Category: Thame news

A NEW initiative to involve communities more in tackling crime locally, is being rolled out in the Thame area.
Neighbourhood Policing will mean a slightly different role for PC Russel Hounslow, the Thame Community Beat Office, and the formation of a local NAG, or Neighbourhood Action Group. The latter will be based around the current Thame Community Safety Group.
The initiative will begin with a public meeting at which local people will be invited to list their three top crime concerns which will then be prioritised by Inspector Stuart Dunbar and his team at Thame police station.
PC Hounslow will become known as the Neighbourhood Officer and will have a network of local people from different sectors of the community, like Business, Youth etc., who will inform him of any particular concerns the group they represent may have, and he will then take those concerns back to the NAG, which will feed back to the police for action.
The scheme has already been piloted elsewhere in the region and should be fully implemented by March 2008.

A date for the public meeting will announced soon.

THAME’S cycling MP, Boris Johnson, officially opened the off-road cycle route between Thame and the Shabbington turn today – and encountered an irate neighbour on the way.
Boris was stopped by a neighbour of his as he cycled along the new route beside the A418 Tiddington Road, and told that the new cycle path was a waste of public money.
Boris was quick to assure them that he personally, had nothing to do with provision of the path, although it runs past his house and his children use the route to Thame, and no doubt pointed out that the healthy activity of cycling means less draw on National Health Service, less motor vehicles on the road therefore contributing to reducing pollution.

Boris was helped to cut the tape by Cllr Lesley Legge, Chair of Oxfordshire County Council which completed the engineering work, watched by the Mayor of Thame, Cllr Nigel Champken Woods, Thame Town Cllrs David Laver and Don Butler and Simon Pratt and Jo Hamilton of SUSTRANS. He then cycled to the Shabbington turn accompanied also by pupils and staff from Lord Williams’s school.
Cllr Don Butler held up the rear in his Classic, Sinclair C5.

Sustrans, the UK?s leading sustainable transport charity, organised the launch to help celebrate the fact that the new A418 cycle facility has enabled the completion of the National Route 57 which is part of a wider Sustrans managed network of 10,000 miles of cycle routes in the UK.

THE missing link on the Thame to Oxford cycle route has now been completed by Oxfordshire County Council and will be officially opened tomorrow, Friday, June 23, by cycle-friendly MP, Boris Johnson.
The work on the A418 between Thame and the Shabbington turn completes National Cycle Route 57.

The official opening will take place at 3pm in Thame where local MP Boris will be joined by the Chairman of Oxfordshire County Council, Cllr Lesley Legg at Highfield Close, Thame. Car parking is available at the Leisure Centre.
After the opening ceremony, those gathered will ride along the newly opened route towards Shabbington.

Sustrans, the UK?s leading sustainable transport charity, has been organising the launch to help celebrate the fact that the new A418 cycle facility has enabled the completion of the National Route 57 which is part of a wider Sustrans managed network of 10,000 miles of cycle routes in the UK.

Its representatives will be starting a ride from Oxford?s Broad Street Tourist Information Centre at 11.30am. The ride will arrive in Thame in time for the opening of the A418 route at 3pm. Cllr Lesley Legge, Chairman of Oxfordshire County Council, will also be present for this earlier event.

Oxfordshire County Council funded the work along with South Oxfordshire District Council and the government and a generous private donation.
Cllr Legge said: ?This shows the council?s commitment to supporting cyclists as part of a wider national network that Sustrans so capably campaigns for.
?I hope that the new route will increase the number of children cycling to the nearby Lord Williams School as well as being attractive to the many other cyclists in the area.?

The full route between Oxford and Thame is 14 miles.

