Archive

A VICAR believes a £300,000 extension could put his 11th-century Witney church “in the shop window”. The Rev Simon Kirby hopes the extension to the church hall will promote St Mary’s Cogges to visitors who often struggle to find the entrance or

PRO-PALESTINE campaigners marched through Oxford this evening calling for an end to violence in the Gaza Strip. About 150 people marched from Manzil Way Gardens to Cornmarket Street, where they held a vigil. Marchers carried placards reading

OXFORD United have strengthened their attacking options by signing Junior Brown on a 12-month deal. The 25-year-old winger agreed to terminate his contract at Fleetwood Town and drove south earlier today, passing a medical this evening. Brown

THREE drivers were taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford this afternoon (Thursday) after an accident near Bicester. Two Renaults, a Clio and Laguna, collided near the Thame exit of the A41 in Blackthorn. Emergency services were called

AS AN unashamedly pro-EU Conservative, you might forgive retiring Oxfordshire MEP James Elles for feeling a little down in the dumps with euro-scepticism growing and anti-EU party UKIP on a roll after the May elections. But the 64-year-old, who

IT had always been a fam-ily joke that Antonia Abbott should write a book – but no one thought it would take 60 years. Yesterday, her first book was launched at Coles Bookshop in her home town of Bicester. The 60-year-old, who is an independent

Tim Hughes heads off-piste in the French Alps to fly, raft, mountain bike and ski – in the middle of summer As sporting events go, they don’t come more extreme than this. On a snowy glacier, high in the French Alps, hundreds of mountain bikers,

* Not only is Rectory Farm’s Country Cafe, pictured, up and running until September in Stanton St John, where you can enjoy terrific lunches and cakes, and your children play on the bouncy castle or adventure playground, but cafe owner Penny Corbett

AN OXFORD student who suffered a malignant brain tumour aged 24 has backed calls for more research funding. Exeter College PhD student Emily Jones, now 26, backed calls made by charity Brain Tumour Research. After suffering headaches, dizziness

Teen Taste with Angus Henderson Moo-Moo’s sells milkshakes in every conceivable flavour, from lemon curd to sesame snap... What did you think? I really liked it, but it was a little busy mainly because of its location and because it’s peak

Want go give your opinion? Email letters@oxfordmail.co.uk

THE largest employer in Witney is set to increase its workforce by 10 per cent as it gears up for the launch of a new product that could improve the lives of millions of diabetes sufferers. Abbott Diabetes Care is recruiting up to 60 more staff

Mention the words charter, Government and university and most entrepreneurs’ eyes glaze over. The original thinkers who dream up the best ideas are often rebellious and don’t follow the status quo. So says Stuart Miller and, as co-founder and

Katherine MacAlister finds luscious interiors and gorgeous desserts made by the hands of a kitchen god The last time I visited The Old Parsonage I ate baked peaches and rocket with mozarella in the sunny courtyard and thought I’d died and gone

Simon Bradley, new Executive Head Chef at The Macdonald Randolph, talks about taking over and his plans for the restaurant in the future. Before Simon brought his talents to Macdonald Randolph Hotel, he was the Executive Head Chef for two hotels in

My name can never be revealed. I was trained as a chef in a top secret government facility and sent out to the corporate high street restaurants. I promptly escaped from this maximum security stockade to the cheffing underground, known today as the

Ian McEwan, who lived in Oxford for many years, will be back in the city in September to discuss his new book The Children Act. An audience at April’s Oxford Literary Festival was given a preview of the plot, which centres on a boy whose dire medical

Esdaile Carter’s book Pilot and Pacifist: A World War Two History (£6.85) was born when Freda, her aunt by marriage, left a trunk full of letters, including several hundred to a bomber pilot called Jack. The author, who lives in Cuddesdon, has written

Oxford publisher David Fickling, who discovered a host of brilliant new writers like Mark Haddon and Philip Pullman, has chosen Tim Hall’s extraordinary debut novel Shadow of the Wolf, “a fantastical, daring and entirely new take on the Robin Hood

