Category: Thame news

THAME’S ex-serviceman, young Cadets, Fire Service, Police Service, local dignitories and towns people stood together in glorious autumn sunshine last Sunday, November 11, to remember all those men and women who had lost their lives in service to their country.
The Rev. Derrick Chambers, who lead the service, shared the experience of his own grandfather, who, as a young soldier, fought on the Western Front in the First World War on the Somme, and at Passchendaele, Loos and Ypres amidst the trenches, the barbed wire and shell-holes.
He was wounded, presumed dead and his parents received a telegram ackowledging his supreme sacrifice. But a chance journey in an ambulance enabled him to get a message to them. He survived the war, but, like others involved as he was, every Remembrance Day he lived it all again – the echo of cannon fire, machine gun fire, exploding mortars and the cries of his comrades and the screams of men whom he had been told were his enemies.
“On this day,” he said, “we will remember those who served and gave their lives. Some of us will remember fallen comrades, others will have been told of their sacrifice. But for all of us they will be immortal and will never grow old.
“They stand before us as champions of the freedom we enjoy, which must never be taken for granted.”

Poignantly, during the service, fire officers from Thame, who had been sharing the grief of their Warwickshire counterparts who lost four men in a recent fire, had to fall out when they were called to a fire call, which fortunately turned out to be a false alarm.

Photo: Pupils from Lord Williams’ School lay a wreath on the steps of Thame’s War Memorial

WORLD CLASS CHEF, Raymond Blanc, told party guests at the opening of his new proteges’ restaurant, The Thatch, that he had always wanted to run an English pub, and that he would now have to grow a nice Belly!
“It just shows that a Frenchman can be humbled!” he added.
Raymond was speaking to 350 invited guests, including some of the other contestants, to celebrate with his TV programme competition winners, Jane and Jeremy Hooper.
“The last three months on TV, I have spent much of my time closing down restaurants,” he said. “So, it is with immense pleasure that I am now opening Eight At The Thatch with Jeremy and Jane.
“I will support and help them to achieve their dream of running their own restaurant. They are great people and with a great team around them, I am sure it will happen.”

Jane told ThameNews.Net: “Tonight is all about ‘warming’ our restaurant and making it feel like home.”
“We have been on a journey towards our dream that has not stopped since January. Tonight our dream has become a reality. We are still amateurs with a lot to learn and the journey is going to be long.
“We want to settle in Thame and be open to everyone – not just celebrity, and like Raymond, we want to support local producers.”

Speaking about the strains on him over the last few hectic months, Jeremy, who has kept his option to return to the Royal Marines after a year, said: “I got more sleep in the sand dunes of Iraq than I have since all this began. Now, after tonight, I can’t wait to just get on with it.”

Among the guests from Thame were Butchers, Michael and Tom Newitt, who will supply much of the meat to the Thatch’s kitchen and who have been helping develop the menu. Also sharing the excitement was Hair dresser and Town Councillor, Adam Buckland, Jewelller, Matthew Cundy and Hadley Gallery owner, Bob Hadley, who presented the Hoopers with a picture for the restaurant.

The interior of the 16th Century Grade 11, listed building has been completely redesigned to bring a freshness and warmth to the new restaurant. The designer, Jo Eames, who was at the party, said:”One of the main challenges was to create an instant link beteween the Tudor and modern part of the building, the new restaurant area, so that the two would sit harmoniously together. We achieved this by opening up the central bar area enabling diners to see right through to the other side, and by creating an inviting walkway into the new eatery.”

The new restaurant is in a new extension to the original building, and the aim of blending the old and the new seems to work, though it was difficult to get a real feel for the place with so many people crammed into the building!
There is a welcoming bar area just as you enter the building and Jane was very keen to point out that they want local people to feel that they can use the place as a pub and just come in and sit and have a drink. There are open fires in every section of the establishment maintaining a cosy feel, and yet extra light has been created by re-painting the previously red walls, with a very pale, matt cream finish.

The ‘nibbles’which were taken round by several very polite young Thame teenagers lucky enough to get jobs at Thame’s newest restaurant, included pork pie and some wonderful, French oysters! All washed down with Cava.

And what of the views of the locals as to the prospects for Jane and Jeremy in achieving their dream? ThameNews.Net quizzed a few of them:

“What a transformation? – Amazing!”

“A bit disappointed to be served Cava! (from a local wine importer). Also, I am not sure that Jane and Jeremy are the right couple for the type of clientelle the restaurant is aimed at.”

“Just what Thame needs, and I wish them all the luck in the world.”

“It all looks wonderful; let’s hope that when the honeymoon period is over, and the baby has arrived to bring them down to earth, Jane and Jeremy can keep the drive and energy needed in this industry to make a success of it. I hope so.”

Photos: Jane and Jeremy in Party mood last night at the opening of their new restaurant, Eight At The Thatch, in Thame.

THAME fire officer, Lee Bransby, layed a wreath from the people of Thame, outside Stratford Fire Station last weekend.
Station Officer, Andy Ford, said: “The wreath was very much appreciated by the Warwickshire crews who, understandably, are still devastated by their loss.”
Andy added: ” We are still raising money for the families of the Warwickshire Firefighters who lost their lives in the tragic fire. Any donations can be made to Thame fire station or to any of the fire personnel and will be very gratefully received.”

Four fire crew were killed in the recent warehouse fire in Warwickshire.

A MOTORIST was left with serious injuries today, after his car left the road and hit a tree.
The male victim was driving a green convertible, Mazda MX5 at 9am this morning (13/11) on Thame Park Road when, as the vehicle approached a right hand bend, it left the road and hit a tree.
The driver was taken to John Radcliffe Hospital with serious neck injuries.

