Category: entertainment and leisure news

THAME will continue to Remember as Lord Williams’s Festival Chorus plans to close its season with a final  tribute to the war dead on December 6.

Just three weeks ago, along with the Ealing Symphony Orchestra, the choir performed Karl Jenkins’ ‘The Armed Man’ to rapturous applause at an extraordinary performance prepared for Remembrance Weekend.

Musical Director, John Gibbons, former chairman of British Choral Music, was keen to continue the centenary theme before the year closed.

“Whilst the Armed Man is one of the most famous contemporary pieces, there is also something incredibly powerful about music written by those who actually experienced the conflict,” he said.  “The piece, ‘Morning Heroes’ by Arthur Bliss, was written to help the composer dispel the nightmares he was still experiencing 10 years after the war had ended. It felt appropriate that we respect and bring such a piece to life all these years later.”

Narrating during ‘Morning Heroes’ will be BBC broadcaster, Charles Nove. He spent 12 years as the voice – and was the occasional face, of BBC TV’s Come Dancing, and his tones have also been heard on many TV trailers and game shows.

Also joining the performance will be the Ealing Symphony Orchestra who will again be performing with the choir. The full programme will be completed with the triumphant piece,  ‘I Was Glad’, by Parry, and Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’.

The concert will take place at 7.30pm on Saturday, December 6, at Thame Leisure Centre. Tickets cost £13 (concessions £10 and Under 18’s £5) and can be bought from Cargo, www.lordwilliamsfestivalchorus.org.uk, or call Rosemary on 01844 344083.

ROBERT Duncan, cartoonist, play wright and father of Thame’s popular ‘foodie’, Lotte Duncan, will be opening the third Thame Art Show, which will take place at the Thame Barns Centre, between December 5 and 7.

Robert, known particularly for the world famous ‘Not Particularly Orange’ range of greetings cards, will launch this fundraising event which is organised by the Rotary Club of Thame with the support of Inner Wheel.

Robert Duncan lives in Long Crendon, and specialises in cartoons for advertising and has worked for companies like Coutts & Co, Abbey National, Kodak, American Express, Hotpoint, and many others. His witty and wise drawings can be admired in books, brochures, newspapers and websites. He is also a talented author and playwright; his comedy play ‘Cluedo’ reached the all-time box office record at the Theatre Royal Windsor and his book, ‘A Rum Do’, is a bestseller in Barbados.

He has produced over 3000 greeting card designs and his cartoons can be found on cufflinks, t-shirts and mugs too.

Marius Ciortan, Thame Rotary Club spokesman said: “Robert Duncan will open the Thame Art Show during the Preview Evening on Friday, December 5. Robert will also be exhibiting at the show along with 40 artists, sculptors, and photographers.”

Marius added: “A large selection of paintings and sculptures created by local artists will be on display. Christmas craft stalls will sell a variety of hand-made Christmas cards and small gifts. The profits raised will go towards Thame Rotary’s charities. Thame Art Show’s previous two editions raised almost £3,000 towards charities. There will be a tea shop running all day with fresh home-made cakes and sandwiches.”

Marius concluded: “Please come along to support our local artists and take this opportunity to buy unique Christmas presents.”

Details about opening times can be found on www.thame.rotary1090.org or facebook.com/thamerotary

AS autumn comes to the British Isles, bringing with it some wet and windy weather, it seems our horses are once again facing huge danger from outbreaks of Atypical Myopathy.

Caused by a toxin (Hypoglycin A) found in sycamore seeds, the condition has an estimated mortality rate of 75-90%. Please, please check your fields for sycamore seeds – they can travel huge distances on the wind, so don’t rely on the field being clear simply because there not being any sycamore trees round the boundary. If you find any, move your horses urgently before doing anything to try and clear the seeds.

Symptoms of AM include sudden stiffness, muscle tremors, collapse, colic-like signs, low temperature, increased heart rate and dark urine. The BHS has put together an information leaflet, which can be bhs.org.uk.

Please do familiarise yourself with the symptoms as early action may prevent a fatality.

THAME.NET was recently invited to sample a course at Ardington School of Crafts, so we sent our ‘crafty’ friend, Susan Koffler along to join a two-day course making resin jewellery with tutor, Kathie Murphy.

Ardington School of Crafts was set up two and a half years ago when an old primary school building was purchased, and renovated to create a pleasant space for workshops and courses with plenty of light, as well as a lovely garden. After the primary school closed, the building had a variety of uses and the present owners have kept a file of historic papers and news clippings to show parts of its fascinating history.

Being 25.8 miles from Thame, there are various routes to take to Ardington; I chose the meandering back roads via the A329 which conveniently by-passed all the present delays at the Oxford ring-road and A34 roadworks.

There are an ever expanding wide range of craft courses to choose from – 205 on offer for 2015! from china and ceramics, to wood and willow. Some are just one or two-day courses, and others or 2 day courses, including some over a weekend. The tutors selected are always experts in their field and have usually published books in their field of expertise.

