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Category: Thame news

  • Pledge to plant a Thame tree!

    THE 21st Century Thame partnership recently launched ‘The Thame Tree Plant 2020’, its commitment as part of the ‘One million trees’ Woodland Trust mass tree planting campaign — part of National Tree Week, and the Big Climate Fightback.

    The aim is to achieve 500 pledges from local people in and around Thame during 2020, to plant trees. Once the trees have arrived, at an expected cost of around £2K, 21st Century Thame will instigate voluntary small and large tree planting events.

    How to get involved

    * Businesses can pledge to sponsor to buy the trees next year
    * Volunteer to plant trees on specific tree planting event days
    * Volunteer to nurture a tree or two until they have grown enough to be
       planted
    * As a resident, plant one or more trees in your garden
    * As a local landowner, pledge to allocate some space for a small wood

    For information about 21st Century Thame’s Tree Plant 2010 project and to make a pledge, visit the website HERE

  • Culture clash comedy-drama at Thame Cinema

    IT’S not hard to see why Lulu Wang’s delightful and heartwarming culture-clash comedy-drama broke audience records on its release in the United States – where attendance figures outstripped the latest Avengers instalment.

    Billi is a Chinese American very much at home in Brooklyn, a writer in her early 30s with not much in the way of cash or prospects. She has lived in the US since the age of 6 with her parents, but she has strong ties to her family in China, in particular her beloved grandmother (Nai Nai in her native Mandarin).

    When the family discover that nai nai has cancer and is terminally ill, they decide that they must all travel back to say goodbye. The only catch is that according to Chinese custom, it is very bad form to tell an old person that they have cancer, in order to save them fear and distress. So, the family must come up with another reason to justify a huge gathering.

    So it is decided that Billi’s cousin and his Japanese girlfriend – who have been half heartedly dating for only a couple of months – will be press ganged into a Big Family Wedding with all the trimmings that will provide the perfect cover for a farewell to Nai Nai. What could possibly go wrong? Billi has to navigate impossible cultural tensions: the tendency of her adopted country to be open about your feelings and talk it all out – a tendency that she has adopted herself – versus her family’s insistence that they must all put on a brave smiley face and hide their anguish, an insistence that Billi perceives as a cruel lie.

    Ultimately, what must govern an individual’s actions? Does the imperative of individual emotions and feelings transcend the collective interests of a family and a community?

    The story is based on the director’s own experience, a story she shared on New York public radio that she decided to develop into a screenplay. And this closeness to her heart comes across, with warmth and honesty and a great affinity with our heroine, Billi, helped by a standout performance from Awkwafina, who this week took home a Golden Globe for her efforts. The result is a bittersweet and poignant portrait of love and family ties, one of the best indy movies of 2019, that has had audiences laughing out loud and wiping away the odd tear in equal measure. Bring tissues.

    The Farewell – Friday, January 17, 8 pm – Thame Players Theatre, Thame –  doors open 7.30pm – Licenced bar – Tickets HERE
    USA 2019, 98 minutes, PG certificate –
    Directed by Lulu Wang, Starring Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Jim Liu, Shuzhen Zhou, Gil Perez-Abraham – Trailer HERE

  • Temporary Road Closure at Chinnor Road, to Towersey

    FOLLOWING a need for work to be carried out by Thames Water, there will be a temporary road closure applied to a section of Chinnor Road, Towersey, opposite Rose Cottage,whilst water main connection works are carried out.

    The closure and will operate from the March 5, 2020 up to and including March 7, 2020. This is a 24 hour per day closure.

    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.

    Green line is the suggested diversion

    SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE ROUTE: via Chinnor Road-B4445 Chinnor Road-B4012 Howland Road-Towersey Road-Thame Road and vice versa

    Further information regarding the works may be obtained by contacting Holly Crowdy at Thames Water on 02035 777736 or email Holly.Crowdy@thameswater.co.uk

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  • Funeral of John Miles

    UPDATE – The funeral service for John Miles will be held on January, 27th, at St Joseph’s Church, Thame, at 11am. All are welcome.

  • Friday night match experiment ‘success’ despite a loss for Chinnor

    A PROUD Matt Williams, the team’s Director of Rugby, hailed Chinnor’s Friday night experiment a success despite a narrow defeat to Rams in a rip-roaring contest.

    Chinnor lock Ehize Ehizode taking on Rams – Picture credit – David Howlett

    The Berkshire visitors clinched a 21-17 win at Kingsey Road, but the home side dominated the second half and felt they should have completed a memorable comeback from 21-3 down.

    With 1,020 spectators being treated to a thrilling game in Chinnor’s first Friday night league fixture, Williams was delighted the occasion proved such a success, attracting the largest attendance of the season. “The crowd were unbelievable,” he said. “The Friday night experiment was nothing short of majestic. I’ve never seen so many people here and as a paying member of the public, you got to experience a really great game of rugby.”

