Category: Missed a ThameNews story?

LAUNCHING this year’s TAL Festival at Thame Museum on Friday, Festival Manager, Steve Bannister, spoke of how the festival has developed from its inception in 2010, with just 15 events, to this year’s festival, with over 40 taking place thoughout the town.

Festival supporters and sponsors were shown a video of the highlights of the past eight festival, from, what Steve called – ‘its halting beginnings’ to last year – eight festivals, 328 events and 21,000 visitors!

A festival ‘beyond the size of the town’

Steve recalled that first TAL Festival which included a then unknown Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces. This year, tickets for Lucy’s talk Lady Mary – about the world’s most famous devorce between Henry Vlll and Catherine of Aragon, told through the eyes of their daughter, Princess Mary, sold out in 23 hours after a queue formed around Thame townhall.  Steve spoke of how the festival had ‘….grown into something quite beyond the size of our town’, where people like BBC, publishers and the media now approach them, and how the team work all year to bring a diverse selection of interesting people to talk at the festival.

Festival additions – Art Crawl and Visitor Hub

As the festival expands, it has been adding things and changing. Last year, an Art Crawl was introduced for the first time and this year it will be even bigger with 23 different artists ‘doing their thing’ in venues across the town. LINK HERE for details. For the first time, this year, on the Saturday, October 20, there will be a ‘Visitor Hub’ sponsored by Patrician Press, in The James Figg’s Stables building, where visitors can take the weight of their feet, enjoy tea, coffee, beer, wine and food all day, and listen to poetry, join in discussions etc.

TAL remains ‘ anchored in the town’

Steve concluded that the continued success of the TAL Festival, he believed, was because: “We remain anchored in Thame; with the community of Thame; with the organisations of Thame. The fact that people come from far and wide is incidental, but the festival primarily is for the people of Thame and its wider surrounds.”

“But,” he continued: “Our success is due in no small part, to you, the people in the room; our supporters and sponsors, who have all stuck with us. And this year we have sold more tickets than ever – 80% in the first 10 days of them going on sale – 3,000 up to today, and 4,500 if we sell them all.”

Next year?

Next year promises to be a very special one for Thame’s TAL Festival, about which Steve gave little away, except to say: “Boy, do we have some ideas for festival 10 next year!”

See you there!

THAMES Valley Police is appealing to anyone with footage of a road traffic collision on the M40 to come forward. At just before 4pm today (15/10), the Force received reports of a car towing a caravan travelling in the wrong direction on the northbound carriageway of the M40.

A few minutes later, the car towing the caravan was in collision with two other vehicles near junction 6.

We would urge anyone with footage of the collision, or of the car towing the caravan to contact police as soon as possible.

Please call us on 101 or visit https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/ quoting reference 832 (15/10).

We would ask that people refrain from sharing footage or photos of either the collision or the vehicles involved on social media.

Currently, 18:49 hrs, there are periodic holds of traffic on the southbound carriageway to allow trapped traffic within the closure of the northbound #M40 (J6-J8A) to turn through a crossing gate which has been opened in the central reservation. Severe delays remain southbound.

UPDATE: 19.03 hrs – The release of trapped traffic on #M40 northbound J6-J8A has been temporarily halted. Police will however shortly be allowing traffic past the scene via the hard shoulder.Police message:  “We appreciate your continued patience if you’re caught within the closure,”

AFTER seeing a post on a Thame community facebook page for a project to help vulnerable women at Christmas, a Thame based virtual assistant was inspired to set something similar up in Thame.

known as LOVE IN A BAG, the project aims to help women who are homeless, escaping domestic abuse or similarly vulnerable this Christmas. Sarah Schofield explained: “The idea of the project is to choose a handbag you no longer use, fill it with items that would make a woman feel special this Christmas, pop in a thoughtful note or Christmas card and show her someone cares.

“The idea is based on an Australian scheme called ‘It’s in the Bag’, run by the charity Share the Dignity. In late September 2018, a lady in Bedford, Mel, became aware of  ‘It’s in the Bag’ and wanted to do something similar, so set up a Facebook page called Love in a Bag Bedford.

“I thought it was such a great idea that on October 3, I shared the post with the community facebook group, Love Thame, to see if it could be done locally – hence the creation of the Love in a Bag Thame Facebook page. The response has been extremely positive; less than a week after issuing the first post, four charities in Oxford, Aylesbury and High Wycombe have agreed to distribute bags to their clients; drop-off points have been set up in Thame and Chinnor; some of the large Thame companies are promoting the project among their staff and are collecting bags in-house and Bucks College Group are sharing the project with all of their staff and students, and are collecting bags at each of their three campuses.”

Sarah explained that handbags can be packed full of useful things and little luxuries. All items included in your bag MUST BE NEW and in sealed packaging for health and hygiene reasons. Essentials include: shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, shower gel, sanitary towels, tampons, toiletries.

Extras could be face wipes, tissues, perfume, dry shampoo, hair bands, hairbrush, comb, book, socks, underwear, stationary, towel, scarf, moisturiser, vouchers or may be hand cream.

