CHINNOR delivered another superb performance on Saturday, to claim a bonus-point victory and extend their unbeaten run on the road to six games.
The Thame-based side scored six tries to beat Rotherham Titans 42-24 in blustery conditions. a victory that has helped them to further close the gap to the teams above them in National League One, and they are now only four points behind second-placed Rosslyn Park.
With the wind at their backs, Chinnor were dominant from the first whistle and opened up a 28-point lead after 29 minutes. Penalties were costing Titans, who had both Tom Benjamin and Dan Preston-Routledge sin-binned, before conceding a penalty try. Jason Worrall, Nick Selway and Kieran Goss then also crossed for Chinnor, Laurence May converting.
Rotherham hit back through Benjamin’s unconverted effort, but Chinnor went on to score a sensational try which saw them go from one end of the field to the other. May played out on his own five-metre line and Will Harries galloped through a gap and to the half-way line before sending Worrall racing over. May converted to make it 35-5 at the break.
Two tries in three minutes from Connor Dever and Ben Robbins, Sam Hollingsworth converting once, cut Chinnor’s lead. But the visitors scored their sixth try when Matt Marley forced his way over on 67 minutes, May adding the extras.
Titans picked up a consolatory four-try bonus point in the last play through Benjamin, but it did not dampen Chinnor’s day.
UPDATE – Another screening of ‘Judy’ is scheduled for Friday, February 8, at 5pm, doors 4.30. Thame Cinema 4 All will swap any 8pm tickets to 5 pm if ticket holders email films@thamecinema.org.uk SOME great films showing during February at the Players Theatre, Thame, by Thame Cinema 4 All. Next up is Judy on February 7 (25 tickets only left for Judy!), followed by The Peanut Butter Falcon on February 15. TRAILER HERE
Tickets are available online http://thamecinema.org.uk or on the door. Online bookings close three hours before the screening and all unsold tickets will be available on the door. Thame Cinema is based at the Thame Players Theatre in Nelson Street. All films start at 8pm (unless shown otherwise) and doors open 30 minutes before each film. Admission is just £5. There is a licenced bar.
(1) THAME Carnival committee will be meeting this evening (Tuesday) at Racquets Fitness Centre at 8pm. Lots of volunteers are needed to make this wonderful community event a success – especially an Event Lead. Sponsors too are needed.
This year the theme is ‘The Heart of Thame’ giving everyone, residents, businesses, schools, and local organisations an opportunity to show just what a wonderful community we live in.
(2) THE number of people killed on the roads last year across the Thames Valley has fallen.
(3) THE Thames Valley Police, Roads Policing Team has released its yearly overview which shows they attended 58 fatal collisions this year, compared to 80 the year before.
Figures also show in 2018 there was 3176 arrests for drink/drug driving which increased to 3576 in 2019.
(4) SHOULD Thame’s Christmas Lights event be held earlier this year? A poll is being held by the town council on Facebook and Twitter, or you can email the council with your preference if you’re not on social media. A decision will be made, using the results from the poll, at the council meeting on Tuesday, February 11, as to whether the event should be held on Friday, November 27, 2020, or Friday, December 4, 2020. The polls close at 10am ON FRIDAY, February 5.
(5) YOUNG people leaving the care system in Oxfordshire will get a helping hand after local councils decided to grant them Council Tax relief up to the age of 25.
THAME businesses are stepping up to support and sponsor Thame’s forthcoming food and drink event, to celebrate producers from within a five mile radius of Thame, due to take place in the town centre.
THE current wrangle between local councillors and a government minister over the Emerging Local Plan 2034, appears to be developing into a matter of local democracy versus central government control.
The current Emerging Local Plan (which isn’t emerging at the moment because it’s held up by the minister!) was drawn up by the previous, Conservative administration of SODC, which lost control of the authority to a LibDem-Green alliance in May’s local elections. Oxfordshire County Council however, lead by Conservative Councillors, are unhappy about the new SODC administration wanting to re-do the local plan, because they fear the loss of a £218 million Housing Infrastructure Fund for the county that would have come along with it.
