THE popular cake-baking supplies shop in Thame, A Piece of Cake, will be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in May, and is inviting everyone to bake a cake and enter its baking competition.

Joint owners of A Piece of Cake, Norma Laver and Jenny Walker, explained: “The competition is open to anyone of any age; professional and hobby baker alike. There will be three children’s sections, by age, so please get your kids to have a go! There are no rules. Choose what you would like to do.

“There will be no schedules to abide by. We just need entrants to let us know the amount of space they will need.”

Entry forms are available at the A Piece of Cake shop in Upper High Street, Thame, or by email via: sales@sugaricing.com. Otherwise an entry form and full details can be downloaded from A Piece of Cake’s website www.sugaricing.com

A real treat lies in store this summer at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s stunning Oxfordshire country house hotel at Great Milton. On Wednesday, July 1,  the legendary two Michelin star restaurant is laying on a special lunch and summer garden tour for visitors to this year’s Thame Food Festival, offering a truly unforgettable day out.

What’s more, as avid supporters of the festival, Raymond Blanc and his team from Le Manoir are arranging this fabulous day at an exclusive price, making it an unmissable opportunity to spoil a foodie friend or loved one or simply yourself!

Snap up your place today and you’ll enjoy a superb behind the scenes visit to one of the country’s most luxurious hotels. You’ll arrive at Le Manoir at 10.30am where delicious home-made biscuits and coffee will await you, before heading off in small groups for the garden tour. With the expert gardeners by your side, you’ll walk through the inspiring two acre plot, taking in all its impressive features.

Admire the tranquil Japanese tea garden created by landscape designer Robert Ketchell; the beautiful English water garden which is fed by natural springs and was founded by the monks who lived in the property in the 16th century; and finally La Vallée de Champignons, the unique mushroom valley. Inspect the immaculate vegetable and herb gardens which supply the chefs with over 90 different varieties of freshly grown organic vegetables and 70 types of herbs, and the colourful flower and herbaceous beds in the main garden, in all their summer glory.

Soon it will be time for lunch in the elegant setting of La Belle Époque private dining room. Here you’ll enjoy a superb four course lunch created especially for you by the skilled chefs in Raymond Blanc’s kitchen, using some of the amazing seasonal produce you’ll have seen growing in the garden. Each course will be matched with selected wines and afterwards coffee will be served while you sit back and relax in the glamorous surroundings of this intimate room. Take your time to soak up the atmosphere before you leave having had a wonderful experience.
Click on the link below to be one of the lucky few to experience this event:

LILIAN Bellamy-Pusscat-(purr) in THE ARCHERS, aka Sunny Ormonde, will be performing her one-woman show at the Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame.

During an Evening with Sunny Ormonde,  star of Radio 4’s The Archers, Sonny will perform extracts from Under Milk Wood to Shirley Valentine and from Shakespeare to Pam Ayres – all interspersed with banter, anecdotes and a lot of laughter! And with a Q & A session in the second half, the show is a’ must’ for Archers devotees.

The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame at 7.45pm on Sunday, February 8.
Tickets £12 from Tickets Anywhere, Greyhound Walk, Thame,  or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk

FROM a tentative start, when Johnny Littler decided to try and run a regular musical Open Mic night in Thame, The First Thursday Music Club has grown to be the biggest Open Mic night in the district – bigger than any similar event in Oxford, Reading, High Wycombe or Aylesbury!

Over the last five years, over 750 acts have played a total of 3000 tunes during the monthly events. Acts have ranged from performers playing in public for their first time, through to professional American artists that have included FTMC on their European tour schedule.

This month, FTMC is proudly celebrating its 60th consecutive monthly event at its fifth birthday night, on Thursday, February 5, at its regular venue, The James Figg in Cornmarket, Thame. Another big crowd is expected and a number of Artists that have performed over the years are coming back to play a few tunes, including August List, Nikki Loy and the Memphis Rattlesnakes to name but three.

All of the artists (around 15 different acts each night) together with a crowd of around 150 contribute to a fantastic evening of live music- and it’s all FREE!