It’s all happening at Cogges Farm this weekend, finds Tim Hughes. From top bands and booze at the Beer & Cider Festival to a fun day for all the family For a man who has played everywhere from Glastonbury Festival to the Royal Albert Hall,

There’s simply no excuse not to see touring theatre company Mikron’s two new shows, says Katherine MacAlister – they’re brilliant, cheap and playing right on your doorstep Mikron Theatre Company drifts on its travelling narrowboat into Oxfordshire

Boy-girl act Slow Club return with an exciting new album Tim Hughes finds out more Sassy, stylish and seductive, boy-girl duo Slow Club are a class act whose style more than matches their substance. Marrying lush indie-pop with soaring vocals

BLACKBIRD Leys’ compu-ter hub has been renovated as part of the council’s plan to open it up to more community groups. The hub, in the Blackbird Leys Community Centre in Blackbird Leys Road, has been updated by Oxford City Council. As well

Katherine MacAlister talks to the lead actors from Creation Theatre’s new vision of Macbeth – performed at Lady Margaret Hall and set during WWI The part of Macbeth is one that Edinburgh-born Scott Ainslie has been lusting over his entire life.

Seamus Perry on why too much knowledge can impede learning William Empson, my favourite critic, once said that life was largely a matter of “maintaining oneself between contradictions that can’t be solved by analysis”. Scott Fitzgerald famously

Paula Ayres of Oxford Brookes's winning quiz team I’ve never done a skydive as I’m terrified of flying and of heights but I’d imagine that looking out of the plane before jumping is a bit like how it felt to be sitting in the University Challenge

T hese are significant days for dogs on stage, with a labradoodle called Barney making a significant contribution to Shakespeare in Love (reviewed in Weekend today) and another, lurcher Mossup, stealing every scene she’s in in the RSC’s new production

With the likes of Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and Gary Glitter currently being airbrushed from the record, it is interesting to recall how a similar process occurred with Oscar Wilde following his trial and imprisonment for gross indecency — and how

The ever-youthful Nigel Havers is appearing before audiences in a triple guise at the moment on the stage of the Harold Pinter Theatre in London. As old as me but for a few weeks, he still looks young enough (as I certainly would not!) to take on the

Reg Little looks at the great Oxford historian Michael Brock’s timely and final work Already well into his 90s, the great Oxford historian Michael Brock set himself one final major task. The diaries of Margot Asquith, the wife of H.H Asquith

TYRE firm Black n Rounds have signed up to become Oxford United's home shirt sponsor this season. The logo will be worn by the players for the first time this afternoon, when the club holds its annual squad photo. They are due to wear it in

BICESTER Rotary Club is looking for members to create a satellite club to attract new members and cast off its old fashioned image. Tim Hibbert, chairman of the town’s Rotary branch, wants to do away with the “grey men in suits meeting for lunch

REPTILES are known for being cold-blooded, but one tortoise has shown the world he has a warm heart. Colin the three-stone Africa tortoise collected £600 in one day to help rebuild a typhoon-struck school in the Philippines. With a bucket strapped

A city institution is now, thankfully, serving faultless food, even if the interior leaves a little to be desired says Katherine MacAlister I’d avoided The Macdonald Randolph like the plague since my last visit, when the food was cold and the service

Helen Peacocke looks at one of the best reference works on food, containing some 3,000 entries Now in its third edition, The Oxford Companion to Food, has been called the best food reference work ever to appear in the English language. It is a

Val Bourne picks out some favourite types of hemerocallis As a busy garden writer I do try to get things right, honestly! However the human condition prevents me from being perfect so I do get the odd, or should that be occasional, letter questioning

Erin Murton of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust finds herself star-struck at the seaside This time of year always makes me long for the sea; for the sound of the waves crashing on to sandy beaches and the cry of a wheeling gull, for the

Damon Smith enjoys a few retro twangs during this big-screen journey out of Marvel Comics From its visually stunning opening set to the funky strains of Come And Get Your Love by Native American rock band Redbone, Guardians Of The Galaxy lends

