Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Fire DamagesThame Resident’s Garage

    FOUR fire engines fought to save a burning garage in Thame earlier today.
    The pall of black smoke coming from the blazing building in Kingsey Road, Thame, could be seen from Waitrose’s carpark on the other side of the town.
    The owner of the garage, situated at the bottom of his garden, behind the Churchill Crescent play area, called the emergency services at around 11.20 am this morning, and two engines from Thame, one from Wheatley and another from Banbury, were soon on the scene.
    Thame Fire Officer, Steven Lockwood, told ThameNews.net at the scene: “The fire was quickly brought under control by around 20 fire officers working in teams wearing breathing apparatus, but not before personal belongings stored in the roof space of the building and a fridge-freezer, had been destroyed.
    “We are continuing to dampen down and are keeping a close eye on the building which is in some danger of collapsing.”
    An investigation into the cause of the fire is currently underway.

    Photo: Left: fire officers continue to spray the smoking garage over an hour after the fire was first reported.
    Right: The smoking building viewed from the Churchill Crescent play are in Thame.

  • Big Book Sale In Aid Of Amnesty

    THE Bernwode Amnesty Group is holding a BIG BOOK SALE in aid of Amnesty International.
    The sale will be held on Saturday, February 17,
    from 11am to 4pm in Brill Memorial Hall. The group’s spokesperson, Jane Bugg, said: “We have gathered together lots of secondhand books, from coffee table volumes to holiday reading, from specialist technical books to universal reading, classic and modern literature, fiction in hardback and paperback and much more. There will be a big section of children’s books, CDs, videos and DVDs.
    “There will be storytelling for children in the afternoon, and with opportunities to browse and buy, together with home made refreshments and wine to drink, we hope it will be worthwhile visiting this attractive hill top village, worthwhile for the visitor and for Amnesty International!”

    Any leftover books will be available for sale on Sunday, February 18, from 11am to 3pm in Temple Street, Brill.

  • Thame Lace Day

    THIS YEAR’S Thame Annual Lace Day, will be held on February 24, between 10am and 4pm.
    Around 200 lace makers from all over the country will gather at St Mary’s Church, Thame, to demonstrate their skills and to buy lace-making equipment, and members of the public can watch lace-making demonstrations, listen to live organ music and take advantage of the refreshments on sale throughout the day.
    The proceedings from the day will go towards the restoration of the beautiful church windows in the church that are in need of some work.

  • Warning Of Mobile Phone Law Change

    MOTORISTS who flout laws against using mobile phoneS while driving are to be targeted in a special operation in Abingdon today.
    The operation, which is being run jointly by Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police, will happen outside the fire station on Ock Street from 8.30am, targeting rush hour traffic.

    Drivers caught using mobile phones whilst driving will be stopped but, rather than being fined

  • Environmental Survey Of Businesses – Enter & Win A Bike!

    BUSINESSES across Oxfordshire are to be asked their views on how environmental issues, such as waste, water and energy, affect them.
    Over the next three weeks Oxfordshire County Council will be posting questionnaires to some 18,000 businesses.
    The aim of the survey is to enable the council to develop services that cut the cost of doing business and help businesses reduce their impact on the environment at the same time.

    The survey, which is being run jointly with the Oxfordshire Sustainable Business Partnership, can be completed online at: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/sustainablebusinesssurvey or returned by post. The closing date is 5 March.

    Everyone who responds to the survey will be automatically entered in a raffle to win one of five bicycles from the Oxford Cycle Workshop, which refurbishes used bikes.

    Oxfordshire County Council’s Commercial Waste Reduction Officer Dan Dempsey said: “This is a really major survey that gives local businesses the chance to influence the development of the council?s services for them. For instance, trade waste recycling services that match customer demand.”

    He added:”Businesses that perform well environmentally are also financially successful.”

  • Thame First For Business

    A THAME economic group is determined to help make the town fit for business in the 21st century. Among the innovative ideas discussed at a meeting of the Economy Group of the 21st Century Thame Partnership recently, was a town-wide shopping Loyalty Scheme, making the whole town centre a Wifi hotspot for wireless internet communication, encouraging businesses to recycle more and adopt other sustainable good practice, and making Thame a Fairtrade town.

    Already, discussions have taken place between a company that runs an award-winning Loyalty card scheme and several retailers in the town.

