived as the home side took the lead on 10 minutes. A cross field pass to Connor Grant was hit first time by the winger from 25 yards and flew past Cockerill. It was two five minutes later when a corner from the left was forced home at the far post by Andrew Stidder.
At this stage, United had done little going forward, but they got themselves back in to the game on 26 minutes when after a free kick had been cleared, Ollie Lynch put the ball back in to the box for Ellis Hercules to head home. Cockerill then made a good double-save on 29 minutes to keep the score unchanged going in to the break.
United came out strongly at the start of the second half, and they got themselves back in the game on 56 minutes when their best move of the game, involving Adam Morris and Alex Kedzierski, led to the latter crossing for Dan West to stroke home. Having hauled themselves back in to the game and in the ascendancy, United then gave away a third goal two minutes later when a corner from the left was headed in off the underside of the bar at the near post. It was four ten minutes later when a clearance from Cockerill was knocked back in to the Thame half to Howkins whose first time lob sailed over Cockerill and in to the back of the net. Shortly afterwards it was five as a well placed shot from 20 yards by Pete Moulder beat Cockerill.
Any prospect of United getting back in to the game ended on 76 minutes when a Dan West penalty, following a foul on Dan Jones, was saved by the home keeper, and despite pressing forward, United were unable to get back in to the game for a second time. Final score: Easington Sports 5 Thame United 2
RACQUETS’ first team squash players will be challenging the South African Knights squash team, a group of talented young South African University players, tomorrow, December 19.
The South African Knights squash tour team – Photo courtesy of Stefanos Garas
Simon Martin, who manages Racquets Fitness Centre in Thame, said: “The African Knights squash tour 2014, hits Thame on Friday and we are inviting people to come down to the club, to watch some top squash with these budding professional university students from South Africa and to make an evening of it by bringing their own steak and letting our chef cook it for them, just as they like it.”
THE latest Staying Alive Thame community defibrillator has been installed at a local pub, and the Mayor of Thame, Jeannette Matelot Green was there on Saturday (13/12), to mark the occasion.
Picture by Nick White
Chris and Paula, the two landladies of the The Falcon pub, in Thame Park Road, were keen have this lifesaving devise on their pub, explaining: “We are a community based pub and know the importance of these community defibrillators.” The Mayor added: “Staying Alive Thame was set up a year ago and now there are nine community defibrillators in Thame, something Thame should be proud of.”
Richard Roofe from South Central Ambulance Service, said: “We would like to see that wherever you are you are never more than a few minutes from a public access defibrillator. There is evidence to show that if someone is suffering from a cardiac arrest then the earlier the defibrillation, the greater chance of survival and the better quality of life post-survival.”
He went on to say that he was pleased that Thame has these nine community defibrillators, thanks to local people giving generously to the Staying Alive Thame.
In the new year, The Falcon Pub will be restarting its ‘Fat Club’ on Tuesday evenings, and the money raised will be donated to Staying Alive Thame. In the past, customers of The Falcon have lost many stones in weight and raised many pounds for local charities.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Healthcare NHS Trust has recently seen an increase in the number of people attending its A&E department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. This is consistent with other hospitals across the country.
The Trust has put plans in place to ensure patients continue to receive high quality care. However, in an effort to deal with the higher than expected demand, it is urging people to consider other options available to them before they decide to use A&E.
Dr Tina Kenny, medical director for Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust: “It is important that people only use their local A&E department if they are seriously unwell or critically injured. This allows us to treat the very sick people who need our care the most.”
Other options available for patients who are unwell include the minor injuries and illness unit at Wycombe Hospital, their GP and pharmacist and the NHS 111 advice and support service, which is free and provides telephone support 24 hours a day seven days a week.
The ambulance service too, which finds itself under pressure at this time of the year, is reminding members of the public to be ‘winterwise’ by drinking sensibly over Christmas and the New Year.
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is warning that drinking too much alcohol can increase the likelihood of accidents and injuries to yourself and those around you. Regular, high intake of alcohol can also cause a variety of health problems, including high blood pressure (hypertension), alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis of the liver. It can also lead to destructive behaviour, such as drink driving.
SCAS stated in a statement today: “SCAS would encourage people to have fun over the Christmas period but stick to the recommended drinking limits. Women should not drink more than 2-3 units a day (no more than a standard 175ml glass of wine ABV 13%) whilst men should not drink more than 3-4 units a day (that’s not much more than a pint of strong lager, beer or cider ABV 5.2%).”
SCAS, often in partnership with local healthcare partners, has resources in place to support those injured or taken ill while enjoying the festivities in our city centres this Christmas and New Year, including the SOS bus, which is provided in partnership with St John Ambulance (SJA), which has two treatment beds and three portable beds to treat patients with minor injuries. It runs every Friday and Saturday night at the Cornmarket in Oxford city centre from 10.30pm to 5.30am. SJA first aiders will be treating patients.
Rob Kemp, Operations Director (acting) for SCAS, said: “We want to wish all our public a very Merry Christmas and at the same time want to remind members of the public to enjoy themselves responsibly during the festive period as injuries and accidents are more likely and more severe with the influence of alcohol so please be safe.
“We also want everyone to be aware that this is an incredibly busy period for the ambulance crews. As a result we put on extra resources to cope with the expected demand; we therefore rely on the public to use us wisely to help to ensure that patient care is not compromised assisting us to respond to those patients in genuine life-threatening situations.
““If you do sustain minor injuries or illnesses whilst enjoying the night time economy then please use resources available such as the SOS bus, Safe Space, the ICE bus or the FIRST Stop bus. Use all NHS services appropriately and remember to only call 999 in life-threatening emergencies.”
Sue Boyle will be the leading the Winter Quiz Night on Friday, January 16, which begins at 7 pm for a 7:30 pm start. People of Thame and neighbouring villages are being invited to form teams of six for the evening. The entry fee is £5 per person. There will be loads of raffle prizes; bring your own drinks and nibbles.
