AN investigation into arson and the theft of lorries at the site of David Einig Contracting, in Rycote Lane, Thame, is on-going and so far no arrests have been made.
The fire appears to have begun in a portacabin used as an office and then spread to a two-storey industrial unit. (Full story
Anyone with information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 43190074016.
THE Stroke Association and Rotary Clubs of Thame & District and Haddenham & District are calling on residents in the Thame area to help the two organisations conquer stroke by getting their blood pressure checked.
The number of people diagnosed as having high blood pressure has increased consistently since 2005. In England alone, more than five and a half million people remain undiagnosed and untreated for the condition – making them ticking time bombs for stroke.
Thame, Haddenham, Chinnor, Long Crendon and neighbouring villages residents can have a free blood pressure check on Saturday, April 13, between 10am and 2pm at the Co-Operative Supermarket in Thame.
Amanda Watkin, General Secretary at Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, said: “Know Your Blood Pressure Day, on 13 April 2019, is all about raising awareness of the link between high blood pressure and stroke and getting people to have theirs checked. Rotary is supporting the Stroke Association with blood pressure events throughout April and the rest of the year. Stroke strikes every five minutes in the UK, but with events like these, we hope to change this. A blood pressure test is quick and painless, and it could save your life.”
Alexis Kolodziej, Deputy Director of Policy at the Stroke Association, said: “High blood pressure often has no symptoms, and yet it’s much more common than most people think. We know that most strokes can and should be prevented and that’s why we’re urging everyone to have theirs checked. A blood pressure check only takes a moment, and is a simple way to reduce your risk of stroke.”
The results of the 2018 Know Your Blood Pressure event in Thame were the following: 65 people had their blood pressure taken, of which 43 needed no further action, five required an urgent follow up with their GP within a week, and 17 required a follow up with their GP within a month.
To find out more about volunteering opportunities with the Haddenham and Thame Rotary Clubs, visit their websites: www.haddenham-rotary.org.uk and www.thame.rotary1090.org
Follow their Facebook pages on www.facebook.com/HaddenhamRotary and www.facebook.com/thamerotary
In addition to the events taking place on Saturday, April 13, there will be blood pressure checks at community events throughout the year. To find your nearest blood pressure event, you can visit www.stroke.org.uk/kybp
THE final headline acts for Saturday night at this year’s Towersey Festival, and the the line-up for the August Bank Holiday Monday Roy Bailey tribute, have been revealed!
The acclaimed songwriter, guitarist and sometime actor, Newton Faulkner, is coming back to Towersey. Throughout his career he’s sold over 1.5 million records with 180 million streams, making him one of the UK’s most successful singer-songwriters this millennium. Recently, Newton’s been on the road with Jeff Wayne’s spectacular The War Of The Worlds UK arena tour, and he’s just released a new album, The Best Of … So Far, a career-spanning summary of his first decade.
See Newton Faulkner on Saturday, August 24, 2019. LINK
Without a doubt one of the best live bands in the UK right now, From The Jam featuring legendary Jam bassist Bruce Foxton.
With almost 1,000 headlines shows under their belts, they expertly recreate the incendiary live performances of the original band, whose enduring string of hits includes Eton Rifles, Town Called Malice, Start, Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, Going Underground, and more.
Without a doubt one of the best live bands in the UK right now is From The Jam, featuring legendary Jam bassist Bruce Foxton.
With almost 1,000 headlines shows under their belts, From The Jam expertly recreate the incendiary live performances of the original band, whose enduring string of hits includes Eton Rifles, Town Called Malice, Start, Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, Going Underground, and more.
Get your tickets for From The Jam now LINK
ROY REMEMBERED
For 53 years Roy Bailey played at Towersey Festival and for many of those he was the festival’s Patron. Roy passed away in December 2018, not many months after a brilliant performance at the 2018 Festival.
In honour of his countless achievements, both on and off stage, as well as his long-running association with the festival, the festival will present Roy Remembered: A Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Bailey. LINK
An afternoon of music, stories and collaborations, the concert will feature an A-Z of friends and associates, all of whom worked closely with Roy over the years.
Among those appearing will be songwriter and BBC 6Music presenter Tom Robinson, Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting, John Kirkpatrick, The Wilson Family, Boff Whalley (Chumbawamba), Stephen Taberner (The Spooky Men’s Chorale), Ray Hearne, Kit and Max Bailey, Nancy Kerr, James Fagan, and Marc Block.
With host Steve Heap, they’ll be sharing their memories of Roy and performing choice songs from his vast repertoire.
Visit the Towersey Festival website HERE for the full line up!
Book tickets HERE
NEARLY 100 local people in Thame, Moreton and Tetsworth turned out in glorious sunshine to collect litter on Thame Tidy Day, Saturday, March 30. This annual event provides residents of Thame and Moreton with a great opportunity to do their bit to keep neighbourhoods litter-free, and this year they were joined by residents of Tetsworth for the first time.
