CONGRATULATIONS to the ‘incredible family’ of Thame’s Quizmaster supreme, Sue Boyle, who were chosen to be The Stroke Association’s fundraiser of the week!
The Stroke Association’s announcement reads: “Sue, Phil and David Boyle started fundraising for the Stroke Association, after David had a stroke on Christmas Day back in 2012. He was 20 years old. The life-changing stroke left him unable to speak or move the right side of his body. But David’s strength and determination, meant that just five years later he able to take on his first Resolution Run with the support of his family.
“Three years on and the family recently took on their third Resolution Run with their ever-growing team of family, friends and loved ones (this year, the team spanned all the way to Blackpool’s Resolution Run!). And it doesn’t stop there; each year they raise a quiz for our Make May Purple campaign, which raised a whopping £1,186 taking this year’s total fundraising to over £2,500!
“We can’t thank Sue, Phil, and David enough. Your support and the support of your team is vital and helps us to continue to rebuild lives, just like David’s.
FOR the first time in over 20 years, an Oxfordshire County Cricket match will be hosted at Thame Town Cricket Club.
Cricket at Church Meadow, photo coutesy of Mark Lord
Oxfordshire 1st XI Men’s team will be playing a three-day match against Cheshire, from Sunday, September 1, to Tuesday, September 3. Play will commence at 10:30am each day, with a lunch interval from 12:50pm-1:30pm and a tea interval from 3:50pm – 4:10pm.
Oxfordshire compete in the Western Division of the Minor Counties Cricket Unicorns Championship along with Berkshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Shropshire, Cornwall, Devon, Herefordshire, Cheshire and Wales. They are currently second in this division and aiming for the top spot, to play in a final against the winner of the Eastern Division on September 15. The winner of the final will become Minor County Champion 2019.
Thame specially selected
Thame Town CC was selected by Oxfordshire Cricket Board to host the match following the development of their new pavilion and continued improvements to the playing surface at Church Meadow, located in the centre of the town, next to the 13th century, Grade 1-listed, St Mary’s Church. Thame Town CC have players in the Oxfordshire squad hoping to make the team and play at their home ground.
Matt Swain, Chair of TTCC said: “We are delighted to host this Oxfordshire County match for the first time in over 20 years. During the last five years we have invested a huge amount of time and effort to improve our facilities to a level at which Minor County cricket can be played, and we look forward to welcoming both teams to the club.
Everyone from Thame is invited!
We would like to invite everyone from Thame and the surrounding villages to come and support their County Cricket team and enjoy a drink at “one of Britain’s loveliest Cricket venues” (as reported by The Cricketer magazine, February 2019) The club – and most importantly the bar – will be open to everyone throughout the three-day match, and on the Sunday we will be having a two-course lunch event on the first floor of the new pavilion. To book a seat for lunch please contact chairman@thamecricket.org.uk as there is limited space available”
Growing membership
Thame Town Cricket Club has over 280 playing members, including 180 juniors from ages 5 to 15. We have five adult teams that compete in the Home Counties Men’s and Women’s leagues, plus the Cherwell Cricket league. The club is a voluntary organisation which has England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) accreditation and 22 ECB-qualified, volunteer coaches. The club is always keen to welcome new volunteers and if you would like to help please contact enquiries@thamecricket.org.uk
LINK HERE for a roundup of Thame Cricket Club’s latest Big Weekend of Wins!
A new council committee in South Oxfordshire that will help tackle the climate emergency is due to meet for the first time in September.
At its July meeting, South Oxfordshire District Council agreed unanimously to establish the specialist committee to advise the council on how it can tackle local issues affected by the climate emergency.
The new Climate Emergency Advisory Committee will be working to ensure the council meets its responsibilities to respond to the climate emergency that the Council declared at a meeting in April 2019.
Committee to meet in public
The committee is a politically balanced group of 12 councillors and will meet in public to advise the council’s Cabinet on matters relating to the climate emergency.
This new committee will make recommendations on how the council can reduce damage to the global and local environment through its policies and practices. It would also aim to work with and advise and influence partner organisations.
Contributing to national and countywide targets
The committee will research ways in which the council can contribute to national and countywide targets on climate and energy issues and identify sources of external funding relating to the climate emergency.
Cllr Sue Cooper, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Having declared a Climate Emergency, this was the next step. The committee will try to find ways that council services across South Oxfordshire can contribute to carbon reduction targets and minimise the damage to our environment.”
