BACK in the summer of 2005, I remember watching the announcement that the 30th Olympiad was to be held in London. At that point I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I had little idea at the time that I had any athletic ability, but over time people
Deer stalking is a full-time job for Tom Marshall. The 29-year-old manages 600 deer on the 6,000-acre Cornbury Park Estate, near Charlbury. His role includes culling as many as 300 animals each year, using a high-powered rifle with telescopic
AN office development is to be turned into housing in what is believed to be one of the first schemes of its kind in the country following new legislation. Backers of the proposal for 1-20 Lakesmere Close, Kidlington, have been granted planning
HE is more familiar to Oxford City fans as a creative spark in midfield, generating goalscoring opportunities for himself and the team. But now Darren Pond has kicked off in a new game – as a self-employed electrician. Mr Pond, 26, has started
I WOULD like to say a big thank you to the two young men who ran the play scheme at the Bullingdon Community Centre during the school holidays. Their names, I believe, were Leon and Eddy, and they had two helpers. These boys kept the children
A TEAM of consultants were recently employed by the city council to carry out a parking survey on Blackbird Leys. Their report didn’t provide a spectacular conclusion because the residents already know where the problems lie. There are at least
ED Miliband is an outstanding orator but his commitment to energy price controls is totally misguided and will only result in a dislocation of the energy market. By suppressing energy prices below market levels, energy demand will rise while,
WE seem to hear remarkably little about the type of regime the West appears to favour in place of Assad. Will it be any better? At the outset we were told that a number of factions were involved possibly including al-Qaeda. Will there be a
I WOULD like the bus drivers to be more careful when it comes to dealing with cyclists. Today I was cycling down the Banbury Road to town when suddenly a bus was behind me and I just got on the pavement. Not content with nearly knocking me
SUPPOSEDLY because of the perils of ‘passive smoking’, or, more precisely, the potential civil action resulting therefrom, it is proposed that the nicotine habit be banned outright in our prisons. Apart from the obvious sickness and unrest that
It was an hour and 20 minutes late our takeaway. Yes, you read that right, 80 minutes late. To make matters worse, we had rung and ordered it at 6pm for 9.15pm last Saturday when the dreaded children’s disco party had ended and we knew that by
I am the chef and owner of The Chequers at Burcot. I found my passion for cooking when I was 15 years old. I studied at Westminster College London and from there have worked in many fine dining restaurants and hotels from London to Devon and even a
WITH her chic style, piercing eyes and breathy vocals, Melanie Pain strikes the perfect image of a French chanteuse. As lead singer with the band Nouvelle Vague, she has been enchanting audiences with her sultry Gallic and bossa nova take on punk
You’ll have seen Adam Simmonds representing the South East on BBC1’s Great British Menu. If not, his accolades speak for themselves; a Michelin star, four rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide and a consistent 8/10 rating in the Good Food Guide,
Celebrity chef Adam Simmonds tells why he’s so honoured to be appearing at Thame Food Festival Meet the man behind the anti-X Factor Find out why England has enchanted French chanteuse Melanie Pain Discover
Josh Howie was raised as a Buddhist, and trained to be a Rabbi before perhaps his inevitable entrance to stand-up. A talented performer, he has taken three solo shows to Edinburgh, garnering rave reviews and sell out runs at the Soho Theatre so catch
THE article (Oxford Mail, September 24) about the long-term ambition of the city council to restore the canal terminal on the Worcester Street car park site unfortunately gave a misleading impression of the possible project. The artist’s impression
I AM writing to explain the feelings of the residents of Northway Estate about the Barton West development. The problem of flooding in Northway has already been discussed in another letter to your column, although, when you read in the North East
Oxford Lieder Festival is the largest of its kind in the country. Though size isn’t everything, it’s a good indicator of the strength of the festival’s success. It’s been 11 glorious years of increasingly successful festivals that have propelled
