Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • St Jo’s Record CD

    ST JOSEPH’S Catholic Church in Thame has recorded a
    CD which is due to be launched at a concert at the
    Catholic church on December 10.
    This is the third CD recorded by the Church choirs; the first two having been recorded by the Youth Choir in 1998 and 2000. This is the first recorded by the adult choir.
    Visit St Joseph’s Choir’s stall in the Buttermarket at the Big Thame Christmas Event on Friday eveining, for a preview.

  • All The Fun Of The Fayre

    EVERY picture tells a story and this one captured the excitement of the Christmas Fayre at Thame Rugby Club on Friday, which was attended by ‘Sting’, the Wasps mascot. The Zurich premiership Trophy was admired by visitors to what was a terrific evening that included lots of high quality goods and foods for sale.

  • Montesson Welcomes Thame Youth Ambassadors

    FOR the first time, members of Thame?s Youth Council joined a party of the town?s ?Twinners? when they visited our twin town of Montesson at the weekend, to take part in its Christmas market.
    Cllrs Rosie Morris and Hannah Gray travelled to Montesson with Thame Twinning Association?s Chairman, Nigel Champken-woods and his wife and were the guests of a Montesson family with youngsters of the a similar age to them.
    Hannah told ThameNews.Net: ?It was really interesting to see how similar and yet how different Thame is to Montesson. I particularly like the French style of breakfast ? I could certainly get used to eating pain au chocalat every morning!?
    Her friend and fellow Youth Councillor, Rosie Morris said: ?Visiting Montesson was a really good experience and I hope we will be allowed to go again. I certainly would encourage more young people from Thame to go.?

    MY PERSONAL IMPRESSION OF THE TRIP(Ed.)
    Having made our way through the horrendous Friday afternoon traffic of Paris after a good lunch in a little Bistro not far from the wonderful spectacle of the Galleries Lafayettes, the group I was travelling with headed off up the Champs Elys

  • Serious Fire In Park Terrace

    OVER 40 fire-fighters worked throughout the early hours and into the night on Friday, to bring a serious fire at a property in Park Terrace, Thame under control.
    Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service were called at 00:45, when the resident of the property was alerted by a neighbour (who had earlier discovered and extinguished a small chimney fire in his own property,) that a serious fire had broken out in the second floor loft extension.
    The fire severely damaged a bedroom and the roof of the semi detached property but no one was injured.

    Five appliances from Thame, Watlington, Haddenham & Oxford, along with specialist support vehicles from Woodstock, Oxford and Didcot attended the incident, working with breathing apparatus in eight teams, in extremely hot and arduous conditions. Also, The British Red Cross Fire & Emergency Support Unit assisted the occupier with salvage, providing warm clothing and support, and with insurance advise during the blaze.

    The incident was under control in just over two hours, but firefighters remained on the scene until 7.30am making the building safe and secure.

    Thame’s Station Commander, Andy Ford, told ThameNews.Net that prompt action by fire crews helped to confine the fire to the initial room and roof above and that the cause of the fire is under investigation, but is believed to be accidental.
    He said: “We would urge anyone using open fire to only burn well-seasoned and dry wood and to have their chimney swept before lighting the first fire of the season and once again during the season.”

    Everyone is urged to fit smoke detectors in their properties to ensure that, should a fire occur, it is identified in its early stages.

    Photo: A typical roof fire (For illustration purposes only)

  • Tragic Life Of Children Moves Amnesty Audience (Contributed by Margie Barbor)

    David Bull, the Executive Director of UNICEF UK, gave a disturbing and moving account of the lives of children living with AIDS, when he visited Thame’s local Amnesty group last Wednesday (23rd).
    David’s talk about Children’s rights was vividly brought to life by photographs from his personal visits to Mozambique, Cambodia, India and Nigeria and drew the following comments from members of the audience:

    “I was very moved by his description of life for many children, especially children living with Aids. When you hear of the difficulties of a girl orphaned by Aids, caring for her younger siblings, it really brings it home how trivial our problems are here in Thame,” said Chris Savory, an Amnesty supporter.

    “We were deeply saddened by David’s reporting on sweat shops in India where young children were never allowed to leave the room where they toiled, to prepare luxury goods for Western markets; this seemed an area where we could have some influence to eliminate such practices,” remarked Owen Davies, an active supporter of Amnesty International.

    Thame Amesty’s Chair, John Evans, thanked David Bull for his fascinating talk and many people stayed behind afterwards to carry on the discussion at a more personal level with him.