There are currently three drop-off points for bags in the Thame are:

Racquets Fitness Centre, North Street, Thame, OX9 3TH
Sanderum Centre, 30A Upper High Street, Thame
Sanderum Centre, Oakley Road, Chinnor

As the project is so new, and being run by one person – Sarah – she could do with some help in a few areas:

* Collection point for bags in Thame, Haddenham, Chinnor, Long Crendon, Stokenchurch and anywhere else in the area

* Storage for the bags before they are checked and distributed

* Contacts within businesses in the local area, including the large ones like CPM and Travelodge, and the many smaller companies in the towns and business
parks, eg Long Crendon and Haddenham, who would be happy to lead the initiative within their company

* Transport to take bags from collection points to the storage facility; and to distribute them to charities

For more information and details of what to avoid putting in bags, deadlines etc, Sarah Schofield can be contacted via Facebook – loveinabagthame or by email: sarah@schofieldva.co.uk

THE Headteacher of Thame’s Lord Williams’s school, who marched on Downing Street with thousands of other Headteachers protesting agains school funding cuts, has written to parents about the government’s ‘deceptive’ figures.

Mr David Wybron writes: “I was staggered to discover in the following week that The Department for Education’s figures on spending on schools included spending made by families on university tuition fees (loans to students) and independent (private) school fees.

“This adds billions of pounds to headline data but has absolutely no effect on funding received by schools. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has again confirmed that schools have faced an 8% cut in real terms between 2009-10 and 2017-18.

“I have written before that the School’s Budget does not include Sixth Form funding and like other schools with a Sixth Form we have been absorbing a 20% reduction in funding for sixth formers. This is alongside increasing staffing costs and inflationary pressures.

Appeal to Thame’s MP for honesty

“I will be writing to our MP, John Howell, and the Department again about something which I can only call deception and would make an appeal for at least an honest statement on resourcing rather that the spurious figures which have been officially distributed. We teach about values in schools. It leaves me wondering what sorts of values are being practiced by the Government in terms of funding for schools.

“I would urge you, if you have time, to write to The Rt Hon Damian Hinds, Secretary of State for Education at the Department for Education and local MPs about the situation.

Worthless? Campaign

Today, a letter from the Worth Less? Campaign for fairer schools funding, is being sent to thousands of parents across the country, including parents of Lord Williams’s School. The letter reads:

“Dear Parent/Carer

Update – School Funding Campaign

“You will be aware that 2000 Headteachers attended a rally in Westminster and delivered a letter to 11 Downing Street on Friday, September 28, as part of a campaign by Worth Less?, a grass-roots group working for improved school funding. Amongst them was a group of 35 Headteachers from Oxfordshire. Thank you for the support that many parents gave these Headteachers, and others that could not attend but supported their actions.

“It is clear from the emails that colleagues and I received, that parents overwhelmingly support the need for much improved investment in our schools. As soon as we receive a reply from the Chancellor, we will let you know. I am sure everyone will watch with interest to see how he responds to our requests during the Autumn Statement (Budget) on Monday, October 29.

“Following recent headlines, Headteachers across the country hope very much that the Government and the Department for Education, in particular, will stop providing parents and the wider public with misleading information about spending on schools. This week’s scathing letter to the Department of Education (DfE) from the UK Statistics Authority underlines all of the concerns that Headteachers have repeatedly stated over the past three years.

“Analysis by the BBC shows it is entirely wrong to suggest that Government spending on schools is much higher than in other comparable countries. The statistic misleadingly chosen by the Department for Education included spending made by families on university tuition fees (loans to students) and independent (private) school fees. This adds billions of pounds to headline data but has absolutely no effect on funding received by schools. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that schools have faced an 8% cut in real terms between 2009-10 and 2017-18

“We hope that DfE ministers will now focus on the key issues – investing adequately in schools and supporting much improved recruitment and retention of teachers, in order to rebuild trust and credibility with the teaching profession.

“Parents have also asked how they can support the drive for improved funding. In light of this we are able to let you know that parent groups have lobbied parliament (October 10) and there will also be a national day of parental action on 19 October. For more information about 19 October, please search #parentsteachersunite on Twitter or Facebook.

“We would again like to thank you for your support and confirm that our campaign will remain reasonable and determined with a single goal of ensuring that every school and pupil receive a much better deal in the near future.”

Yours sincerely

Headteacher

THE contractors working in Park Street, Thame, Cappagh, via Oxfordshire County Council Highways, have said that the emergency road closure on Park Street to repair a collapsed sewer is expected to be in place until at least Wednesday, October 24.

It has been reported via social media that a company spokesperson has explained: “We’ve had to Close the Road on Park Street as an emergency due to properties being internally flooded by sewage.

“Due to the location of defect’s on foul sewer we’ve had to excavate in the Carriageway to a 3.5m depth and then construct a tunnel 3.0m in length from our excavation in carriageway to excavate under the footpath in order to dig below services in order to get access to defect.

While Park Street is closed, the 280/X8 bus will not serve Wenman Road or Jane Morbey Road bus stops.