Out Of The Shadow may be the name of Nobulus’ new dance show, but it’s an appropriate title, considering it’s bringing hiphop to the Oxford Playhouse stage. But Alexander Wengler, inset, who aged 29 is dancer, choreographer, producer, director
Back in March while I was busy painting the walls with appropriately named ‘snowdrop’ emulsion during the week leading up to our opening and the second coldest Easter on record (truly!), wondering to myself what kind of plonker opens an ice cream parlour
IN 2007 our esteemed restaurant critic sampled the fare at a village pub that had been transformed into what she described as Thai food heaven. Five years on seemed like a good excuse for a return visit to the White Horse in Forest Hill, where
Dan Brown has a lot to answer for. Following the rollercoaster success of The Da Vinci Code a tidal wave of novels merging history, science and ancient Christianity has engulfed the fiction world. All of them have one thing in common; a deadly
Before X Factor, before Britain’s Got Talent... even before Pop Idol, aspiring musicians perfected their craft, and found the platform they needed in much humbler surroundings – their local open mic night. The concept is simple: if you have a talent
DON Hawken, who has died aged 94, farmed more than 1,000 acres of land in South Oxfordshire and was chairman of the county branch of the National Farmers Union (NFU). He began farming in 1940 when he returned from the Second World War to run the
PETER Silvester, a former Oxford magistrate who spent his working life in the Cowley car industry, starting as office boy to William Morris, has died aged 90. Serving in the RAF during the Second World War, he played a key role in the rescue of
OXFORD MAGISTRATES Joanne Mason, 38, of Iffley Road, Oxford, admitted stealing alcohol worth £150 and alcohol worth £100 from Marks and Spencer, in the Oxford Retail Park, Ambassador Avenue, Cowley, Oxford, on May 26. Given a 12-month conditional
IT has taken just 11 years for musician Ben Bloor to achieve the highest award an organist can achieve. The third-year music student at New College, Oxford, started learning the organ at the age of 10 and now he is 21, he has been awarded the Fellowship
AN Oxford teenager was given a glimpse of an alternative medical career at a clinical trials company. Freddie Moore, a pupil at St Edward’s School, spent a week’s work experience at the Medical Research Network (MRN) where he was involved in projects
EVERYONE remembers the school playground for different reasons. But there always seemed to be a ball game of some description taking place, with youngsters in loosely assembled teams charging around playing football or swinging a bat wildly in
PRIME Minister and Witney MP David Cameron has been told of the need for regulation in the independent motoring trade by a businessman from his constituency. Graham Cox, of Ernigrip Motors, who owns garages in Enstone and Middle Barton, said: “
AS A teenager in her native Czechoslovakia, Sarka Naivertova earned extra pocket money by selling cosmetics. By the time she was 20 she had bought her first house, which she sold for a healthy profit. Her eye for a good investment helped her
CORONER’S officer Beth Hale concluded her pet cat Mowgli was dead after he disappeared 15 months ago. But now the wanderer has returned unscathed, and Miss Hale and her family are trying to discover where he strayed to. The Bengal Cross took
RESIDENTS at flats in Witney have been landed with bills of up to £1,400 each for car park maintenance dating back almost three years. The owners of flats at Marriotts Walk said leaseholders owe fees for car park maintenance from December 2010
A FAVOURED watering hole of arts and crafts guru William Morris is on the market. The 17th century Plough Inn, in Kelmscott, near Lechlade, is on offer for £650,000 with Colliers International. It offers eight letting bedrooms as well as a
RABBIT warrens at a city cemetery have been filled in after concerns from visitors. Oxford City Council carried out the work at Wolvercote Cemetery over fears rabbit tunnels were making walkways uneven. Trevor Brockall, 66, visits his parents
FIGHTING crime is no easy task. So the news that almost seven in 10 crimes are not solved in the county should be considered in a very measured way. No police force in any part of the country is solving every crime. Indeed, many reported crimes
PLANS for a park and ride with free parking at Bicester Village will be submitted by November, it has been announced. Oxfordshire County Council is to put in a planning application for an estimated 500-space facility off the A41 and Vendee Drive
