Category: entertainment and leisure news

THE Easter Bunny has been to visit Thame and hidden 16 eggs in shop windows around the Town Centre. Can you find them all and enter the town council’s competition to win some egg-stra special prizes?

The Easter Egg Hunt will run during shop opening times between Monday 10 and Thursday 20 April. To be in with a chance of winning some egg-cellent prizes, return your completed forms to the Information Centre at the town hall by 5pm on Thursday, April 20.

There will also be an additional ‘Golden Egg’ event at Thame’s Charter Market in the Upper High Street car park on Tuesday 11 & 18 April where a further six eggs have been hidden. Find them all and pick up your prize from the Community Stall on these days.

The prizes have been generously donated by Wally’s Toy Shop, The Book House, Thame Leisure Centre and Whizz Kids.

For more information and an entry sheet (with clues), pop into the Information Centre in the Town Hall, or go to www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/easteregghunt. Keep an eye on the Town Council’s twitter (@ThameTC) for egg-sclusive clues!

STUDENTS and local families hopped out of bed on Saturday, April 1, to support Lord Williams’s School in Thame’s ‘Hot Cross Bunny Run’, an event organised by the Parents’ Association (LWA).

There were 86 runners tackling the 5k course which included leaping over straw bales, hopping over car tyres and under ‘rabbit’ nets! Sponsorship money is still coming in and the school is hopeful that the amount raised will be over £2,000. All monies raised from the event will be put towards the purchase of iPads and a charging trolley to be used by students across the school.

Business support for the event came from Abbey Business who offered an iPad to the student raising the most sponsorship and TnS Catering who provided water for the runners and sponsored advertising costs. Locally based Lucy Electrical sponsored running numbers.

Commenting on their support of the event Mike Jones of Lucy Electrical, said: “I’m an Old Tamensian myself so I’m always keen to support the school.”

David Wybron, Headteacher said: “This was a fun event and enjoyed by everyone present. I would like to thank all those who helped to organise the event and well done to the participants. It was a tough course but well worth the effort to raise funds for the school.”

ARRIVAL  – USA, 2016, 116 minutes, 12A certificate – Directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, Mark O’Brien

STRANGE, daring, complex and compelling, Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic is a cinematic treat about very close encounters. The world wakes one day to the presence of vast, dark, eliptical craft suspended just above the earth’s surface at multiple locations around the globe. Panic ensues. It is not clear what ‘they’ want, or whether they come in peace.

Global military and intelligence services step in. Amy Adams is Louise Banks, a work obsessed linguistics professor of international repute who is also dealing with a terrible loss. She is reluctantly drafted by gruff military officials who descend in their choppers in the middle of the night, and take her to help translate the strange sounds and symbols that constitute the vistors’ language. Her task demands that she brave close contact with these beings and their unknowable powers; initially she is terrified, but gradually she becomes emboldened, even exhilarated, although the task means painful confrontation of thoughts she is attempting to suppress.

Her negotiations and calculations take time, and international military generals with fingers on buttons are getting paranoid, convinced of malign intent, suspicious of their allies. As the crisis escalates, Louise must counsel in favour of trust and international collaboration. But it is not all about the close encounter; the film is also a meditation on language, time and loss, one that manages to be intellectually challenGing as well as romantic, thrilling as well as haunting. And Adams is a knockout – steely, quietly commanding and heroic. View the trailer here.

Arrival – Thame Cinema 4 All, Thame Players Theatre, Nelson Street – Friday April 7 – Doors open 7.30pm – Licenced bar

THE next edition of Thame’s First Thursday Music Club is at The Stables this coming Thursday,  April 6, with the hugely talented Old Country Union appearing as the featured act at 10pm.

Old Country Union had a fantastic 2016 and featured strongly on the festival scene, including an appearance at the Towersey Festival.  Based in Tring, they produce a sweet, hummin’, strummin’, good time sound with a set made up of their own compositions from their CD Home Brew – together with a selection of classic acoustic rock covers. The band comprises Simon Blanchford, Tim Sweet, John Greville lead by their charismatic front man, Frank Walsh. Together, they produce a very tight sound made up of sweet guitars and vocal harmonies that are an absolute joy to hear.

