Author: Sonja Francis

Thame’s unbeaten run ends with Highworth win

SATURDAY’S match (28/12) at the ASM Stadium in Thame will be long be remembered by Thame and Highworth fans for all the wrong reasons. Referee Mateusz Filipiak lost both the respect of the players and control of the game and, as a result, seven players were dismissed from the pitch, four from Thame, and three from Highworth. For the record Highworth Town beat Thame United 0 – 2 and ended Thame’s run of eight unbeaten games.

Due to injuries and non-availability of players Thame started the game with four changes from the squad that drew with Ardley United on Boxing Day. Injured goalkeeper Lee Farrow was replaced by reserve keeper Josh Cockerel, whilst Matt Hall played at left back, Matt Willett at centre half and Matt Johnston started the game as a striker.

After a few minutes play Ian Pykett received a black eye and was replaced by Luke Hurley who went up front, Matt Willet was switched to right back, and Matt Johnson dropped back to central defence. The visitors went ahead in the 27th minute when a cross/shot from the left hit the far post and rebounded across the goalmouth where striker Terry Bohane finished confidently from 5-yards. Thame were facing a determined defence and the visiting goalkeeper was rarely tested. Two minutes before the break Ben Connelly made a promising run on the right but was pulled back before he could hit a cross. Amazingly the referee awarded a free kick to Highworth. What can only be described as a brawl followed the decision during which Connelly was seen to be in a headlock. Once the teams were separated, visiting centre half Chris Flanagan was shown a red card, whilst Connelly received a yellow. It was 0 – 1 at the break.

If the first half was bad, the second was worse. After a scrappy period of play Thame had a good case for a penalty for hand ball which was ignored. With 20 minutes remaining Louis Cordice was sent off, presumably for dissent. A few minutes later, Ellis Hercules made what looked like a fair tackle only to also be shown a red card. At this point it was Thame’s nine verses Hghworth’s ten but despite this, Thame went in search of the equaliser, winning a free kick, and then moving defenders forward to meet it. This left them venerable to a counterattack and sure enough when the ball was cleared, it was passed to Bohane near the halfway line, who ran at goal and beat Cockerel from 15-yards. The referee then dismissed the visitor’s Bradley Clarke for a second yellow after he kicked the ball away, following a foul. The final minutes saw another scuffle and the dismissal of Thame’s Ben Connelly and Matt Willet, together with Highworth’s Toby Clark.

The remarkable thing was that there was not a single dangerous tackle during the entire game.

Thame United: Cockerel, I Pykett ((Hurley, (Davis)), Hall, Hercules, Willet, Lynch, Connelly, West, Johnson, Cordice, Ricketts.

Thame entertain Highmore Ibis at the ASM Stadium next Saturday 4th January.

SOURCE: Contributed

30/12/2013
Warning from Thame’s fire chief after fatal road crash

FOLLOWING the death of an elderly woman in a car crash on the road between Thame and Aylesbury yesterday (Sunday), and a series of road crashes over the Christmas period, the Watch Manager at Thame fire station, Andy Ford, is warning drivers to take extra care in the changing weather conditions. Andy and his crews have been very busy attending 13 call outs from 23rd Dec over the Christmas period.

Fire engine leaves Thame fire station to attend to a road traffic collision

Following the fatality on Sunday (29/12), the Police are appealing for witnesses after the red Renault Kangoo car the woman was travelling in, came off the road near The Bottle and Glass pub at Gibraltar.

The accident happened at 10.15am and the woman, aged 81, was one of three people in the vehicle. Anyone with information about the crash is urged to contact PC Julia Stroud through the Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

On Christmas Eve, Thame Fire and Rescue crews attended two serious road traffic collisions (RTCs), one on the B4011 near Bullingdon prison and the other involved three cars on the M40 motorway. The B4011 incident was attended bycrews from Bicester and Thame and one person was extricated by Fire and Rescue personel having sustained serious injuries. The M40 crash involved three cars attended by Thame and Watlington. One driver had a very lucky escape after his car left the motorway and ended up upside down in a field. A female was taken to hospital with potentially serious injuries.

In the last two days (28-29/12), two more RTCs, due to the icy conditions in the morning, have been dealt with by the Thame team. One on the A329 near Rycote Lodge on the Milton Common Road out of Thame, and the other on the B4011 just outside Long Crendon.

Two more calls resulted from damage caused by the weather, and other incidents have included a car fire and a Chimney fire in Tiddington, water leaking into electrics in Victoria Mead Thame, and a scaffold structure blown over on Kingsey road, just outside Thame, which closed the road for several hours.

