Thame.net

Category: Missed a ThameNews story?

  • Worker’s death promps call for review of ‘dangerous’ construction site practices

    AFTER a jury at the Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court decided that the death of Stephen Buck, 58, was an accident, the Coroner, Darren Salter, said that the case should prompt a review of ‘dangerous’ construction site practices.

    The late David Buck (image courtesy of bbc.co.uk/news

     

     

    Mr Buck died after being struck by a reversing truck on a housing development building site in Thame, in April 2017.

    The Coroner said that he would be writing to the two firms involved, ECL Construction, which employed Mr Buck, and David Einig Contracting, which employed the driver, about his concerns and to the Construction Industry Advisory Committee with a ‘prevention of future deaths report’.

    SOURCE: bbcnews.co.uk/             Related article HERE

  • Thousands flock to Thame’s (not just a) food festival!

    BUILDING on the success of last year, Thame Food Festival delivered a myriad of tantalising artisan producers, demonstrations galore, celebrity chefs and bakers, plus some new features to thousands of people who flocked to bask in the glorious autumnal sunshine.

    Food festival fans relax to the music in front of the FTMC stage

    There were over 150 stalls in the extensive artisan food market and hot street food area, a pop-up pub, botanical gin garden and Prosecco bike by FestivAles.

    Through-out the two days the headline sponsor – Magimix UK – showcased over 20 demonstrations on their dedicated stage including many of the country’s leading chefs and bakers such as patron Raymond Blanc OBE, Jane Devonshire (former winner of Masterchef) and Candice Brown (previous winner of Great British Bake Off). This was topped off by a myriad of yet more shows around the event including; Quality Standard Mark Beef and Lamb cookery demos by Stoke Park, expert tuition of Clementi Pizza Ovens by Bell Kitchens, edible gift demonstrations by WI Denham.

    Adding to the ambience and festival atmosphere this year, was Thame’s First Thursday Music Club’s live music stage, with a broad programme of artists. Another new addition to the Thame Food Festival were the Humble Country marquee which was filled to the brim with kitchenalia to buy, the Schwartz Sensorium, the Greenpeace dome plus a range of children’s activities supporting local charities such as Thomley, and Thame’s Lions and Rotary Clubs.

    For the second year, the foodie mix also extended to our four legged friends with specialist dog treat stalls alongside demonstrations and fun Dog Shows by locally based, national charity the Hearing Dogs for the Deaf. The winner of the inaugural Thame Food Festival Bursary for Local Artisan Producers, Lisa Hartwright from Tess’ Brilliant Bakes, was announced by her mentors Chris Wheeler from Stoke Park and Adam Johnson from Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison on the main stage where she received a Magimix Le Blender, plus £1,000 and a free place at the festival.

    Lotte Duncan, Festival Patron and organiser of the event, said: “I am so proud of what Thame Food Festival has become. This year the team and I really wanted it to centre on celebrating artisan producers and showcase the diversity of wonderful foods that are produced in Britain, but to also add lots of new features, such as the children’s activities and live music to make it have even more of a festival feel. We wanted an event where people could come for so much longer, enjoy and experience so much more than they might have originally planned.

    “Events like these require so much hard work, from so many people but when you see it all come together it is worth it. We are hoping as a Community Interest Company to be able to reinvest even more money back into the event and support more young local businesses like Tess’ Brilliant Bakes that won our very first bursary this year. So watch this space for next year.”

    SOURCE (or should that be ‘sauce’ ?) Contributed

  • Feeling SO inspired for my ‘ Conversation with the authors’ at TAL 2018

    HOW come? Because – I’ve just finished reading Lydia Syson’s book ‘Mr Peacock’s Possessions’ – one of the two books I’ll be talking about with their authors, as part of the fabulous TAL – Thame Arts & Literature festival. LINK HERE

    What can I say? Just WOW! The tantalizing description ‘An intimate, intense, beautifully realised novel of possession, power and the liberating loss of innocence’ really gives scant clue to the emotional, poetic, historically illuminating adventure that this book carries you into – with a climax so nerve-wracking and thrilling, that I had to stop and breathe before reading the final pages.

    Author: Lydia Syson

    Obviously I want you to buy a ticket and come along to Thame library on Friday, October 19, at 10.30am, but REALLY – you have 12 days to scoot along to the Book House in Thame, buy a copy and read Lydia Syson’s book ‘Mr Peacock’s Possessions’ for yourself and I can assure you, that once you’ve left the volcanic (in every sense of the word) ‘Monday Island’ in the middle of the Pacific, and your pulse has returned to it’s familiar rythm, you’ll be so glad you did.