    Chinnor trailed 21-3 after 44 minutes of the National League 1 contest, but went on to take control. Tries from Jason Worrall and James Tyas hauled the Thame-based side to within four points with still more than 20 minutes to go. But, despite creating a number of chances, Chinnor were unable to cross again and had a lineout five metres out stolen in virtually the last play as they looked to clinch the latest of victories.

    Williams added: “I’m absolutely gutted. After we gifted them a try at the start of the second half, we were galvanised; we suddenly played high-tempo rugby, and we took them apart for 35 minutes.

    “We dominated the scrum against a team who are meant to be the best scrum team, and our lineout, which has been our bread and butter, let us down. As proud as I am of the boys, and I’m really proud of them for the performance they put in after that try at the start of the second half. I’m also gutted because we butchered three – maybe even four – scoring chances to get that winning try and that’s not good enough.

    “So the boys are hurting now because they put their body, heart and soul into that second half. But all credit to Rams. At the end of the day, you can’t suddenly, with 35 minutes of the game left, decide to play rugby because in the first half I thought Rams were exceptional.”

    Chinnor are back on their travels this weekend, with an away trip to Bishops Stortford.

  • Ken Loach latest screening this weekend

    YOU don’t get hired here,” states Maloney (Ross Brewster), the hard-nosed delivery- depot boss in Ken Loach’s searing examination of zero-hours Britain, Sorry We Missed You.

    “You come on board. We call it on-boarding. You don’t work for us – you work with us.” It’s a prime example of the doublespeak that underwrites today’s gig-economy culture, brilliantly captured by Paul Laverty’s justifiably embittered script. As sold to hard-grafting Ricky Turner (Kris Hitchen), it’s an opportunity to become ‘the master of your own destiny’ – a self-employed franchise-owner, freed from wage slavery (there are only ‘fees’) in a brave new world in which everything ‘is your choice’.

    Yet despite Ricky’s determination to grab this opportunity and make it work for him and his family, he’s been sold a lie – all he’s really being freed from are basic workers’ rights. Before the drama is over, that hollow declaration of choice will come back to haunt Ricky, painfully revealed as nothing more than an enslaving illusion.

    From the outset we know where this is going, as the costs immediately start piling up. First there’s the van, which requires a £1,000 deposit, raised by selling the car that Ricky’s wife, Abby (Debbie Honeywood), needs for her own work. She’s already overstretched – an agency care-worker in an uncaring world, shuttling endlessly between too-short appointments with the elderly and infirm, struggling to live up to her golden rule: “Treat them like your mam.” Then there are the costs of the job; the hundreds of pounds of fines incurred if Ricky doesn’t show up on time; the thousands he owes if he loses his parcels or his tracker. And then there is the cost to Ricky’s family life, as every hour is swallowed up with work, his teenaged son goes further off the rails, and his able but anxious daughter struggles to cope with the obvious struggles the family are facing.

    As always with Loach and Laverty’s work, the devil is in the detail – those incidental elements that lend an unmistakable ring of truth to the wider drama. Whether it’s Ricky being given a bottle to piss in to save time on the road, or Abby dabbing camphor under her nostrils before entering a potentially pungent home, we believe in these characters and the situations in which they find themselves. This is powerfully real and heart-breaking drama from a director that demands we attend to the erosion of the standards we have all come to take for granted, but which are disappearing without us getting sufficiently angry about it. (Based on the review by Mark Kermode published in The Observer, 3.11.19, accessed 5.1.20) View the trailer HERE

    Sorry We Missed You – Thame Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame – Sunday 12th of January, 7 pm – UK 2019, 101 minutes, 15 certificate
    Directed by Ken Loach, Starring Kris Hitchen, Debbie Honeywood, Rhys Stone, Katie Proctor, Mark Birch, Ross Brewster

  • Triumphant start to the year for Chinnor RFC

    CHINNOR RFC started the second half of the season in style on Saturday, January 4 2020, when they faced Hull Ionians away from home.

    The Thame-based team produced a superb second half performance to beat Hull Ionians 54-7 in their first game of 2020, running in eight tries in Yorkshire to move up to fourth in National League One. This still leaves them nine points behind leaders, Rosslyn Park, heading into next Friday’s mouth-watering clash at home to Rams, who are only second by virtue of defeats.

    Josh Pieterse, Laurence May, Josh Hodson, Ehize Ehizode, Nick Selway, Jason Worrall and Sam Yawayawa crossed for Chinnor after the hosts had led 7-0. But the visitors, though slow out of the blocks early on, upped their game to secure their biggest win of the season.

    Hull took the lead against the run of play on 25 minutes when Jack Colbourne intercepted May’s pass on half-way and raced over unopposed, Max Titchener converting, to make it 7-0.

