A rich, aggressive, merchant plots to seize the throne in 17th-century Egoland, an alternative reality to England. Who can save the country – and the world – from his destructive policies? We find ourselves in the powerful kingdom of Egoland, a few centuries ago. Rich merchant Donald, bored with his empire of taverns, hunting grounds, racecourses and houses of ill repute, and annoyed by repeated demands for the tax he has evaded, decides that his best defence against the kingdom is to seize control of it.
Based on events in the USA where Donald Trump succeeded in being elected, another Donald, similar in character but far removed in fictional time and place has been created for this incredible show. This distance permits a complete story, encompassing his fall as well as his rise.
There will always be interest in the phenomenon of how Trump came to power, which the first half of the play reflects. In the second half we imagine a partial resolution based on the historical observation that the fate of tyrants – and would-be tyrants – is decided perhaps more by those close to them than by their outright opponents.
Sunday 1st April at 7.45pm – The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame
BECAUSE of changes in the district council’s Local Plan, and changing housing numbers, employment areas and infrastructure needs, Thame’s Neighbourhood Plan needs to be revised. Thame Town Council wants as many people as possible to be involved in the new plan and is using the annual Town Meeting to invite the residents of Thame to take part in a Neighbourhood Plan Revision Workshop.
The date for Annual Town Meeting is March 27, 2018, at 7:30pm, at Thame Town Hall, an opportunity for any resident of Thame to be involved in the very earliest stage in the review of the Thame Neighbourhood Plan. Following the formal Annual Town Meeting, there will be a very short presentation on how the Plan has changed Thame and why another is now needed. Small groups of residents will be formed on the night so that the Council can seek views from the community on what needs to change.
In it’s press release today, the Town Clerk, Graham Hunt explained: “As with the last Neighbourhood Plan, there will be many further opportunities to be involved, but we want to make sure that we set off in the direction that the community wants.
“There are many reasons why a new Plan is needed. The District Council’s Local Plan is changing above us. The District is close to submitting its Local Plan to the Government for independent examination by a planning inspector. Thame will need to react to the Local Plan and will also need to ensure the proper infrastructure is put in place to support both the new housing defined by the existing Neighbourhood Plan, while also catering for any new housing or employment areas that a new Local Plan might demand. The Local Plan may even define a deadline for a new Neighbourhood Plan.
“Other notable changes are also happening in Thame. Thame Farmer’s Auction Mart is looking to move to new premises ahead of its lease expiry in 2021. The land left behind will need to work hard to provide for some of the infrastructure needs of Thame. Efforts are being made by the local health service providers to ensure that a new, fit-for-purpose facility can be provided for residents. Lord Williams’s School is working towards relocating its lower school onto its Upper School site. Local businesses and our own monitoring work is telling us that we do not have enough employment spaces in Thame. There have been many speculative approaches relating to care facilities for the elderly.
“Thame’s High Street has been full for at least two years, a sign that it desperately needs to expand, yet no developer is coming forward with ideas despite the Neighbourhood Plan identifying land for town centre shops. Increasing numbers of residents and visitors, although welcome, are putting pressure on infrastructure, such as parking.
“Many parts of the neighbourhood plan have been highly effective and some will be carried over unchanged. The next Neighbourhood Plan will need to concentrate more on the specific needs of the people and businesses of Thame. A simple, quick update is unlikely to be sufficient to enable this, and so the Town Council has committed to supporting a full review of the plan.
“We do hope that many people will attend the workshop to express their initial views,” added Graham Hunt.
THAME Cinema 4 All Presents THE PARTY, on SUNDAY, March 11. The film is a 15 Certificate and is Directed by Sally Potter. The Party stars Kristen Scott-Thomas, Timothy Spall, Patricia Clarkson, Cillian Murphy, Emily Mortimer, Bruno Gantz, and Cherry Jones.
