Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Good and bad news for Thame area cyclists

    A FEASIBILITY study into a suitable cross-county cycle route from Haddenham and Thame Parkway station to Thame, has now been carried out and costed.
    Unfortunately though, two major hurdles remain to be tackled before such a route can be built. These are funding for the estimated

  • Refereeing questioned by Chinnor RFC aginst Richmond

    MATCH REPORT – Richmond 23 pts Chinnor 21 pts, October 11.
    THIS result was massively disappointing from a Chinnor perspective. They were on the wrong end of two refereeing decisions which undoubtedly cost them the game. The first occurred when a deliberate trip was immediately followed by a deliberate knock-on, when Chinnor were in the act of scoring and was a hard one to take on board.
    The exchange referee chose to ignore these incidents even when the assistant referee, who was right on the spot, recommended a penalty try along with a yellow card. The second happened when Toby Prescott was incorrectly penalised for being offside when he intercepted a pass from the Richmond No.8 to their scrum half, and had a clear field in front of him – a pretty poor call.

    Chinnor made four changes in their starting line-up with Ben Hewitt, who returned from the Antipodes on Monday, at fly half, resulting in James Cathcart going onto the bench. James Eckert also given his first start, as was Max Williams in place of the suspended Angus Neilson. They were also missing the influential Sam Black, which meant Harry Jackman slotting into the second row and Adam Hastings coming in at No.6.

    Richmond took the lead in the 2nd minute with a Matt Hart penalty. Right wing David West then crossed for a Richmond try following a defence splitting run by No.8 Guillaume Schueller. With Hart adding the conversion, Richmond were 10 points to the good after just 14 minutes play. Chinnor then broke from the middle of the field only to be thwarted illegally in the act of scoring. Not to be denied, they were running the ball at every available opportunity. A delightful move down the tight side saw the ball transferred to Eric Brown, who gathered his own chip ahead and pass back inside to the supporting Toby Prescott to go over for the try. With Ben Hewitt slotting the conversion, Chinnor were back in the game at the half-time whistle.

    Joe Winpenny came on at the start of the second half for the injured Tom Whelan. Within a minute of the restart, Chinnor scored. Max Williams, who had an outstanding first 40 minutes, was first to the breakdown on a Richmond ball. He secured possession and fed the supporting Eric Brown who crossed the line with three Richmond players hanging onto him. With Ben Hewitt adding the conversion, Chinnor took the lead. They could well have extended this but Toby Prescott was adjudged off side which stifled what should have been a golden opportunity. Substitute Luke Cousins then kicked a penalty. Tries by wingers Jonathan Webbe, and David West, his second, gave Richmond a 9 point advantage during a phase in the game where Chinnor found it difficult to get their hands on the ball. In the dying stages, Chinnor then came agonisingly close to winning. A try by Trevor Powell from a quickly taken tap penalty, converted by Cathcart, on for the injured Darren Oxley, gave them hope. They were then awarded a penalty on the half way line with the James Cathcart attempt falling just inches under the cross-bar.

    It is said that teams earn their luck. Well Chinnor fought long and so very hard on Saturday but luck did not arrive in their direction. Taking a major positive out of this game, it illustrated that Chinnor are well able to compete at this level. An excellent debut by young Max Williams with Ben Hewitt also starting where he left off last season, were particular highlights.

    By Ken Vaughan

    Photo: Max Williams, who played his debut match against Richmond last Saturday.

  • County’s GCSE results outstip national rises (Status: Press release)

    SCHOOLS in Oxfordshire have outstripped increases in national GCSE results, to the delight of education chiefs.
    The provisional 2008 GCSE statistics for England, released today by the Government, show a 2.3 per cent increase for Oxfordshire in the number of pupils getting five good GCSEs including Maths and English.
    This compares with a 0.9 per cent national rise.

    A total of 50.4 per cent of pupils in Oxfordshire gained 5 or more A*-C grades including English and Mathematics compared with 47.2 per cent in all schools nationally.

    A total of 62.7 per cent of pupils in Oxfordshire achieved 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent. This is an increase of 5.3 per cent from 2007, compared with a national increase of 3.2 per cent.

    A delighted Michael Waine, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement, said: “I know a huge amount of very hard work
    has gone in to delivering this improvement both on the part of schools and the county council’s education team. I would like to congratulate
    students and staff for all their efforts. Their success is well deserved.
    “We are absolutely committed to offering the highest standards of education for young people throughout the county. Given the relatively affluent population make-up and academic heritage of our county, our schools should be achieving well above the national
    average. These results show that we have made a great stride towards achieving this. However we mustn’t stop here and we know that we still have a long way to go on our journey of improvement. There’s a lot more hard work to do.”

  • Late news – Man airlifted to hospital after Thame crash

    CORRECTION – The man airlifted to hospital was in the grey Vauxhall car and NOT in the Mercedes as previously reported.

    A MAN is being treated for life threatening injuries following a road traffic incident in Kingsey, near Thame, this afternoon.
    The crash, which happened on the Princes Risborough Road at around lunchtime today, involved two cars, a greay Vauxhall and a blue Mercedes.