Andy Ford said: “I would remind people that the changing weather is causing hazardous driving conditions and drivers should take extra care and take note of the weather conditions and leave more time to get where you are going.”

30/12/2013
Clooney and Bullock ‘roller coaster’ coming to Thame Cinema

THE film GRAVITY, Starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, will be screened at Thame Cinema 4 All, at the Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, on Saturday, January 11, 2014. USA 2013, 91 minutes, 12A certificate – Directed by Alphonso Cuaron.

Cuaron’s staggering, visually breathtaking film is an edge-of-your-seat thriller set in present day space. Bullock is Dr Ryan Stone, sent to install a monitoring device on the Hubble telescope under the watchful eye of Clooney’s Matt Kowalski, a cavalier old timer perfectly at home in the deep and endless silent blackness, and the strange white structures that are home to the communities that live and work there.

As the film opens the two are at work, bobbing about in (zero) gravity, tethered to their station like foetuses with long, snaking umbilical cords, Matt trading humorous anecdotes with Mission Control back in Houston. But disaster soon strikes: a collision with the debris from an exploded satellite hurtling through space like vast bullets means that Ryan and Matt are at risk of being killed or being permanently cast adrift into the lifeless nothing-ness. What ensues is an hour and a half of almost unbearable tension. But for all its nods to the classics of the space movie genre (2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris…) this is not science fiction but an old-fashioned action thriller – the will they / won’t they make it storyline – that happens to be set in the magnificent blackness of space, with the glory of planet earth ever present in the background, the place and the life and the future that might never be returned to. Gripping and heartbreakingly moving in equal measure – a real roller coaster of a movie.

30/12/2013
Driving ban for Thame man who admitted drink-driving

(Image for illustrative purposes only)

A man from Thame has been disqualified from driving for three years, after admitting drink-driving in Priest End, Thame, on November 25. Joseph Curran, 22, of High Street, Thame, had 58 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, above the legal limit of 35 micrograms. As well as the driving ban, he was fined £220, a £22 victims’ surcharge, and £85 costs.

A total of 143 people have already been arrested in the first two weeks of Thames Valley Police’s Christmas anti drink-driving campaign, Is it worth the risk?, which was launched on December 1 and will run throughout the month.

Of these, 73 have been charged, 49 bailed and 21 released with no further action. Thirty-seven arrests were made in Oxfordshire, 44 in Berkshire and 62 in Buckinghamshire. Of those, 121 were men, a five per cent increase on last year, and 22 were women, a 24 per cent reduction.

The wrecked car, after a drunk driver caused the death of Grace Hardman in 2009 (Imaged courtesy of Daily Mail)

In 2009, Joe Robinson of Thame, was in a coma for three weeks with serious head injuries after a crash that killed his school friend, Grace Hadman. The driver of the car they were travelling in, was drunk and was consequently jailed.

Police are targeting people they suspect of driving under the influence of drink or drugs, both on the way home from nights out and the morning after a heavy night and the campaign includes a Twitter account, @ThamesVP, and a Facebook page. Thames Valley Police says: “If you drink alcohol or take drugs and drive, you put yourself, your loved ones and other road users at risk, don’t take a chance, it isn’t worth it.

“Drink and drug driving is totally unacceptable and is a serious crime. Thames Valley Police works to tackle drink and drug driving all year round. Drinking and driving wrecks lives, most obviously the hundreds of victims and their loved ones who are killed each year. But it also changes the lives of the people who are selfish or stupid enough to drive when they are not fit to do so.”

On average, Thames Valley Police catches 250 people each month for drink driving. So far this year the number of people caught for drink driving has increased by 14%.
Out of the 2,095 persons caught drink driving, 16% were women and 84% were men.

23/12/2013
The 12 Walks of Christmas!

WONDERING how to keep the family entertained over the Christmas holidays without spending too much? Need to burn off those festive calories? Why not pull on your boots and Christmas jumper and get out into the Chilterns countryside? There are many great walks to be enjoyed through fabulous scenery, and the Chilterns Conservation Board has selected 12 of the best – one for each day of Christmas!

Dunstable Downs

The ’12 Walks of Christmas’ range from an easy 1 mile stroll above Watlington in the lovely Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve to a four mile walk along the banks of the River Thames from Goring-on-Thames. There’s also a walk from Christmas Common, the most festive-sounding village in the UK! There are spectacular views from all the walks and quite often a pub or two along the way to pop into for some refreshment. Keep an eye out for red kites soaring overhead too.

