Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • The Thame Lions Mile for Sport Relief

    THAME Lions Club are pleased to invite you to their Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile. Starting at the Recreational Ground, in Southern Road, the route will take you through the Cuttle Brook Nature Reserve and onto the Phoenix Trail.

    Suitable for all ages and abilities so get all your friends and family to join you and raise money for a great cause. Enter today, get sponsored and be part of Sport Relief 2010.

    Date: 21st March 2010 Event Opens: 9am Event Closes: 1.30pm
    Available Start Times

    3 mile events 10.30am

    More details and entry form:

    www.sportrelief.com

  • Funds for farmers and rural businesses!

    LOCAL farmers, growers, foresters, and other food related rural businesses are being urged to bid for a share of

  • Saulsbury rejoins United

    MARK West has again strengthened his squad as Thame go into the last third of the season sitting clear at the top of Hellenic League Division 1 East.

    West has managed to persuade James Saulsbury to rejoin Thame United after a five year absence. Saulsbury, a previous captain of the club, has been playing at Aylesbury FC having previously captained both Oxford City and Slough Town in promotion winning seasons and spent a couple of seasons at Hayes & Yeading.

    A spokesman for the club said: “He is a calm, dependable and reliable defender with a great non league pedigree and we are delighted to have him back in the Thame set-up once again said West.

    “With the number of games we have to fit in between now and the end of April we will have a number of weeks were we are playing midweek as well as on the Saturday and the squad needs to be big enough to cope with unavailability, injuries and suspensions. We haven?t had a great deal of luck with our centre backs recently with Lee Thompson, Dave Hocking and Greg Boult all picking up long term injuries although Greg is making good progress and should be back in the squad in a couple of weeks. Saulsbury?s return coincides with the return of Justin Merritt and Jon Gardner recently, all three who played in the Southern League side under West?s management a few years ago.”

  • Mission accomplished in Thailand !

    THAME United player, Stuart Barr, has recently returned from a visit to Thailand where his team helped rebuild the compound around a school for orphans after a torrential storm washed it away earlier in the year.

    Stuart described the trip as follows: “After our 24 hours of travelling, we finally arrived at 7pm in Sanglaburi, Thailand at the Baanunrak Children?s home.
    Work started the next morning at 7am until 7pm with two hrs off during the peak of the day as the sun and temperatures often exceeded 40 degrees.

    “As the security of the compound over the last year had been a worry for the staff at the orphanage, it was more important we fitted two sets of gates that closed the home off to surrounding villages. This was purely for the children’s safety and in no way did it make it feel like a prison as they have plenty of land for the 150 kids to play football and do their other activities.

    “The gates had been made by a local engineer who fabricated them from some old shutters that someone had donated. Fitting a huge set of sliding gates wasn’t even something I had challenged at work at home so it was something I had to put my mind to. As no one had any drawings or even an idea of how they wanted them, it made it even harder, not forgetting the lack of tools.

    “The first thing we did was to take a trip into the closest village on some borrowed scooters where we could buy some tools. But even that was a struggle with their limited resources. However we cracked on and managed to get three sets of gates up in eight days and left the compound 100% safe, mission accomplished!

    “Not only did we have to do the manual work but we had to train up the some of the older orphans who wanted to become workers, albeit for wage of 120 baht a day (roughly

  • Driver in court over Greg’s death

    A man appeared before a court in Aylesbury today, charged with causing the death of a Thame teenager, by dangerous driving.

    Greg Stiles, 18, died when his Ford Fiesta was involved in a fatal collition on the A4129 near Kingsey, Thame, on May 17, 2009.

    After speaking only to confirm his name, Sammy Edwards, aged 25, was released on bail until April 20, 2010, whe he is due to appear in court again and enter a plea.

    Mr Stile’s 17-year-old girlfriend, Abigail Dowdy, was critically injured in the crash which involved three other vehicles.

    PHOTO: Greg and Abi

  • Witnesses wanted after fatal collision near Wheatley

    THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after a fatal traffic collision near Wheatley, yesterday, in which a man died. (14/3/10).

    At around 4.20am, a silver Clio was travelling on the A40, towards Wheatley from the Oxford, when it collided with the central reservation near Forest Hill.

    All four occupants, men aged in their twenties, were taken to the JR2 Hospital. One of them, aged 23, died. The three others remain in a serious condition.

    PC Murray McLean said: ?I appeal to anyone who witnessed the collision to contact police immediately.?

