THE sporting history of Oxford is being explored in a series of guided walks. Local historian Mark Davies will lead seven tours through the city during this Olympic summer. And the strolls through the city sights will take in the area’s sporting trivia
LORRIES using a Greater Leys road as an overnight truck stop look set to be banned this summer. For years, residents near Grenoble Road have complained about lorries parking on the road overnight. Last year they told the Oxford Mail drivers were “launching
A HOUSE can be built on land behind a house in Windmill Road in Headington, a planning inspector has ruled. The single-storey home was turned down by Oxford City Council in October citing noise and disturbance for residents of the existing house at 42
GP RACER Bradley Smith was reunited with the man who sold him his first motorbike at the Oxford Mail’s Big Test Drive Weekend. The Moto 2 star was at King’s Two Wheel Centre in Kidlington, yesterday. The Big Test Drive Weekend offered free
JUST half of the Oxfordshire residents who have been offered potentially life-changing health checks in the past 12 months have taken them up. Over the past year more than 25,000 people in the county have been written to and offered a health ‘MoT’.
AEA Technology 0.2 BMW 4468 Electrocomponents 203.75 Nationwide Accident Repair 63 Oxford Biomedica 2.35 Oxford Catalysts 55.5 Oxford Instruments 1218 Reed Elsevier 486.1 RM 74.1 RPS Group 204.1 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
THERE were smiles all round as the winners of our Baby of the Year competition claimed their prizes. The Oxford Mail contest attracted 446 entries this year, but six-month-old Isabella Charlett from Headington won the readers’ hearts. She was officially
GOLFERS helped drive up funds for Oxford Children’s Hospital. The competition at Studley Wood Golf Club raised more than £5,000. Twenty teams, including one from the Oxford Mail, took part in Friday’s event which saw a total of 80 golfers tee off.
Route map with estimated times at various points for the Torch Relay across Oxfordshire, starting in Bicester on July 9 and ending Crowmarsh Gifford the following day. Click on the map pointers for estimated times the torch will arrive at various
Before I had children, I had visions of becoming a mum of ample cheer at the garden gate in welcoming apron, homemade jam bubbling on the stove and the tantalising aroma of fresh bread wafting smugly up the street as I welcomed the children from school
ACCORDING to the Queen’s underwear makers, Rigby & Peller, corsets are booming. The upmarket firm says sales of its traditional corsets are up 45 per cent on 2011. Ebay has reported a staggering 185 per cent rise in the number of corsets sold
COUNTY council leader Ian Hudspeth kept with tradition by handing over a red rose to the nature trust running Wittenham Clumps beauty spot near Didcot. The ceremony, staged on Friday at Little Wittenham Nature Reserve, symbolises the agreement
OXFORDSHIRE’S traffic chief is set to meet with the people of Risinghurst after the closure of an access point into the estate. The access gap in the central reservation of the A40 at the junction with Collinwood Road has been closed since
JOANNA Hall was looking forward to her first run on roller skates. The five-year-old is pictured left getting ready for action with her friend, Joanna Sutton, at the Old Gaol sports centre in Abingdon in 1980. However, joy quickly turned to tears as
IT LOOKS like a May dance, but this one took place in June. Children put on a display of country and maypole dancing to mark the opening of a nursery class at Cutteslowe First School in North Oxford in 1983. The official opening was performed by John
THESE children were honoured to have an Olympic athlete in their midst. Pentathlete Richard Phelps had represented Britain in the Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988. He was a member of the British modern pentathlon team which
CHILDREN living on Osney Island in Oxford had their own heated swimming pool, even in the 1940s. The nearby electricity sub-station pumped warm water into the Thames, making it an attractive spot for youngsters. John Gaisford, who lived in Bridge Street
PUPILS at Marlborough School were given a day off lessons in 1986 to learn how to be healthy. Health Promotion Day was designed to teach them that health is not just about illness, but about complete physical and mental wellbeing. Pupil Lisa Allen is
OXFORD’S rich history went on display at a new museum exhibition dedicated to the city and its people. Oxford City Council staff donned period dress on Saturday and welcomed visitors to the Town Hall for the launch of Explore Oxford. Among
