FORMER News International chief executive editor Rebekah Brooks was formally charged with phone hacking tonight and will appear in court next month. Brooks, 44, who lives in Sarsden, near Chipping Norton, answered bail at Lewisham police station
THE winner of an Oxford Mail competition was busy spending his winnings this week. Kevin Dale, 39, from Marston won a prize draw at the Oxford Mail’s Big Test Drive Weekend, held on June 23 and 24. His name was picked by Oxford United players
IT MIGHT be home to a whole host of shops, but hundreds of years ago the Clarendon Centre was actually someone’s house. At least that’s what builders have found as they dig below it as part of the centre’s £6m revamp. The refurbishment will
A small-scale exhibition at The China Shop Gallery in East Oxford blows SARAH MAYHEW’S mind in a big way Apophenia (checks dictionary) – the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data… am I going
ANNA MATEI discovers what all the excitement is about with our latest book for the month. Using the voucher in today's Oxford Mail (Thursday, August 2 - Page 22) get the book for half-price at Waterstones Oxford and Witney THE BOOK: Fifty
TIM HUGHES talks to a teenager already being compared to the great 60s singer-songwriters JAKE Bugg is an artist who seems to be lost in time. This guitar-wielding singer-songwriter has earned comparisons to 60s heroes Dylan, Donovan and The
THE £70m redevelopment of Bicester’s town centre has reached an important milestone as the steel structure for the building has been completed. Containing nearly 2,000 tonnes of steel, the frame was completed in less than four months. It forms
Alexandra Johnston , 18, of High Street, Finstock, admitted assault by beating and assaulting a police constable in Witney on June 22. Fined £110, a £15 victims’ surcharge and £70 compensation. Timothy Manning , 52, of West Court, Long Compton
Julie Russell , 45, of Leach Road, Berinsfield, admitted drink-driving in Lime Walk, Oxford, on June 30. Had 54 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, above the legal limit of 35 micrograms. Fined £400, a £15 victims’ surcharge and £85 costs.
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS (U) Children/Comedy/Romance. Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris, Devon Bostick, Peyton List, Grayson Russell, Laine MacNeil. Director: David Bowers. Honesty is the best policy. So says
TED (15) Comedy/Romance/Action. Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Joel McHale, Jessica Barth, Bretton Manley, Ralph Garman, Alex Borstein and the voice of Seth MacFarlane. Director: Seth MacFarlane. Dating back to the early 20th century, the teddy
With chef Mark Lloyd out of the picture, KATHERINE MACALISTER regrets missing the boat at the Appleford Kitchen What do you mean he’s gone? He only just got there. In fact Mark Lloyd had asked me not to review the Appleford Kitchen and Bar until
Acoustic guitars and smouldering Mexican good looks belie an unexpected musical phenomenon as TIM HUGHES finds out from Rodrigo y Gabriela STRIDING on to the stage, acoustic guitars slung over their shoulders, Mexicans Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela
POLICE patrolling Barton have asked residents what they would like to see change on their estate. And it looks like the estate has come a long way since the drugs culture and cars speeding around late into the night were causing sleepless nights
EVER wondered how to use fizzy drinks and mints to make a fountain? Or how to create an explosion using just bicarbonate of soda and vinegar? Youngsters at Science Oxford learned first-hand how to do a range of exciting experiments at three
THE northbound carriageway of the A34 near Bletchingdon is currently blocked due to an earlier accident. Three cars collided near the B4027 Islip junction shortly before 4.30pm. The carriageway is blocked while one of the vehicles, a
Midsomer, the fictional place where TV detective Insp Barnaby solved countless murders, has taken on a life of its own. It was even mentioned in reviews of the Olympics opening ceremony: “According to Danny Boyle, England was basically Midsomer Murders
A Particular Eye For Villainy by Ann Granger Murder arrives on the doorstep of Insp Ben Ross when the bludgeoned body of Thomas Tapley is found a few houses away in the Waterloo district of Victorian London. Ross is quickly on the scene but even