Visit www.chilternsaonb.org/featured-walks for details of all the 12 Walks of Christmas.

Don’t get caught up in traffic jams this Christmas – stay local and enjoy the beautiful countryside on your doorstep, and look after yourself and your wallet!

SOURCE: Contributed

20/12/2013
Police alert: Copper cable stolen in Thame

BETWEEM 4pm on Thursday (19/12), and 7am today (20/12), entry was gained to a secure yard in Jane Morbey Road, Thame. Offender(s) gained entry by unknown means and stole copper cable.

If you have seen any suspicious looking people or vehicles in the area or have any information relating to this message please call the police on 101.

Alternatively if you have information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online @ crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

20/12/2013
Encouraging outlook shows potential for growth in 2014, says FSB

THE UK’s small firms are showing increasing optimism about the economic outlook for 2014. Latest research suggests that small businesses want to grow and are finding access to finance a little easier, according to the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) Small Business Index.

Small businesses are looking forward in 2014

For the fourth consecutive quarter, the Small Business Index measure of confidence among small firms has grown year-on-year, up 27.2 points from -5.6 in Q4 2012 to +21.6 in Q4 2013. Encouragingly, this optimism is also replicated in every region of the UK and in each business sector.

This increased confidence means more small firms are planning to invest in and explore the global trade market. New data shows businesses expect to see rapid or moderate expansion in the next 12 months. Alongside this, one in 10 businesses report running above capacity while a third are running at full capacity – both the highest figures since the Small Business Index began in 2010.

Feeding into expansion plans, capital investment intentions continue to rise with almost a quarter (23.1%) expecting to invest in the next year. Businesses also want to take on more staff – perhaps ahead of the Employment Allowance which comes into force in April 2014. And, with FSB members polled prior to the Autumn Statement, where a further incentive to take on young people was provided, more could be set to invest in new staff.

Encouragingly, the number of firms refused their credit application is the joint lowest share since the start of 2012. While only 16 per cent of respondents had applied for credit in the quarter, reported rises in turnover and profitability, as well as stronger growth aspirations, means businesses could be paying for investment out of existing sources of capital.

Those businesses accepted for finance continue to report cheaper interest rates being charged, a direct result of Funding for Lending (FLS). The FSB hopes the re-allocation of FLS funds to SME lending will mean the banks make finance available to more small firms.

David Knowles Leak, Thames Valley Regional Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:
“Confidence has been in positive territory for a full year, giving economic growth solid foundations moving into 2014. Small firms are creating more jobs and investing in their business and there are encouraging results behind the headline figures, with promising trends evident across the main areas of expansion, investment and employment.

“Government must not be complacent – helpful initiatives were announced in the Autumn Statement, particularly on business rates. This, alongside the refocusing of Funding for Lending should continue to keep small firms in the spotlight. However a sustained recovery is perhaps some way off as the worldwide economy remains uncertain.”

20/12/2013
War, woods, winter fuel bills & more – news round-up

THAME is beginning to think about how it will commemorate the centeniary of the outbreak of World War One next year, 2014.

Thame station how it would have looked before it was demolished. Image courtesy of Dave Wragg (flickr)

Thame museum is planning a special exhibition, probably some time in May, which will include personal accounts written in letters etc of local people’s experience of the war. The British Legion’s plans include the possibility of an event of commemoration down at the old Thame Railway Station platform, some of which still remains on the Phoenix Trail. It was from here that local men would have left to fight in the war in 1914.

THAME Museum has been feeling the effects of rising energy bills, and has announced that it will be closing for the winter, in an effort to save money. The Museum Trust has reported that it has been experiencing problems with its heating system and that utiliy bills have been higher than expected.

THAME’S Millenium Wood, called Ham Wood, is named after the book ‘ Farmer Giles of Ham’, the only one of Tolkein’s books to have been set in a real place, Thame. Since it was planted in March, 2000, the wood has been managed by The Woodland Trust but it is now to be handed back the community and Thame Town Council has agreed to take it on and to maintain it.
There is lots of interesting information about Ham Wood, here

RESIDENTS of the labrynth that is the network of paths around and from Lea Park to the rest of the town, know just how difficult it can be to find your way around, and how it is often easier to jump into the car to go in to town until you learn the walking and cycling routes

The 21st Century Thame Partnership’s Environment group is working with the town council on a project to improve cycle paths and footpath signage around Lea Park and other areas, as part of the Neighbourhood plan, to help tackle these problems. This work will include assessing the requirements from the developers of Site D, to improve paths and other linkages around the town. At the same time, 21st Thame is re-evaluating the Thame Walking and Cycling Map ready for updating and reprinting.

