THAME Town Councillors will decide tomorrow whether or not to spend over
Category: Thame news
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Long Crendon Family Homeless After Arson Attack
POLICE are appealing for information about a serious arson attack on a house in the High Street, Long Crendon.
Just after 3AM on the morning of Monday, January 2, police were called to the house by the Bucks Fire Service.
It appears that the fire was started deliberately in a wheelie bin in the court yard and then spread to the house itself.
Police say that a number of other bins in the area had been set alight around the village on the same night and they are looking into the possibility that the fires were all linked. They are appealing for witnesses of any of the arson attacks to contact them.
Det Con Malcolm Wheeler, who is investigating the incident, said: “The fire which spread to the house was extremely serious. It is fortunate that the family living there were away at the time and no-one was injured. The end result could have been fatal for anyone who may have been inside the building at the time.
“The fire has caused a considerable amount of damage, so much so the occupants are unable to go back and have had to find somewhere else to stay.
“I am keen to hear from anyone with information about these fires and in particular anyone who saw people acting suspiciously around the house where the fire spread during the hours leading up to it.”Anyone with information about the fire should contact Det Con Wheeler at Aylesbury CID via the Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505. If you don’t want to talk to police and don’t want to leave your name call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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Historic Pub Destroyed By Fire
A popular, historic thatched pub near Thame, was severely damaged by fire yesterday, January 4.
Eight pumps, including two from Thame, were called to the fifteenth century, Rising Sun, in Worminghall Road, Ickford, around 1.45pm, to find diners and residents out in the street and a deep-seated fire in the thatch roof.
Station Officer Andy Ford told Thame.News: “Although at first this seemed to be a small fire in the roof, it quickly became apparent that, as with most thatch fires, the heat had spread throughout the roof. From then on our job became a damage limitation and salvage operation.”
The cause of the fire is not yet known but it was not thought to be started deliberately.Photo: The Rising Sun, Ickford, before the fire.
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Another Theft From Motorvehicle At TLC
DESPITE extensive warnings about leaving property in parked cars, yet another vehicle parked at the Thame Leisure Centre has been broken into.
On Tuesday, January 3, between 2.40 and 3.40 pm, the front passenger-side window of a vehicle was smashed and personal documents and a mobile phone stolen.
Police would like to hear from anyone who may have been in the area around the time of the offence, to contact them via the Police Enquiry Line 0845 8505505 or, anonymously on the Crime Stoppers number 0800 555111.Thame police say that there is currently a spate of vehicle damage in Wheatley, near Thame, the latest involving a vehicle parked in the High Street, on December 31, which was damaged between 6am and 8 am.
Anyone who has any information about this offence or any other similar incidents, can contact the above numbers. -
A Good Cuppa……By Nicholas Newman
TEA drinking in many households is an obsession, and getting a good cup sets people up for the rest of the day. Everyone drinks tea from Wallace and Gromit to the Prime Minister. The trouble is the art of making a good cup of tea is sadly being lost, as the number of American coffee bars has increased.
This is a pity for those of us leading stressful lives, since sitting down in a comfortable chair with a fine cup of tea, a good book and biscuits is an excellent way to relax, as Poirot would say, ?it helps those little grey cells.?You cannot get much more particular than the English can, when it comes to making a good cup of tea. The Japanese are fine at the ceremony, but despite the song and dance routine – their tea still tastes like dishwater. Everyone has his or her own formula, but increasingly many restaurants serving tea, seem to have forgotten, how to make a good cup of tea. Most seem to think you can treat making tea the same way you make a cup of coffee. They forget, there is an art to it, you cannot just plonk the tea in, pour some hot water, milk and sugar to taste, and expect a good result.
For those in search of a good cup of tea, here are a few tips. Firstly, use freshly drawn water, let the water run for a few seconds before you fill up your kettle. Always ensure that you have decaled your kettle regularly and that your teapot is clean. You might want to use filtered water if you live in an area of hard water, or even change your brand of tea to suit the water. It is also advisable to replace your kettle regularly, if you want to ensure you have a kettle that gets the water to the right temperature to make that perfect cup of tea.