    Alun Rowe, Chair of Thame First, formerly the Thame Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are determined to do all we can to keep Thame a vibrant and economically viable town in these difficult times for smaller retailers particularly, but for all types of businesses. We can only achieve this if we all pull together and do all we can to take advantage of best practice and modern technology so that people want to come here and do business with us.”

    The next meeting of ‘Thame First’ is on Thursday, February 15, at the United Reformed Church (opposite Thame Market place car park) from 6-8pm.

    Photo: Chair of Thame First (formerly Thame & District Chamber of Commerce), Alun Rowe, of Pentangle Internet

  • Chinnor Crime Meeting Postponed Again!

    A PUBLIC meeting scheduled for 7.30pm tonight at the Village centre in Chinnor, has once again beeen cancelled due to the dangerous weather conditions.
    This was to be the Neighbourhood Policing meeting to which local residents were invited to have their say on local policing.
    This is the second time the meeting has been cancelled. The last time was due to the high winds and storms and the organisers, Thames Valley Police, have apologised that is has had to be cancelled yet again.
    The meeting will be rescheduled for a later date.

  • Chinnor Lionhearts in Superleague Battle

    TUESDAY (06/02) was the first round of the Superleague in Windsor, with three members from Chinnor Kung fu and kickboxing Club entered.
    On his debut, Tom Way managed to open the scoring before his more experienced opponent took the lead and held on to the end; a good start for Tom.

    Duncan Eliott, who runs the Chinnor Club, reported: “Phil Keavy was as back to near his best as I have seen him, winning his first fight well, scoring points
    from side kick and body punches.
    “In between his novice section, Phil had a intermediate
    bout which gave him more experience on the day. Then, resuming his catergory, Phil continued his form and was even with his opponent until he suffered a kick to the groin – something that can take the fight out of you! But Phil did well to continue, only losing 6-4 and a quarter-final place finish.

    “Ben Beames, in only his second event, blasted through
    his first fight 5-0; very impressive and a big
    improvement on his first event.
    “Not realising he had got to the semi-final, whilst I
    was coaching the other fighters, Ben left the mat, only
    to be recalled to fight for 3rd place. He nearly got
    disqualified for a late return but was unlucky to
    finish 4th as a sidekick went unnoticed by the referees, leaving the score 6-4.

    “A good effort by the Lionhearts team and we will look
    to build on the good results.”

  • Thame Girl Takes Sailing Gold

    A THAME school girl is celebrating after helping to win a gold medal for Great Britain at the fourth Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney.

    16 year-old Claire Lasko, who attends Lord Williams’s school in Thame, with her partner, Imogen Stanley from Stanton St John, were part of the winning six-strong winning team, the pair winning the race-off finals against Australia.
    They both belong to the Oxford Sailing Club

    This is not the first gold medal for Claire and Imogen – they won a gold medal at the Youth Team Racing Championships in 2006.

    Clair comes from a sailing family and has been sailing since she was seven years-old.
    To quote from: http://www.sportsaid.org.uk/athletes/athlete-blogs.html

    “Claire has excelled in her sport of sailing in the past and has won numerous national and international events. She is current RS Feva European Champion and has been Belgian Optimist National Champion as well as the only British girl to ever be the Optimist Junior Champion. In addition she has been part of the successful Grafham Gremlins who won the European Optimist Team Racing Championships as well as the RYA Eric Twiname Junior Team Racing Championships. As Juniors they also managed to finish second in last year?s senior Team Racing event.

    She was presented with the RYA Regional Young Sailor of the year award by Shirley Roberston SportsAid alumnus and Olympic gold medal winner in Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000), at this year?s EXCEL boat show.”

    Photo: Courtesy of: http://www.sportsaid.org.uk/athletes/athlete-blogs.html

  • Snow Closes Thame Schools

    ALL of Thame’s schools were closed today after heavy snowfall in the early hours gave young people of all ages the opportunity to swap work for play, and take advantage of what will no doubt become an increasingly rare sight in their lives.
    More snow is expected tomorrow and the advice is to tune into BBC Radio Oxford at 95.2 FM, in the morning for the latest news on school closures.

    Alternatively, schools closed are listed on Radio Oxford’s website:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2007/02/08/school_closures.shtml