    Chinnor were undeterred and the score seemed to help them find another gear, culminating in three scores in the space of six minutes to go 21-7 in front through a penalty try, Pieterse and May, the latter converting twice. Hodson then crossed after the break for the four-try bonus point, with May adding the extras, to make it 28-7.

    Chinnor’s dominance continued and scores from Selway, Ehizode, Worrall and Yawayawa, Caolan Ryan converting twice and May once, helped them to a dominant victory.

    What’s next?

    As Chinnor began their preparations for Rams last night (Monday), moving their training sessions a day forward to take into account this week’s fixture, Director of Rugby, Matt Williams says his Chinnor side is heading into Friday’s mouth-watering local derby with Rams (7.45pm ko) in good shape following the win over Hull. It’s the first time the club has hosted a Friday night National League game.

    “We’ve got a quick turnaround this week now,” he said. “Rams pose a whole different problem because they are flying high at the moment and it is our local derby, but we achieved what we needed to at Hull and that was to score five points. It’s now about revving things up in training, ready for the huge challenge of Rams.”

    The Hull fixture proved beneficial for prop Camilo Parilli-Ocampo who made his debut off the bench after recovering from a torn bicep, while Oscar Heath was handed his first appearance of the season. Josh Hodson marked his first game since November with a try, while Josh Pieterse and Laurence May opened their accounts for the club.

    Williams added: “We actually started the game pretty ropey – we were trying too hard. There were a lot of opportunities out there in the first 30 minutes, but it wasn’t through a lack of endeavour just a lack of composure. They (Hull) scored an interception try against the run of play and we found ourselves seven points down after 23 minutes. But the try settled us down, allowing us to get back into structure. We then scored three good tries before half-time and I felt our second half performance was very good.

    “We took our chances and I was particularly pleased with the bench. The guys who came on made a big impact and Sam Yawayawa did very well in the middle of the park; he showed some great footwork. It was good to have Josh Hodson back on the field and it was a pleasing start to the year for sure.”

    Williams continued: “Apart from a couple of boys who are out injured, Chris Elder being one of them, I think the squad is in a good shape now. A lot of boys, who have been hungry for minutes for a while, got game time against Hull. The squad depth is strong when you can afford to have people like Will Harries and Carl Kirwan on the sidelines, while Ben Thomas was ill.

    “Obviously it was also good to have Camilo make his debut for Chinnor and play 40 minutes.”

  • “Somebody we know did this.” Everybody knows – at Thame cinema

    THAME Cinema 4 All kicks off 2020, on Saturday, January 4, with this sumptuous drama about a family forced under traumatic circumstances to confront its secrets.

    Laura (Penélope Cruz) returns to her home village in rural Spain. The occasion is a big family wedding – an occasion that is pregnant with the potential for familial confrontations, the opening of wounds, and tearful recriminations. Laura brings her two children with her, but her husband Alejandro (Darin) has stayed in their new home country of Argentina for work reasons. It is some time since Laura was last here and there are secrets associated with her earlier life that she hopes will remain buried in the past.

    But her daughter Irene soon strikes up a connection with a local boy, who tells of Laura’s passionate love for a local man, Paco (Bardem), who was left heartbroken after her departure. Apparently “everybody knows” about this love affair, but it remains unclear just what else there is to tell.

    Then Irene disappears in the middle of the wedding party, apparently taken from her room, and whoever has abducted her leaves behind newspaper clippings relating to an earlier kidnapping. Soon, untraceable text messages appear demanding money and threatening the worst should the police become involved.

    It is an exacting blow to the family, apparently delivered by someone who knows just what buttons to push. In their efforts to unpick what has happened and who might be behind it, the family implodes under the weight of long held jealousies, suspicions, resentments and betrayals. There is a masterly command of storytelling from Farhadi – whose films from his native Iran (The Salesman, A Separation) share an interest in secrets, lies and retributions – and knockout performances from a mesmerising ensemble cast. Gripping and gorgeous.
    View the trailer HERE

    EVERYBODY KNOWS
    Spain 2018, 130 minutes, 15 certificate
    Directed by Asghar Farhadi, Starring Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández, Bárbara Lennie, Inma Cuesta

    Thame Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame – Doors open 7.30pm

  • UPDATED:Thame’s sad loss of two ‘gentlemen’ volunteers

    UPDATE – The funeral service for John Miles will be held on January, 27th, at St Joseph’s Church, Thame, at 11am. All are welcome.

    THAME witnessed the loss of two of the towns stalwart volunteers in recent weeks, with the death of Norman Brand at the end of November, and John Miles, who passed away shortly after Christmas.

    The late Norman Brand

    Norman passed away shortly after taking a sudden fall, but without pain or stress, his family said. John, who had been suffering with Leukaemia for some time, died after being admitted to hospital on Boxing Day with a chest infection.

    The late John Miles

    Norman was a news paper reporter and political journalist before his retirement, and was a volunteer driver for the Thame and District Day for many years. John was Chairman of the Thame Community Car.