AEA Technology 0.025 BMW 4536 Electrocomponents 213.3 Nationwide Accident Repair 60.5 Oxford Biomedica 2.2 Oxford Catalysts 70.5 Oxford Instruments 1254.5 Reed Elsevier 548.25 RM 77.5 RPS Group 236.75 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
STAFF have paid tribute to a former colleague who dedicated her life to helping abandoned pets. Maggie Whalley, the warden of Oxfordshire Animal Sanctuary, passed away last month. She died aged 57 on July 23 at Sobell House Hospice in Headington
THE funeral of a Second World War veteran who survived evacuation from Dunkirk and the battle of Arnhem is due to take place next week. Bill Gibbard, 93, of Woodstock, who died last week after an illness, was one of 10,000 British and Polish troops
TIM HUGHES looks at what’s in store at the next music night at Modern Art Oxford FORGET sweaty clubs and pub backrooms where you stick to the floor if you linger too long... smarter gig-goers in Oxford are choosing to get their fix of live music
Banbury's Prodrive Mini World Rally Championship team will not be competing in the Rally GB this year. Driver Dani Sordo has completed a successful two-day test in the Mosel Valley this week ahead of Rally Germany and the team are increasingly
A SILVER medal for Richard and Peter Chambers in the men's lightweight four was the highlight for Oxfordshire rowers at Eton Dorney today. The brothers, past and present Oxford Brookes University students respectively, plus crewmates Chris Bartley
A SCHOOL which went into special measures just a few weeks ago has sent pupils home with a glowing end-of-term report. St Nicholas Primary School, in East Challow, was told it needed special measures because attainment was low and quality of teaching
FRESH from winning her national schoolgirl champion title, young boxer Niamh McGuckin is dreaming of Olympic glory. Niamh, 13, from Berinsfield, is one of about 40 youngsters who enjoy subsidised boxing coaching four nights a week at Berinsfield
OXFORD colleges, museums and businesses will all be throwing open their doors for a special event next month. There will be more than 185 venues and activities taking part in Oxford Open Doors 2012, which is organised by Oxford Preservation Trust
THE head of the new Oxfordshire office of a house builder says the firm has a bright future, despite the recession. Peter Carpinelli, managing director of the Linden Homes office at Milton Park, near Didcot, is set to appoint 10 new members of
A YOUNG entrepreneur has been given a kick-start to her fledgling business after winning a special competition. Zoe Smith will receive free support and advice from six experienced professionals at networking group The Oxfordshire Project as she
MORE than 60 people have objected to plans for 75 homes in Bloxham, saying it would damage the village’s character and put too much pressure on roads. Gladman Developments has applied to build the homes at land south of St Christophers Lodge off
A CENTURY on from the creation of what would become Morris Motors Limited, experimental engineering technician Fred Ellis has been looking back at the extraordinary lengths he and his colleagues went to to ensure Morris cars made the grade. WRM
MASTERCHEF finalist Andrew Kojima will give demonstrations at a food fair in Banbury next month. The 33-year-old got into the last three in last year’s show and will attend Banbury Food Fair on Sunday, August 19. The chef, food writer and cookery
SALES of the Cowley-built Mini rose by seven per cent in the first half of the year, figures from parent company BMW have revealed. A total of 151,875 cars were sold globally, with the Countryman model putting in a strong performance with 49,588
ROBBERS pushed over a cyclist in Oxford and kicked him before stealing his bike and £19. The 40-year-old victim was attacked by three men in woods behind Meadow Lane on Friday at about 5.20pm. One of them was on a bike and had a knife in his
RADIO Joint Audience Research (RAJAR) figures show the number of people listening to local radio in Oxfordshire has fallen over the past quarter. In the quarter ending Sunday, June 24, a weekly average of 68,000 people tuned into BBC Radio Oxford
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The Oxfordshire coach behind Britain’s first gold medal of London 2012 played down his own role in their success. Robin Williams, who lives in Henley, coached Helen Glover and Heather Stanning to gold in the women’s pairs rowing at Eton Dorney
Australian ace Craig Mottram warmed up for his fourth Olympic Games by winning the elite race at the Iffley Road Festival of Miles. The 2005 world championship 5,000m bronze medallist took the honours in 4mins 1.28secs on his way to London 2012
