Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Imperial Honour For Thame Twins

    TWO twin sisters from Worminghall, near Thame, had the great honour yesterday of meeting the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
    Judith and Laura Merry, who are both students at Lord Williams?s school, Thame, were presented to the Imperial couple, when the royal pair paid a visit to Helen and Douglas Houses in East Oxford, as part of a three day tour of the UK.
    Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were welcomed by the hospice?s founder, Sister Frances Dominica, the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Hugo Brunner and members of the care staff who look after young people with life-shortening conditions.
    Both Laura and her sister Judith have Genetic Muscular Dystrophy but despite their disability, these delightful girls lead very full lives, including designing and developing their own range of stylish clothes for girls who, like them use wheelchairs to get around.
    Their foray into the world of fashion however, is currently on hold as they are revising hard for their A Level exams which begin next week.
    The girls had met the Empress before when they visited Japan with the Momiji charity, which is run by Mrs Kidani who went to school with the Empress, and her husband. The girls told Thamenews.Net: ?It was amazing. The Emperor and Empress were so lovely and charming and asked us if we had enjoyed our trip to Tokyo and Kyoto ? they both spoke very good English.?

    Both the Merry twins are aiming to go to university after A levels, Laura to Roehampton University, Kingston-Upon-Thames, to study English Literature, and Judith to Keel to study American Studies and International Relations.

  • Make A Wooden Spoon Character Of Oxfordshire

    31 May 2007 – Spoon Race: An Exhibition
    A collective work of art to celebrate 1000 years of Oxfordshire.
    Spoon Race is an exhibition of 1000 wooden spoon people representing 1000 citizens of Oxfordshire, past and present. Come and make a spoon to be displayed in your library and at the Ashmolean Museum in October as part of the Great Spoon Race.
    Thame Library -10am to 11.30am. To book, contact 01844 212288. Spoons will be taken for the exhibition but returned in the Autumn.
    All participants will also make a spoon badge to keep on the day.

  • Chilterns Woodland Award Invitation (Contributed)

    ENTRIES are being invited for the 2007 Chilterns Woodland Award which recognises good practice in the management of trees and woods in the Chilterns. The deadline for entries is 31st July.

    ?This Award recognises the hard work of those who care for the woods, trees and wildlife of the Chilterns? says Kath Daly of the Chilterns Conservation Board. ?Whether your main focus is timber production, wildlife or public benefit, if you manage woodlands in a sustainable way, in keeping with the landscape of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, then do consider entering this year?s Award.?

    The Award is open to woodland owners and managers and can include woodlands on both public and private land. All types and sizes of woods are eligible, from a new community planting scheme to a 500 acre woodland with well promoted public facilities. Individual tree work is also eligible.

    The Woodland Award is promoted jointly by the Chilterns Conservation Board and Forestry Commission. All entries will be considered by an experienced judging panel that can also offer advice and ideas to entrants if needed.

    With more than 20% woodland cover, the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is one of the most wooded areas of England. A large proportion of the woodlands are small and privately owned, whilst a further 20% are in public ownership.

    The overall winner in 2006 was Bix Estate Woods, covering an area of 176 hectares near Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire. The woodland is owned by Lord Alvingham and managed by Geoff Hopwood, Forestry Consultant.

    For an entry form or to find out more contact Kath Daly, Countryside Officer, Chilterns Conservation Board on 01844 355504 or email kdaly@chilternsaonb.org

  • Haddenham Real Ale Festival (Contributed)

    THE first three years of the Festival have seen us raise ever increasing sums for local charities, and last year we were able to donate

  • Thame Schools To Receive Eco Awards From Boris

    BORIS Johnson MP will present Tetsworth School with their prestigious Green Flag at an Eco celebration event, tomorrow, Friday May 25.
    The, school, near Thame, was the first in the country to achieve Level 3 of the DfES backed Sustainable Learning Energy certificate. The pupils (aged 5-11) are now celebrating their eco work once again as they become the 13th school in the county to achieve this international recognition.
    Other local schools attending the event and receiving certificates are:
    St Andrews C of E School Chinnor
    Barley Hill School Thame
    Brill C of E School
    Long Crendon School

    The Celebration event for pupils will involve different activities many of which will link into their Green Flag projects.
    Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc has specially recommended healthy snack recipes suitable for the children to cook in their solar ovens which they will be designing and making as one of their activities during the day. If the weather is good enough, the ovens could reach temperatures of 100 degrees centigrade! Other activities will include, solar buggy racing, making textured displays of polar animals, designing an energy saving super hero, making healthy smothies and, cycle safety training.

    Boris Johnson will be presenting the Green Flag to Tetsworth and other certificates to guest schools who are also celebrating their achievements in energy and eco work. The presentation will round up the day?s activities along with the special assembly where many important guests, parents, and people from the local community will be able to take part in the celebrations.

    As well as the activities for the children there will be stalls giving information and advice to the parents and visitors on practical ways which they can reduce their environmental impact. Visitors will also be able to enjoy a slice of Green Flag celebration cake designed and made by staff at the school. The day has been helped along by the generosity from many local people, organisations and shops. Specifically: The Atkins School Energy Project, Raymond Blanc, Waitrose, Thames Valley Energy Centre, Thames Water, South Oxfordshire District Council and the Local Primary Care Trust.

