Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Thame Chamber Choir’s Autumn concert 14/11/09

    IN celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn, TCC will put this most tuneful of composers into context, with music by his contemporaries, including Brahms and Schubert.

    Mendelssohn’s “Hear my Prayer” will form a highlight of an evening of gorgeous romantic song, with it’s central solo “O for the wings of a dove” sung by Elisabeth Meister.

    Elisabeth is one of the most exciting talents of her generation. She is the first British soprano to have been awarded a place on the Jette Parker Young Artist programme at the Royal Opera House since 2001. This is an intensive finishing school for artists on the verge of major international careers. Elisabeth will also perform song cycles by Grieg and Strauss.

    Conductor Duncan Aspden says: “I’ve known Elisabeth for several years now. She has a thrilling voice and an intensely musical personality which makes every performance special. We’re hugely looking forward to her joining our evening of glorious melody.”

    Thame Chamber Choir
    Elisabeth Meister soprano (Royal Opera House Young Artist)
    Christian Wilson piano, organ
    directed by Duncan Aspden

    November 14th at 7.30pm
    St Mary’s Church, Thame

    Tickets

  • Thrills and spills at Lord Bills to celebrate 400 years

    THIS year, 2009, is the 450th anniversary of Lord Williams School, Thame, and 100th anniversary of the Old Tamensians Association, which is the old boys/girls association. A programme of entertainment has been put together to cover the whole 450 years of the school’s history which will be interspersed with some interesting facts about the life of the school, providing some fascinating insights into its four centuries of history.

    The programme includes madrigals, ancient rounds played on an electric violin, Bach, anthems, spirituals, music hall, choirs from both Upper and Lower Schools, ‘Vera Lynne’, Beatles, poetry, dance and the LWFC.

    WORLD PREMIER

    One of the highlights of the evening will be the World Premiere of Howard Goodall?s Psalm 98, O singe unto the Lorde a new songe, commissioned especially to mark this occasion.

    DETAILS

    LORD BILLS THRILLS AND SPILLS – Saturday, November 7, 2009 – 7pm – Thame Leisure Centre; Tickets

  • Thermal imaging helps save money on your energy bills

    FREE Home Insulation check by thermal imaging- see where your heat is escaping and get free advice on how to stop it!

    Transition Thame and District and Thame & Chinnor Friends of the Earth will be providing free home insulation images this November using equipment loaned by South Oxfordshire District Council.

    How it works

    ? Thermal images have to be taken after dark and when the building heating is on. They show up where heat is escaping from houses (red and yellow areas in the image above) and therefore where insulation could be improved.

    ? With your permission, we will take an image of your house one evening between the 13th and 27th of November and invite you to our meeting in Thame on the 3rd of December where all the images will be available and free advice on insulation from the Energy Saving Trust will also be on offer.

    ? Should you wish to take away and keep the image of your home there will be a

  • Fatal collision at Great Milton near Thame (Status: Press release)

    THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses to a collision that occurred in Great Milton this morning (21/10/09).

    At around 7.40am, a silver Toyota and a red Toyota pickup collided on the A329, at the junction with Church Road.

    The driver of the silver Toyota, a 49-year-old woman, was declared dead at the scene.

    The two occupants of the pickup, both men, were taken to the JR2 hospital with minor injuries.

    Sgt Bryan Smith, who is leading the investigation into the collision, said: “I would like to hear from anyone that may have seen either vehicle prior to the collision or who witnessed the collision itself.”

    Anyone with any information is asked to contact PC Ed Turner at Abingdon Roads Policing base via 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to talk to police or leave your name, please contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

  • Thame to mark Battle of Britain 70th anniversary

    THAME Town Council is to look into ways for help the town to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in September 2010.

    Some of the ideas to be considered by a town council-led working group are:

    To plant flower beds with the RAF Wings appeal badge, a 70th anniversary memorial church service possibly followed by an event in the Thame Memorial Gardens, and an exhibition in the town hall, with photographs and a time line of the Battle of Britain on display.

    It is hoped that the museum and the Thame Historical society, as well as ex air force personel and cadets will be involved in the event.

    Image Courtesy of www.zazzle.com

  • New Chair to take Thame town partnership forward

    THE Thame town partnership has a new woman at the helm, to help take Thame forward with projects and events to enhance and promote the town.

    Cat Young, who runs a business in the town, is the new Chair of The 21st Century Thame Partnership, made up of representatives from the local community, businesses and local authority groups. The Thame partnership was set up in late 2004 to take on the responsibility of implementing Action Plan projects that evolved from the Market Town Healthcheck process the previous year.

    At a presentation to Thame Town Council recently, Cat listed some of the achievements of the partnership so far, including a Thame shopping guide, the Thame Walking and Cycling map and The Historic Town Trail, and spoke about some of the future events like the Thame’s Got Talent event at The Spread Eagle, Thame, on November 15, 2009.

    One of Cat’s main immediate tasks will be to spear head a bid for funding from SEEDA (South East Economic Development Agency)to enable the partnership to get

  • Thame Racquets hosts national doubles championships

    THAME Racquets and Fitness club played host to the annual, National Racketball Doubles Championship over the weekend, October 10/11, 2009, with a much improved entry on previous years of 25 pairs.