LIGHTING in Elms Park, Thame, is now at the ordering stage and it is hoped that it will be installed during March/April, 2014.

BECAUSE so much of its time and staff resources is taken up with community events like the Christmas event and the Thame Carnival, Thame Town Council wants to take more of a back seat in the future and wants to encourage local people to take on the managing of these events.

It has therefore decided that it will begin the process of working with local people and organisations to move toward them taking on responsibility for community events, perhaps with grants from the town council, and that it will review the options early in 2015.

19/12/2013
Defence Service Medal awarded to Thame councillor

A New Zealand-born Thame Town Councillor has been awarded the New Zealand Defence Service Medal in honour of his service in Her Majesty’s Forces since 1996.

Born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, Vaughan Humphries was a cadet from a young age and went on to enlist as a Bandsman in the Seventh Wellington Hawke’s Bay Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment where he trained as an infantry soldier. In 1999 he transferred to the New Zealand Intelligence Corps and retrained as an intelligence soldier working at Land Command, Trentham Camp. Despite requesting an attachment to a British unit when Vaughan moved to the UK, he was unable to continue his military career and received an honourable discharge in 2002.

The New Zealand Defence Service Medal was instituted in April 2011 to recognise proven military service since September 1945. Such a medal would normally have been presented by the New Zealand equivalent of the British Legion, however, due to Vaughan’s current residence in the UK, this opportunity was not available to him. Instead, the Town Mayor, Cllr Peter Lambert, had the honour of presenting Vaughan with his esteemed award at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday, December 17.

18/12/2013
Your chance to play a Squash Pro & win prizes

INTERNATIONALLY ranked Squash Pro, Will John, whose playing began at Raquets, in Thame, is offering all local squash players the opportunity to take him on tomorrow night (19/12), for ten minutes, with a cracking prize for the player who can score the most points against him.

Can you get more points than your team mate? If you can, then the person with the most points will win a coaching lesson with Will. After the points challenge at 8.15pm, there’ll be an exhibition match between Alex Noakes and Will John. Place your bets on the scoreline and another coaching lesson could be up for grabs.

Will’s story is an inspiring one and he needs the help of as many squash players out there to help him take the next step to increasing his World ranking by a massive 100 points. He tells his own story here:

Hi, my name is Will John.

I’m a local lad and professional squash player. Like you I’ve spent time at Racquets Fitness Centre – in fact for most of my childhood – playing squash.

This is my story and my challenge!

I’ve been training as a full time professional squash player now since July 2010. So for the last three years I’ve been working hard on all the aspects of my game to fulfil my dream of becoming a world class squash player. This is not something I’m just toying with. I’m giving it everything and I will be world class squash player!

Squash has been my life for as long as I can remember. The first memory I have of it is at aged four going along to Sally Orris’s ball co-ordination classes at Racquets Fitness Centre. My aim back then was to hit that racketball-sized ball as hard as possible, which normally meant it would sail just behind the back of the service box. Now, though my aspirations are much higher, I can hit the ball a little bit further than the back of the service box and I’m starting to challenge players ranked a lot higher than myself.

I am now in my third season on the PSA (Professional Squash Association). My current ranking is #274 in the world with my highest at #218. This is a very important season for me. I’m looking to break into the top 150 in the world and better than that, I want to be #130 by May 2014. I am currently approaching my seventh tournament in seven weeks which have given me a great base and start to my season to push on.

To do this I need to be playing tournaments further afield. And my first opportunity comes in January where I have made it into the qualification draw for a $10k PSA event in Calgary, Canada. Unfortunately my goal was to go to USA/Canada and play three tournaments, making it much more cost efficient. However with my lower ranking, I didn’t make it into the rest. This tournament will help my ranking to the top 175 in the world – nearly 100 places higher than my current position. That will then allow me to enter bigger tournaments and play more of them, which will bring even more opportunities.

So Simon Martin and I are putting on a Play your Pro event on the 19th of December (tomorrow), to give you the opportunity to be part of my journey. For this night from 6-8pm I will be playing all takers. It’s £20 for 10 minutes of squash. Can you get more points than your team mate? If you can, then the person with the most points will win a coaching lesson with myself. After the points challenge at 8.15pm, there’ll be an exhibition match between Alex Noakes and myself. Place your bets on the scoreline and another coaching lesson could be up for grabs! After that, some well deserved food and drinks with a buffet in the bar.

I look forward to seeing you all there for what promises to be a really enjoyable evening of squash and social at Racquets
Fitness Centre.

18/12/2013