    To learn more of the Thame group’s campaigns, call John Evans on 01844 291424 or Owen Davies on 01844 214466

  • Thame Almost Hold League Leaders (By Bob Dixon)

    ON paper, top of the league Clevedon should have “blown away” Thame, who are in bottom position, in a match that should have taken place on Saturday, but was displaced by an Aylesbury match which had to take presidence.
    Clevedon won, but the young Thame team played well and the match could have gone either way.

    Although first half possession was fairly even, the visitors created more chances. The best chance of the first half fell to Clevedon?s Tom Jacobs who seemed to have got past goalkeeper Paul Searl before shooting, but Searl did brilliantly to recover and block Jacob’s goal-bound shot with his legs.
    The Seasiders however had most of the first half chances with the Clevedon goalkeeper not really tested.

    Whatever the Clevedon manager said at half time worked as they stepped up a gear, and forced three corners in the first five minutes after the restart. Thame somehow managed to prevent the visitors from scoring and started to create some chances of their own. The deadlock was broken however in the 68th minute, when a shot from Clevedon brought a superb block from the Searl. But the impressive Jack Pitcher nipped in between defenders to score from close range.
    The ball was in the back of the Thame net five minutes later when Hapgood pounced on another Searl block but his effort was disallowed.

    With 15 minutes to play, United pushed forward and created some good moves. John Mitchell almost equalised from a Mark Boland cross but a Clevedon defender parried his close range header. Thame pressed hard but it was Clevedon who took the three points.

    Thame United 0, Clevedon Town 1

    Thame United: Searl, Lane, Joyce (Boland), Rhodes, Hocking, Groves (Kitson), Moore (Caldwell-Smith), Fisher, Mitchell, Spencer, Freeman

  • Birthday Bookshop Thanks Donors

    AFTER selling almost a quarter of a million items in five years of trading, Thame’s Oxfam Bookshop is celebrating its fifth birthday on December 3.
    Manager Dick Jennens, said: “Oxfam would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of our supporters, including donors who have given thousands of books, CDs, DVDs and videos, and given generously when there has been an emergency somewhere in the world.
    “Thanks to our volunteers, past and present, who have given freely of their time to sort, price and sell thousands of donations. As a result of all this generosity, the Oxfam Bookshop has been able to pass to Oxfam a sum approaching half a million pounds. This will really help Oxfam to work with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering. Together we really can Make Poverty History.”

    During the past five years, the oldest book they have sold was a Bible published in 1657 by the precursor of the OUP, and sold to the Bodlein library; the most valuable was a first edition of ‘Rebecca’ which sold for

  • Free Christmas Card Delivery

    ONCE again, Thame Scouts are offering a FREE Christmas card delivery service around Thame and Moreton, for the elderly and disabled.
    All cards for posting, complete with name and full address of recipient, should be taken to the One Stop Shop at the town hall no later than. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9TH.

  • Search For A Thame Howland

    A CORRESPONDENT to ThameNews.Net, researching his family tree, would be interested to hear from any members of the Howland family, living in the Thame area or anyone else who may have any relevant information.
    Here are the details Mr Andrew Leitch has sent us:

    Harry Howland, Royal Garrison Artillery, 47th Seige Battery.
    Gunner, enlistment number 111402
    Died 4/10/1917 at Ypres.

    Mr Leitch writes: “Whilst I believe that he came from Thame, I’ve been unable to definitely identify any relatives of his yet. As indicated, and this remains a long shot for now, I may be distantly related to him and am interested in any information that locals may have regarding Harry.
    I’ve visited his grave. It’s near Ypres, is well kept and in a beautiful location. Regretfully from a military point of view, his opponents seem to have held the higher ground.

  • Haddenham News

    TRAVELLERS can now wait for their train in comfort at Haddenham and Thame Parkway station, as the new extension ? containing heated waiting room, with tables and chairs, and uni-sex toilet with disabled access ? is now open.
    If you don?t have time for breakfast before leaving home, you can buy coffee and freshly baked pastries at the coffee bar (open 5.45am-2pm).

    AN EVENT of interest to owners of old cottages and houses is being held at the King?s Head, Aylesbury, on Sunday, November 27th, 12noon and 4.30pm.
    All about the Maintenance of Old Houses, the sessions will be entitled ?An Introduction to Traditional Repair and Conservation of Old Buildings and Cottages?. The course is being organised by the regional co-ordinator of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings as part of the society?s National Maintenance Week.