    Princes Risborough Road and Windmill Road were closed between 12.45pm and 4.30pm.

    The man, who was in the Vauxhall car, was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital by air ambulance.

  • Thame NAG tackles policing priorities

    AFTER Thame residents identified anti-social behaviour and vandalism as their top priorities, the town’s Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG), which includes the police and local authorities, as well as community groups, has been working on the perceived main hot spot for such behaviour, Elms Park in Thame.

    In their recent bullitin, the NAG highlighted the following actions:

    ?Thame Town Council have refurbished the play area and have submitted a bid for extra fencing

    ?Extra signs are going to be erected in the
    park to help the Community Support Officers (PCSO) ensure that older teenagers are not misusing the young children?s play area

    ?The NAG has carried out publicity to raise
    awareness of the problem and encourage the reporting of incidents. A residents group is now running in Park Street

    ?Extra police patrols have taken place on foot and an underage drinking initiative has been running across Thame.

    You can help by reporting any anti?social behaviour to the police on 08458 505505 or 999 if a crime is happening.

  • New management of historic Thame coaching inn

    THE Spread Eagle Hotel, in the heart of Thame, has overlooked the town centre for generations. This local, landmark property has recently been taken into new management by the Bespoke Hotels group.
    Says ‘Bespoke’:
    “With new management comes new vision! We are delighted to reveal the forthcoming refurbishment of the entire property including all bedrooms and our spacious banqueting suite in addition to our recently renamed, Eden Restaurant. As the refurbishment schedule is confirmed we will keep all residents updated on progress via the hotel website at www.spreadeaglethame.co.uk and also on daily news from ThameNews.net.

    “Since arriving at the hotel, we have introduced a new concept and renamed the former Fothergill?s Restaurant which is now known as Eden. Eden focuses on classic home-cooked English cuisine with a modern take on old favourites. Our informal setting overlooking the high street is the perfect location for a breakfast meeting, casual lunch or a delicious evening meal. Of course we also have a comprehensive Christmas and New Year programme with 2 course festive lunches throughout December for only

  • Future economic planning for market towns

    A WORKSHOP, designed to lay the ground for future economic development of the Market Towns of South Oxfordshire, took place this morning.
    In welcoming delegates from local businesses, town and parish councils, organisations and individuals, SODC’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Rodney Mann, said that it was “critical” that an economic development strategy be formed for each of the three market towns in the district – Thame, Wallingford and Henley – if they were to thrive into the future.

    After some group discussion about what the key elements of a thriving market town were, it became clear that the major themes were:

    Shops (“the retail offer”)
    Distinctiveness
    Identity
    Housing – affordable for younger people
    Balanced community
    Feelings of ‘belonging’- cohesiveness, vibrancy
    Good transport links
    Parking
    Events – a public space to hold them
    Markets
    ‘Liveliness’ night-time economy etc
    Nurturing local business

    A presentation of data about the district revealed the following:

    * That Thame can expect to experience a slight
    decrease in population between now and 2016.

    * That, although Oxfordshire generally is mostly made
    up of “wealthy achievers, there are pockets of
    poverty in all three market towns.

    * There is an upward trend in the number of businesses
    in the area (figures of course collected before the
    current economic crisis)

    * Less than 1% in the area claims job seeker’s
    allowance

    * The Service industry is the biggest employer

    * 10% of the area’s income comes from Tourism

    * The average ‘tourist’ spends

  • Witness appeal following motor cyclist ‘s death

    THE Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal traffic collision in Oxford on Saturday (11/10).
    At around 3.30pm, a blue Suzuki motorcycle and a maroon Fiat Punto were involved in a collision on the A418, between the exit of the A40 from Oxford towards Thame, and the first lay-by towards the service station.

    The driver of the motorcycle, a 35-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the JR2 Hospital. He has not yet been named.

    Sgt Bill Sykes, of Abingdon Roads Policing Department, said: ?I appeal to anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or saw the vehicles prior to the collision, to contact police immediately.?

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

  • CCTV helps catch Thame thieves

    THAME’S sharped-eyed traffic warden, together with local police officers and the town’s CCTV, all contributed to the arrest of thieves within minutes of their crime recently.
    Last Tuesday, October 7, a vehicle was seen acting suspiciously at the Sainsbury’s Local store, in Park Street Thame, by Thame’s Traffic Warden, Peggy Long OBE. Shortly afterwards, staff at the store reported that three boxes of wine had been stolen. Peggy was able to radio a description of the car to the police who tracked it using CCTV to the town centre, where it was parked outside the Co-op store whilst a man went inside.
    Officers from Thame police station were able to block the vehicle’s progress as it set off up the High Street, and arrest the two occupants for the wine theft.

    The following morning, one man was found guilty of driving whilst disqualified, by Oxford Magistrates, and his son jailed for theft.

  • Ground breaking ‘fusion’ power plant to be build in Oxfordshire

    A potentially cheap and safe power plant, using the very latest ‘fusion’ technology, is expected to be built in the county.
    See full story in The Times on-line