God bless the British banger. As we report today, Bicester man Jason Ayres has been scoffing down sausages to judge the best one of the bunch. It is the sort of job most of us would love to do. For the stay-at-home dad, though, it was really
BANBURY Borough's Mark Sykes ended the season as he started it by adding the Oxfordshire Champions of Champions title to the county’s two wood singles crown he won in May. Sykes, who won the competition in 2008 and 2010, beat Watlington’s Gordon
A MAN who headbutted and punched a pub-goer in an “unprovoked” attack has avoided a jail sentence. Martin Conder, pictured, of Caldecott Road, Abingdon, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm on March 29 this year. The 25-year-old was
A MAN suspected of raping a 15-year-old girl has been released from police custody and told to answer bail tomorrow. The 41-year-old was arrested on Wednesday after the teen reported being raped by a man who picked her up in a van in the early
OXFORDSHIRE’S firefighters were called out only three times during yesterday’s firefighters strike. Around two-thirds of the county’s firefighters were expected to walk out for four hours between midday and 4pm. Picket lines were formed outside
TWO tries from Reece Lines helped Banbury Under 16s win 31-10 at Old Coventrians. Luca Catania’s try opened the scoring before Lines ran in a brace. Aaron Taylor bagged try No 4 from halfway, with Catania and Jack Taylor kicking conversions
Oxford University researchers have taken a step towards the large-scale production of silks with tailor-made properties. Prof Fritz Vollrath and colleagues from the Oxford Silk Group collected silk from paralysed silkworms by injecting a chemical
It was a great day on the river in Oxford on Saturday as crowds lined Donnington Bridge and the towpaths along the 1,850-metre course for the Isis Sculls, writes Mike Rosewell. City of Oxford were not quite the perfect hosts since the club won
ANDREW Spencer has been named Oxford Rugby League’s king of fans. Spencer will represent the club at the Kingstone Press Championships finals day at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday, flying their flag at half-time. Nominated for his part in founding
A first chance is being offered to look round Oxford’s newest school. Tyndale Community School, pictured, in William Morris Close, will host a family fun morning on Saturday. As well as a chance to meet staff at the free school, there will be games
Britain’s fastest man, James Dasaolu, was amongst a host of top athletes who hot-footed their way to a quiet village in Oxfordshire this week to see their Team GB physio show off his latest ‘move’ AS most of us watched awe-struck as the London
ALAN Green plundered five goals in a man-of-the-match display as Oxford City Stars continued their superb start to the season with a 9-3 win at Peterborough Islanders. The crushing victory made it threes wins out of three for the Stars, who preserved
An Oxford University graduate has completed a 150-day solo row from Japan to Alaska – and returned engaged. Sarah Outen, 28, arrived in Adak in the Aleutian Islands on Monday after rowing 4,315 miles in her boat Happy Socks. The rower capsized
Administrators took away cows from Field Farm, Appleton, for a second day yesterday as part of a civil repossession order. Officials believe that S Morgan and Sons Limited, which is based at the farm, has more than £23m of debt. A Thames Valley
A MAN has denied trying to steal thousands of pounds worth of steel and told a jury he hid in a bush until a police dog attacked him. Andrew Fitzsimons, of St James Cottages, Grove, near Wantage, is on trial charged with one count of burglary at
SEA otters, oversized matches and a tennis court are part of a new exhibition at Modern Art Oxford. German artist Friedrich Kunath, pictured, has brought his imaginative creations to Oxford for his first solo UK exhibition. The exhibition’s
OXFORD University completed their French tour with a 21-12 defeat to Bayonne Espoirs. The Dark Blues, who visit Richmond on Monday for their first match of the season on British soil, lost both their fixtures in France, despite what they feel were
OXFORD’S pioneering bus ticketing system has triggered an eight per cent surge in passenger numbers in the county, officials say. In July 2011, the city’s two bus companies – Stagecoach and Oxford Bus Company – introduced Smartzone and began co-ordinating
A pre-trial hearing has been held in a second case where Thames Valley Police sent undercover officers into a scrap yard. Police raided Smiths of Bloxham, in Milton, near Banbury, in May last year and charged five men as part of Operation Symphony