Potter’s riotous comedy about the messy unravelling of a bourgeois dinner party is small but perfectly formed. Scott-Thomas is Janet, recently promoted to the shadow cabinet of an unnamed political party. To celebrate her success, she has organised a soiree for a handful of people close to her and her husband, Bill (Timothy Spall), a morose academic whose glory days are over and who is now emasculated by his wife’s conspicuous success.
Guests include the fabulously waspish April, her ageing hippy mystic life coach lover, a newly pregnant Jinny and her older partner Martha, and Cillian Murphy’s frenzied coke-snorting banker Tom, who arrives armed and intent on violence, without his wife Marianne whose arrival is, we are told, imminent. And the hostess gets regular texts and calls from a secret lover. Needless to say, secrets are revealed, the vol au vents are ruined, and things get ugly, the guests shredding one another’s veneers of intellect and leftist political principle, with much bile and bitterness. A hilarious satire of politics and the Left, with a sterling cast really letting rip.
FOLLOWING on from the start of redevelopment work at Thame Town Cricket Club recently, comes news of a second, brand new sports ground, the culmination of a long-held dream of Thame cricket Instructor and ex-first class, Indian cricketer, Manoj Parmar, which will soon be opening in Thame, following the recent granting of planning permission for the facility, MP Cricket Academy sports field.
Manoj Parmar proudly surveys the site of his new sports field
Providing a total 12 Acres of land for cricket and sports, the new sports ground will be officially opened on Sunday, April 22, 2018 in the Afternoon.
Manoj Parmar is a ex first class cricketer in India and Oxfordshire a member of the MCC and is a qualified ECB level three coach. He told Thame.Net: “I have been passionate about cricket for 34 years and am dedicated to passing on my knowledge and expertise to youngsters of all ages from under 5s to under 19s.”
Manoj’s MP Cricket Academy has planning permission at the Kingsey Road, Thame, site for two cricket pitches, a new pavilion, four cricket nets and parking for 30 cars.
Manoj continued: “The facility will provide cricket for the kids of Thame and all surrounding areas and villages. After academy age of 19, they can join any local cricket club, to help the English heritage game of cricket remain alive. Children will now be able to play cricket on Saturday and Sunday. Now junior cricket teams can visit the academy in Thame to play matches and learn from all different parts of the UK and the rest of the world.”
Manoj concluded: “I would like to pass on a special ‘Thank you’ to Thame Town Council, SODC and all councillors, Joe Middleton and planner, Jake Collinge, for making this all possible. And, we have just received a letter of congratulations from our MP John Howell.”
With these two fabulous cricket institutions going from strength to strength, perhaps a cricketing hero or two of the future will be nurtured here in Thame.
RACQUETS Fitness Centre in Thame, will be celebrating International Women’s Day tomorrow, March 8 by offering FREE female squash sessions for those women and girls to have a go at the game of squash.
Girls Squash Session 5pm-6pm, and Ladies Squash Session 7pm-8pm. To book a place, email info@racquets-fitness-centre.com or call 01844 261754. www.racquets-fitness-centre.com
SAVE Wycombe Hospital campaign leader, Ozma Hafiz, is appealing for stories from patients who would have been using beds at Marlow and Thame Community hospitals. Overnight beds were closed in April 2017 for a ‘community hub’ pilot.
She said: ”I’m deeply concerned about where patients who would have used the wards at Marlow and Thame hospitals are. A War Veteran had to fight not to be sent to a care home 30 miles away. I worry for patients who won’t be able to challenge things. Time was also spent in Wexham Park which could have been avoided had he been cared for at Marlow Community Hospital. Closures of beds at Wycombe and Marlow have contributed to a severe bed shortage in Bucks, which has resulted in patients being affected nationally. Beds needed for National Spinal Injury Centre patients are being used by general admissions.”
Marian Mulady from Marlow said: ”My husband recently died from kidney failure after several months of increasing disability. Had Marlow Hospital still been open that was where he should have been, but as things now are he remained at home with the help of paid private carers and nurse back up from a charity.
The District nurse team is under great strain due to the inability to recruit sufficient nurses so there was very little support from that quarter.