Photo: By Glen Copus

SMOKING quitters in Thame recently presented the League of Friends charity for Thame Community Hospital, and Thame and District Day Centre with a cheque for

ON Saturday Thame Cinema 4 All bade ‘goodbye’ to Margie and Chris Savory, its Chair and Treasurer who, together with their neighbours Tim and Mary Ann Osborne, started the cinema club five years ago.
The committee gave Margie and Chris a framed copy of all the posters of all the films they had ever shown, including “Mrs Henderson Presents” which was the fitting last film, picked by this enterprising pair, to show at their Swan Song.
Margie, who is going to be the Artistic Director of the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis added:” I will miss my friends here and the wonderful camaraderie of the cinema club, but I am pleased to be moving to an area where the local district council supports the arts whole heartedly.
“It has been like banging your head against a brick wall to get any feeling that the SODC recognised the role of the Arts in community building. Even Boris Johnson was shocked when he saw how little SODC gave to the arts in his constituency.
“I wish everyone here the very best and hope all my friends and contacts will pop in and see me in the Marine Theatre when visiting the Cobb in Lyme Regis and our lovely Jurassic coast in Dorset”

Pic: Margie and Chris Savoury

EX-Champion Boxer, Henry Cooper presented Thame student, Martin Gadd with a specially adapted wheelchair yesterday, at the start of a special Golf Day organised by the Comedians Golf Association.
Surrounded by his family, his girl friend, members of the Ellesborough Gold Club, dozens of comedians and other well-wishers, Martin was VIP for the day and was interviewed by Mix 96 and South Today’s Sejal Karia.
Gadget, as he is known to his friends, was obviously ‘chuffed to bits’ to meet Henry, and delighted with the genuine signed, Liverpool shirt and Comedians’ Golf Association cap.
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DESPITE reduced numbers at this year’s Thame Festival f

THAME fire officers were faced with a potentially dangerous situation when they were called to a fire in Morton, near Thame, early yesterday morning.
A shed, containing two gas cylinders, a log pile and an area of trees and fencing were on fire when two pumps from Thame arrived on the scene.
Thame Station Officer, Andy Ford, told ThameNews.Net: “Those cylinders posed a considerable danger but fortunately, we were able to locate them and safely remove them from the fire.
“Prior to our arrival, a fire extinguisher had exploded in the fire and the property owner showed us a metal French boule which had landed about 25 ft from the shed. This just highlights the danger of fires involving any cylinders.

THAME fire officers were involved in a dramatic rescue operation yesterday, when a horse became trapped up to its chest in mud.
This was the fourth time in around 18 months that Thame Fire Officers had been called to the field opposite the Esso Service Area in the Long Crendon Road, Thame, by members of the public concerned for the welfare of horses stranded in flood conditions.
Station Commander Andy Ford, told ThameNews.Net: “When we arrived on the scene, Mrs Carol Plater and another gentleman were trying to help the horse who had become stuck in the mud up to its chest on the river’s edge.
“Our concerns were for the welfare of the horse as he was distressed and could have been seriously hurt whilst desperately trying to get out, as could have his rescuers. We were able to help the horse, who was by this time extremely exhausted, using a length of fire hose slung behind his backside, and basically pulled until the horse could get his footing, after which he quite happily rejoined the other horse in the field.”
Although the rescue had a happy ending, Carol Plater is very concerned that these and other horses that have been left in the field over the last two or three years, are being neglected.
“Lots of people around Thame who use the Long Crendon Road, have noticed the horses and the wet conditions they are being kept in. That land is just not suitable for keeping horses in. The one that was pulled out of the river yesterday is lame in one of its back legs and the other one’s feet are in an appalling condition.
“The rescued horse looked as if he had just given up and was resting his head on the mud. If no one had noticed his plight he would almost certainly have died.
“A couple of years ago, the police and RSPCA officers were called when a group of shetland ponies became stranded on a tiny piece of land when the field flooded.
“The owner has been contacted but just doesn’t seem to care.”

Andy Ford said:”Apart from the welfare issues around these horses, my concern is that they could get stuck again and present a considerable risk to our crews. A heavy, distressed animal can be very unpredictable.”

NB This piece of land will be coming up for auction on June 24 – advertised as ‘suitable for development’. The reserve price is

MARTIN GADD, the Thame Student severely injured in a fall, is to receive a specially adapted wheel chair from one of his childhood heroes.
Henry Cooper will present ‘Gadget’, as he is known to his friends, with the