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  • Football Youngsters Get Wrapped Up !

    YOUNG Thame footballers taking part in an Oxford United training session today, stretched the Thame giant scarf all the way round the sports hall at the Thame Leisure Centre – all 460 ft of it.
    The session was part of three 10 week coaching session led by two of United’s professional coaches, Steve Cutts and Chris Williams for 5 – 10 year-old boys and girls.
    The picture will feature on Oxford United’s website and in a future match programme, in an effort to help find an owner for the monster muffler who will donate to the Mayor of Thame’s charities, the Thame Community car and the Dovecote Day Centre for people with dimentia.

  • Criminal Damage In Thame Car Park

    THAME police are appealing for information following criminal damage to three vehicles in the Co-op car park.
    Sometime between 6pm on Friday, April 15 and 9am the next morning, door mirrors were broken off the vehicles and deep scratches scored in their paintwork.
    Any witnesses are asked to contact the police via the Enquiry line 08458 505505, or Crime Stoppers anonymously 0800 555111.

  • New Indoor Play Centre Coming To Thame

    A new Play Centre for children of all ages is expected to be up and running in Thame by the October half-term holidays.
    The centre, to be called Whizz Kidz, will be run by Stephen and Anna Ballard and though mostly a soft-play type facility for younger children, it is planned to include facilities for teenagers like Playstations and table football. The centre will be in Dormer Road on the Thame Trading Estate and will include a cafe area.

  • Oxon Town Chambers and Business Groups Join Forces

    A powerful new Network to connect and promote the county?s Town Chambers and similar business groups has been launched.

    The Oxfordshire Town Chambers Network aims to promote its member groups and help them share ideas and experience of the work each of them is doing in towns across the county.

    The Network has contacted groups in: Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester, Burford, Carterton, Chipping Norton, Didcot, Faringdon, Henley, Kidlington, Oxford, THAME, Wallingford, Wantage, Watlington, Witney, Woodstock. Eleven groups, with 705 members between them, have already agreed to join the Network.

    It has been launched with a web portal to promote the Network, its member organisations and their websites at www.oxfordshiretownchambersnetwork.co.uk or www.otcn.co.uk.

    One of the founder members of the Network, John Naish, says: ?Across Oxfordshire, Chambers and similar business groups, all involving volunteers, are doing excellent work promoting their towns, and the businesses in them. They are also involved in a wealth of valuable work from lobbying decision-makers to supporting activities like CCTV, Shopwatch, Xmas Lights, local schools, and running networking events for their member businesses.

    ?What?s been lacking in Oxfordshire is an effective way to link these organisations together, to help them share their experiences and learn from the way their colleagues in other towns are tackling key issues. The Oxfordshire Town Chambers Network puts that right.?

    The Network aims to help its member organisations:
    ? To share ideas and best practice
    ? To share experience of common issues that local Chambers and similar groups are tackling in their towns in Oxfordshire
    ? To develop a web portal as a focal point for the activities of the Network members, linked to the websites of those Chambers or business groups that have their own
    ? To promote the principle of Town Chambers and similar business groupings
    ? To promote within the Network, the activities of each of the member groups
    ? To engage members of these groups in a more cohesive way in lobbying local authorities and other decision makers.

    David Simpson, Chairman of Bicester & District Chamber of Commerce, says: ?I do believe that there are many benefits to be gained by developing such a Network. The most obvious being an exchange of ideas and experiences of what each group does. There is also the wider issue of being able to truly represent our member organisations and their members in Oxfordshire, at a county and regional level.?

    A number of Oxfordshire businesses and organisations have also agreed to support or work with the Network. Business Link Partnership Manager, Philip Wootton, says: ?I very much welcome this Network as a positive step to link the Town Chambers and other business groups in Oxfordshire.?

  • Thame United Plans Turned Down

    THAME United Football Club have had a planning application to use part of a field along Chinner Road to form two football pitches, turned down.
    The new site, at Blackditch Farm, Chinnor Road Thame, would have included a car parking area and the formation of a new access point for vehicles on to the Chinnor Road.
    On refusing the application, South Oxfordshire District Council stated:
    “The proposals are contrary to policies G1, G5, C1, C6 and R4 of the Adopted South Oxfordshire Local Plan and to policies G2, G4, C1, C4, R1 and R4 of the South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2011, Second Deposit Draft (September 2003). The site lies in an open green area which makes an important contribution to the landscape setting of Thame. The proposals, which include the removal of hedging, extensive access and footway works and the provision of a car park on the frontage of the site, would detract significantly from the rural character and appearance of the area and the landscape setting of the town.”

  • Chinnor Under 7s Wasps ‘Best Ever’

    CHINNOR U7’s competed in the Wasps community TAG Rugby Challenge, with the two top sides playing in a exhibition match on the Causeway Stadium, before
    the London Wasps 1st XV v Worcester Warriors 1st XV match.
    The Best display by a Chinnor U7’s squad I have ever seen. Chinnor RFC U7’s went to Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College to play in the London
    Wasps TAG Challenge and through some of the best defensive games, I have seen, managed to continually force the turn over, regardless of who the opposition was. The turn overs were then converted, in fine form, leaving the opposition questioning where we were from, we ended the day winning the over all competition in some style, participating in a showcase match on the Causeway stadium pitch against Worcester.
    Worcester were so impressed with Chinnor’s RFC’s standards they have asked for further fixtures in the future; they went as far as presenting us with the clubs medal.
    The squad comprised of Jack Aston, Jack Hill, Oliver Ratcliffe, Joseph Wilson, George Ayres, Daniel Pearce, Tom Evans, Josh Edwards, Alex Leech, Nathaniel Armstrong & Alex Beveridge: All of them played out of their skins and were focused on the task and ended a perfect day exhausted but with smiles on their faces.