Darrell Bellinger won his first Mota-Vation Series race in round three at Combe and established himself as the new men’s title favourite. With 2011 champion Steve Naylor, from Woodstock, set to miss the final two races of the campaign, the holder
Headington A missed out on the chance to secure the Division 1 title with a shock 5-1 defeat at Shiplake in the Oxford & District Bowls League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries. Craig Nicoll was the only Headington skip to win as Barrie Evans
FORMER British sprinter and Olympic hero Peter Radford was delighted to be offered tickets for Sunday’s 100 metres men’s final by the British Olympic Association. But his joy quickly faded when he learnt the honour came at a price – he would be
THERE was another piece of history made at Eton Dorney on Wednesday when Britain's men’s quad, featuring three Leander Club members, reached their final. Steve Rowbotham, Tom Solesbury and Matt Wells, alongside Charles Cousins, finished a highly
David Kuester, of Bicester AC and Oxford City AC Veterans, won two gold medals in the 65+ age group at the Midlands (British) Masters Throwers Group Heavy Hammer Pentathlon and One Handed Hammer Championships at the Moorways Stadium in Derby.
Carterton's Sammy Timms defends the Oxfordshire Bowling Associations’s Longford Cup for over 60s at Peppard BC on Sunday. The semi-finals are at 10.30am followed by the final at 1.30pm. SEMI-FINAL LINE-UPS Allison Cup: B Joiner (Banbury
Oxford Saints completed their regular BAFA Community League season with a convincing 17-6 win at rivals Bournemouth Bobcats. The win puts Oxford second in the overall seeding for the play-offs. Having beaten Bobcats on the last two occasions
STARS of stage and theatre are backing the Bodleian Library’s public appeal to digitise the first volume of Shakespeare’s plays. Actor Vanessa Redgrave, Stephen Fry and director Sir Peter Hall are among those championing the library’s Sprint for
DOZENS more homeowners will get up-to-the-minute flood warnings after a system was extended in South Oxfordshire. The Environment Agency has extended its automatic warning system to 90 more properties in Chalgrove and Stadhampton. About 6,500
CURIOUS Sophie and James Martin learned about the treasures of famed Oxford museums as part of summer holiday activities. The Pitt Rivers Museum and Oxford University Museum of Natural History in Parks Road are helping children explore their exhibits
RECENTLY we warned Oxford City Council that it was facing a stern fight, when university colleges issued a highly critical statement about its housing policies. Now it is facing a full scale assault on its policy to try to raise money off the
AN “unauthorised” housing tax imposed by Oxford City Council last year is unlawful, it has been claimed. The tax that could force Oxford’s two universities to hand over millions of pounds towards social housing in the city is legally flawed, lawyers
OVER the past 17 years Riverside Festival has evolved into one of the best-loved dates in the county’s calendar. More than 35 bands and artists played this year’s two-day spectacular, now on three stages, which took place at the weekend. Headliners
T’S a Sunday evening, the sun is going down and inside an enormous blue marquee thousands of music-lovers are being treated to one of the most striking, stirring, and surreal spectacles of the summer. The stage is stacked with a four-storey grid
Do you want a clue how to spend an entertaining night this weekend? It’s elementary. Cherwell Theatre Company’s Holmes and Watson; The Farewell Tour is on its way to Edinburgh. But first, the show is coming home to Banbury’s Mill where the
Twenty minutes after Britain’s first gold of the Games, there was bitter disappointment for Oxfordshire’s Fran Houghton and Debbie Flood in the quadruple sculls final. Having heard the roars as Helen Glover and Heather Stanning stormed to victory
Masons Arms crushed leaders Didcot Conservative Club with a 5-1 home win in Group A of the Johnson Buildbase Oxford Summer League, writes PETE EWINS. Alan Lowe beat Dave Tooke to give Masons the lead only for Stuart Florey to level with a 4,900
MEDIA boss Rupert Murdoch’s daughter and her PR tycoon husband claim their Oxfordshire home has become a target for thieves and intruders. Elisabeth Murdoch and her husband Matthew Freud want to construct a lodge housing a full-time guard at the