LORD Wiilliams’s School, Thame’s Sixth Form Opening Evening this year will be on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

The evening will begin with a Presentation in the Thame Leisure Centre from 6pm-6.45pm for students new to the school, and 7.15pm to 8pm for LWS Year 11 students only. There will be an opportunity to talk with subject teachers and current Sixth Formes in subject areas between 6pm to 8pm.

For further information and to view the school’s prospectus/course details, visit www.lordwilliams.oxon.sch.uk or call 0144 210510

THAT’S the intriguing subject of a talk being given at the Thame Arts and Literature Festival (TAL) later this month to mark the 50th anniversary of one of sport’s most iconic moments.

Most cricket fans know that West Indian cricketing legend, Garry Sobers, became the first batsman to hit six sixes from six deliveries when he smashed 36 runs off a Malcolm Nash over at Swansea in 1968. But what happened to the battered ball? And was the one sold by Christie’s for a world record £26,400 at an auction in 2006 the real deal?

 

Freelance broadcaster and journalist Grahame Lloyd has investigated the controversial sale and his 2013 book, Howzat? The Six Sixes Ball Mystery, proved that the Duke & Son ball sold at auction was a wrong ‘un because it was the wrong make – even though it was accompanied by a certificate of provenance signed by Sobers.

The actual ball used in the over was manufactured by Stuart Surridge and BBC TV footage confirms Nash’s assertion that it was the only one he bowled – not the last of three as claimed by Christie’s – during the Glamorgan versus Nottinghamshire county championship match.

Lloyd will be recalling both the famous feat and the infamous fate of the ball in his illustrated talk, Fifty Not Out: The Six Sixes Revisited, at Thame Museum on Sunday,  October 21.

“I used the same ball for all six deliveries,” said Nash, “and it was charred, scarred and scuffed but never changed. It’s interesting to note that Christie’s have never bothered to ask me about the ball I bowled and how many balls were used in the over.”

After the Duke ball was withdrawn from a Bonhams sporting memorabilia auction in Chester in 2012 because of Lloyd’s “compelling and conclusive” evidence, the plot thickened. Lloyd then launched an 18-month investigation through which he traced the balls’ owner to India.  After appearing on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special programme to celebrate the Six Sixes’ 50th anniversary in August, he has now called on Christie’s to admit they sold the wrong ball.

“I unequivocally support Malcolm Nash’s contention that the ball isn’t genuine,” says Lloyd.  “I’ve tried to uncover the truth about its sale by Christie’s but with half the people involved in the auction refusing to discuss it, my search hasn’t been easy. I’m very disappointed that the unwritten 43rd Law of Cricket covering the exercise of common sense has been ignored by Christie’s. What happened to that ball in 2006 is ‘just not cricket’ and the 50th anniversary is an appropriate time to highlight the discrepancies in the sale and for Christie’s to do the right thing and admit they made a mistake. It’s a sad and disturbing tale of fake news.”

Lloyd is currently on a speaking tour of literary festivals with his hour-long talk: – “It’s not just cricket – a tale of mystery and intrigue which had our audience laughing, singing, questioning and clapping from the first ball bowled to the last.” (Cardiff)

“Frank, astonishing and delivered in a very easy, enthusiastic and delightful style” (Ilminster)

“A fantastic event and an excellent speaker (Swindon)

“Completely engaged the audience throughout, using the kind of versatile delivery that would have credited an international bowler” (Frome),

During his investigation, Lloyd discovered that

* Sobers didn’t profit from its auction at Christie’s and the former West Indies and Nottinghamshire captain describes himself as a “very innocent bystander.”

* Two former Christie’s sporting memorabilia specialists, David Convery and Max Dunbar, declined to discuss their part in the ball’s sale

* Glamorgan County Cricket Club’s archivist and the curator of the Museum of Welsh Cricket, Andrew Hignell, refused to answer questions about his role in the ball’s verification process

* Having re-investigated the 2006 auction, Christie’s stand by the ball’s original “good provenance” and the “signed certificate”.

Howzat? The Six Sixes Ball Mystery features extensive interviews with Sobers, his former agent, Basharat Hassan, Nash and Jose Miller, the former secretary of the Nottinghamshire Supporters’ Association, who sold the ball via Christie’s in 2006.

Nominated for the 2014 MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year award, it has been described as “an unput-downable read, ranking with the best of mysteries, be they fact or fiction” (Welsh Books Council); “a terrifically dotty whodunnit, driven by one man’s relentless, borderline-psychotic quest for answers” (Wisden),; “the most original cricket book that has been published in years” (cricketweb.net);  “a cracking read and unhesitatingly recommended” (Cricket Society), “the
product of diligent and disciplined investigative journalism…a compelling read” (Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians) and “a skilfully crafted and highly absorbing book…a triumph” (Backspin magazine).

Grahame Lloyd’s talk, including DVD, poetry and song, takes place at 2pm on Sunday, October 21, at Thame Museum, 79, High St, Thame OX9 3AE. Tickets cost £7- LINK HERE