Category: More News

IN reply to yesterday’s letter from Friends of The Earth’s Maureen Dyrof, we have today received this email:
Dear Editor

Sadly Friends of the Earth’s letter repeats the false information in Al Gore’s tedious film in seeking, as he did, to blame natural events on us.

The recent increase in hurricanes is due to a cycle of ebb and flow in intensity which has been identified stretching back at least three hundred years and certainly not due to any activity of man. Some ice shelves are melting, but some are not, also a cyclic event.

Our climate has certainly been warming since 1970 – but from 1940 to 1970 it got colder. In 1974 the papers were full of dire warnings that a new Ice Age was upon us.

In the mid 1800s the ice on rivers was so thick that fairs and markets regularly took place on it. In 1100 our climate was warmer than it is now – when there were no 4X4s at all.

Even if going without motorcars or destroying our landscape the world’s landscape with windfarms would influence the weather, it would only do so if the rest of the world put on the hair shirts with us. They have far too much commonsense for that.

Friends of the Earth’s prophecies that we are all doomed unless we go back to living in unheated caves making our own sandals are not only arrogant – because in effect they claim that Man controls the climate – but much more importantly because in suggesting that all we need to do is reduce our standard of living, buy Green Power and recycle plastic bags they divert attention from what really needs to be done.

We need to separate the fact that the globe is warming from the “climate change” hysteria which blames it all on us (despite far larger temperature fluctuations before man was on earth at all) and consider what practical steps we can take to prepare for a warmer world.

It is, however, also worth remembering that at the peak of the “next Ice Age” hysteria in the 1970s the world began to warm up again. More than likely at the peak of this “climate change” hysteria it will start to get cooler again all buy itself.

Michael Tyce

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK. EMAIL – editor@thamenews.net

BORIS Johnson, MP, who is the Shadow Minister for Higher Education, will be visiting the Thomley Activity Centre, near Thame.
Boris will visit the centre, at Worminghall, between 2pm and 3pm, taking a tour of the site and then, with the help of some Thomley children, joining in one of the art and craft activities.

Photo: Visitors to a previous Activity day at Thomley Activity Centre, try their hand and paper craft.

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has awarded funds to the village of Little Milton, near Thame, to enable the community to create its own shop and post office.
The council has awarded

THE People?s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is seeking local volunteers to help both locate and survey traditional orchards in their areas.
Traditional orchards were previously a common feature of our British landscape however they have since become neglected or replaced in favour of development and modern agricultural techniques.

Traditional orchards can be recognised by widely spaced, standard sized trees and are often grazed using sheep or cattle. They are managed in a low intensive way without the input of pesticides and herbicides.

These orchards are known to be hotspots of biodiversity and support a wide range of wildlife including many species which are nationally rare or scarce. In particular old fruit trees are of key importance to the elusive Noble Chafer beetle, which is one of the UK?s most endangered beetles and has declined over the last century, predominantly as a result of loss of habitat.

Anita Burrough, Orchard Officer for PTES says ?Help us learn more about these amazing, species rich, orchards habitats which have been part of our cultural heritage for hundreds of years – finding out their location is just the start!?

PTES are also appealing for owners and managers of orchards and land with old fruit trees to contact them and become involved in the project.

Information packs will be provided for all participants. To get involved or request further information please contact Anita Burrough, PTES Orchard Project officer by email on anita@ptes.org, or by phone on 020 7498 4533.

ONE of Thame’s MEPs, Dr Caroline Lucas, could become the UK’s first Green MP, if she is successful in the next General Election, which could come sooner rather than later if Gordon Brown decides to go for a snap General Election to capitalise on his current high ratings in the polls.
Caroline Lucas, who has been the Green Party MEP for South-East England since 1999, has been chosen in a ballot of party members in Brighton to be the Greens? official candidate to contest the Brighton Pavilion constituency in the next general election.

Caroline was the first Green Party member of Oxfordshire County Council, and worked for a development charity.

She currently sits on the Climate change, Environment and International Trade committees in the European Parliament, and is vice-president of the Parliament?s influential cross-party group on animal welfare.

She is Vice-President of the RSPCA, a matron of the Women?s Environmental Network, a member of the decision-making National Council of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and a board member of the International Forum on Globalisation.

A WEDDING invitation is the perfect way to set the mood and style of your day as it?s the first thing your guests see.

Many couples are now choosing to make their own wedding stationery to add that personal touch to their special day. However for some people who have no experience in paper crafts this can be a bit of a challenge!