In addition to OCU, Out of the Village ( featuring Ellie Ruddock) will be making one of her final appearances of 2017 together with Simon Stafford, Caitlin and 2am

The First Thursday Music Club still offers the opportunity for artists to play live in front of a warm and appreciative audience, the club maintains the Open Mic section of the evening where slots will always be available in the first hour on a “first come, first served” basis with player sign-up by 7.30.  The club has a full house PA system with keyboard, bass amp, guitar amp and jazz drum kit (bring breakables!) all set up on stage and ready to go.  Another eclectic evening is guaranteed and entrance, as always, is FREE to all!

AFTER a recent tragedy in Thame, when a little boy died, a Thame hairdresser has decided to jump from an aeroplane to raise money for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Melanie Blanks, who runs Maze hair salon in North Street, Thame, said: “After a recent tragedy in my home town I discovered that The Thames Valley Air Ambulance get no government support and depends solely on public funding. Hopefully none of us will ever need them but if we should then you can rest assure they will be there. That’s why I’ve decided to raise money for them.”

Find out more about Mel’s Skydive and make a donation, visit Mel’s Justgiving page HERE

THIS spring, The Chilterns Walking Festival invites experienced and novice walkers alike to explore the landscapes, locations and lifestyles of The Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The inaugural festival runs from May 15 – 29, with an exciting programme of over 80 walks, talks and special events.

Spring festival highlights include:

• An Ancient Feast walk, including a recreated Iron-Age menu.
• Guided walking tours of Henley’s Midsomer Murders locations, bringing to life various plot lines and ‘stand in their shoes’ activities;
• Woodland walks around Chalfont exploring outdoor bushcraft, foraging and bread-making;
• Have-a-go Nordic Walking events
• Gruffalo spotters trail where the characters come to life in Wendover Woods,
• Guided electric bike tour with a picnic lunch from Henley on Thames, taking in Chiltern Valley Winery & Brewery, Hambleden Valley, Turville and Warburg Nature Reserve,
• Expert led wild medicine walk around The Sunnyside Trust’s Hemel Food Garden, discovering what plants can be used for medicinal purposes,
• Take the train for a walk, starting from Princes Risborough station journey together to Haddenham, and walk back to Princes Risborough

Annette Venters, People and Society Officer at Chilterns Conservation Board, said: “We are tremendously excited about the Chilterns Walking Festival. Spring’s programme sees enthusiastic local guides and walk leaders sharing their love and understanding of the Chilterns countryside.”

Details of every walk, event and activity, including length and scale of the challenge involved, is available on the website. For more information and to book places go to www.visitchilterns.co.uk/walkingfest.

THAME Cinema 4 All will be showing the film, A United Kingdom, twice this week as it is predicted to be extremely popular. The first screening will be on Thursday, March 30, at 10.30 am, and the second the following evening, Friday, March 31, at 8pm

THIS British-made film is a 12A certificate, is Directed by Amma Asante and stars David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Jack Davenport, Tom Felton, Laura Carmichael.

Asante’s wonderful movie tells the story of a true life post-war interracial love affair that would have a significant impact on British politics, the colonial administration, and the nation that would become Botswana.

It begins in 1947. David Oyelowo plays Seretse Khama, a young man from Bechuanaland, then a British protectorate, studying law in London. He meets Pike’s Ruth Williams, a woman of humble middle class South London stock, working as a typist. Their first date goes exceptionally well. Realising that he wants to see this woman again, Seretse has to come clean: he is actually a prince in his homeland, and must return imminently to take the throne of Bechuanaland. The two are soon very deeply in love, and in spite of the multiple obstacles to their being together, they marry and he makes his triumphant return with Ruth as his bride. The reaction of Seretse’s people is, to say the least, suspicious, even hostile. But still more chilling is the response of Her Majesty’s government. Neighbouring South Africa, which was in the process of legislating apartheid, is appalled at the prospect of an African king with a white wife, and is threatening to withdraw from the Commonwealth – cutting off British access to its mineral resources.