“There were times when I felt overwhelmed but we both had to soldier on. The so called ‘hub’ has yet to achieve any community support from demonstrable success whereas the beds are sorely missed.”
Health campaigner, Linda Derrick, said: ”My best analogy is with lung cancer. It is right that we spend resources discouraging people from smoking. However, we still have to spend resources diagnosing and treating lung cancer for a long time yet. There would be an uproar if we decided to increase resources on discouraging smoking at the expense of resources on treating lung cancer but this is what these transformation programmes are all about. We are cutting essential services before the benefits of the preventative services can feed through.”
Ozma added: ”How are GPs replicating the daily ward rounds that these inpatients had, when they are currently under so much strain? I also worry for carers, many of them are elderly themselves and have their own health conditions. If we really care about prevention, the overnight beds wouldn’t be closed. I worry for the voices we won’t hear but hope some people will be able to come forward with their experiences. Where are the patients who would have used these much used and needed Marlow and Thame beds?”
Thame Town Council, Cllr Nigel Champken Woods, recently told fellow councillors said that since the changes at Thame hospital, the number of ‘bednights’ at Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville hospitals had reduced. LINK HERE
Stories can be sent to savewycombehospital@live.co.uk People are also being encouraged to send their concerns to their politicians and the ‘Scrutiny Committee’ at Bucks County Council.
NB You can read about the recent changes to services from Thame Community Hospital HERE back stories HERE
A Thame restaurant has been fined £35,000 after inspectors found opened chutneys and naan dough in a rat-infested cellar, and for obstructing hygiene inspectors.
The Star and Garter restaurant in Thame
At Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday The Star and Garter in Wellington Street, Thame pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including failure to comply with EU food safety and hygiene regulations and obstructing hygiene inspectors.
When inspectors visited in March last year, they found evidence of an infestation of rats and the restaurant was ordered to stop using its food storage area.
But when they revisited the following day, inspectors found the prohibition notices covered up. Later that week officers were satisfied things had improved and allowed them to use the food storage area again.
In recent weeks, the restaurant has been inspected again and awarded a three-star rating out of the five possible.
Magistrates were told that the restaurant managers had not taken adequate procedures to control pests and that debris, dirt and grease and rat droppings had been found.
One of the charges read: “You failed to protect food in the rear storage area from contamination, there was a box of fresh ginger on the floor, next to the box there was a tray a naan dough covered with cling film next to a rat trap.
“Raw chicken was being defrosted in a dirty sink, and raw chicken was being prepared in the rear storage area where there was evidence of rat droppings on the floor.
Another charge read: “There were boxes of open salad, prepared vegetables, and open trays of chutney in the cellar, where there was evidence of a rat infestation and the presence of rat droppings.
“You failed to ensure that the food premises were kept clean and in good repair and condition, in that there was an accumulation of debris rat droppings and extraneous matter throughout the food storage area and an accumulation of food debris, dirt and grease under the cooking range and work preparation unit in the kitchen area.”
Staff had covered up its ‘Hygiene emergency prohibition notice’, which officers had fixed to the front and rear doors of the restaurant.
At the hearing on Tuesday, February 27, the company pleaded guilty to all counts and was fined £35,000 plus £2,071 costs and a £170 victim surcharge.
The most recent inspection, on January 10, rated the curry house ‘fair’ when it came to food hygiene and safety structural compliance.
THAME Bowls Club and Thame Tennis Club, which together are Thame Sport Club, are celebrating after learning that South Oxfordshire District Council has awarded Thame Sports Club a grant of £250,000 which will help to provide a new building for the whole community to use.
Thame Sports Club’s clubhouse doubles up as a community building where many other groups meet to take part in a variety of activities including whist, art, wine appreciation and toddler groups.
The South Oxfordshire District Council Capital grant will make up over 45 per cent of the estimated total project cost of £554,000. The sports club has now raised around 70 per cent of the total cost and the sizeable funding from the council will make it much easier for the club to attract the final 30 per cent.