Secondly, it is essential that you warm your teapot with some boiling hot water first, which you then pour away. Also always, use a traditional teapot, these metal ones always seem to fail to keep the water warm and add a metallic taste to your cuppa.
Thirdly, add as much tea as you desire, usually one teaspoon or bag per person, plus one more for luck into the teapot. When your kettle has boiled, pour in the boiling water and stir the water for a few seconds, and then cover the pot in a tea cosy and leave to brew, for at least five minutes.
Lastly, then there is the old age question of whether to pour the milk before the tea for some contend that putting the milk before the tea is a good way to ruin your cuppa. Always pour your tea from the pot in first, then stir in your sugar and finally add milk to taste. Get your partner or in Wallace?s case, his dog Gromit to make the tea; it always seems to taste better when made by someone else. Nevertheless, the best cup of tea I ever had was from a mess tin heated over a wood fire in the jungle with my mates on a trip across Borneo. Obviously, it depends upon the people and the circumstances.
As to my favourite brand, it is the difficult to get Gold Crown Foods ?Brooke Bond Choicest Blend Tea?, but if you would prefer locally grown tea, you could try Tregothnan Estates ?English Tea.?
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Phone Box Will Be Removed After Robbery
THE telephone kiosk at Churchill Crescent is to be removed by BT permanently, following a recent robbery involving the phone box.
British Telecom has said that the kiosk was seriously damaged to the extent that a repair would be extremely expensive and having completed an assessment of the area and the need for a payphone at this location, have decided to remove it.
The nearest alternative kiosk is on Chinnor Road at the Park Street Junction.
Thame Town Council, which is required to reply in writing to BT?s proposals giving any comments or objections received from the local community,will be considering the telephone company’s proposals at a meeting of the council’s Planning committee on January 10.
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Thousands Of New Homes Planned For Oxfordshire
OXFORDSHIRE County Council has recently announced where it plans to build thousands of new homes within the next 20 years.
Read
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Brill On Air
AS from today,December 30, www.brilloldies.com will be live, on air, until January 8, 2006.
The radio station, which won The Brill Society 2005 award for “Outstanding contribution to the amenities of the Parish of Brill”, plays vinyl classics from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.
Visit
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An Icy Adventure
THE Ice Hotel at Jukkusjarvi, near Kiruna, is both a work of art and a stunning wonder of architectural imagination, built completely of ice, in which I was fortunate enough to spend one, incredible night last weekend.
At this time of the year, when we are celebrating new birth and new beginnings, above the Artic Circle in Northern Sweden there is an awe-inspiring building that stands for just a few short months and then slowly melts into the river to be re-born every year.But this crystal wonder is not just a novelty for the adventure-seeking yuppy, though there were quite a few of them, but a place that inspires a spiritual awareness of the transience of things, both material (it?s easy for the Krona in your wallet to flow away in the ‘Absolut’ Ice Bar on warming vodka-based cocktails) and of nature itself.
For the harvesting of ice from the T -
Elderley Man Tricked Out of
THAME Police are appealing for witnesses following a theft from an elderly man in a Thame charity shop on Saturday, December 17.
Between 2.45pm and 3pm, a man stole a wallet from an 85-year-old man?s coat after asking him to try on another jacket in the Oxfam shop to see how it looked on.
The offender is described as being a white man, around 5ft 8ins tall, in his mid-twenties, slim, with short dark hair, a thin face and clean shaven. He was wearing glasses with small round dark lenses and a dark coloured suit.
PC Grant Howes, of Thame police station, said: “The offender spoke with a speech impediment that indicated he was deaf. I appeal to anyone who was in the Thame High Street on Saturday afternoon and saw a man of this description acting suspiciously to contact police.”
Anyone with information that could assist police inquiries is urged to contact PC Howes at Thame police station, via 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to speak to police and don?t want to leave your name contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.