A THAME woman who runs marathons with a blind friend, has been part of the final leg of the Paraolympic Torch Relay today, through Westminster.
Patsy Baker, 48, is Events Manager at the thame Barns Centre and has run 137 marathons to date. She has carried out voluntary work in both Africa India, as well as fund-raised for many charitable organisations.
READ MORE about Patsy.
HOW do you deal with an anti-social neighbour? Call the council? Call the police? A new campaign is seeking to help residents in South Oxfordshire come to a peaceful resolution to their neighbourhood problems.
Friends Across the Fence has been set up by South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils to offer advice and help to those who might be facing issues of low level anti-social behaviour from their neighbours.
The advice from SODC is:
More often than not, the neighbour isn?t aware that their behaviour is a problem and will respond much better to a friendly and polite direct approach than they would a call from the council. This helps maintain healthy and friendly relationships within neighbourhoods.
This isn?t always possible of course and the Friends Across the Fence campaign also explains all the correct avenues to follow if a resident isn?t confident or comfortable with approaching their neighbour.
There’s a flowchart on both councils? websites that explains the best course of action for the main kinds of anti-social behaviour, including relevant contact details should they be required.
The campaign also aims to raise awareness of preventative steps residents can take themselves to help create a happy and harmonious community.
Cllr Bill Service, cabinet member for Community Safety at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: ?We are really keen for residents to find friendly resolutions to their problems, but where they can?t it?s important they know where to turn. Friends Across the Fence is designed to help with that.?
Cllr Bill Jones, portfolio holder for Community Safety at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: ?Quite often, running to the council can inflame a situation rather than help it. This campaign is designed to help residents identify the best way to resolve a problem, whether it?s to talk directly to their neighbour or whether it?s to seek outside assistance.?
Residents who feel they?re suffering anti-social behaviour should visit their council?s website at: www.southoxon.gov.uk/friendsacrossthefence or www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/friendsacrossthefence
IMAGE – Courtesy of http://patnurseblog.blogspot.co.uk
A blood donation session will be held at the Spread Eagle Hotel, 16/17 Cornmarket, Thame, on Tuesday 28th August.
Session times are: 13.30-15.30 & 16.15-19.30
To book an appointment please visit www.blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23. New donors are welcome.
YEAR after year, folk music fans make their way from all over the country, and from much further afield, to a tiny corner of Oxfordshire, near Thame, for the Towersey Village Festival.
This year, over the August Bank Holiday, Towersey held its 48th annual arts and music festival, welcoming a crowd of between 8-10,000 people. Among this year’s big-draw names were The South (formerly ‘The Beautiful South’, Bellowhead and Kathryn Tickell as well as other well-known, popular and seasoned musicians, like the amazing, ‘marching band-meets folk,’ Brass Monkey, celebrating 30 years in the business.
MY DAY
Among Saturday’s gems, under a beautiful sky of alternate grey thunderclouds and clear, blue spells of sunshine, down from the Treacle mines (so they said), The Seven Champions Molly Dancers, with their blacked up faces and garb of tattered, black strips, clog danced for the families gathered at the Market Square Showground. They were followed by the very scary, Beltane Border Morris in black, fishnet tights (and that included the men!). ‘Boots and Banjos’ from the nearby village of Haddenham, skilfully demonstrated the art of Appellation dancing, which apparently started in Britain, was exported to the United States and has since returned to its homeland.
In The Big Club tent, with its added attraction of a bar with several interesting ciders to chose from, popular ‘Geordie’, Jez Lowe, proved very popular, finishing with a highly amusing composition of his own, called: “The ex pitmen’s Pot-holing Pub Quiz Team”
In a separate outdoor entertainment space, known as The Rope Circle, one of the most energetic, original and mad-cap acts ever seen at Towersey, ‘Junk’, really got the crowd ‘bopping’ and clapping, using a variety of percussion instruments made out of – well, junk. These included upside-down, blue water butts played as drums, a metre-length of white, plastic piping played like a didgeridoo and a series of different sized pipes, stuck in the ground and played by slapping a couple of old flip-flops over the open ends – a kind of junk yard, instrumental and vocal version of Stomp. Amazing!
In the evening, Reggae-met-folk accordian, when ‘Edward ll’ got the party going, following a truly original, Breton tradional-jazz fusion band that I for one shall be following up on, called ‘Esquisse’.
Other highlights of the weekend included a hands-on art project by Aylesbury Youth Action, a series of performances by pupils from Lord Williams’s School, and a just-married couple who, as longstanding Towersey Festival-goers, insisted they take their blessings at the festival!