Oxford United paid tribute to their hosts Seacoast United at the end of a second successful pre-season tour. The US club and their founder Paul Willis went to great lengths to ensure the U’s squad were well looked after during their ten-day stay
Chris Wilder saw signs during Oxford United ’s pre-season tour to the United States that the squad are capable of improving this season. The U’s flew back from the ten-day trip to New Hampshire yesterday with two wins and a draw from their three
OXFORD city councillor Sajjad Malik is hoping to sell hot food in the city centre. He was one of three applicants for a vacant lot in St Giles. But he didn’t want his plan for the city to be printed in this paper. The Labour councillor for
WHY, why, why does the Oxford Mail keep bringing it up that Adam Chamman was in a Young Offenders’ Institution? Adam did a crime and he has done the time. Let him get on with his life please. ANN BOOKER Blay Close Oxford
l News that the Co-operative Bank is to take over Witney’ s Cheltenham & Gloucester branch next year is very much welcome. Not only because it hopefully secures the jobs of the C&G staff, but it also gives Witney residents a real choice
Andrew Tyler has revealed his lack of knowledge of moorland management for grouse shooting. Heather moorland is rarer than rainforest and threatened globally. And it is thanks to its management for grouse shooting that 75 per cent of what is
IN HIS letter condemning the world class conservation of heather moorland for red grouse, Animal Aid’s Andrew Tyler reveals a woeful but more likely wilful ignorance of the subject (Oxford Mail, July 30). Vast areas of our agriculturally-poor
SO Gillard Homes and Risk Capital say the Oxford Stadium is underused. They are right in what they say because they have made it underused and run down since they bought the stadium. There have been a few speedway promoters and they are still
Banbury Central’s Mo Cox reached the last 16 in the Women’s National Two Wood Singles Championship at Leamington before going out 17-12 to Felixstowe & Suffolk’s Katherine Rednall. Cox had beaten Taunton Deane’s Kirsty Hembrow 15-11 in the
Oxfordshire’s quest to reach the Middleton Cup national finals ended in agonising fashion with a 120-118 defeat by holders Devon in the last eight at Barnwood BC, Gloucester. Oxon trailed by 17 shots at 15 ends, but staged a late rally, picking
A MAN accused of threatening his ex-partner with a sawn-off shotgun has declined to give evidence at his trial. James Bisson denies possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. The 23-year-old
Charlie Green recorded a superb 45 points to take the boys 14 and over category prize at the second BB&O Golf Partnership Junior Academy competition of the season at Hadden Hill. Tadmarton Heath’s Green, who is also a member of the Hadden Hill
Roger Tucker had a moan about John Tanner and Europe (Oxford Mail, July 2). His last sentence was: ‘If Mr Tanner thinks Europe is so good let him go and live there’. My question is, where does he think the UK is? Certainly in my atlas it
The headteacher at Marston Primary School states “New Marston has two halls” (Oxford Mail, July 31). This is not a truthful or accurate statement. The school skyline shows that there were two halls. There is now only one assembly hall, as the
Studley Wood professional Dusan Gavrilovic was rueing the poor weather after failing by a whisker to qualify for the British Seniors Open at Turnberry. The 51-year-old missed out playing in the tournament with such world stars such as eventual
Oxford skipper Ian Crosby paid tribute to left-arm spinner Francois Vainker, who will miss the rest of the Home Counties League Division 1 campaign after taking up a coaching post in Argentina. “I can’t pretend that we won’t miss him,” said Crosby
Church Road will be closed to through traffic for resurfacing work for four weeks from Monday. As a result, BrookesBus U1 services will be diverted via London Road, Wheatley, using temporary stops near Park Hill roundabout and the Kings Arms pub
A donation from the Mini plant is helping keep the former home of Oxford car magnate Lord Nuffield open to the public. The plant has given a donation, understood to amount to thousands of pounds, to the National Trust to help it look after Nuffield
Contact numbers for district nurses and health visitors in North Oxford and Jericho have changed following the Jericho Health Centre’s move to a new home last month. For district nurses call 01865 458421 and for health visitors 01865 458430.