Jonathan Holloway tells Katherine MacAlister about directing a Macbeth alive with conflict Jonathan Holloway is a genius choice of director, as long as he can pull it off, because setting Macbeth during WW1 with a cast of recovering and traumatised

Christopher Gray sees a leading local star Oxford-raised actor Tom Bateman takes a giant stride towards stardom with his stunning performance in the title role of the West End’s hit of the year. A charismatic blend of swaggering confidence, intellectual

Bellini’s Druidical drama Norma is given far less often on the operatic stages of the world than the musical riches of its score would suggest that it deserves. This arises in large part from the difficulty of finding singers up to the vocal challenges

Watching Buddy at the New Theatre on Monday I was struck anew at the fact that Holly’s stellar career lasted less than two years from his first hit in 1957 to his untimely death in an air crash in 1959. Yet this award-winning show was created not

Nicola Lisle is impressed yet again by a superb performance from Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra Every time I review Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra I go along with high expectations, and am never disappointed. Sunday’s concert was another

Nicola Lisle talks to Kah-Ming Ng, director of early music ensemble Charivari Agréable, about their summer season Music by candlelight sounds more fitting for Christmas than summer, but baroque group Charivari Agréable — which translates as ‘pleasant

Even before they took to the stage, at the end of a scorching day at Riverside Festival, it was clear this was going to be no ordinary show. Among the keyboards, guitars and assorted percussion instruments stood three shop mannequins. Or rather

I have to reply to Cllr Howson’s letter (July 28) concerning free school meals for all. I think that I am the “leading Labour Councillor” that he was referring to. Every child needs, and deserves, a hot nourishing meal every day. Families who cannot

Within the last seven days your paper, journalists and photographers have done a magnificent job in their coverage of four major stories of local interest – the culmination of the harrowing Fiaz Munshi and Ben Blakeley trials, the demolition of the

As a Didcot resident for the past 22 years I too was saddened by the demolition of Didcot Power Station towers. As I was unable to see the towers demolished I took a walk today upon the Ladygrove Hill to see the altered sky line. It was not the

A FORMER part-time firefighter has avoided jail after he admitted breaking his five-month-old daughter’s arm. Bradley Hookway, of Banbury Road, Kidlington, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on July 4 this year. Prosecutor Cathy

OXFORD MAGISTRATES Alessandro Cipullo, 23, of Nuffield Road, Wood Farm, Oxford, admitted drink-driving a Toyota Aygo in Rewley Road, Oxford, on June 24. Had 54 micrograms in 100ml of breath, above the legal limit of 35 micrograms. Fined £200

YOUNGSTERS have learnt how to build their own bikes this week at an Oxford charity. Trax youth project on Woodstock Road gave teenagers secondhand frames and showed them how to put on tyres, handlebars and saddles. The students paid £150 for

IT WAS good to see two of Oxfordshire’s political leaders coming together for the launch of the £75m Oxford Station masterplan last week. Bob Price, the city council leader, and Ian Hudspeth, the county council leader have been jockeying for position

I am writing concerning your report that consultation has started into the Northern Gateway plan (‘Northern Gateway Views Sought’, July 25). I hope that many people will let the council know their feelings about this foolish plan. These are my

I am writing in response to your article ‘Drivers face 24-mile detour during works’, July 26, and wish to add some context and clarity to the story. Network Rail is currently undertaking a huge £7bn transformation of the Great Western Railway including

We have lived in South Abingdon for nearly 50 years, and until recently it was a very pleasant walk in to town via Wilsham Road. Now the riverside between Preston Road and Caldecott Road is an eyesore. Surely the Council concerned could spare a man

As a Didcot resident for the past 22 years I too was saddened by the demolition of Didcot Power Station towers. As I was unable to see the towers demolished I took a walk today upon the Ladygrove Hill to see the altered sky line. It was not the