Anyone can play by signing up at the venue before 7.45pm. Check out the club on Facebook The First Thursday Music Club

THAME’S Winter Quiz Night ended after a dramatic tie-break on Friday (16/01/15), when Sue Boyle, the quizmaster, challenged the general knowledge of 15 teams who entered in support of Thame Youth Memorial and Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association.

The event took place at Thame’s Barley Hill School Hall and the questions covered themes including Sports, Celebrities, Beat the Winter Blues, Winnie the Pooh, In the News and Musical Decades.

Two teams, the Saturday Strollers and Russ’s Team, gained the top two places with the same number of points after 10 rounds of questions. To establish the winner, the teams went into a tie-break of three questions and the eventual winner was Russ’s Team.

 The event generated just over £550 in profit which will be split between Thame Youth Memorial and Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association.

Marius Ciortan, Thame-Sinaia Association’s Secretary said: “We would like to thank Sue Boyle and her team for challenging us with excellent topics and would leverybody who participated and helped with our fundraiser. We were delighted to be able to join our efforts with those of Thame Youth Memorial in organising our joint quiz night. This quiz will help us to meet some of the transport costs of local groups visiting Sinaia during the Sinaia Forever Festival at the end of September. We are looking forward to hearing from members of our vibrant community who would be willing to attend the Sinaia Forever Festival. Please get in touch via: www.facebook.com/thamesinaia “

THAME CINEMA 4 ALL are anticipating that their screening of GONE GIRL, starring Ben Affleck, is going to be so popular that they are planning on showing the film twice over the weekend, February 7, and February 8.

GONE GIRL – USA 2014, 142 minutes, certificate 18 – Directed by David Fincher, starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck.

GILLIAN Flynn’s best-selling, un-putdownable thriller about a marriage in spectacular meltdown, has been translated to the big screen in this super-glossy, slick, and sensationally successful thriller. (Oscar nominated) Rosamund Pike and Affleck are Amy and Nick, a couple who once smugly prided themselves on having a marriage that is not as pedestrian and dreary as everyone else’s. They are now approaching their fifth wedding anniversary. Finding themselves in unexpected financial difficulty, they have moved from Manhattan to a shiny new lakeside home in Nick’s hometown of Carthage Missouri, where Amy is apparently happily keeping her perfect house, and Nick runs a hipster bar downtown with his sister.But there is little in the way of married bliss behind the perfection of the facade, the grim reality gradually revealed following Amy’s unexplained disappearance.

The story is narrated partially in flashbacks from Amy’s diary: their meeting, their initial happiness, the gradual onset of unease, her mounting suspicions about her husband… as Amy’s narrative builds to its climax, Nick gradually becomes prime suspect in what is presumed to be Amy’s murder, his character and motivations eviscerated on TV and social media. Nick is smarmy and defensive, but is his version of events more or less reliable than Amy’s, whose ice-cool perfection makes her equally impossible to read?  David Fincher – The Social Network, Fight Club – is a master of polished, pacey, sometimes garish, seldom subtle but very seductive Hollywood cinema.

This has all you would expect of him: flare, frenetic pace, and a relish in the very bad behaviour of very nasty characters. View the trailer here.

Thame Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame: Doors open 7.30pm – film starts 8pm – Licensed bar

More information and to buy tickets on line: http://thamecinema.org.uk/

WITH his ‘Z Z Top’ type beard, well-travelled hat and traditional, non digital camera often hanging around his neck, author and photographer, John Comino James, has become a familiar sight at events like Thame’s Tuesday market, and has produced several books capturing points in the life and times of Thame.

These have included books of his pictures of Thame’s street market characters, of the proprietors and shopfronts of Thame High Street, and more latterly, three books recording the people and architecture of a neighbourhood in Havana, Cuba where John has friends and family.

Through his latest book, A Question of England, John explores our everyday landscape of advertising boards, signs and symbols, from roadside verge to traffic-free shopping centre, to high-rise cityscape, sharing with us his personal sense of how England has changed since, as a small boy, he stood in school cap and Sunday suit to have his snapshot taken beneath flags flown for Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation.