My course ran from Thursday to Friday and I was made most welcome each morning with a selection of biscuits and a wide choice of coffee or teas, in the pleasantly relaxing dining room. There were eight of us on the course and after introducing ourselves over coffee, we had the course agenda explained to us and queued up to pay for our materials (not included in the course in this instance).

Katie explained the technical issues of our first task and briefly demonstrated what to do, and we were soon all immersed in the task of forming a mould master from quick drying and microwaveable Fimo. All was silent as we were all concentrating and working on our clay forming skills…. This was baked and attached to a base and then we built cardboard walls to contain the liquid rubber compound.

While we enjoyed a relaxing and delicious lunch (included in the course) , chatting sociably and being inspired by the ample supply of art and craft magazines provided for our perusal, the tutor poured the rubber so that the moulds could start to set.

The afternoon was spent using a resin compound to create bangles and pendants from pre-prepared moulds that were bought from the tutor, or ones that we had brought with us such as silicone ice cube or chocolate mould trays. We were also experimenting with colouring compounds to make the transparent resin more colourful. For inclusions into the resin there was lots to try out: buttons, beads, sequins, glitter, paper and even fish-tank gravel were some of the additions that were used.

Needless to say the afternoon flew by. We had a delicious afternoon tea with cake and soon it was time to call it a day. We had learned so much and were looking forward to seeing how our set resin pieces would turn out .

The following morning we had the pleasure of unveiling our moulds and to fill them with a resin compound to make unique creations. This took up the whole morning. The compound used on the second morning differed from the one used on day one, and had a very strong and rather unpleasant scent during ‘’curing’’ but it sets much quicker and has less temperamental reactions with colouring media . Due to the smell however it was all stored in another room, with fans in place and open windows to maximise ventilation.

After a soothing coffee break with delicious cakes, we finished the day with advice on how to finish jewellery pieces with findings and fittings, which was discussed sitting in the lovely garden. We were also able to unmould  the pieces set the previous day and decide what finishing was needed, and watched a demonstration of filing, polishing and finishing to create smooth pieces of resin.

After a super lunch with a wide choice of delectable sandwiches, some smaller ‘’smelly resin ‘’ pieces were ready to be finished and we could practice our filing, which was very necessary as the moulds were very coarse and produced dull and textured rough resin pieces, not the glossy smooth and glass-like pieces we had imagined.

There was an awful lot of finishing filing and sanding work to be done!

Some of the participants had made bracelets the previous day and these were taken out of the moulds and were much admired, needing very little finishing as they were made from the less scented but longer curing resin compound.
( see photo)

Finally it was time to say goodbye to the welcoming and warm hospitality of the Ardington team and take our creations home.

Overall the best liked pieces made were the bracelets.

To anyone thinking of taking this course, my personal warning would be that the ‘’scented’’ resin pieces continues to smell very bad indeed for another 10 days to 2 weeks! It seemed to get worse if anything and driving home in the car it was almost unbearable, even with all the windows open. The mould-making skills and practice were very interesting and useful, though I would work on perfecting a shiny and perfectly smooth ‘’master’’ next time and use a different material, as none of the moulds made with the microwaveable FIMO were in a useable state for my purpose.

Overall I would highly recommend the Ardington School of Crafts for it’s facilities, the light and spaceous work-rooms, the lovely food and relaxing atmosphere.
Do choose your course carefully and ensure it will teach you what you are aiming for; you will have a wonderful and enriching time.

THE TV personality and former Atomic Kitten, Kerry Katona, will be turning on the Christmas lights at Thame’s Santa Convention on Friday, December 5.

Kerry has regularly been spotted in Thame since her move to the area two years ago. A spokesperson for Thame Town Council who is organising the Christmas event, said: “We are delighted to welcome Kerry and her family to this highlight in Thame’s calendar. Kerry will be flipping the switch at approximately 7pm with the help of the winner of this year’s Santa Hunt.” (Spot all 24 Cool Santas around Thame and you could be in with a chance! LINK HERE for more information).

Before the the big switch-on, there’ll be lots of other activities, stalls and entertainment in the town centre from 3.30pm, and to really get in the ‘Santa Convention’ mood, everyone is encouraged to dress as a Santa character.

The festive fun doesn’t stop after the big switch on event on Friday. The next day is Small Business Saturday, a national event which aims to ‘support, inspire and promote’ small businesses, and from 10am there’ll be stalsl, attractions and events going on around the Town Hall and Butter Market areas, including a Frozen sing-a-long, Racquets fitness test, mulled wine and a hog roast. And, for music fans, live bands will be playing outside Vintage and Modern Guitars in the Shambles in the Buttermarket.

After all that eating and drinking, what better way to burn off some of those naughty-but-nice treats than to enter the ‘Santa Dash’ Fun Run in aid of the Florence Nightingale Hospice on the Sunday, December 7. Register to take part on the website – www.fnhospice.org.uk – or sign yourself up at their Christmas stall on Friday or Saturday.