While other large scale Bank Holiday events around the UK fell foul to the British weather (notably Creamfields in Cheshire), Towersey fared very well.
?Considering the summer we?ve had it went really well,? said Festival Co-Director Joe Heap. ?It was mostly dry with only one or two showers, and the ground took it well. We were very lucky.?
The festival also survived a third appearance from BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners Bellowhead on Friday night (Aug 24) as both previous Towersey shows by the 11-piece band resulted in damaged dance floors!
?Venue 65 was packed to the rafters, and the band and the audience tried their best, but the floor survived,? laughed Joe. ?We made sure we extra secured the floor before their show. The dancing crowd did their darnedest, but thankfully it remained intact.?
The accompanying Towersey Real Ale and Cider Festival featured 27 real ales, ciders and perries with Summer Lightning voted Champion Ale by visitors. A 5% golden ale brewed in Wiltshire by Hopback Brewery, Summer Lightning was voted third in 2011?s festival. I’m not too sure about the new token system for drinks though. If you fancy another drink in the middle of a concert, you have to leave the venue, go back out into the show ground and by tokens from a kiosk. I guess it means you have to plan your drinking in advance – probably not a bad thing all-in-all.
Currently on-site and beginning the process of clearing the fields, Joe concluded: ?I?d like to thank everyone who came and thanks too to an amazing crew ? roll on our 49th and 50th festivals!?
The next Towersey Festival will, once again, take place over the August Bank Holiday – from Thursday 22 to Monday 26 August 2013. Tickets go on sale late autumn.
PHOTO: ‘Junk’ take a bow at Towersey 2012
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AS part of the final Consultation stage of the the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, various drop-in ‘Topic Group’ meetings have been scheduled for members of the public to get involved with.
All the meetings will be held in Thame Town Hall.
The ?Consultation Draft? of the Thame Neighbourhood Plan is available for comment for six weeks from August 22, to October 3, 2012.
Meetings on different topics will be held on the following Wednesdays from 6.30pm to 8pm. Anyone is welcome to attend.
5 September Environment
12 September Housing
19 September Movement
26 September Economy
3 October Community
FA cup Preliminary Round – 25/08/12 – North Leigh 6, Thame United 0 – MATCH REPORT
THAME United were ?blown away? by a more skilful side at North Leigh on Saturday when they were defeated 6-0. The hosts are mid table in the Southern League division one (South and West) which is a league higher than Thame. Fairy tales do happen in the FA Cup, when a higher league team are defeated by minnow but, on Saturday, Thame were simply outclassed by a better team.
Although Thame started brightly the home side soon started to gain control and went ahead in the 16th minute when a soft penalty was awarded. Ellis Hercules was harshly judged to have fowled in the box and Stuart Hole buried the spot kick. After 24 minutes a sloppy Thame pass was intercepted near the halfway line, and after a brief passing move, John Mills hit a well placed 15-yard shot pass Thame keeper Lee Farrow. With ten minutes of the first half remaining it was 3-0 when Jimmy Deabill headed in a cross from the right from 5-yards. Up to this point United had been playing with only one striker, but after the third goal Mark West brought the hard working Cameron Lagan on to partner Alex Stewart. Just before the break Ben Connelly played a ball to Lagan whose acutely angled shot was just wide.
United came out fired up after the break but it was business as usual for the home side in the 59th minute when the impressive Mills beat two Thame defenders to score the home team?s fourth. Deabill got their 5th goal from 12-yards a few minutes later. North Leigh went down to 10 men with about 5 minutes to play when, having used all their substitutes a defender limped off the pitch. With 2 minutes left Lewis Coyle completed Thame?s misery by scoring the home side?s 6th goal.
It must be said that goalkeeper Lee Farrow was not at fault for any of the goals. In fact he made some fine saves which minimised the damage.
Thame United: Farrow, Willett, Hall, Meredith, Hercules (Evans), N Rhodes, Connelly, West, Stewart (Rantle), Wakelin (Lagan), Ricketts.
United play in the FA Vase at the ASM Stadium next Saturday (1st September), when they meet Hampshire Premier League team Clanfield.
IF you?re a fan of Live music and you?re free next Saturday 925/08), join Racquets, Thame, for a night of UB40, Robbie Williams, The Commitments, Bruno Mars and so many others, brought to you by the very talented, Gav and the Grimnotes.
The Grimnotes were first established in 1997 and since then have played the NEC, Olympia & the O2 – well almost! If you fancy a night of lights, live music and socialising, then go along to Racquets, based in the Cattlemarket, North Street, Thame. It’s free, so take family and friends. The music starts at around 7:30pm.