Oxfordshire based wedding coordinator Vickie Cook of Weddings By Vickie Ltd faced this challenge with one of her clients who is getting married this year. Laura wanted to create some very special stationery which coordinated with her pink colour scheme but didn?t know where to start.

Vickie partnered with scrapbooking centre A Maze of Memories Ltd and together planned a way of helping couples to create their own designs with all the equipment and expertise on hand when they need it.

Christina and co-owner Jan at A Maze of Memories Ltd created some sample ideas for invitations based on Laura?s colour scheme and then spent some time working with Laura to create the perfect design. Laura then arranged two evenings for some of her family and friends to join her at the centre for a ?stationery workshop? where they made 120 invitations and 240 RSVP and reply cards!

The finished results were fantastic and Laura said ?I really enjoyed the workshops with my friends and family at ?A Maze of Memories?. We took over a few bottles of wine and really enjoyed ourselves! I have now sent all of my invites out and have had so many comments on how lovely and original they are! Not only that ? the final cost of making the invites was a lot lower than buying invites from a shop! I even took my fianc

PARENTS in Oxfordshire are to be offered full-time education for their four year olds earlier, thanks to a decision taken today by Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet.
Schools in the county are currently funded to offer half-time places for children from the September after their fourth birthday until the term after their fifth birthday. However many schools take children full-time earlier.
The current position of deferring admission arrangements generates an increasing number of complaints from parents.
Oxfordshire County Council has today allowed parents extended choice by approving the availability of full-time admission for all reception class aged children. At the same officers have been instructed to work with the private and voluntary sectors to make sure that they are not disadvantaged by the changes.

Councillor Michael Waine, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement, said: “I am delighted that we are now going to be able to offer consistency of provision across the county in our primary schools. This decision represents a significant move to assuring quality of provision by remvoing the need for short-term and part-time appointments.

“Parents will now have the same choice that exists in other parts of the country as well as still being able to use private, voluntary and independent nurseries and pre-schools. The decision was taken after a full consultation process with parents, schools and private, voluntary and independent sector nurseries.”

Councillor John Howell, Cabinet Member with responsibility for South Oxfordshire, has many private and voluntary sector early years education providers in the part of the county that he represents. He said: “I wanted to make sure that there would be safeguards so that this change did not disadvantage private and voluntary sector organisations. There are now mechanisms in place so that the money for a child’s earliest period of education follows the child and gives the parents the choice as to where that education should take place.
“There are many private and voluntary providers in my part of the county but the countywide number is higher than the national average.”

THAME police would like to hear from anyone with information about the following vehcicles crimes in the area over the last week or so:
09/07/2007 theft from motor vehicle Oxford services welcome break ? 17.45 ? 18.15; The attacked vehicle was left unattended in the car park at the service station area and offenders have smashed the rear tailgate window and stolen items from the car.

10/07/2007 theft of motor vehicle The Green, Great Milton 15.10 ? 15.13 the vehicle was an open topped, pick up truck.

12/07/2007 theft of motor vehicle High Street, Wheatley. Between 22.10 ? 22.13 The aggrieved left the black mitsubishi pick up vehicle insecure and unattended for a short while and the vehicle was stolen.

12/07/2007 theft of motor vehicle Hill Road Lewknor ? 05.20 ? 1500 the vehicle was parked unattended in Hill Road, close to the Junction 6 of the M40. When the aggrieved returned form London his vehicle had been stolen.

15/07/2007 Theft ? Montrose Way Thame ? 00.30 ? 08.30 ? between material times a trailer was stolen from the private car park.

Anyone who has information about any of the above, can contact the police on: 0845 850 5505

POLICE working from High Wycombe area are trying to identify the whereabouts of a grey BMW saloon motor vehicle (3 series), which has extensive offside damage. The vehicle has been associated with a number of burglaries and the users have travelled extensively.
The vehicle may be bearing false plates index AF07RXP.

Note: The genuine owner of the original, undamaged, BMW issued with this index number is still in possession of their vehicle.

If the whereabouts of this damaged BMW is known, please contact the Operational office on 01494 686100 for PC Tom Chalk or one his colleagues.

If you have any information about the above message that is of an urgent nature please contact our police enquiry centre on 0845 8 505 505 and state you are responding to this Ringmaster message.

A SPECIAL race night was held on Saturday night to remember Nathan Matthews who drowned in Thame’s Jubilee pool, three years ago.
ED. It is understood that an inquest into Nathan’s death will be held in December.

SEE report from Buck Free Press:
Link