In the latest move, local district Councillor and Chair of South Oxfordshire Sustainability (SOS) Sue Roberts, has invited Robert Jenrick, Communities Minister, to visit the area to see for himself the issues around housing in the district.
Robert Jenrick, Right Hon. Secretary of State Housing, Communities and Local Government
The invitation comes after a series of communications between the Minister and local leaders, after the minister put a stop on any further discussion or actions following SODC’s decision to look again at its Emerging Local Plan 2032 (See previous articles on this subject HERE). Jenrick has threatened to hand over the administration of the plan to Oxfordshire County Council.
Dr Sue Roberts, who is also a Board Member of Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, has written:
Dear Mr Jenrick
I write on behalf of South Oxfordshire Sustainability (SOS). SOS was formed in 2011 as an umbrella organisation for community action groups across the district, for example RSA Thame and Greener Henley. Seventy-five members represent diverse groups focussed on sustainability in terms of climate change, local food, water provision and flood, and how to develop the countryside in a way that protects its assets and its people. We have expert representation from architects, planners, ecologists, farmers and other relevant professionals.
SOS is dismayed at the suspension and potential removal of control of the Local Plan (LP 2034) from South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC), and concerned at the concomitant suspension of democracy. The current Libdem-Green administration at SODC was specifically voted in on a mandate to withdraw the plan put together by Conservatives. It would be partisan and wrong for a Minister therefore, to put the plan back under Conservative control at County.
A letter is enclosed, outlining the unfortunate consequences that nine years of forced growth has already had on South Oxfordshire. We are aware that high housing allocations are causing strain in communities across the country, and believe it is time for constructive dialogue to ensure development provides the right homes for the right people in the right places.
We at SOS would very much welcome the opportunity of meeting with you to discuss this further. You would be most welcome to visit here and we can show you the relevant issues at first-hand. Alternatively we could come to London, at your convenience.
With very best wishes Dr Sue Roberts (doctor.sue.roberts@gmail.com; 07913 896 874) Board Member of Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership SODC Councillor Chair of South Oxfordshire Sustainability
You can read the views of Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council on the matter HERE
NB A group of Oxfordshire residents, against the recommendations of the Oxfordshire Growth Board for the area, have set up a petition LINK HERE
THE village of Chinnor is currently planning its second Chinnor Passion Play, which will be performed on April 25, 2020, and are recruiting for Roman Soldiers, Temple Guards and Disciples – mainly non speaking parts, walk on-walk off type parts.
The first Chinnor Passion Play was held in 2017, when approx 700 people went to see it. To find out more abour Passion Plays and who to contact to be involved, Contact : 07957813104, email: chinnorpassionplay@gmail.com or visit the website: chinnorpassionplay.com
MATT Williams, Director of Rugby, is calling on his Chinnor players to build on last week’s pulsating, late victory over Cinderford and stay on the heels of the top three.
The Thame-based side head to Rotherham Titans this weekend bidding to make it three-straight wins in National League 1, while they are unbeaten in five games on the road. With ten rounds remaining, there is still plenty of rugby to be played while Rosslyn Park’s defeat at Plymouth Albion last week saw Chinnor cut the gap to third place to four points. The Oxfordshire club are in an upbeat mood, but know they can ill-afford to take Titans, who sit third from bottom, lightly.
Williams said: “There’s a lot of confidence in the squad. There’s been many times this season where the final bounce of the ball has gone against us, but it went in our favour on Saturday and moments like that can often create a swing in the season. We know what’s coming on Saturday. Rotherham are fighting for their lives at the moment at the other end of the table. They’re a better team than where they are, they know that, so on a small narrow pitch we know what’s coming.”
Williams added: “It’s about the coming week, not what we’ve done in the past, but at this key stage of the season momentum is very important. We’ve had two good wins in a row now, our away form is strong, we like a bus trip, so we’re looking forward to what Rotherham will bring.”
There is quite a former Titans contingent at Chinnor, with Josh McNulty, James Tyas, Jack Ramshaw, Ben Thomas, Carl Kirwan, Willie Ryan and Joe Rees all previously spending time at Clifton Lane. Caolan Ryan was also at Rotherham, but will not be involved this weekend due to concussion.