‘..a united front to face a challenge of this magnitude’
Cllr Sue Roberts, Chair of the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee, said: “I am pleased to be working in a committee that represents all political groups on the council. We need a united front to face a challenge of this magnitude. The committee is supported by dedicated staff and will cut across all areas of the council’s operation and influence. I have started work with officers, sketching out a brief to take to the committee and officers are developing a work programme. I would like to see us working towards targets for a zero-carbon council and a zero-carbon district.”
Your chance to speak
The first meeting has been scheduled for Thursday 19 September at Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot, starting at 6pm. The agenda will be published on the council’s website on Wednesday 11 September. Members of the public are welcome to attend and can speak at the meeting about any of the items on the agenda by registering in advance.
THE Beacons of the Past project team are calling for the public to help identify potentially thousands of newly revealed archaeological features in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Cholesbury hillfort, in multi-directional hillshade imagery. Data and imagery copyright CCB
Beacons of the Past is a National Lottery funded project to discover more about Iron Age hillforts in the Chilterns. Recently, a bespoke LiDAR survey (a type of airborne laser scanning) was made of the Chilterns, the first of its kind in this area and the largest high-resolution archaeological survey ever flown in the UK. Encompassing 1400 km2, the survey offers the potential to reveal thousands of new archaeological sites across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. Now the project team is asking for the public’s help to view and interpret the results of the data gathered by the LiDAR visualisations; in many cases these will be people who may have spent decades exploring the Chilterns landscape or those who live in it, and who will bring a unique perspective to the project.
Hidden history
Dr Ed Peveler, Landscape Heritage Officer for the Chinnor Conservation Board-based project, said: “This is a fantastically exciting project, and I can’t wait to see how people interact with the LiDAR data. This is a dataset which unveils so much history in our landscape, and frankly is just huge fun to play with. People are going to be finding things hidden in plain sight across their usual stomping grounds”.
The team will offer comprehensive training and tutorials to teach LiDAR interpretative skills, allowing users to decipher the results of the data and enter the findings on an online Portal..
Increased understanding and appreciation of our local landscape
Project Manager Dr Wendy Morrison explained: “This will enable anyone in the world to discover new archaeological features in the Chilterns from their computer. Encouraging people from all walks of life to engage with a resource that is usually accessible to a handful of researchers will open up the landscape for greater understanding and appreciation, and when we appreciate and understand a place, we begin to take more active roles in caring for it.
“Funded by a £695,600 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and a number of partners such as the National Trust, Chiltern Society and local authorities, Beacons of the Past is providing a real focus for community and public involvement through techniques such as remote sensing and survey, practical excavation, and research, as well as a programme of events and educational activities.”
How will the results be used?
The results will be used to engage communities with their heritage, through work in schools, with youth groups, public talks and workshops. The new discoveries will be made available to the relevant Heritage Environment Record officers in the four counties and will also help heritage managers, archaeologists and policy makers to consider how they look after the Chilterns landscape.
Stuart Hobley, Area Director London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “The Chilterns is full of ancient history but there could be still much more left to discover. Thanks to National Lottery players, this project is an incredible opportunity to get involved in making new discoveries and to, potentially rewrite the history of this beautiful landscape.”
How to become involved
With full training offered, the Online Citizen Science Portal can be found here: chilternsbeacons.org and is accessible on smartphones, tablets and can be used while visiting sites.
THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following a burlgary in Shabbington, near Thame.
Between 1am and 1.45am on Wednesday (7/8), offenders damaged and opened a window of a property in Crendon Road. The victim, a man in his forties, who was in the house at the time heard the offenders and shouted at them to leave.
A car cover was stolen (not a CAR as stated in the original report.
One of the offenders is described as a man, approximately 5ft 10ins tall and of medium build. He was wearing a dark coloured hooded top with the hood up and a dark coloured scarf that covered his nose and mouth.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Emma Francis, based at Aylesbury police station, said: “I am appealing for anyone who may have witnessed this to please come forward.
“I would also urge any for motorists who were in the area at the time to check any dash-cam footage in case it may have captured something that could assist with the investigation.
“Anyone with information can contact police on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference ‘43190242235’ or make a report online.
“Alternatively, if you wish to remain anonymous you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
A temporary road closure to apply to a section of Mill Lane, B4445 Thame Road and Station Road, Chinnor whilst road resurfacing and improvement works are carried out.
Temporary Notice(s) are being made to implement the temporary closures and will operate from:
2 – 6 September 2019. Mill Lane
9-13 September 2019 B4445 Thame Road
16-19 September 2019 Station Road
The closure(s) will operate between the hours of 08:00 and 17:00.