This month Sean O’Hagan has chosen A Question of England as his book of the month for the Observer New Review and The Guardian.com. You can read his brilliant review of the book which appeared in the Observer on Sunday, January 12, here: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jan/11/a-question-of-england-review-john-comino-james-images-fragemnted-land

And if you feel inspired to share John’s journey through A Question of England, the book is available from The Book House in the High Street.

(1) LINK story;   (2)  A Very English Town, by John Comino James;  (3)  From Thame to Havana in ‘Fortunate Steps’ ; (4)  More Images of Havana….

A Joint Quiz Night is to be held by  Thame Twinning Association and the Thame Football Partnership, on Friday, February 6, 2015.

 The quizzing begins at 7.30pm at Meadow View Park, Thame, and the Quizmaster will be Brian West.

Teams of 6-8 welcome, with tickets costing  £5 each; Bring your own nibbles.

There will be a bar and a raffle.  Contact Linda Emery via  lindaemery@btinternet.com or call 07805 229556. Alternatively, contact 

Frank Thompson via  frank.thompson@thamefootball.co.uk

A film about cycling, powered by pedaling cyclists, is a treat in store for cycling fans, and part of a not-to-be-missed event for those wanting to know more about the progress of the proposed Thame to Haddenham bike path.

Haddenham in Transition is bringing bicycle powered cinema to St Mary the Virgin Church, Haddenham, on Saturday, January 17, to show the film, Bicycle The Film, a 90 minute documentary which asks the question, why is cycling and the bicycle back in fashion?

Tickets on the door will cost £3 for adults, £1 per child – FREE if you arrive by Bike! Doors open 6.30pm for a 7pm introduction and update on the proposed Thame to Haddenham Bike path by Peter Challis of Sustrans. The film will start at 7.30, pedal powered by members of the audience! The film showing is sponsored by Sustrans and powered by Electric Pedals.

Bicycle The film, which is directed by BAFTA winning director and keen cyclist, Michael B.Clifford, tells the story of cycling in the land that invented the modern bicycle, it’s birth, decline and re birth from Victorian origins to today. The film weaves bicycle design, sport and transport through the retelling of some iconic stories, and features interviews with notable contributors, Sir Dave Brailsford, Gary Fisher, Chris Boardman, Ned Boulting, Sir Chris Hoy, Tracy Moseley, Mike Burrows and many more plus great archive, animation and music.

Bicycle is a humorous, lyrical and warm reflection on the bicycle and cycling, and its place in the British national psyche.

THAME  Youth Memorial and the Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association will be challenging your general knowledge with their joint,  Winter Quiz Night coming up at Barley Hill School, in Thame.

Sue Boyle will be the leading the Winter Quiz Night on Friday, January 16, which begins at  7 pm for a 7:30 pm start. People of Thame and neighbouring villages are being invited to form teams of six for the evening.  The entry fee is £5 per person. There will be loads of raffle prizes; bring your own drinks and nibbles.

To book a table, ring David or Marius on 01844 215 178 or 07764 85 49 49. Follow the Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association  on www.facebook.com/thamesinaia and Thame Youth Memorial on  www.facebook.com/ThameYouthMemorial

Iain Biddle, Thame Youth Memorial’s Chairman said: “After several years of fundraising and planning, we were delighted to unveil Thame Youth Memorial to the public in September 2013. Whilst the fundraising to complete the memorial and garden was completed a year ago, we must cater for the sad fact that more names will need to be added to the memorial each year, as well as the memorial and garden requiring ongoing maintenance. This quiz will help us to meet the costs that will be incurred.”

Marius Ciortan, Thame-Sinaia Association’s Secretary added: “We are delighted to be able to join our efforts with those of Thame Youth Memorial in organising this quiz night. This year in September we will celebrate three years since Thame has been twinned with the beautiful Romanian mountain town of Sinaia. This quiz will help us to meet some of the transport costs of local groups visiting Sinaia during the Sinaia Forever Festival at the end of September 2015. This festival will be attended by community representatives of all Sinaia’s twinned towns around Europe.”