TRIBUTES have been paid after a 28-year-old motorcyclist was killed in an accident. Sebastian Grootz from Didcot has been hailed as a popular local and a “real character” by friends. The former pupil at St Birinus School died on Monday when
Travelling into Charlie Longsdon’s Chipping Norton yard, visitors now encounter a smart new driveway. Gone is the country road full of potholes, and in its place is an impressive half-mile stretch of pristine tarmac. It may not be a feat of
A man has appeared in court charged with downloading indecent images of children. Keith Godfrey, 71, of St Nicholas Road, Littlemore, is accused of five counts of making, and nine counts of distributing, indecent images of children. He is also
Plans for Oxford's new £3m Rose Hill Community Centre are set to be approved. The proposals by Oxford City Council have been recommended for approval by officers. They now have to be approved by a committee of city councillors on Wednesday before
A WOMAN who says she was sexually abused while growing up sobbed in the dock as she gave evidence. The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges that Bradley Antill subjected her to repeated abuse for four years. The 46-year-old
Dave Kuester won a gold medal in the European Hammer Decathlon Championships at Moorways Stadium, Derby. The Bicester athlete triumphed in the vet 65 category of the event organised by MMTG, the Midlands (British) Masters Throwers Group. Kuester
Thames Valley Police has recorded 40 thefts from vehicles in two weeks in the city. There were 13 sat navs stolen, as well as one rucksack, one handbag, one laptop, three wallets, one bag of clothing, one radio and three mobile phones. A further
Chipping Norton-based cameraman Phil Ball, who was detained by Russian security officers aboard a Greenpeace boat in the Arctic, is currently under arrest in Murmansk. The 42-year-old is one of 30 Greenpeace activists whose boat, the Arctic Sunrise
A scheme that could see £8 million a year in extra money spent on Oxfordshire patients has been delayed. Officials at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUHT) want more freedom for the county’s healthcare system to enable it to retain surpluses
HENLEY Hawks assistant coach Pete Davies says his side can be a match for anyone in National 1. Hawks have played just three games on their return to English rugby’s third tier, but Davies says there are already grounds for real optimism. And
Woodstock 12 James Bolton and Rachel Masser completed a home double for organisers Woodstock Harriers. The duo were the first man and lady home over the 12.1-mile three-lap course in the grounds of Blenheim Palace. Bolton retained his crown
Bob Storey finished second in the New Forest Marathon and was the first veteran home over a course that started and finished in New Milton. The Eynsham Road Runners athlete completed the 26.2-mile multi-terrain route in 2hrs 49mins 41secs, eight
South Of England Road Relay Championships Oxford City claimed their ninth successive vet 60 men’s title after a dominant display at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot on Sunday. City’s team finished some four minutes and a half minutes clear of second-placed
A MAN pleaded guilty yesterday to possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Dean Bromage appeared in Oxford Crown Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to having 313g of the class B drug on February 5 this year. The 40-year-old was arrested in
AN “exceptionally smart” Oxford University graduate is understood to have been killed in the Nairobi terrorist attack. Ravindra Ramrattan, also known as Ravi Mumias, was originally from Cunupia in Trinidad but earned a masters degree in financial
A BICESTER firm which makes mobility scooters may have infringed competition law, the Office of Fair Trading has said. The OFT alleges that Pride Mobility, based in Wedgwood Road and thought to be the biggest of its kind in the UK, may have entered
WE are not telling porkies – a man from Bicester won a nationwide competition to find a sausage taster. Jason Ayres, a stay-at-home dad, writer and DJ, beat 250 people across the country to be picked to eat dozens of sausages for British Sausage
CRIME victims have urged police to do more after new figures revealed that almost seven out of 10 crimes in the county are not being solved. Out of the 36,369 crimes committed between April 2012 and March 2013, only 10,948 saw a charge or caution