    There were three separate events which included Men’s, Ladies’ and Mixed categories all of which saw some fantastic matches.

    In the Ladies’ event the formidable pair of Lucy Murphy and former WISPA professional, Stephanie Brind, secured the title beating Karen Bealey and Kathryn Milne 3-0.

    In the mixed event there were some really tough matches which saw defending champions Jim Lord and Julie Lawton narrowly lose out to Andy Murphy and Stephanie Brind (3-2), who went on to take the title.

    The Men’s event saw a strong competitive draw consisting of thirty two players and included main and plate events. After some scintillating matches, the plate event was one by Mark Webster and Surbiton based Rob Lelliot.

    The main event witnessed some top quality performances which eventually saw top seeds, Jim Lord and Matt Baker, overcome some tough opposition to seal the title, beating former PSA professional Steve Bateman and his partner Mark Scott 3-0 in the final.

    The tournament was run by Simon Martin in conjunction with England Squash and Racketball, and both partners were overjoyed with the event’s success. Simon commented: “We are always keen to host events of this nature and look forward to doing the same in the future.”

    Full Scores were:
    Ladies’ Final
    Lucy Murphy and Stephanie Brind Beat Karen Bealey and Kathryn Milne
    12-10 11-7 11-6

    Mixed Final
    Andy Murphy and Stephanie Brind Beat Jim Lord and Julie Lawton
    8-11 11-9 9-11 11-6 11-8

    Mens Plate Final
    Mark Webster and Rob Lelliot Beat M. Thomley and P.Osborne
    8-11 11-8 11-7 11-7

    Mens Main Final
    Jim Lord and Matt Baker Beat Steve Bateman and Mark Scott
    11-5 11-6 11-8

    PHOTOS: Matt Baker and Jim Lord, Steve Bateman and Mark Scott

  • Thame Youth Theatre cabaret to celebrate 20 years

    FOR the past twenty years, Thame Youth Theatre has offered local youngsters the chance to be involved in theatre and dance, performing very nearly 200 shows, and organising tours and exchanges across three continents.

    In 2007, the Drama Studio at Lord Williams?s Lower School, their base from the very beginning, was completely destroyed in an arson attack and the past two years without a home have been very difficult.

    However, the new Phoenix Studio has risen from the ashes of the old building and Thame Youth Theatre are back in business with three thriving groups all working towards new Christmas shows.

    To celebrate both birthday and the re-launch, Thame Youth Theatre is holding a special celebration cabaret. It promises to be quite a night, with lots of old members returning to lend their support and performers from our past joining some of our current young people to present an all-star line-up of comedy and music including:

    Rob Deering, renowned stand-up of stage, TV and radio, winner of the stand-up comedians? Weakest Link

    Sam Alexander, young star of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rosencrantz in the David Tennant Hamlet, currently appearing in Twelfth Night

    Amy Darcy, recently starring with Phil Jupitus in Life Coach in the West End, and appearing as a doctor in Eastenders

    Felix Hayes and Tom Warwick, two of the original cast who created The Gruffalo on stage.

    The Boom Jennies, comedy sketch trio, rising stars on the London and Edinburgh circuits.

    And so much more?

    It promises to be a sparkling evening, and all money raised will go towards providing extendable seating in the new Phoenix Studio.

    The cabaret takes place at Lord Williams?s Lower School Hall, Towersey Road, Thame on Sunday, November 1, 2009, at 7.30pm. Tickets are

  • Hospital supporters continue with petition

    LOCAL GP Duncan Keeley and supporters of Thame Community hospital, were out and about at Thame market today (20/10/09)to gain more signatures for their petition.

    The hospital is threatened by a reduction in the number of hours of medical cover from 40 to only four hours a week, if current plans by the Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust go ahead.

    The proposed change is currently under review and the panel put in place to reconsider the new arrangements is expected to report around the end of Novemeber.

    Put ‘Thame community hospital’ in the search box on the right of main page to see all previous news items about this subject.

  • Mail warning over school applications AMENDED – DATE PARA 4 (Status: Press release) 17/10/09

    OXFORDSHIRE parents who intend to make paper applications to Oxfordshire County Council for their children to start school or move onto secondary school are being advised not to post them because of the proposed Royal Mail strike.

    This advice is being issued to try and prevent the possibility of application forms being held up in a probable backlog of mail which may not be delivered before the application submission deadlines.

    WHEN ARE THE DEADLINES ?

    Monday, November 2, 2009, for secondary school applications, and Friday, November 13 for primary school applications.

    For secondary school paper applications, parents are advised to hand in their application at their child’s Oxfordshire primary school, or, if their child attends a primary school in a different county, or an independent school, to hand in the form at any community, voluntary controlled or voluntary aided primary school in the county.

    Parents with children who are due to begin school in the academic year 2010-11, who wish to submit a paper application are advised to hand in their forms at one of the schools they have listed or at any other state-maintained primary school listed in the ‘Starting School’ leaflet.

    Alternatively parents can apply online at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/admissions or deliver the application forms in person to County Hall in New Road, Oxford.

    Parents whose applications are received after the relevant deadline are less likely to receive an offer of a place for their child at one of the schools they have listed.