    Frederica Bell, left, and some of the family (ancestors of Lydia’s husband whose story inspired the novel) outside a vegetable shed, Raoul Island. 1908. PHOTO: REF: PA1-Q-135-13-2. ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY

    And now, I’m about to start my second interviewee’s book, The Story Keeper, by Anna Mazzola, ‘…..a sizzling, period novel of folk tales, disappearances and injustice set on the Isle of Skye’ ( Hmmmm – another island; there’s a theme emerging here).  I’ll let you know how I get on. In the meantime, nip on over to the TAL website  where you’ll find a huge variety of books, talks and other arts and literature goodies to take part in. But hurry – many are sold out and tickets for others running out fast. But, you know, just go for something you might otherwise have chosen and you never know, you just might enjoy a new author, find a new interest or at the very least, experience something unexpected. Hence TAL’s motto: Participate – Enjoy – Inspire

    Can’t wait. See you there!

    Sonja Francis

  • Scarecrow competition cheers up villagers !

    ONE resident’s idea to cheer up her village, has proved to be a huge success and fellow villagers have proved to be very imaginative in making and displaying their contributions.

    Thea Stother’s winning Harry Potter scarecrow

     

     

    Janet Carr lives in the village of Moreton, near Thame, and just recently, some in the village has felt somewhat inundated with various planning applications that threaten to increase traffic and disturb life generally in and around Moreton. She explained to Thame.Net how the very first Moreton Scarecrow Festival and competition came about:

    “I had this mad idea that I wanted to cheer the village up and get the residents walking round Moreton and chatting to each other,” explained Janet, “and maybe put a smile on the faces of the many joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists who pass through every day. So I came up with the idea of a scarecrow competition, ran it past fellow villagers Ken Burch and Tina Fegent and with their help and encouragement formed a plan.

    “I delivered entry forms to every house in the village and waited in trepidation to see if anyone would enter! I was absolutely delighted when 26 entries dropped through my door. The scarecrows were displayed outside peoples’ properties for one week and I delivered voting forms to every house in the village for all the residents to cast a vote for their favourite in the adult section, and the separate under-twelves section.

    “All the scarecrows were superb; people had really used their imagination and every one deserved to win. The final result was announced when all the people who had made a scarecrow gathered at the War memorial on Sunday morning (September 30) with their scarecrows if they could carry them!

    Scarecrows at the bus stop in Moreton!

    The winners of the adult section were Greta and Rex Harvey with a fantastic, decorated version of a traditional scarecrow, and they received a Garden Token donated by Ken Burch.


    The winner of the under-twelves section was Thea Stother with her very life-like Harry Potter entry, and she received a Toy-shop token, also kindly donated by Ken Burch. Each under twelve entrant was given a congratulatory certificate for their scarecrow, as they had all made such a good effort.

    Janet concluded: “I’m really pleased that I went ahead with my mad idea, and maybe Moreton will have another scarecrow competition next year!”

  • Attempted burglary in Thame

    THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following an attempted burglary in Thame, Oxfordshire. Early this morning, October 4, 2018,  at 02:45, there was an attempted burglary at a property in East Street. No entry was gained.

     

     

    If you have seen any suspicious looking vehicles or people in the area or have any information relating to this message, please call the police via the 24 hour non- emergency telephone number 101.

    Alternatively, if you have any information but wish to remain anonymous, please call crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online via crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken; information is not traced or recorded and you will not be required to go to court.

  • Grape Success for Local Wine

    THAME based OxBuck Wine Collective began in 2017 from a small group of locals with garden vines in their gardens. Now, in year two, the group have finished their 2017 ‘Vintage’ – a tasty little Rose which was co produced with the Tooting group and this year they set their sights high for a vintage of their own.

    Unloading the juicy harvest!

    Founders Robin Butler and Ali Gray weighed in nearly 400Kg of local grapes from Thame and surrounding villages which were collected and weighed at Bucksum Farm Shop in Long Crendon. Bucksum then drove the grapes, with Robin, to Halfpenny vineyard near Dudley where they will be transformed into wine.

    “We love growing things and hate food waste so this made perfect sense to us and with professional heavy duty scales, a van and some keen Buckinghamshire customers, we were glad to help,” said Tracy and David Newman.

    Robin and  Ali will go and taste the wine in January and the 400 or so bottles will be shared amongst the collective with any excess hopefully being sold locally at Deli No 5 in Thame, by Easter.