Age UK plans to launch a ‘Homeshare’ project in the city after receiving an £10,000 grant from Oxford City Council . Participants in the scheme work a certain amount of hours a week for their elderly landlords in exchange for low rent payments.
BEING told you have cancer can be a terrifying ordeal. But Dale Harris is drawing strength from his own little soldier, his daughter Mya. The nine-year-old has spina bifida, and has had countless operations at the Oxford Children’s Hospital
POLICE are investigating a report that a woman was seriously sexually assaulted in a secluded Oxford lane. The footpath part of Barracks Lane, pictured, which runs from Marsh Park to Oxford Spires Academy, was yesterday sealed off by police while
THE Ashmolean Museum is to seek another six days to raise £7.83m to save Manet ’s Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus for the nation. The museum’s campaign was due to close yesterday, with the export ban stopping the Impressionist masterpiece going
RAF Brize Norton has made changes to its air traffic control policy after a near-miss between a civilian plane and a helicopter. An A300 Airbus and a Chinook helicopter came within just 496ft of each other after the plane took off from the Carterton
THE rise of the Internet has been partly blamed for the closure of a music shop which has been in Banbury town centre for 13 years. Stargoat Sound & Lighting is to shut on September 15 and move to an out-of-town business park from October 1
A MAN was last night fighting for his life after an attack which sparked a major chemical alert. The 50-year-old was found inside a home in Park Close, Didcot, with a serious head injury yesterday. A resident at the rented semi-detached house
Oxford University student Stan Louloudis said Great Britain’s men’s eight were left gutted by only winning a bronze medal at Eton Dorney on Wednesday. The 20-year-old, who stroked the British boat, looked crestfallen as he stepped off the water
Sir – Thanks for correcting facts about Seb Coe (Letters, July 26) — more impressive than I had thought! Harry St John , North Leigh
Sir – I’m sure that many readers already know that over-60s bus passes will get them free travel to Cambridge by coach. It is probably less well-known that the Oxford Tube can be used free for travel between Oxford and Lewknor, very useful for
Sir – I have lived in Oxford long enough to have seen the ice rink, the Ferry Pool and Barton Pools built and Hinksey Pools reopened, despite initial council wails about unaffordable loss-making etc — because the public campaigned for them. But
Sir – Both universities in Oxford are near to meeting their targets of no more than 3,000 of their students living in family houses but your headline story (July 26) does not mention the key point — that the number of vacated family houses that are
Sir – The cover story last week (Student policy labelled sham), the report on page 30 about a couple being evicted due to new rules on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), and Sarah Wild’s point (Letters) about Brookes selling student residential
Sir – I would like to comment on the cycle path study which is the subject of comment in your columns last week and to praise the imaginative and praiseworthy objective of the scheme to form a cycle path between Botley (Dean Court) through Farmoor
A BANBURY care home has been criticised over how it administers and manages drugs by the care watchdog. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has given Brooklands 2 in Old Parr Road 14 days to make changes. It is the second time the home has been told
Should Didcot’s six colossal cooling towers eventually be demolished, many conservationists will rejoice as Oxfordshire regains the picturesque skyline it lost more than 40 years ago. But there are some who have come to love the power station’s
If Oxford City Council ’s legal department were not expecting trouble they should have been. The city council this week stands accused of introducing an illegal local tax, which risks not only souring relations with both universities for years