    Tetsworth teacher, Alison Turton said:”It is fantastic to see how committed the children are to their environmental work; I am confident that the children will carry the message on in the future which makes the hard work worthwhile on many different levels.”

  • New Plan To Move Thame Cattle Market

    A NEW outline planning application has been submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council for the relocation of Thame Cattle Market and associated buildings, car parking, new access and ancillary activities to Thame Show ground.
    The planning application will be considered at an additional Planning Meeting on June 5, by Thame Town Council.
    A previous plan, submitted by Developer Bob Williams, was withdrawn after Thame Town Council recommended its rejection, over fears that if the cattle market moved to Thame Show Ground, residents of Lea Park would experience increased difficulty in driving out onto the by-pass.

  • Thame Market Fun Day

    THAME market traders are planning a community fun day for some time during the summer holidays, and as well as bunting, balloons and street entertainers, the traders themselves will be entering a ‘Loudest Voice’ competition in an attempt to break the highest level recorded in the Guiness Book of Records.
    There is however, a serious side to the competition – a Speach Therapist will be on hand to give advice to traders and to the public about how to look after their vocal chords.
    Local charities will be invited to join the market by setting up their own stalls to raise funds.

  • No ‘Short Term Fix’ For Wrecked Thame Play Area

    A THAME recreation ground, described as ?just mush? and ?unusable? by Thame mothers, is unlikely to be improved in the short term, says Thame Town Council because of insufficient Officer time and a lack of funding.
    Following representation by Sally Britnall and Alsion O?Riley to the council?s Culture, Leisure and Recreation committee last night, the two mums were told that the Southern Road Recreation ground, which, apart from general wear and tear had suffered considerable vandalism, was a priority of the Open Spaces Working group but that there was ?no quick fix.?
    Money given to the district council by the government to improve recreational facilities had already been allocated for this year, reported Cllr David Bretherton, and so funding would have to be applied for next year, by June 2008.
    Additionally, the Clerk explained, the project would have to go out to public consultation once the Open Spaces group had looked at it, and then it would have to go through a tendering process once the town council itself had agreed match funding. She added that there was no officer time available to look into funding, and suggested that the council employ someone on a temporary basis to look into funding.

    ?Everyone we know,? said Alison O?Riley, ?takes their children to the park at Chinnor which is the best one in the area.
    ?At Southern Road, there are no signs showing liability, or indication of who is responsible for the facility or who to contact if there were an accident. There is no indication as to what age group is allowed to use it, for example are teenagers allowed?
    ?There is no access for wheelchairs ? they would just get stuck in the mush and less able adults cannot get in to supervise their children. Where can the children from the First Steps Nursery play and where will children from the new Rycotewood development play? And what about all this talk of obesity? We are talking about the future generation of Thame here.?

    In answer to a question by Cllr Owen Davies about what sort of equipment the two women would like to see, they mentioned the park in Marlow, which apparently, some members of the committee had visited.

    The two mums did have praise for the Elms Park play area on the other side of Thame, where unfortunately, a

  • What’s On This Half Term?

    WONDERING how you?re going to keep the children amused this half-term?
    Entertaining the children and ensuring they use their time proactively can be a real problem in the school holidays and it becomes even more difficult when they are surgically attached to the remote control! In an attempt to combat school-break-boredom and spur lethargic children into action, here are SOLL Leisure?s top five suggestions for keeping the kids entertained!

    Top Five Suggestions for Keeping the Kids Entertained This Half Term:

    1) The Ultimate Experience: CampSOLL will help you turn those ?I?m bored? into ?wow the day went so fast? with a huge selection of activities to keep the children active and entertained. CampSOLL offers safe, creative and energetic activities run by fully trained staff. You can sign up for a full day camp or 1-2 hour sessions.

    Activities on offer include:

  • Special ‘Places’ For Local Artists In Nash and Gill Exhibition

    THREE Thame professional artists and printmakers are currently exhibiting their work in support of a nationally acclaimed exhibition about the lives and work of two of Buckinghamshire?s most renowned artists, John Nash and Eric Gill.
    Christine Tacq, Heather Hunter and Sue Napier and three other Buckinghamshire artists were invited to make an artist?s book to go into the Buckinghamshire County Museum?s exhibition, currently on show at the museum in Aylesbury, called Clear Skies and Storm clouds: visions of Buckinghamshire between the Wars.

    Their book is the result of three months of collaborative work throughout the duration of the exhibition, exploring how artists share experiences and work together, as Eric Gill?s community did at Piggotts, near High Wycombe, during the 1920s and 30s.
    Christine and her fellow artists were chosen because they had worked in groups before, and because they spent time exploring their own creative ?places?, they named their book just that.

    Also considered in the exhibition, Clear skies and storm clouds (on until June 2), is the work of Nash and Gill?s contemporaries, Claire Leighton, John?s brother Paul Nash and Gill?s close friend, David Jones.

    The exhibition is one of the museum?s most visited exhibitions ever.

    See the Spectator?s review at Link

    Photo: The Cornfield by John Nash, set in Chalfont Common in Buckinghamshire. This bucolic scene, completed in 1918, was his first painting that didn’t depict war