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Category: Thame news

  • Historic Listing For Thame Landmark Turned Down

    A request for the Essex House Hotel on the outskirts of Thame to be made a Listed building, has been rejected by English Heritage.
    Thame Town Council applied for the building to be Listed following the submission of a planning application to demolish it and build two blocks of 12 flats each, in its place. See Link
     for original report of the Planning meeting.
    In its reply to the town council, English Heritage stated that the building “…..is not of special architectural or historic interest and should not be listed.”
    The reasons give are: that the building appears to be mid-Victorian and was put forward for listing because there are current plans for the redevelopment of the site; that the building is red brick, two-storey, with dormers in the roof space. It has been extended and undergone alterations in connection with its hotel use; that the building lacks any architectural detailing or innovation in form that would make it of special interest.

    The letter concludes that although the building may be of local interest, it has been too altered and lacks sufficient architectural or historic interest, in the national context, to merit listing.

    At a meeting of the town council’s planning committee last Tuesday, March 7, Cllr David Dodds said that English Heritage “fails to recognise the importance of the building in its historical context, first being The Railway Hotel, and the important aspect of the building in the street scene.”
    Cllr Beatrice Dobie added that Essex House marks the Victorian boundary of the town.

    The committee agreed to appeal to Tessa Jowell at the Dept For Culture, Media and Sport, to re-consider English Heritage’s decision and for the row of old railway workers’ cottages in Bridge Terrace adjacent to the hotel, to be included in the Listing.

  • Thame Rejects Health Changes

    THAME town hall was packed to capacity on Monday evening, for a public meeting to discuss proposed changes in local health care provision.
    Chaired by Olga Senior of the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority, the meeting was part of three consultations on the future shape and size of Primary Care Trusts, Ambulance Trusts and the Strategic Health Authority in Thames Valley.
    The TVSHA says that it is: ?.. seeking the views of patients and the public on how many organisations there needs to be in the Thames Valley to ensure the good quality healthcare is available to all and that the consultation is part of a national plan to streamline management within the NHS and bring healthcare decisions closer to patients.?

    Currently, the NHS locally is run by one SHA covering Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, with 15 PCTs that decide how the money is spent locally. Thame?s health care provision is overseen by the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust, within which Thame doctors, Chinnor doctors and Haddenham doctors, all work together. The main proposed change is to reduce the number of PCTs and for them to work within county boundaries.
    Across the country, the NHS is looking at ways it can become more efficient by cutting management and bureucracy and redirecting the money saved into patient care, in this case,

  • CAB Accommodation Assurance

    ASSURANCES have been issued today that Thame’s Citizens Advice Bureau is secure in the Market House building, for the foreseeable future.
    Concerns were raised after it was reported on this website that the CAB had been issued with notice to vacate the building by its landlord, South Oxfordshire District Council.
    Peter Todd, Chairman of the CAB’s Trustees, told ThameNews.Net today: “The Thame CAB was never formally requested to leave the Market House. Discussions are currently underway with both SODC and Thame Town Council and I am happy that everything is being done to secure the bureau’s accommodation in Thame.”

    ED. ThameNews.Net does NOT print unsubstantiated material and I was satisfied that the confirmation of our information at the time of reporting, was made by a creditable source, and still are.
    Happily, Peter Todd’s comments today will bring relief to many local people who feared the loss of our CAB.

    Photo: Peter Todd Courtesy of Thame Witchert Rotary web site

  • Thame Area Features In TV Mystery This Sunday

    THE episode of Midsommer Murders that was filmed in Thame town centre and Haddenham last Summer, is to be screened this Sunday, March 5.
    The episode is called ‘Vixen’s Run’ and features several scenes that include shops fronts in the Buttermarket and Cornmarket (the Oxfam bookshop), and others that were filmed in the Spread Eagle, which was re-named The Swan for the purposes of the drama.
    A Salsa dancing scene was filmed in the hotel’s Fothergills Brasserie, and a bedroom scene in the hotel’s Bridgehead Wing.