Treetop Flyers are tuning up for their Cropredy Festival debut. Tim Hughes meets singer Reid Morrison For a man who has played some of the hippest venues on the planet, from Glastonbury to California, Reid Morrison is uncharacteristically excited

Theresa Thompson enjoys what is a ‘bold show’ for Christ Church ‘I would like people to take their time to see what has happened here on this canvas,” said curator Jacqueline Thalmann, joining me in front of one of the key works in the Sean Scully

Director of the Ashmolean Museum Christopher Brown on the spectacular collection that tells Tutankhamun’s story The year 2014 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the University of Oxford’s Griffith Institute. The Institute was established

Lady Carnarvon is used to welcoming visitors and Downton Abbey stars to Highclere but, as she tells Katherine MacAlister, a wartime charity event on Sunday is a remarkable highlight I have just one precious hour with Lady Fiona Carnarvon until

WHEN I said I wanted to go around Oxfordshire talking about developing a 21st century transport network, people said I would only get complaints about potholes. Oh, they of little faith. After seven public meetings across the county, I can report

If you are thinking of going on holiday with your child(ren) there are a few things to think about if you are divorced or separated from your child(ren)’s other parent. The first thing to consider and establish is who has parental responsibility

BEN Watson secured Didcot’s third medal at Glasgow 2014 with a fantastic weighlifting bronze last night. The 24-year-old finished third on his Commonwealth Games debut after an impressive display in the 105kg category. Watson, who is a member

OXFORDSHIRE’S ambulance staff shifts could be shortened as part of plans to ease pressure on paramedics. Most of the county’s 144 paramedics currently work 12-hour shifts. But South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) is consulting with staff and

CONGRATULATIONS to Mike Lacey for completing his book of poetry. Anybody who has been in the halls of justice will know it is not all objections and Hollywood style witness meltdowns. But he has used his day job to inspire his collection of poems

CHANGES to shift patterns will likely be welcomed by paramedics. It is easy to take for granted the great work done by these lifesavers, often toward the end of a gruelling 12-hour stint. Cutting shifts back to between eight and ten hours will

JON Meades is loving every second of pre-season as the midfielder looks to put his injury nightmare firmly in the past. The 22-year-old came off the bench in the 1-0 defeat against Wolves on Tuesday night, almost a year to the day since his last

IT was a fitting end to an admirable feat. Father Christian Ryan completed his 70-mile walk along the River Thames at The Footsteps Centre, Dorchester- on-Thames, on Tuesday. His nine-year-old son Peter has cerebral palsy and needs to undergo

A DEVELOPER previously denied permission to build 127 homes in the village where ITV period drama Downton Abbey films outdoor scenes has returned with a new planning application. Gladman Homes has submitted plans to West Oxfordshire District Council

TWO cars were involved in a collision at a Didcot petrol station, closing one lane of the A4130. The westbound carriageway outside the BP garage at the Milton Interchange was affected but has now been cleared.  Police spokeswoman Rhianne Pope

5:38pm Crash near Bicester leaves three needing hospital treatment 11:13am The Milton Interchange has been cleared after the earlier collision 

A Gaza peace march will be held this afternoon by the Oxford Islamic Information Centre. Organiser Dr Hojjat Ramzy said he expects around 250 people at the demonstration, which leaves Manzil Way Gardens, Oxford, at 4.30pm and finishes at Carfax

THE mystery smell which plagued Oxford residents on Monday and Tuesday was still lingering yesterday – but some think they may have finally sniffed out the cause. Although Oxford City Council last night admitted it was no closer to discovering

DRIVERS should be paying attention to the roads when watching their speed limit. They certainly don’t need distractions like these signs spotted yesterday at the junction of Whitehouse and Abingdon roads, Oxford. It appeared one of two speed

Oxfordshire Ladies ran out 96-91 winners over Surrey in a friendly at Chertsey. Surrey 91, Oxfordshire 96 (Surrey skips first): V Pickering 20, D Jacob 14; C Leathwood 12, J Berry 22; M Beach 21, S Gokgor 8; K Deans 10, P Ostler 15; L Pillman 9