OXFORDSHIRE ended their season on a high note with a 143-105 win over Essex in a friendly at Shiplake Village. Oxon won on four of the six rinks and drew on another. Alan Ley skipped their highest winning rink to a 32-12 success. Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire County Council needs to find an extra £60m of cuts after a further reduction in funding from the Government. County Council leader IAN HUDSPETH says it is essential for the authority to be more efficient and less bureaucratic, while listening
They say the old stories are often the best – and it’s true. So I was overjoyed to see some gorgeous little re-tellings of Greek myths from Barefoot Books. Small, pint-sized, firm paperbacks, with colourful, stylised drawings to entice a child to open
The oldest of us can still remember coal fires, and people who used cut-throat razors or wore corsets and tried to get a bath once a week. Or if we are female we may have been taught sewing at primary school; as Ruth Goodman says of our ancestors
JUSTIN Burnell wants London Welsh to build on their Oxford foundations when they open their Kassam Stadium campaign this season. The Exiles host Plymouth Albion in the Greene King IPA Championship on Saturday (2.30pm) determined to put on a show
The Citizens’ Advice Bureaux (CAB) in Oxfordshire (www.caox.org.uk) aim to provide the free, independent, confidential and impartial advice that people need for the problems they face. CAB campaign to improve the policies and practice that affect
Ellie White, 11, has become the youngest Bicester player to win the prestigious Danny Danvers Cup at the club’s recent finals day. White, who joined the club at eight years old, won two previous heats of this pairs competition to reach her first
KEVIN Godfrey provided the only success as Oxford A crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Reading B in the Inter Area semi-final first leg, writes PETE EWINS. Oxford Ladies lost 3-2 at Witney C in the C team competition. Mellissa Standbridge and Pauline
Having already profiled Hildegard of Bingen and Rosa Luxembourg, Margarethe von Trotta turns her attention to a third notable German woman in Hannah Arendt, an ardent and considered recollection of the furore that arose when the exiled Jewish philosopher
For some reason, directors find it difficult to make good pictures about their film-making idols. There are a handful of exceptions. Ably aided by Johnny Depp as Edward D. Wood, Jr., Tim Burton captured the man behind the madness in Ed Wood (1994),
A camping stove was stolen when burglars broke in to a shed in Bloxham Road, Banbury between 3pm on Thursday and 9am on Friday last week. Call 101 with information.
Volunteers in Oxford are needed to help run two performances of a community opera. Noye’s Fludde Concert will be performed on Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26 at 6pm at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in High Street.
Apprenticeship provider Liga has opened a new centre in Two Rivers industrial estate, off Station Lane in Witney. The centre will offer advice to young people regarding their future career and act as a recruitment agency for apprenticeships.
OXFORD’S farmers’ markets have joined forces to help promote the benefits of local grub. Six community-run markets have formed Oxford Community Markets to work more closely together and share ideas. It has a website and booklet to promote the markets
OXFORD’S longest-running Indian restaurant is to shut its doors after almost 60 years. The Bombay Restaurant, in Walton Street, Jericho, has been a favourite with residents and students since it opened in 1955. But owner Ali Ashraf will shut
STUDENTS have begun moving into a controversial city flats development despite it not having full planning permission. Postgraduate students have begun to arrive at Oxford University’s 312-room Castle Mill, on the edge of Port Meadow,. It has
Church-goers in Oxford are being invited to bring offerings of food or toiletries for the harvest festival. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin will give the donations to the Gatehouse project to support its work with homeless people in
Having discussed the centenary of Hertford College’s ‘Bridge of Sighs’ last week, I turn today to the milestone anniversary of an Oxford building just a few yards from this structure and with an iconic status even greater. This is the Sheldonian Theatre
My own memories at the Sheldonian, of which there are many, include the visit of the Berlin Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim, to give the orchestra’s traditional May Day concert for live relay across Europe in 2010. Works included the Elgar Cello