The machinery of the Commonwealth, desperate to appease, does everything in its considerable power to come between the couple. They force Seretse to return to England alone and plead his case in exile, with considerable public support but up against the duplicity and imcompetence of the government. Meanwhile Ruth is effectively hostage in Bechuanaland, giving birth to their child, and gradually establishing a rapport with her new neighbours. This is a powerful and uplifting love story, a slice of colonial history, and a damning indictment of colonial politics and its functionaries, quite breathtaking in their smug arrogance (including a particularly juicy performance from Davenport as Alistair Canning). It will have you cheering as the credits roll, a real gem. View the trailer here.

CONTRIBUTED BY Catriona Gilmour Hamilton

TOWNSEND PRODUCTIONS present Dare Devil Rides To Jarama, on Sunday, March 26, written by Neil Gore, who described his play as:” ..an exciting and evocative piece about the incredible contribution made by the volunteers that made up the International Brigades to fight the forces of fascism and to uphold the power of democracy.”

A speedway star forges a friendship with a literary critic, poet and aeronautical expert in a country miles from home. This unlikely friendship is celebrated in DARE DEVIL RIDES TO JARAMA, a moving account of why so many ordinary people made the extraordinary choice to leave family and livelihoods and fight in the brutal Spanish Civil War so far from home.

It’s 80 years since the Spaniards rose up to resist General Franco’s military rebellion. This compelling and humorous play, contrasts the lives of International Brigaders Clem Beckett and Christopher Caudwell who were killed together at Jarama in February 1937, having become friends as members of the British Battalion’s machine-gun company.

The play, a critical success on its first tour, captures the humour, raw passion and emotion produced by the idealism of these men through immersive storytelling, stirring song, poetry, and movement. A cast of two play multiple roles in a grand theatrical style with music of the period arranged by acclaimed folk musician John Kirkpatrick.

Neil Gore, the playwright also said: “The play is also an important examination of the fascinating and brilliant life of Clem Beckett who achieved so much in such a short time as a top speedway rider and a rider in the Wall of Death around Europe. His life touched on so many of the major happenings in the 1930s from involvement in campaigns such as better conditions in his sport, the Mass Trespass in Derbyshire to participation in anti-fascist demonstrations in Manchester, as well as visits to the Soviet Union with a contingent of sportsmen and women and ultimately to his involvement in the Spanish Civil War.”

Dare Devil Rides To Jarma is Directed by Louise Townsend, and is at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, starting at 7.45pm on Sunday, March 26. Tickets are £10 (concessions £9) available from Spear Travels, 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk

COMMUNITY choir, Towersey Village Voices, presented a day of workshop singing with Paul Sartin, half of Belshazzar’s Feast, followed by an evening concert when Paul was joined by Paul Hutchinson for Belshazzar’s first ever appearance in the intimate setting of Towersey Memorial Hall.

Members of Village Voices and other singers from the wider area were taught three songs, and in the evening a packed audience was treated to a mixture of humour and brilliant music-making by the Pauls, leaving everyone clamouring for more.

A raffle was held in aid of Village Voices’ chosen charity for the year, Rosie’s Rainbow Fund, which provides music therapy for sick children in local hospitals, and in various community settings for children with special needs, as well as offering support to parents.

AN impressive £600 was raised at the Mayor’s ‘Bubbles, Boards and Creams’ evening held in The Stables at The James Figg last Thursday (9 March).

The charity event was in support of the Mayor of Thame, Linda Emery’s charities, The Red Kite Children’s Centre and Thame Youth Café.

Frazer Sutherland, from Peach Pubs, hosted the event. He said: “It was great being able to work with Linda on this event, and we are delighted to have helped to raise money for The Red Kite Children’s Centre and Thame Youth Café. Plenty of bubbles were consumed and a fantastic evening was had by all!”

The event was sponsored by Liberty Wines, Boutinot Wines and Jude’s Ice Cream.