Headington A clinched the Division 1 title in the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries, with a sparkling 5-1 win at Oxford City & County A. Skips Jason King, Mark Charlett and Nick Rae-Welsh posted rinks wins as Headington

ASTON Rowant’s hopes of a trip to the Caribbean remain alive after a fantastic knock from Nick Ferraby helped them into the CCC Cup semi-final. The batsman hit a run-a-ball 96 to set up a four-wicket victory at Weybridge. They host Reigate

The level of local opposition to the new plans to redevelop the Jericho boatyard should surely come as a surprise to no one. By our reckoning, the plans from the Strategic Iconic Assets Heritage Acquisition Fund, is the fifth attempt to develop

FORMER West Indies pair Hartley Alleyne and Collis King were among the star turns at Kidlington’s annual Chairman’s Day. David Taylor (61) top scored for the Chairman’s XI, who helped them reach 266-9 from 35 overs at Stratfield Brake. King

Today is the last day to nominate your top business mums for the NatWest Venus Awards’s Business Mother of the Year Award. This is the first year the awards have come to celebrate Oxfordshire’s businesswomen, sponsored by the Oxford Mail alongside

IN his job as a court usher Mike Lacey has seen people from all walks of life. And he has used some of his experiences to influence his poetry, which is being published in a book for the first time. The 69-year-old grandfather from Kennington

Oxfordshire has its very own awards to celebrate the great work of all the charities, voluntary and community groups that work tirelessly to make the lives of the people of Oxfordshire better. The awards are a way of saying thank you to all the

Oxfordshire BA recorded clean sweeps on all six rinks as they chalked up resounding victories in their latest two friendlies on the road. Oxon posted a full house to thrash Wiltshire 153-88 at Pewsey Vale. And the following day, they repeated

Oxford City & County’s Katherine Hawes extended her own record of Oxfordshire ladies’ singles titles to 13 with a clear-cut victory in the final on her home green. Hawes regained the crown she last won in 2012 with a 21-12 win over clubmate

Oxford Saints were left disappointed after their BAFA National Central Conference match at Peterborough Stars was postponed due to the lack of a referee crew. The fixture has been rearranged for Sunday.

Holders Oxford A were knocked out of the Inter Area Cup with a 6-4 aggregate defeat by Wallingford C, writes PETE EWINS. Trailing 4-1 from the away leg, Oxford took the return match 3-2 to no avail. DIDCOT Conservative Club bounced back from

The centennial anniversary of Britain's entry to the Great War falls on 4 August and the BFI has chosen to mark the occasion with A Night at the Cinema in 1914, a fascinating facsimile of a programme that an audience might have expected to see for

FINLAY Harris has spent much of his young life so far in hospitals and surgeries – so a trip to Cotswold Wildlife Park was just the health tonic he needed. Oxford charity Young Hearts organised the day out on Tuesday for the 15-month-old and other

The second of the summer's boxed sets of Swinging Sixties French cinema provides a showcase for the neglected talents of a Polish émigré whose later work rather scuffed his escutcheon among cineastes. Packed with extras and a generously illustrated

LEAFIELD-based Formula 1 team Caterham is counter-suing a group of former employees who banded together to take the firm to court after being laid off. The company said the compensation claim put forward by ex-staff citing alleged wrongful dismissal

FORMER Oxford Brookes Gaza scholar Hassan Al Hallaq, who was seriously injured in Gaza last week, has began walking again in hospital. Mr Al Hallaq suffered serious leg injuries when it is believed Israeli forces bombed a house where he and his

A 33-year-old Oxford man found dead in his father’s house had “banged his head”. Stephen Michael Broadway was discovered in the flat lying under a sleeping bag, at about 9am on May 25. At the opening of his inquest yesterday at Oxfordshire

 Two men have have been charged in connection with an alleged sex exploitation ring in the town. Ahmed Hassan-Sule, 20, appeared at Banbury Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with sexual assault. He was one of six men, aged between 19 and