The grant was agreed by the capital grants panel and has now been given the final stamp of approval by South Oxfordshire District Council cabinet member for community services, Cllr Lynn Lloyd.
Cllr Lloyd said: “I am absolutely delighted that we were able to make such a substantial contribution towards the rebuilding of the clubhouse, which has been a part of Thame for almost a century.
“However, all those years of use have taken their toll and a full rebuild will make it a wonderful community hub for generations to come.
“I hope that our contribution will encourage other funding organisations and local residents to support them. I also hope the new building means that people in Thame will continue to have great place to meet for decades.”
The original part of the clubhouse was built in the 1920’s and is in poor condition, especially the roof and much of the woodwork. Also, because it has little insulation it is expensive to heat during the winter months.
The club has, in their own words, “…an ambitious project to demolish it and to replace it with a modern pavilion”.
The new designs could mean that the clubhouse could accommodate indoor bowling which means the Bowls Club could join the local winter leagues, increasing participation numbers during winter months.
The rebuild committee is aiming to start building in October this year with completion by the end of March next year.
To see the sports club’s plans on the Thame Sports Club website HERE
WITH further snow forecast, freezing temperatures and hazardous driving conditions, all of Thame schools have announced that they will be closed today.
In a post on the its facebook page, Lord Williams’s School explained: “Lord Williams’s School is closed for all students tomorrow and the Dance Show tonight.
“We have heard from a number of bus companies, that because of deteriorating road conditions, they are not running services tomorrow. In addition, we have had messages from parents and staff about worrying road conditions currently. With more snow forecast this evening and freezing temperatures there would be significant safety issues for all concerned.”
The bus company, Arriva The Shires, are recommending that passengers check with its Facebook page for regularly updated travel bulletins: Depot teams will be out assessing roads early in the morning, and Arriva says it will aim to operate all services but the weather may cause delays and disruption in the morning that can’t be predicted. https://www.facebook.com/arrivatheshires/ and on twitter @arrivatheshires
Chiltern Rail have published no bulletins so far, but any disruptions may be reported on the website: https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/ or for more immediate warnings, follow @chilternrailway on twitter.
Thame and District Day Centre will be closed today.
Thame Town Council has issued its advice for coping with snow and ice and some useful links. CLICK HERE
THAME based portrait photographer, Mark Hewitson, followed up on his Small Business Sunday twitter win when he met Theo Paphitis in Birmingham on Friday, February 23.
Mark, who owns Mark Hewitson Photography in Thame, was selected by Theo Paphitis in June 2017, when he sent a tweet to the Dragons Den star as part of his Small Business Sunday initiative. The tweet about Mark’s business was retweeted by Theo to his 500,000 Twitter followers.
As a result of being part of the SBS family, Mark was invited to attend an exclusive winners event in Birmingham on Friday. As well as attending several seminars, part of the event involved meeting Theo and being presented with his certificate.
Theo Paphitis, Chairman of the Theo Paphitis Retail Group that encapsulates the Ryman Stationery, Boux Avenue and Robert Dyas brands, revealed at the event that only 0.68% of the 329,000 SBS entries since the inception of the award in 2010 have been chosen as winners.
Mark said: “Since winning SBS last June, I have seen an increase in both business headshot bookings as well as twitter followers. The event on Friday was a fantastic day which gave me many great ideas for taking my business forward in 2018, and concluded with me chatting to Theo about my business. I feel honoured to be part of the select group of winners of this exclusive business award.”
Mark has a reputation for creating beautiful family and pet portraits and can be contacted via his website at markhewitson.co.uk or on 01844 278015.
Anyone looking to be part of the #SBS family should tweet Theo @TheoPaphitis about their business on Sunday between 5pm and 7.30pm and include the hashtag #SBS. Six lucky businesses are re‐tweeted every Monday at 8pm and then reap the benefits of the #SBS networking opportunities.
Based on events in the USA where Donald Trump succeeded in being elected, another Donald, similar in character but far removed in fictional time and place has been created for this incredible show. This distance permits a complete story, encompassing his fall as well as his rise.