OXFORD Adrian Clegg, 67, of Berry Croft, Abingdon, admitted shoplifting £7.70 worth of newspapers from Budgens in Abingdon on April 15. Given a 12-month conditional discharge and told to pay £85 costs. Kyle Spiers, 23, of Cosin Close, Oxford
AEA Technology 0.25 BMW 4499 Electrocomponents 204.15 Nationwide Accident Repair 63 Oxford Biomedica 2.35 Oxford Catalysts 55.5 Oxford Instruments 1229 Reed Elsevier 484.15 RM 74.5 RPS Group 205 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley
The southbound M40 was closed after an accident in the early hours on Saturday. A lorry’s fuel tank ruptured and fuel spilled on to the carriageway between junction 11 for Banbury and junction 10 at Ardley. All three lanes were closed and southbound
CHILDREN put their best foot forward yesterday to raise money for an Ethiopian school. Run Jericho saw hundreds of runners pound the streets in a 10K run and a fun run for children through Worcester College and the area. Run Jericho was first held last
PLANNED new warehouses could bring 1,000 jobs to Banbury. The development by the M40 will go ahead despite a last-minute decision to protect a former First World War munitions station, following a request from Banbury Civic Society. Cherwell District
WHEN Jack Varney and Rhys Roberts were killed at an accident blackspot, the town of Didcot was devastated. Now people in the community will gather for a charity walk in memory of the two young men who died in the car crash on the A4130 at Hadden Hill
At last common sense has prevailed and the Cogges Link Road has been turned down (Oxford Mail, June 16). Let us hope that Oxfordshire County Council takes defeat in good grace and allows work to start on the slip roads at Shores Green as soon as possible
Your report about antisocial behaviour (Thursday’s Oxford Mail) gives the impression that £268,000 of lottery funding was spent on improving youth facilities on the Wood Farm estate. I wish this had been the case. The funding was spent on improvements
Like many millions of people over the world, I too was very happy when Aung San Suu Kyi was not only freed from almost a lifetime of political imprisonment, but was going to visit this great city of Oxford, which held so many memories for her. In the
When I was at a shop checkout recently, the young cashier suggested to the older woman she was serving that she should bring her own bags in future, because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologised and explained: “We didn’t
I think it’s an absolute disgrace that Oxford City Council appears to have decided that being homeless is in most cases the people’s own fault (Oxford Mail, June 8). Here’s me thinking that it was only the Government who have their heads
Pastor Maldonado ripped into Lewis Hamilton after their latest on-track bust-up, although was later found to be the guilty party. The driver, from the Grove-based Williams team, collided with Hamilton on the penultimate lap of yesterday’s race
The first day of Oxfordshire’s Minor Counties Championship Western Division match against Dorset was washed out without a ball being bowled yesterday because of rain. And with Banbury’s ground unlikely to dry out over the next couple of days, Oxfordshire
THE Olympic Torch celebration in South Park on July 9 is set to symbolise everything great about Oxford’s diverse communities. From Morris dancers to theatre and street dance, the free event is set to have something for all the 20,000 county
Banbury suffered a four-wicket defeat at Welwyn Garden City in Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Division 1 on Saturday. Missing Craig Haupt, who was serving the first of a two-game ban, Banbury struggled with the bat and were bowled out for
Thame Town recorded a thrilling two-wicket win over Harefield in Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Division 2 West. Looking certain to claim victory at 170-4 chasing 189, Thame fell to 174-8. However, Manoj Parmar and Harry Desai steered
I do love Royal Ascot. Not because I like horse racing or horses but because the event always transforms Oxford train station into a scene from a wedding. True, the bride and bridegroom may be missing, but frankly that’s all. Every day last week among
Owain Jones hit an unbeaten half-century as Oxford University recovered well on the first day of this year’s Varsity Match in The Parks. Jones will resume on 77 not out as Oxford reached 171-4 at yesterday’s close of play. Things did not look great
FROM native dancers to street dancers and rock bands to big bands, full details have been announced for Oxford’s massive Olympic celebration. The Oxford Mail can today reveal the line-up of the Monday, July 9, event in South Park, part of torch