    The road was closed while accident investigators attended the scene. It was re-opened at around 7.30am.

    Anyone with information that could assist police enquiries is urged to contact PC McLean via Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to speak to the police or leave your name contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

  • Cat found in Thame – owner wanted

    A CAT, found in Coombe Hill Crescent, Thame, is being looked after by a Thame vet in the hope that his owner can be found.

    The male cat is unspayed, does not have a microchip and is wearing a red collar. He is pale grey with beige and brown stripes.

    The cat was taken to Sprinks and Nash in Wellington Street, Thame, by PCSO Diane Jackson who found him. Call Sprinks and Nash on 01844 217690 if you have any information about the cat’s owner.

  • Exciting events announced for Thame Literary festival

    THE list of exciting events for Thame’s first Arts and Literature Festival (TAL) is growing and preparations are in full swing the weekend, June 25 – 27, 2010.

    Events will include author, Alison Weir giving a talk about the Tudors on the site of the Palace that once stood at Rycote and a literary tour of the town to meet writers and visitors from the past to Thame, from Kings to singers, from Cavaliers to poets with the help of The Thame Players and Thame Youth Theatre.

    Several authors have confirmed their involvement in the festival, including Nick Barratt, Carl Boardman, Douglas Hurd, Canon Vincent Strudwick, Phyllida Law, Fran Sandham, Sandra Smith, Emma Chichester-Clark, Alison Weir, Richard Fortey and Lucy Worsley.

    Richard Fortey will give a talk about Trilobites & Dinosaurs. His book The Hidden Landscape was
    named the Natural World Book of the Year and he was the 2006 holder of the Royal Society’s Michael Faraday Prize for the public communication of
    science. He has also written dinosaur poems for children and even a spoof book on the Rubik’s Cube!

    The James Figg pub in Cornmarket, Thame, will be the venue for A night of Irish Poetry and Song, Led by Bernard O?Donoghue, on the Saturday night. Bernard and his friends will entertain from 9pm until late.

    The main sponsor for the festival will be CPM but anyone else who would like to be involved in sponsoring an event or in placing an advert in TAL’s Souvenir Festival Brochure can contact Steve on 01844 201673 or email marketing@talfestival.org.

    Tickets will be available on-line, by telephone or from the ticket office to be opened at the Town Hall at the beginning of June. Full details will follow.

    www.talfestival.org

  • Oxfordshire’s oldest rugby player?

    DOUG Humphries, aged 60 years-old, played for Chinnor Vets at home on Sunday, March 14, 2010 – possibly making him Oxfordshire’s oldest player!

    As a referee he is often at the club on Sundays helping at the junior games. He has also travelled with the First team to be a touch judge.

    All this after playing for Chinnor RFC for 33 years!

  • Solid win for Thame United against Finchampstead

    MATCH REPORT – Contributed – League match 13/03/10 – Thame United 3, Finchampstead 0.

    UNITED remain top of the league after a solid performance on Saturday when they defeated Finchampstead 3-0 at Wallingford. Influential forward Aaron Rogers was unavailable and, after about 30 minutes play, talented right-winger Ben Connelly hobbled off injured, but with the current depth of skill within the squad, these setbacks did not cause too many problems.

    Thame had the majority of ball possession from the start and the first goal came on 20 minutes after a period of home pressure. United took a free kick which a defender headed out straight to Nik Rhodes who reacted quickly and hit a low, well-placed, 25-yard shot through a crowd of players into the left corner. Neither team, created any real chances in the remainder of the first half and at times, the play was scrappy, with few passing moves.

    United played better after the break and increased their lead in the 58th minute when Luke Ricketts took an in-swinging corner from the right, which beat goalkeeper, defenders, and forwards to hit the far post side netting unaided. A rare goal, which I have not seen scored by a Thame player since the Oxfordshire Senior Cup final of 2002. Finchampstead created a good chance a few minutes later but the final header was, fortunately for Thame, directed straight at home keeper Lee Orkney who made a comfortable save. Thame?s third goal came on 79 minutes from a set piece when Stuart Barr took a corner on the left which the on-form Ricketts met, and flicked into the goal by the near post.

    Thame United: Orkney, Newell, J. Way, Cowan, N. Rhodes, El-Kassir, Connelly (A. Rhodes), Barr, Jones (Meredith), Braun (Stallwood), Ricketts.

    Thame are at home to Rayners Lane next Saturday 20th March.