    Results;

    Game 1 – Worcester A (3) 15 v Chinnor (5) 25 (Alex Beveridge, Daniel Pearce, Tom Evans & Alex Leech x 2 )
    Game 2 – Worcester B (3) 15 v Chinnor (5) 25 (Nathaniel Armstrong, Tom Evans x 2 & Jack Aston x 2 )
    Game 3 – Drifters (2) 10 v Chinnor (4) 20 (Josh Edwards, Oliver Ratcliffe, George Ayres & Jack Aston)
    Game 4 – Windsor (1) 5 v Chinnor (2) 10 (Jack Aston & Tom Evans)
    Game 5 – Staines (4) 20 v Chinnor (3) 15 (Jack Hill & Jack Aston x 2 )

    THE EXHIBITION MATCH: Worcester B 20 – Chinnor 15
    (Tries for: Alex Leech, Nathaniel Armstrong and Jack Aston).

    Final Standings:

    Won Drew Lost Points
    Chinnor : 4 0 2 8
    Worcester B : 3 2 0 8
    Drifters : 2 1 2 5
    Staines 2 0 3 4
    Windsor 1 2 2 4
    Worcester A 1 1 3 3

    Contributed By: David Ratcliffe

  • Montesson Visitors Ride The Trail

    VISITORS to Thame from its twin French town of Montesson, have experienced one of the town’s most popular amenities.
    As part of a weekend of shared activities, including a coach trip to the picturesque Cotswold village of Bourton-On-The-Water, some of the French visitors joined their hosts for a cycle ride along the Phoenix Trail, in the sunshine of Sunday morning.
    Using borrowed bikes, the group set off from the Morton Lane crossing of the Trail, and cycled as far as Henton Crossing, stopping to learn about the sculptures along the way. Some of them enjoyed a pint of English beer in the garden of the Three Horse Shoes, in Towersey, on the return journey.
    The Mayor of Montesson, Jean-francoise Bel, and his deputy, attended the Mayor’s Civic ball at the Spread Eagle, on Saturday evening.
    During a farewell lunch at Thame town hall on Sunday afternoon, Thame’s Mayor, David Dodds, bravely spoke in French when he thanked the Thame host families who acccommodated the French, and wished for the continuation of the conviviality and developing relationship between Montesson and Thame.
    Didier Bruzet, the Chair of Montesson’s Twinning committee, presented special diplomas to the eight Thame cyclists who cycled from Thame to Montesson over a period of three days, last September.
    Members of Thame’s Twinning Association will be returning to stay in Montesson in September this year.
    Information about Thame and District Twinning Association can be found on its website: http://www.thametwinning.org.uk/

    Photograph: Cyclists from Thame and Montesson ‘take a breather’ by the Red Kite Seat, one of the sculptures along the Phoenix Trail.

  • Free Invitation To Local Businesses

    WATERSTOCK House Training Centre, near Thame, will be holding an open lunch and networking event on Thursday, May 12.
    This will be a great opportunity to visit and sample the standard of catering in this local venue for business meetings: see www.Thame.net, and click on ‘Venues’.
    Enjoy a delicious lunch and meet your colleagues. Invitations have been sent to all Thame businesses, and many based in Oxford.

    Free: RSVP hmw@waterstock.fsworld.co.uk

  • Thame Runners’ Marathon Successes

    ONCE again, Thame men and women were well represented in the London Marathon held yesterday, among them Andrew Woods, who managed a personal best time of 3 hrs 59 mins and raised around

  • UK Receiving Polital Education Via SMS! By Nicholas Newman

    BRITISH voters are forming political opinions and making voting decisions for the forthcoming general election using SMS.
    Text-messaging service 82ASK, which aims to answer just about any question, on any subject, has seen a 61 per cent rise in questions about policies, political views, how to vote and Conservatives? beards, since the election was confirmed.
    Questions vary greatly but the majority, 35 per cent, have been about who is going to win the general election, followed by specific party policies such as health and public transport, amongst others, at 20 per cent. Questions about the election also figure highly at 14 per cent, and these include examples such as: ?How do I apply for a postal vote in the general election?; Can people from Gibraltar vote in the UK elections? and ?Is there a spending limit for election campaigns?
    A significant amount of ?Tony trivia? has already been asked. For example, ?What is Tony Blair?s annual salary? What is Tony Blair?s Disney nickname? What is Tony Blair?s inside leg measurement?6), ?How long have Tony Blair and Cherie been married?What is Tony Blair?s favourite TV programme? and ?Who would win a street fight between Tony Blair and George Bush? Other trivia has also intrigued people with questions arising such as: ?Which recent Conservative MPs have beards? and, What percentage of Prime Ministers went to Oxford or Cambridge
    University?
    With a wealth of voting options to choose from, the majority of the great British public is having to make decisions on a range of different political views and policies, as well as get on with its own life. Many people don?t want a political lecture in answer to a question, or to seem uninformed on the big issues, or simply need back up when involved in political discussions in the pub and have been using 82ASK to gain information.
    Politics is a particularly challenging subject for first-time voters, the biggest users of text. A recent YouGov survey (March 2005) found that half of the young people (aged 18-24) surveyed claimed not to know what a constituency was. However, 74 per cent professed to be interested in public affairs.
    Sarah McVittie at 82ASK said: ?So many people feel that they should be more informed about politics, or feel that they don?t really know what they are voting for. SMS enables them to get information in a summarised fashion, which they can use to form their decisions or will help guide them to seek further information.

    ?We expect significant rises in the number of questions asked as we move towards the election and our researchers are gearing up in order that we can
    help drive up the number of people voting at the election.?