Two men arrested after a protest in Oxford will appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday, August 11. A demonstration by a group calling itself the National Front was confronted by counter-protests by anti-fascist groups, Oxford Unite Against

THE funeral of former Chelsea youth player Jordan Tabor will take place at midday on Tuesday at Trinity Church in Abingdon. Friends have continued to pay tribute to the 23-year-old, who is believed to have died following a fall from a hotel balcony

FREDDIE Curtis missed out on a place in the javelin final at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA. The 19-year-old, from Hardwick near Bicester, was unable to produce a legal throw in qualifying. Curtis was selected for

BEAMING Matilida Hillis, from Kidlington, filled her green star-strewn wellies with flowers at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre on Tuesday. The centre held a children’s planting event where people brought along their unloved pairs of shoes and transformed

OXFORD City Stars will be keeping it in the family this season after all three Oliver brothers signed on for the new campaign. Local boys Nick, Joe and Josh all played their part in the club’s championship-winning sides for the past two years.

Prof Richard Dawkins, pictured, prompted a furious response on Twitter yesterday when he referred to “mild rape” and “mild paedophilia” to illustrate a point about logic. Shami Chakrabarti, of human rights group Liberty, who is Chancellor of Oxford

ABOUT 32,000 tonnes of rubble and dust was collected by clean-up workers following the demolition at Didcot A Power Station on Sunday. Teams from Coleman and Co, the demolition firm which brought down three of the cooling towers, began the clean-up

IT is said to have influenced the work of JRR Tolkien and inspired creatures in Lord of the Rings. But now an iconic pinus negra – or black pine – is being felled in Oxford University’s Botanic Garden after two of its limbs fell off over the weekend

DESPITE its academic reputation, Oxford has a long history of car-making and next year this could be taken to a whole new level. The city could become one of three places where driverless cars are tested on public roads. Oxfordshire County

ABINGDON AC’s Paul Fernandez made a strong debut in the Montane 50 in the Lake District. In a 50-mile run up and down mountains from the north of Ullswater Lake across to Coniston, Fernandez finished tenth overall and second in the V40 category

AN academy sponsor in the city has been judged to be “failing” to improve the prospects for disadvantaged children. A report by national educational charity The Sutton Trust identified the Diocese of Oxford as one of 23 secondary school academy

A Bangladeshi boat club is using its annual fundraising boat race to provide swimming lessons to youngsters in the Asian community. The Oxford Bangladeshi Boat Club will host its fifth boat race at Meadow Lane’s Falcon Rowing and Canoe Club on

THE man who will head up Oxfordshire’s first University Technical College (UTC) has been appointed. Owain Johns has been named as the “principal designate” of the new school for Didcot’s Great Western Park. Mr Johns hit headlines in 2010 when

ZOE Shipperley reflected on a dream come true after helping England reach the women’s hockey semi-finals. The 24-year-old, from Marsh Gibbon, near Bicester, was part of a determined defensive effort that saw England hold on to beat Scotland 2-1

(senior men unless stated) OXFORD AC OPEN MEETING Abingdon AC: Men – 100m race 1: 4 T Kimber-Bidlet U13 16.05; race 2: 1 K Francis (U13) 15.32; race 3: 4 A Pennington (U13) 14.24; race 7 A Kwkowski (U17) 12.92. 1500m race 1: 2 J Bones (V40)

A NURSERY in Bicester has been given the highest rating by Ofsted inspectors. Toad Hall Day Nursery in Buckingham Road was inspecte on June 27. The nursery, which looks after 114 children up to the age of 10, was told on Friday it was outstanding

MOST people would be pleased to complete one marathon in their lifetime, but one hairdresser in doing 12 in a year. Dad-of-two Darren Kitching is running 312 miles over 12 months and is more than half way through his epic challenge. Before

A CONCERT featuring a Queen tribute act will raise funds for a charity which highlights Aids awareness in Africa through the medium of cricket. The gig, featuring Rhapsody, will take place at the Regal Centre, off Market Place, Wallingford, at