    Part of the episode was filmed at Fort End, Haddenham last July, at Dove Cottage, in the High Street, and another at estate agent, Christopher Pallet’s former Stockwell premises, which were converted into a funeral parlour.
    The episode will be shown on ITV on Sunday evening, March 5, and in it, John Nettles (Inspector Barnaby) plays alongside Sian Phillips and Joss Ackland.

  • Statement From Thame Day Centre Trustees

    THAME and District Day Centre meets at Thame Community Hospital on three days a week and is much valued by everyone involved.
    For more than two years now, since the top floor of the hospital was closed to patients on safety grounds, the Centre’s Trustees have been aware that there have been many question marks over the future of the building and the site.
    We know that a number of schemes have been considered. If the current campaign to keep the hospital’s administration within the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust implies a secure future for our Community Hospital, then a clear statement to that effect from the PCT would be most valuable, especially if it is available for the public meeting at Thame Town Hall on March 6.

    Norman Brand, Secretary to the Trustees, Thame and District Day Centre.

  • Council’s Website Wins Award

    THAME Town Council’s website has been chosen for an award as ‘The most representative Home Page Link’.
    At a ceremony during Tuesday evening’s Council meeting, the Mayor, Cllr David Laver, received a cheque for

  • Nuisance Motorcyle Seizure Warning

    FOLLOWING a recent spate of young motorcyclists causing a nuisance off the public highway recently, a youth has been issued with an official warning by Thame police.
    A ‘Section 59’ notice, which addresses anti-social use of motor vehicles, can be issued where a motor vehicle is judged to be being used in a manner likely to cause “alarm, distrss or annoyance.”
    If the receiver of the warning offends again, or someone else uses the same vehicle in the same, anti-social way, the police have the power to seize and remove the vehicle and charge

  • Weekend Of Car Crime

    THAME Police are appealing for information, after five vehicles were attacked in Thame over the weekend.
    Four cars parked in Elms Road and Nelson Street had wing mirrors pushed or kicked off, sometime between Friday, February 24 – 26, whilst a fifth vehicle parked in Horton Avenue, was attacked between 10.30pm on the February 24 (Friday) and 7am on Saturday, 25th. Offenders threw a brick through the rear windscreen.
    Anyone with information is asked to contact Thame Police via 08458 505 505, Crimestoppers (anonymously) on 0800 555111.
    Thame’s Crime Prevention Officer, Lesley Nesbitt, said:”This sort of crime is opportunish and therefore one of the most difficult to detect. We really do need anyone who knows anything about these incidents to come forward.”