SATURDAY’S SQUAD (February 1, 2020) Chinnor (v Rotherham Titans, away): from Ashby, Dancer, Ehizode, Harries, Hoadley, Hodson, Kirwan, Laverick, Manning, May, McNulty, Parilli-Ocampo, Pieterse, Ramshaw, Rees, W Ryan, Selway, Treviranus, Tyas, Worrall, Yawayawa, Watson.
THAME Choral Society, now in its 60th year, will be celebrating with a performance of Handel’s Messiah later in the Spring.
In preparation, TCS is holding a Handel Messiah ‘Come and Sing’, to which non members are very welcome to attend, at Haddenham Community Infants School, Woodways, Haddenham HP17 8OS. 10am – 4pm – Tickets £15. To register visit: www.thamechoralsociety.org.uk
The concert
Thame Choral Society is Thame’s longest running choir, and will be performing this famous oratorio, composed in 1741, at St Mary’s Church, Thame, on April 18, 2020, in the evening.
TCS last performed the Messiah at the 50th anniversary concert, on that occassion with Director Colin Spinks, and so it is fitting to revive this iconic work, this time with orchestral accompaniment and under the experienced eye of TCS’s current Director, Helen Swift.
A new citizen science project to survey the state of nature in the Chilterns, is offering training courses to volunteers to help them identify species and to use surveying techniques.
As part of the five-year Chalk, Cherries and Chairs Landscape Partnership Scheme (CCC), funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and spearheaded by the Chilterns Conservation Board, ‘Tracking the Impact’ has now begun volunteer recruitment as part of its aim to survey birds, butterflies and plants across the Chilterns. The CCC has teamed up with Butterfly Conservation, British Trust for Ornithology, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Plantlife, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust and the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Environmental Records Centre to deliver this exciting project.
Following on from the State of Nature report released earlier this year, the project is calling for local enthusiasts and experts in the Chilterns to get involved and ‘own their patch’. Working across 50, 1km survey squares, the project will dovetail with existing national recording schemes (Breeding Bird Survey, Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey and National Plant Monitoring Scheme) to bolster coverage in a ground-breaking new partnership. The project will offer opportunities to explore new sites in the area and the data will be used to track trends across the landscape and inform practical woodland, grassland and farmland habitat management projects.
Unique to this project is it’s mentoring programme – for those who can identify quite a few birds/ butterflies/ plants but want to learn more about surveying these local species. This project aims to collect key data and tell the story of the landscape, through understanding the relationship between different species groups.
If your interest is in birds, butterflies and/or plants, we are offering exciting new opportunities to: * take on new survey squares and get involved in national recording schemes * receive training in species ID and survey techniques * offer training and support to new volunteer surveyors
The project will last initially for four years and will start in spring 2020. The project is looking for volunteers to carry out surveys during the spring and summer and would love to hear from you if you: * are an experienced surveyor and are keen to take on a new patch * have some species ID experience but would like some training to help you develop * are relatively new to surveying and want some training on specific survey methods
You can register your interest in volunteering by emailing Nick Marriner, the project lead, directly: nmarriner@chilternsaonb.org
TO ensure we have trees to plant in the future in and around Thame, part of the Thame Trees project is to encourage people who may have self sown saplings in their gardens to consider digging them up and, to either replant in a better location, or put them into a pot for a couple of years to grow into strong, young trees.
Alternatively, anyone with hardwood trees could take cuttings of those. If you or someone you know would like to try either of these ways of propagating young trees to help clean Thame’s air, absorb CO2 to help mitigate against climate warming, and provide habitats for birds and insects, help is at hand.
Visit 21st Century Thame’s ‘Thame Tree Propogate 2020‘ page on the website, where you will find full instructions as to how to replant self-sown saplings and how to take hard wood cuttings.
AND, if you would like to chat about cuttings – or anything else tree related, meet at Racquets, Thame THIS EVENING at 7.30pm, in the bar.