Officers would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the crash or saw the vehicle before it left the road.

Witnesses should phone Abingdon Roads Policing Unit on 0845 8 505 505 or the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555111.

A NEW Farmers Market is to start in Tetsworth, near Thame, just in time for Christmas.
Spokesperson, Rachel Stoakes, told ThameNews.Net: “We are organic beef and sheep farmers over at Tetsworth and have been trying to get a stall on Thame farmers market. But due to the limited space that is available, have been unsucessful. So we have decided to set up our own market in our village which will be held every other Saturday from 9.30am to 12.30 pm, at Tetsworth Village hall.
“The first market will take place on the December 8.
“We will be supported by various other local producers including Sandy Lane Farm (Organic Veg and Pork), traditional Poultry, Venison, Game, Locally produced Cakes, Bread, Preserves, Plants and Willow weaving to name but a few.”

DESPITE

PUB and club managers across the Thames Valley are to be issued with help and advice to combat under-age and binge drinking – and a strong warning, by police.
Thames Valley Police officers, working alongside Hampshire Constabulary and NHS South Central, have started handing out information packs to pubs, clubs and off-licences throughout the region.

Assistant Chief Constable, Nick Gargan, said:”Alcohol can provide an enjoyable addition to a good night out, and we don?t want to ban anyone from drinking.
But we do want to ensure our town and city centres are pleasurable places to be at night and we will be working with licensees to support them and their staff in being robust with underage and excessive drinkers.
?The packs contain material to help licensees explain the law to their staff and to customers they refuse to serve or ask for ID.
?Not only will they make life easier for licensees, the packs will help us expose irresponsible members of the licensing trade known as a ?soft touch? on alcohol sales.
?If they continue to fail to trade responsibly they can expect to have their license reviewed.?

Officers have already started handing out the packs and talking to licensees about how they can help them reduce drunk, rowdy and violent behaviour along with underage drinking.
It is hoped they will play a vital role in the year-long campaign designed to cut down binge drinking.
Officers have also warned any licensee whose premises continue to have a reputation as a ?soft touch? after the packs are handed out will be subject to a clamp-down.

Each pack contains details of the recommended number of daily alcohol units, the health impacts of drinking excessively, and the number of units found in a variety of drinks.

Posters and stickers containing information about age checks for display at bars and a log book for recording refusals to serve suspected underage drinkers will also be included, along with a fact sheet about the Violent Crime Reduction Act.

Dr James Mapstone, Acting Regional Director of Public Health, said: ?Working with licensees is one of the ways we are trying to limit the supply of alcohol to young people and raise awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking amongst adults generally.

?In the NHS we are seeing more and more people admitted to hospital as a result of alcohol and we can only highlight the dangers and help people make informed choices about how much they drink with the help of licensees, parents and other adults in the community.?

A study found the impact of violence associated with excessive drinking on the NHS and police to be a major drain on resources.

A typical glassing incident costs the NHS around

THAME retained fire officers are collecting donations to help the families of their colleagues killed in the recent fire on a West Midlands Trading estate.
Anyone who would like to make a donation can either take it along to the fire station in Nelson Street, or hand it to any local fire officer they know or meet.
Cheques should be make out to:
The National Fire Service Benevolent Fund.

Station Officer, Andy Ford, told ThameNews.Net: “The fire service nationally is one, big family and we all feel the pain of the friends, colleagues and families of the four men killed in the Warwickshire fire.
“Thank goodness we have not had a fatality in the Oxfordshire Fire Service for around 20 years but we all recognise that it is the nature of our role that despite all the training we receive to minimise danger, there are risks and altimately fire fighting can be dangerous.”

THE Trust for Oxfordshire?s Environment (TOE)is making funds available to local communities across the County through the Landfill Communities Fund.
Do you have a local community or environmental project in need of funds? Perhaps the village hall or the playground need improving, or a local nature reserve is in need of management ? if you have a possible project give TOE a call to find out if they might be able to help you.

TOE Meets four times a year, and the application deadlines for 2008 are as follows:
16 January for a meeting on the 28 February
9 April for a meeting on the 22 May
30 July for a meeting on the 11 September
15 October for a meeting on the 27 Nov.

If you have a community and/or environmental project in need of funding, contact Fiona Danks on 01865 883488 or toe@ruralnet.org.uk.

Places for People ? TOE and Oxfordshire County Council is working in partnership to offer local communites and organisations in rural parts of Oxfordshire the chance to bid for grants of up to

JOURNALIST, Boris Johnson MP, has questioned why anyone should bother with print newspapers, after seeing the latest home technology on display by a Thame company.
Boris was visiting the showroom of Cyber Homes Limited, in Howland Road, Thame, on Friday, when he was shown an integrated TV screen/bathroom mirror, through which one could watch news coverage and anything else on television, whilst soaking in the bath.
“Why should anyone ever again bother to have kilos of print newspapers dumped on their doorstep?” he commented.
“I am going away now to contemplate what I am going to do about it,” he added, as he turned to go after experiencing for himself the very latest in fully automated discrete home cinema, multi-room audio/video and electronic home security.

(Well, we always knew that ThameNews.Net was in the vanguard!)

Boris was visibly impressed with the technology and congratulated the company for its achievements in putting together the showroom and wished it every success in going forward to bring exciting and innovative, energy-saving technology to homes.

Photo: Boris Johnson MP, expresses his amazement at the possibilities of home entertainment, during a visit to Cyber Homes Ltd, of Thame.