  • A Personal View Of Valencia – By Sophia Jay

    SITTING at a shaded pavement cafe sipping Valencia Water (a dangerously drinkable cocktail of freshly squeezed orange juice, cava and Vodka) you could be forgiven for believing yourself on the other side of the planet from the tourist trampled beach resorts of Benidorm, Alicante and Torrevieja.
    Yet it is resorts such as these that draw over 4.5 million tourists (many of them Brits) to the Comunidad Valenciana each year, making it Spain?s most visited region. The vast majority of these visitors cling to the coast like limpets unaware of the gems that this beautiful and diverse region has to offer.
    Founded in 138 AD by a group of weary Roman legionaries who were granted prime land beside the Rio Turia to build a retirement community, Valencia now has a population of over 750,000 making it Spain’s third largest city. Like most European cities it consists of a hotchpotch of buildings that have grown up over the centuries many of which, including the cathedral and the neoclassical post office, are ornate and exquisitely beautiful. The cathedral?s 230ft bell tower is well worth the climb – especially in the evening when the city is bathed in rich golden sunlight, but Valencians are relaxed about opening hours to say the least so it?s best to do your homework beforehand. My friend and I finally made it to the top on our third attempt.
    Valencia?s attractions are too numerous to list, but the biggest crowd puller is the Ciudad De Las Artes Y De Las Ciencias (The city of arts and sciences) which occupies a huge swathe of the old Turia riverbed south east of the city centre. Looking rather like a cross between an armadillo and Darth Vader?s hat, the daring 21st century museum, designed by home town boy Santiago Calatrava, covers 3,770,000 sq ft, making it Europe?s largest urban complex. Still under construction, Valencia?s showpiece also boasts an IMAX cinema and a laser show, and is worth a visit if only to ogle the distinctive architecture of Senor Calatrava, who rose from an undistinguished Valencian suburb to become one of the world?s leading cutting edge architects. Currently on his drawing board are the Milwaukee Art Museum on the shores of Lake Michigan and the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, California.
    If the glare from the gleaming white buildings becomes too much, the city?s slightly bohemian Barrio del Carmen district is well worth a stroll, as is El Mercat where our backpackers Home Lonja is located. Cosy, cheap, fun, friendly and extremely orange – I cannot recommend this place enough.
    Oranges of course are very big business in the Valencia region. If you bite into an orange anywhere in western Europe there is a fair chance it was grown here. As soon as you leave the city, which I recommend everybody does at least once, you will not be able to miss the groves which produce 70% of the country?s oranges, most of which are exported. The abundant freshly squeezed orange juice is unreal. Perhaps the city?s biggest claim to fame however, is that it is the home of paella, and anyone wanting to sample this Spanish speciality is spoilt for choice. Paella is traditionally made with chicken and rabbit (usually on the bone) and snails or seafood, but I was relieved to find a veggie option laid on for the more discerning (squeamish) traveller.
    Outside the city the forested mountains give way to ancient towns and villages just begging to be explored. We took a train through the beautiful rust coloured winelands to Requina, a bustling commercial centre from which rises a walled city that was established by the Moors in the eighth century. The city?s ancient allyways, which shoot off in every direction, hiding medieval churches with exquisitely carved doorways are an explorer?s dream. What makes the place all the more enchanting is that although not untouched by tourism, these streets are inhabited by ordinary people who gossip in doorways whilst their washing flutters in the warm breeze.
    Finally to take in the good, the bad and the ugly, we took a trip to Benidorm. I went with an open mind. No I did. But in spite of the pretty mountains that line the Costa Blanca, this British family favourite (think Clapham Junction on sea with more concrete towerblocks) never failed to shock and appal. When we missed the first bus out of the neon nightmare I was actually quite scared.
    There is no denying that the Comunidad Valenciana?s hours of scorching sunshine make it a beach lovers paradise. But stray from the coast and I can assure you will not be disappointed.

  • Local Shop Features In Food Guide

    AS TV chef, Phil Vickery is urging people in Oxfordshire to buy local, a Thame food shop is featured in the new Food Guide 2006.
    Local Tastes, in the Buttermarket, Thame, only sell produce sourced from within a 30 mile radius of the store and was the winner of the much coveted 2005 ‘Taste of the South East’ award.
    See their website at: www.localtastes.co.uk

    The Food Guide features 126 people growing, rearing, processing and selling local food in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and neighbouring areas.

    Phil Vickery says in the foreword: ?My mission is to urge all chefs, cooks, tea shop owners and caterers to look for locally produced food that has a real flavour and taste. The French, Spanish, Italians and Portuguese love their local food heroes, it?s about time we did the same.?

    Oxfordshire County Council is one of the local authorities to help fund and back the Food Guide. It is now available from Farmers? Markets, shops, pubs, restaurants, public libraries, council offices. They are also available from the Berks, Bucks, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire Food Groups that co-ordinate the Food Guide.

    The guide will be launched at the Oxford Farmers Market, Gloucester Green, on Thursday March 2 at 11.15am.

    Cllr Roger Belson, Oxfordshire County Council?s Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: ?Buying local food that has not travelled for miles tastes better and is more environmentally friendly.

    ?The phrase ?food miles? refers to the distance and the amount of fuel that has had to be used to get foodstuffs into our supermarkets. There are few ?food miles? for local food. I urge everyone in Oxfordshire to have a close look at the delicious local food that is on sale on their own doorsteps.?