Aston Rowant held on for a draw in their Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Division 2 West clash against Gerrards Cross. Thad Cooper and Chris Leaney, Rowant’s last pair, managed to block out the final 15 minutes to avoid defeat. Rowant had
Frustration was the word of the day for Shipton-under-Wychwood in their draw with Slough in Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Division 2 West. The Oxfordshire side, who were bowled out for 193, took the ninth Slough wicket with eight overs
Today we talk to The Rev Jane Sherwood, who is vicar of St Luke's Church in Oxford WHAT I’M CALLED: Jane Sherwood. MY AGE: 49. Yes it’s the big 50 this year! Not until November, and I still haven’t decided what I should do for it! WHAT I DO:
Is someone at Cherwell District Council having a laugh at the residents of Kidlington? I have just read The Link Summer 2012 issue and on page three it states that Kidlington High Street is now a pedestrian area. It came into effect on April 16, 2012
When, a while back, I saw the suggestion that a change be made to the A40 Oxford Northern Bypass to turn it into an urban road with speed limits, I had assumed that someone was joking. However, after reading your report (Oxford Mail, June 21) it becomes
Oxford breathed a huge sigh of relief after recording their first win of the season on Saturday. Ian Crosby’s side again failed to impress with the bat in their Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Division 1 clash with Harpenden, but a superb
Oxfordshire is the sportiest county in England, according to new figures. Sport England’s annual Active People survey found 27 per cent of county residents do at least three 30-minute exercise sessions a week. Oxfordshire Sports Partnership managing
A LONG time ago, in a bookshop far, far away (in Bicester) Dave Prowse, above left, signed copies of his long-awaited autobiography. And the towering actor who played Darth Vader in George Lucas’s classic science fiction trilogy certainly did not disappoint
OXFORD EAST MP Andrew Smith called in at Ruskin College to pick up a long-lost painting on behalf of the Labour Party. College Principal Prof Audrey Mullender invited Mr Smith to collect the portrait of playwright George Bernard Shaw, pictured
A TEAM of engineers in Bicester has won a £98,000 grant to develop “smarter” ways to use electricity generated by solar panels. Four organisations working on the eco-town at North West Bicester had been involved in the bid to the Technology Strategy
THAMES Valley Police launched its third annual summer street robbery campaign on Saturday. Operation Buzzard aims to protect the summer influx of tourists and students from street crime. Figures for last year’s operation recorded a 32 per cent overall
IN 1961, on a warm and still June evening, more than 5,000 people jostled for space in Christ Church’s Tom Quad for an extraordinary open-air concert. It was the first time Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture was to be performed in the UK as it was intended
An accident involving two cars blocked the southbound A34 yesterday. Police attended the incident, which happened at the Botley junction at about 11am. No-one was injured.
MANY will have little sympathy with Labour’s contention that Oxford’s NHS is “rationing” hip surgery for smokers and the obese. County health bosses say patients have to stop smoking or lose weight so their procedure can be clinically safe.
Oxfordshire hurdler Lawrence Clarke is on his way to the Olympics. The 22-year-old could not hide his joy after finishing runner-up in the 110m hurdles behind training partner Andy Pozzi in the 2012 Aviva Olympic Trials at Birmingham’s Alexander
A FORMER Health Secretary has criticised Oxfordshire hospital chiefs for “rationing” hip operations for smokers and the obese. Labour’s Andy Burnham said patients were being hit by strict criteria, introduced in 2010, for who can get operations
An armed robber is due to be sentenced today. James Allan, 28, held up Martins Newsagent in Northcourt Road, stealing £134.98 on March 2. He will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court this afternoon having admitted possessing an imitation firearm and criminal
TWO county organisations have been awarded ‘the MBE for volunteer groups’ by the Queen for their work. Oxford’s Falcon Rowing and Canoeing Club and Carterton Lions Club have been given The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. They were two of just 112
A FORMER bomber navigator who carried out raids on Berlin during the Second World War will visit London next week to see the Queen unveil a new memorial. Douglas Tew, 88, from Carterton, flew 17 bombing runs during the war and went on to fly reconnaissance