    SOURCE: Contributed

  • Love is in the air(s)!

    LOVE is a subject that has inspired poets and composers from time immemorial – and is also the subject of Thame Chamber Choir’s concert at 8pm on Saturday, October 20, at St Mary’s Church, Thame, as part of the 2018 Thame Arts & Literature Festival.

    Together with international tenor Adrian Thompson, the choir will be presenting music and words on the theme of love, by composers as diverse as Monteverdi, Holst, Brahms, Eric Whitacre and Jerome Kern, interspersed with poetry and prose.

    The evening will take us from love’s first bloom, through lust, including some rather risqué words (fortunately in Italian!), partnership, betrayal and on to love in old age…and beyond.

    Tickets are available from the TAL Box Office, price £10, and at the door price £12. Tickets are free for under 18s.
    For further information contact Peter Smith on 01844-212900, 07785-258156, or e-mail peter@pjs-marketing.co.uk.

    www.thamechamberchoir.org

  • Cultural sponsorship opportunity for a Thame business

    A Thame singing group, that has been performing quality choral concerts in Thame and Haddenham for over 50 years, is looking for local business sponsors to help with the rising costs of hiring an orchestra, professional soloists, library music scores and other costs associated with staging such performances by composers such as Mozart, Brahms, and Handel.

    Anyone who runs a local business and would be interested in finding out more about the advantages of supporting an important aspect of Thame’s cultural life, is invited to contact Thame Choral Society viaThame Choral Society’s facebook page: LINK HERE

  • Contract worker crushed by reversing lorry – inquest begins

    A groundworker, who was run over by a reversing lorry on a Thame building site, died ‘instantly’ a jury inquest heard today.


    Stephen Buck, who lived in Neath, North Wales, died whilst working on a housing development, owned by Bloor Homes, on April 18, 2017. Mr Buck’s wife, Kay, told the inquest that her husband had worked in the building trade for 40 years, and that he loved his job. A digger driver, Nick O’Brien, recalled how he saw Mr Buck under the rear of the reversing lorry, hanging on trying, unsuccessfully not to be pulled underneath.

    CCTV footage showing Mr Buck in a high vis jacket with his back to the moving lorry, was shown to the jury but was stopped at the point of impact. After describing Mr Buck’s ‘devastating’ injuries, the pathologist, Dr Nicholas Hunt, said that there was nothing anyone could have done to save his life.

    Stephen Buck, 58, was a subcontractor working for ECL Construction.

    The hearing is expected to last for three days.

    SOURCE: BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/

     

  • Advertisement feature: Beautiful luxury new homes launched this weekend

    AWARD winning new homes builder, Dandara, is putting the finishing touches to their new homes launch event at The Grove, Stanbridge Road, Haddenham, Bucks, taking place this weekend October 6 & 7, 2018, featuring four beautifully prepared show homes.

    If you’re looking for a gorgeous new home built to the very highest standards and benefitting from excellent travel connections, set within an exquisite, much sought-after village with all the life enhancing qualities that the hills, open fields and clear skies offer, only 46 minutes by train from London – then you’ll find it at The Grove, Haddenham.

    There are many reasons for choosing to live at The Grove with ample amenities to cater for all tastes, including; countryside walks, local community social activities and sports clubs. For those with families there is a wide range of state, grammar, and independent schools to choose from, including one highly rated primary and two junior schools situated within a 10-minute walk of the development.

    Each of the new home designs and layouts has been carefully considered to appeal to a range of discerning home buyers: from first time purchasers, to young and growing families, downsizers and those that seek easy living bungalow style homes with spacious gardens.

    Individuality was a key consideration in the planning of the development with every opportunity taken to create attractive street scenes by blending a wide range of home styles together with subtle details and exterior finishes, ensuring that new homebuyers are spoilt for choice.

    The homes have been sensitively planned around the meandering natural landscape, featuring open spaces, hedgerows, small copses and a play area to make the best of the local environment with the Chiltern Hills taking centre stage.

    Save the date, come and see us – we’ll have four beautiful homes open for you to visit, and our team on hand to answer questions and take reservations. Find out how ‘Help to Buy’ can enable you to move to the beautifully new home of your dreams…

    We’ll also have coffee and snacks available, with games to keep the kids quiet too!

    For further information and to register your interest about any of the new homes at The Grove, visit the beautifully furnished show homes and sales and marketing suite, open seven days a week 10am – 5.00pm or call 0800 5875 171.