THE nervous wait for examination results was over today for GCSE students attending Lord Williams’s school, in Thame. Of those who sat the exams, 75% gained five or more A*-C grades, with 64% achieving five or more A*- C grades, including English and Mathematics. 97% of students achieved five or more passes at A*- G.
Headteacher, David Wybron, commented: ?Our students should be very pleased and proud of their achievements in a range of examinations. Because of their hard work and the excellent support of staff, they can look forward to the future, with great confidence.?
The following students gained at least seven passes at grade A* or A:
Georgina Allen, Frances Ballaster Harriss, Lauren Barker, Annabel Basford, Lette Batten-Turner, Jamie Blundell, Anna Broerse, Noor Bruggink, Roos Bruggink, Edward Craggs, Zoe Downer, Ilona Ecott, Elliott Ford, Chris Gaultney, Katy Groves, Ellie Harrison, Jo Haxworth, Rory House, Chloe Hykin, Esme Jones, Jesse Kempner, Sadie Kempner, Milly Lampit, Eleanor Macdougall, Alex McKeand, James McManus, Holly Miles, Michael Oatway, Jessica Pearson, Ollie Picot, Shannon Pierce, Amy Ring, Bradley Rose, Natalie Schmidt, Jessie Scraton, Anna Sharrard, Christopher Stewart, Megan Tiddy, Thomas Worthington.
This compares with last year, 2011, which was itself a record year for passes for Lord Williams’s School, when 72% of students gained five or more A* – C grades, with 63% achieving five or more A* – C grades, including English and Mathematics.
Over all, 97% of students achieved five or more passes at A* – G, the same as this year, 2012.
MUSEUM: Chairman of the Haddenham Museum Trust, Alan Rose, reports that a new exhibition in the museum – of Robin Potter’s postcards of Haddenham – has replaced the Jubilee/Coronation themed display. Robin has been an avid collector for many years, having spent much time at the fairs and often finding Haddenham postcards that had been misfiled. There are about 100 postcards on display and visitors may contact Robin if they would like to buy a copy of any particular out-of-copyright card. The exhibition will run for several months.
RUBBISH & RECYCLING: Next week?s rubbish will be collected a day later than usual (on Wednesday 29th) due to the Bank Holiday and the collection will be the last under the old system. The following week, garden bins will be emptied on their new fortnightly day – Monday – and rubbish and food waste bins will be emptied on the Thursday. The first mixed recycling collection (blue lidded bins) will be on Thursday, September 13.
Sun 26th Antiques Fair: The monthly Antiques and Collectables Fair will not be held this month at Haddenham Village Hall, but will be back on the 4th Saturday in September.
Bank Holiday Monday Museum: Haddenham Museum Trust will be running a ‘Name that thing’ competition at Dinton f
A man whose daughter was helped by a little-known service when their home was wrecked by flooding, intends to take part in The Great North Run to raise funds for the charity.
This year’s GNR, on September 16, will be the 19th for Steve Bannister, best known as the joint founder of the Thame Arts & Literary Festival. Steve has lived and worked in Thame for 20 years and explains his motivation for his marathon challenge with his familiar, ‘Geordie’ humour:
“After 18 Great North Runs, you would think I might have got the hang of it by now! Every year it gets a bit longer and the hills get a bit steeper but I will not go quietly into that good night. As Dylan Thomas would have it, I will rage and rage again against the dying of the light!”
Every year Steve, as he puts it himself, likes “to connect the trauma of running 21kms from Newcastle to the Seaside to a good cause and some people very kindly sponsor us. The more committed spend an hour and a half staring at the television to see if we can be seen amongst the 49,999 other runners crossing the Tyne Bridge, and that we are actually running! In 19 attempts, I have not made the Telly yet ? but I have always made it to South Shields!”
The Red Cross to the rescue
In December 2010, the night before Steve and his partner returned from a trip abroad, their house was completely wrecked due to burst pipes. Their daughter discovered the water streaming down the stairs and through the ceilings and called the fire brigade who worked through the night to rescue what they could. They in turn called the Red-Cross who arrived with a large ‘camper-van’ fully equipped to look after a very wet, somewhat traumatised young lady. Having done what they could at the site, administering tea and comfort and practical support, they booked a hotel and took her along so she didn’t have to worry about anything.
Steve said: “Whilst our experience is trivial compared to many, I had no idea the Red Cross ran such a service and in more serious circumstances I can understand its value. I can imagine a serious fire or traffic accident or similar.
“This run is dedicated to thank the team that worked all night to help us even though we didn’t know we needed it and to help ensure the service can continue for others.”
Anyone who would like to If you would like to sponsor Steve Bannister’s 19th Great North Run, and help this very valuable service, you can find full details on the website: