Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Thame Cinema 4 All – March 20, 2010

    THAME CINEMA 4 ALL – this Saturday, March 20 – Julie and Julia – USA 2009; 123 minutes – 12A certificate
    Directed by Nora Ephron, and starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci.

    NORA Ephron’s delightful film tells the parallel stories of two real-life characters who never met: Julie Powell, contemporary blogger/novelist and Julia Child, America’s answer to Elizabeth David, author of a series of now classic cooking texts, and the US’s earliest incarnation of the TV celebrity chef.

    In 2002 New York City, Julie is frustrated and unfulfilled in a thankless administrative job. In 1946 Paris, Julia Child is equally frustrated with the life of a diplomatic spouse – millinery and bridge are not enough for a keen intellect and considerable capacity for boredom. Both women turn to food for intellectual and spiritual enrichment. Child – patrician, eccentric, very tall, female and with little French – bulldozes her way into the Cordon Bleu cookery academy, becomes an accomplished chef and teacher, and takes up a 15 year challenge of translating the mysteries of French cuisine for an English speaking audience.

    Powell, meanwhile, decides to set herself an apparently insurmountable culinary task, and write a blog about the experience: she chooses to cook her way through Child’s tome Mastering the Art of French Cookery, taking on 524 recipes in 365 days.

    The minutiae of two lives placed side by side make for a satisfying exploration of massive social change, not least the lives of middle class females or the business of writing and communicating. This is a film that celebrates the routine and the domestic and the day to day business of sharing food and a home. The cast are wonderful, particularly Tucci and Streep as the unlikely but devoted Childs. Witty and civilised, this is a film for anyone who likes to feed or to be fed.

    This Saturday 20th March – Doors open 7.30pm Film 8pm. Admission

  • Raymond Blanc must stay out of the kitchen

    TOP CHEF, Raymond Blanc, who is based at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, near Thame, has been ordered by doctors to stay out of the kitchen for 12 weeks.

    Raymond has had two operations following breaking his leg in six places in a fall down the stairs at his Oxford home on March 1, 2010.

    He is reported to have said that he will use the time to write another book.

  • Council wins Improvement and Efficiency awards

    OXFORDSHIRE County Council have won two awards for improvement and efficiency within the council, including one for its care and support services.

    In the Improvement and Efficiencey South East Awards 2010, Improving Lives category, Oxfordshire County Council won for its work on individual services funds for supporting independent living. The award was made for OCC’s development of individual funding in care homes which was delivered in partnership with Age Concern and the Office for Disability Issues. It aims to improve individuals’ lives by giving them greater choice over their care and support.

    Examples of this in action include improving a lady’s social situation by helping her take up water colour painting which she enjoys doing with her fellow residents. Also sailing sessions at a local club for a well-travelled gentleman who now has severe dementia. He’s able to rig his boat and sails it with a carer – an activity he enjoyed as a younger man.

    So far, 36 residents of six care homes have received support from Age Concern and the ODI who have acted as brokers to research and arrange prospective services and activities related to the individual. Staff in several homes have also been trained to help individual residents plan their care.

    Supporting Care Workers

    The council also won the IESE People Management award for a scheme to support working carers through special leave arrangements and a forum to help develop future policy and to air key issues.

    Extra paid leave is available to help support hospital visits or case conferences with the cared for person. A working carer’s group also meets quarterly – there are currently more than 40 members with new people coming to every meeting.

    “Working carers are a group of ‘unsung heroes’ who often quietly carry on their daily jobs while coping with many responsibilities at home in a way which demands our respect. Oxfordshire is glad to be able to assist our working carers in balancing their work and home lives and I would like to pay tribute to all the work they do,” said Director of Social and Community Services, John Jackson.

  • Thames Valley Police wins Police Service of the year award

    THRE Thames Valley Police Authority has been rewarded for efficiency improvements over the past year 2010. The Police Service of the Year award, by the regional Improvement and Efficiency agency, was presented to Khan Juna, Chairman of the Police Authority and Deputy Chief Constable Francis Habgood at a ceremony held in Westminster, London on Thursday, March 4.

    Thames Valley Police Authority won the award for the efficiency and effectiveness brought about by the force?s Productivity Plan.

    Jim Booth, Chief Executive of the Police Authority, said: ?In 2009/10 the Force made over

  • New Thame football facility name chosen

    AS the result of a competition to find a name for the site of the new Thame football facility on Church Farm, Thame, the community sports village, as it is to be called, is to be Christened Meadow View Park.

    Greg Duncan from Ashendon came up with the winning name and will be the lucky recipient of a Xbox360 and will be invited to the grand opening of the site in the Autumn 2010.

    The new facility will be the home of Thame United and Thame Boys, Youth and Girls FC, with a total of 26 teams playing youth and senior football next season.

    Thame Football Partnership’s Frank Thompson commented: “We would like to thank all of those that took time to enter the competition.”

    Historic associations

    “It was interesting to see,” continued Frank, “that there are some really historic links to the site with the fact that Thame Mill was nearby and that the new facility is in an area called Barley Hill Fields, and the old Cotmoor Well. We also believe that there was an old toll booth along the A418 Aylesbury Road area but we felt that Meadow View Park summed up exactly what you will see at the site.”

    The Buckingham Group has been awarded the contract to build the

  • Thame people dying off faster than anticipated!

    THAME is rapidly running out of space in St Mary’s churchyard to bury its dead, because the rate of the townsfolk dying off has exceeded what was anticipated.

    So said the Town Clerk, Helen Stewart, at a meeting of Thame Town Council on Tuesday, March 16, 2010.

    Because of the probable future growth of Thame, with the possible addition of 850 more houses between now and 2026, Thame Town Council, which has a statutory responsibility to provide burial space, has agreed to carryout an investigation, including ground water levels, to see if the land at Priest End would be suitable. If utilities are found in the area, it will be impossible to proceed.

    The 13,000 square metre area of land is currently used for allotments and if Change of Use planning permission is granted, it would provide 200 burial spaces.

    What happens when they are filled, the town council admits, could be problematic.

    PHOTO: Courtesy of Sacred Places, flickr

  • 18/03/10 Haddenham library seeks story-tellers

    HADDENHAM Library is looking for volunteers to assist with the Bounce & Rhyme and Storytime sessions. For more information please speak to Barbara Paul, Library Manager, on 0845 2303232.

    Coming events

    Sat 20th March Lent Lunch. This week it?s the turn of Haddenham Methodist Church members to prepare and serve home-made soups with bread and tea or coffee. Enjoy this sociable event on Saturday (12-1.30pm) in the Baptist Schoolroom, Stockwell, in return for a donation to Christian Aid.

    Wed 24th Horticultural Society. There is an illustrated talk on ?The Herbaceous Border? by Rose-Marie Knight at Haddenham Horticultural Society?s meeting (8pm) in the Walter Rose Room, at the Village Hall. Entry is free to members and non-members but donations towards expenses are welcome.

  • 17/03/10 Decision of Thame’s 850 homes delayed for election

    SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has today announced that it will delay consideration of its Core Strategy for future house building, until after the impending general election.

    The core strategy sets out where major housing development will go in the district up to 2026, including Thame which has been provisionally identified for 850 new homes.

    In a statement today, SODC said: “The proposals that the council has consulted on have generated significant debate, particularly in Wallingford and Thame.

    “It is a general principle, enshrined in the Local Government Act 1986, that councils do not consider controversial issues, with the inherent publicity that they generate, in the period immediately prior to elections.”

    The council?s cabinet was due to discuss the local development framework at its meeting on the April 08, just four weeks before the most likely date for the general election. The council?s chief executive, who is also acting returning officer for the two parliamentary constituencies affected by the core strategy proposals, Henley and Wantage, has therefore decided to delay consideration until a later date.

    Chief executive of South Oxfordshire District Council, David Buckle said:

    ?It has become increasingly obvious to me that some of the proposals in the core strategy will become election issues. I cannot stop that but I can avoid fuelling the fires by delaying consideration of the document until after the general election. When that will be is still open to speculation although 6 May seems very likely. If it is 6 May then I envisage that the council?s cabinet will meet in June to make its final decisions.?

    PHOTO; Thame people inspect proposed plans for a large housing estate on the other side of Thame by-pass, at a recent exhibition at Thame town hall.

  • More Tweets received about proposed Costa Coffee in Thame

    SOME MORE of Thamenews.net’s Followers on Twitter have responded to the Cost Coffee debate. The following from theengineer pub: (ex resident of Thame) “Costa Coffee are the WORST coffee chain in the U.K! London is swamped with crap; don’t let this happen! Long Live Independents!”

    kateeroberts is not so sure: “Really torn. Costa coffee is so much better than many chains, but I also feel we should protect the independents.”

    Margie Barber, who used to live in Thame, moved to Bridport and she tweeted the following:

    “Bridport got a Costa coffee, popular with the younger set, but the established coffee shops survive.”

    Bill Francis, a resident of Thame but currently at Portsmouth University, contributed this thought:

    “lots of coffee causes people to be impulsive and crazy… people will spend more money when on a caffeine high! AKA Costa is a good idea!”

    See other views in Letters to the Editor section:
    LINK

  • Plans for new coffee shop in Thame

    Dear Editor, Planning notice P10/E0184 (9 High Street, Thame) on www.southoxon.gov.uk has reference.

    I do not know if you are aware of the planning notice that has been displayed on the shop front (formerly Bump and Beyond) to change this into another coffee shop and if you view the planning application online you will see that it is for Costa!

    I feel strongly and I think lots of other residents and visitors, not to speak of other coffee shop and pub businesses in Thame, that I would rather support a small independent shop rather than a large chain.

    Possibly your readers are not aware of this planning application and you could make them aware of it through your website?

    Many thanks
    L Milligan
    19/02/10