Access will be maintained for emergency service vehicles and for those frontages within the closure area, subject to the progress of the works and liaison with the works supervisor.
Further information regarding the works may be obtained by contacting Matthew Hancock of ECL Civils on 01582579812 or email matthew.hancock@eclcivils.co.uk
EARLIER this morning (09/08/19) crews from Thame fire station were called to a vehicle on fire in the Howland Road/Pearce Way area of Thame.
Image courtesy of Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue
On arrival, crews were faced with a well developed car on fire that had spread to a nearby shed as well garden fencing. Crews wearing Breathing Apparatus and using a Hose Reel extinguished the fire.
QUIZ fans from across southern Oxfordshire are expected to converge on Little Wittenham this September and everyone is invited. The quiz night, on September 4, to help raise funds for local environmental charity, Earth Trust and takes place in their beautiful 19th century barn.
By Jonathan Bowen – Original digital photograph, CC BY-SA 3.0 LINK
Teams of up to six people can sign up for what’s shaping up to be an entertaining evening of fun and trivia – it costs just £5 per person and all the proceeds will go to the Earth Trust.
Meet up with your team mates at the bar from 7pm before the quiz starts at 7.30pm. Sue Boyle, the quiz master, will be asking questions on a wide range of subjects throughout the night and the winning and losing teams will receive a small prize each.
The fundraising event is being organised by Cllrs David Bretherton and Margaret Crick, in association with the Trust, to celebrate their support for the sustainable local charity as Chairs of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council respectively.
Thame Cllr David Bretherton said: “Quiz evenings are an ideal opportunity to bring your friends and family together. Everyone is invited to enter the quiz and help us raise money for the Earth Trust whilst having a great time.”
Cllr Margaret Crick said: “We’re proud to support the Earth Trust to help them protect their farmland, woodland and wetlands including Radley Lakes – somewhere that local people have enjoyed for many years.”
Laura King is Earth Trust’s Development Manager. She added: “We are delighted to receive this wonderful endorsement recognising the work we do and championing accessible green spaces, including the much loved Wittenham Clumps. The district councils’ support will extend the impact we have in the community and ensure that the people of Oxfordshire have the opportunity to access, learn about and understand nature.”
THAME Town Council has refused permission for a mobile Steam Car Wash, which was to be based in the Upper High Street Car Park, where the kebab van is.
After questioning the man who wanted to run the Steam Car Wash, Mr Mikos, councillors agreed that the Upper High Street Car Park was not an appropriate location for a Steam Car Wash, feeling that it was not practical to move machinery around the car park and between vehicles, and that there was potential for other parked vehicles to be damaged. It was also felt that, Although the operation would generate an income stream for the council, permitting such an operation, would set a precedent for other schemes.
It was suggested there may be more appropriate locations in the town, e.g. the Cattle Market site.
THE permanent mass of waste bins outside Prezzo and Coluco (previously Jack and Alice) in the centre of Thame, may soon be a thing of the past, following lengthy correspondence between Thame Town Council, the two restaurants and Oxfordshire County Council that has gone on for over two years. See LINK
Thame’s Town Clerk, Grahame Hunt, told councillors at last night’s full council meeting, that although OCC have asked him for more evidence of the correspondence he has had between the two establishments, there was some good news. A planning application being submitted by Coluco ‘will deal with their bin issue’.
Christmas lighting
THE town council has agreed a new Christmas lighting scheme for Thame, having retendered for a five year contract which will be in place for 2019/20 festive season, with installation commencing in November. The cost of the lighting scheme is around £19,000 per year, the five-year contract being worth £95,000.
Christmas lights in Thame 2018
Partnership agreements, which are entered into with property owners who agree to have Christmas lights on their property, will need to be renewed for the contract.
Celebrity visitor to Thame sheep market
JEREMY Clarkson paid a surprise visit to Thame’s Sheep market on Friday, where he was spotted being filmed selecting and buying some sheep, for a new TV series Bought a Farm, which will be aired in 2020 on Amazon Prime.
He lives on a small farm near Chipping Norton where, according to Farmers Weekly, he currently grows wheat, barley and oilseed rape.
Environment policy delay
AFTER a debate on the town council’s draft Environmental Policy at its meeting on Tuesday was stopped on a technicality of Standing Orders, the proposal will now pass back to the Policy and Resources Committee, before again coming before the full council at a later date. Read the Draft Environment Policy HERE