THAME Players, Thame’s dedicated theatre, is looking for people interested in ‘treading the boards’ to audition for its first production of 2015, Alan Ayckbourn’s How the Other Half Loves. The play is a classic Ayckbourn comedy, featuring three married couples whose lives and loves are intertwined, leading to confusion and misunderstanding with humorous outcomes.

The auditions are being held at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame on Wednesday, November 19, and Friday, November 21, at 7.30 pm. If you’d like to give it a try, contact Chris Parker, the play’s director, on 07831 696849 or at ChrisParker02@gmail.com, or simply turn up at the theatre on either night.

There are also opportunities to work behind the scenes, helping backstage or with lighting and sound, so get in touch with Chris by phone or email if you can help.

CUSTOMERS at a Thame pub had a shock late yesterday evening (02/11), when in walked a man who is fast becoming an political legend, whether you agree with his particular brand of politics or not.

Nigel Farage MEP, and leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), had earlier in the evening delivered his one-man show at The Thame Players Theatre, to a sell-out audience, before dropping in at The Cross Keys pub.

The landlord of The Cross Keys, ex Thame Mayor, Peter Lambert, had  asked Nigel a question about beer tax, during the Question and Answer session of Nigel’s show. The answer apparently was that ‘Pubs are very important places; each one is a parliament’. He added: “I’d slash beer duty to help the pub trade and introduce common sense to smoking rules.”

Afterwards, Peter Lambert said: “He said he loved the pub and stated that it was a ‘proper’ pub. He stayed for four pints and vowed that if he was passing in the future, he’d pop in.”

Apart from one lady, who had to be removed from the theatre ((more of that later), the atmosphere in the theatre for the UKIP leader’s show was by all accounts very congenial and the comments on social media generally gave an impression of a good-humoured and polite atmosphere.

Some of the other topics in the Q and A session, all picked randomly from a bucket, and quoted on twitter, included:
Q: Are you in favour of Proportional Representation (PR)? A: “First past the post only works in two party race. Roy Jenkins’ AVplus is the best system”

“What about HS2?” A: “Completely opposed to it. London to Manchester is to 2hrs anyway. Other more pressing rail needs including London to Penzance.”
Q: “”Can we stop HS2 now?” A: “Yes, but not through legal channels, only political.”

Q: “Will you form coalision with the Tories?” A: “Yes, even with the devil if necessary. Party doesn’t matter, getting policies across does.”

Q: “How can politics broaden its appeal to younger people?” A: “There is a massive anti UKIP bias, mainly on the comedy circuit. We are starting engaging on Social Media.”

Q: “Do you think you’re a comedian or a politician?” A: I have a sense of humour, but I speak plainly and I’m deadly serious about our campaign.”

Tony Long, a member of the Thame Players Theatre, and ex Chairman, was there for the show and this is how he described the evening:

Dressed in a beige jacket and yellow corduroy trousers he came onto the stage wearing the broadest of grins, sat himself in a comfortable armchair, poured himself a glass of a good red wine and began his chat to the audience. This was no party political broadcast, although inevitably politics featured heavily, but more an account, told with great humour and aplomb, of his upbringing, his formative years and his 20 years working in the city before entering politics. He then spoke about his “…..realisation in the early 1990s that Europe was becoming more and more a political union with the aim of becoming a superstate in its own right.” He claimed that 75% of all legislation in this country was now determined in Brussels and that over 400 million Europeans had the right to settle in the UK, and that we had no power to stop them.

During the interval, Nigel Farage signed copies of his book and there were plenty of people eager to buy. He also encouraged people to write down questions which he would answer in the second half. Some 50 or so questions were duly put into an ice bucket and left on stage for him to answer. He then picked questions out at random and unhesitatingly answered them. Most questions were about UKIP policies on a wide range of issues. “If UKIP held the balance of power after the next election would he join a coalition with the Tories?” asked one. He replied he would form a coalition with the devil as long as a referendum on leaving Europe was part of the agreement. “If he was part of a coalition would he demand a referendum by December 2015” he was asked. “No” he said, and then after a pause and a broad grin he added, “by July 2015”. He picked out one question paper which had 9 separate questions on it. He answered them all. “How many seats will UKIP contest at the general election” he was asked. “All 650 of them” was the reply. So love him or loathe him we shall all have the opportunity next May to express our view in the ballot box.

During the question and answer session one woman objected to all the political questions. Nigel Farage asked her if she had a question herself but none was forthcoming. The woman kept on interrupting the answers, despite the rest of the audience repeatedly asking her to ‘shut up’ until finally she was escorted from the auditorium. The performance continued in relative peace and quiet until the time came for the show to end.
Whether the audience was persuaded by his arguments, whether they would vote UKIP, we shall never know. What we do know is that Nigel Farage was given a great round of applause from a largely appreciative audience who left madly chattering amongst themselves.

After the show Nigel Farage went for a well-earned pint of beer at The Cross Keys, the pub run by former mayor, Peter Lambert, who had been in the audience. Debate no doubt continued over that beer in as good-natured and lively way as the whole evening had been.