To the Italians Mensun Bound has always been a hero. His underwater exploits, hunting for wrecks in the Mediterranean, culminated in the excavation of a 2,500-year-old Etruscan vessel off the island of Giglio in the bubbling cone of a live underwater
The number of hate crimes against people with learning disabilities reported to the police has reached a record high. Despite this rise, the number of people convicted for the crime actually fell last year. Oxfordshire charity My Life My Choice
Sir – I am compelled to leap (well, perhaps stroll) to the defence of the ‘Bearded One’, whose observations about Sebastian Coe clearly incensed Harry St John as much as does Witney’s traffic (Letters, July 26). While Coe’s sporting achievements
Sir – I read your article concerning the proposed ‘hamburger’ roundabout on the southern bypass at Kennington with great interest. I was particularly interested in Rodney Rose’s comments that: ‘Many of the drivers who use these roundabouts tell
Sir – This morning I leant out of the window to hear the sound of bells ringing in the Olympic Games and heard only the roar of traffic from Thames Street. The last two weekends we have been woken to the sound of youths in unsilenced cars using
Sir – When it comes to its approach to transport in the Sites and Housing Development Plan, Mr Crofton-Briggs, the council’s head of city development, wants support for the council proposal for a 40mph speed limit on the ring road because of the
Sir – With regard to the article by Andrew Ffrench in last week’s paper, I am glad to say that the Wolvercote Local History Society will be remembering the centenary of the Port Meadow air crash at noon on Monday, September 10. With the agreement
Sir – “Children should be educated together, regardless of religion or belief” was the concluding theme of talk given in Oxford on July 20 by Richy Thompson, faith schools campaigns officer at the British Humanist Association. Not surprisingly
Sir – It seems Oxford City Council are still determined to close Cowley Leisure Centre in favour of a new pool at Blackbird Leys. They boast that the new pool will have a movable bottom at one end, just like the Oxford University pool. Apparently
Sir – I write in response to Ian Smith’s letter (July 19). They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so as a member of the Save Temple Cowley Pools Campaign I must say we are indeed flattered that Mr Smith has taken to writing
Sir – We’ve had a “boarded up” Grantham House (Oxford’s answer to the so-called housing crisis) for several years now, as well as a variety of pubs and others. I see now that the former Jericho Health Centre is sporting a shiny set of window and
Much has been written since Faust won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival about director Aleksandr Sokurov's association with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Having struggled for seven years to find funding for his reworking of Goethe's
Another week brings another documentary linked to the Olympics. But Julien Temple's London: The Modern Babylon is easily the pick of the crop, as it fuses hundreds of images from a century of capital history to show how ordinary people shaped the
RESIDENTS living in a busy Bicester road fully support plans to change it into a cul-de-sac. People living in North Street have signed a petition backing proposals by Oxfordshire County Council to make major changes to town centre roads.
THIRTEEN-year-old Oli Hellmuth got up close and personal with a dinosaur at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History this week. The museum has been holding activity days giving people of all ages the chance to drop in and explore the museum
T RAFFIC lights could be introduced on a busy Cowley junction as part of plans to make the area safer for cyclists. Oxford City Council is looking to improve links between Cowley and the Leys, one of dozens of projects it is considering as part
A BOTLEY mural could be painted over if graffiti cannot be removed, road chiefs warned. And the mural, under the A34 at Montagu Road, might not be dealt with until the end of the year, the Highways Agency said. Although the clean-up is not