Between them, Thame Tidy, Muck-Out Moreton and Tetsworth Takeaway collected enough litter to fill a large skip, brightening up streets and walkways in all three locations.
The event was held as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean, running this year between March 22 – April, 23. Keep Britain Tidy want #LitterHeroes across the country to help improve the environment on their doorstep. To date over 52,000 volunteers across the UK have joined forces – in partnership with community organisations, businesses and the government – to collect and safely dispose of litter from our streets, parks and beaches, recycling as much as possible.
Rosemary Bryant, organiser of Thame Tidy, said: “We are delighted that people in Thame, Moreton and Tetsworth have pulled together to make such a fantastic difference to the appearance of our town and villages. It is also great to see our campaign spreading, this year joined by the village of Tetsworth.”
Rosemary continued: “Thame Tidy 2019 has been a huge success and a big thank you to everyone who took part. We are especially grateful to our sponsors and partners; particular thanks must go to ASM, UniCarriers, Thame Town Council and Thame Lions for their invaluable help. We’re also indebted to Bucks Recycling and South Oxfordshire District Council, as without their support we would not be able to run this event so successfully. I’d also like to thank the Six Bells pub in Thame for providing complimentary refreshments afterwards.”
Tina Fegent, who jointed in with Muck Out Moreton, told Thame.net: “We collected about 20 bags including loads of drink cans, two tyres, two huge plastic tubs, takeaway wrappers, crisp packets and the base of a traffic cone. We as a Community activity enjoy coming together and clearing the rubbish out of Moreton every year and we are surprised every year by what people have thrown away as they are walking or driving or cycling in Moreton. Of course the tea and homemade Moreton cakes and biscuits are the end are a bonus as well. Please keep Moreton clean!”
Helen Johns, organiser of Tetsworth Takeaway, said: “I’m really pleased Tetsworth rose to the challenge on this important day and that so many residents turned out to collect litter from the streets and footpaths in Tetsworth – it was a great result. We too are grateful for the help of Thame Tidy’s sponsors and partners, without whom the event would not be possible, but special thanks must also go to White Lion Residential, who were key to marketing the event in Tetsworth, and to The Swan at Tetsworth Restaurant, who provided complimentary refreshments to village litter-pickers afterwards.”
Sue Martin-Downhill, chairman of 21st Century Thame, under whose auspices this event is held, said: “We couldn’t be more pleased that this brilliant litter-picking campaign is getting more support from people in Thame and villages year by year. Our community is setting a great example by collecting unwanted litter and contributing to the pride many of us feel as responsible residents of our beautiful South Oxfordshire town and neighbouring villages.”
A less-than full house, compared to previous years, gathered at Thame’s anual Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, to ask questions of a panel of town, district and a county councillor, chaired by the Mayor of Thame, Ann Midwinter, subjects including the Cattle Market, supermarkets, parking, a dangerous junction and climate change.
In the open forum, resident, Colin Bignall, asked if the people of Thame would be able to have a say about what is provided on the current Cattle Market site, once it moves to its new site. The Town Clerk, Graham Hunt, replied that the town council wanted to make sure that the site was used ‘sensibly’ for Thame, and that the aspiration was for ‘mixed use’ including for community use.
“We are constantly asking SODC (Ed. who own the site) what their plans are, and us giving our views. The latest is the Head of Properties at SODC telling us that they are waiting for solid news about the Cattle Market’s move before talking to us.”
Cllr Nigel Champken Woods said that the Catttle Market was the only long-term parking space in Thame, and that the council would be doing all it could not to lose it.
County Cllr Nick Carter said that SODC had a legal obligation to make the most economic use of the site and would decide what would bring in ‘the most revenue’ for the community. The Mayor of Thame, Ann Midwinter, added: “I am sure the public’s opinion will be sought.”
Helena Richards, long-term member of Cmag (Cattle Market Action Group) said that, reading the district council’s Local Plan: “There is no mention of the Cattle Market site!” The Clerk assured her that he would pass her concerns on. The Mayor thanked Mrs Richards for what she and Cmag do for the town.
Cllr Bob Austin added: “The Cattle Market lease runs out in 2021. One hopes that the relevant officers (at SODC) talk to us because time is running out to get sensible in-put into it.”
Supermarket
Resident Paul Bradley raised the issue of a Supermarket on the Cattle Market site. The Clerk said that there was some idea of what should happen on the site, following a retail analysis from Carter Jonas four years ago (see LINK) which identified a ‘deep discounter’ as the least-worst option for the site, and a Tesco or Sainsbury’s as the worse. A mix of community use, retail and parking was the best option, the analysis had concluded.
Parking
County Cllr Nick Carter responded to a question about illegal parking in the town, describing it as ‘a plague’ for everyone. Currently illegal parking was a matter for the police, he explained, but that they had ‘other priorities. For the future he said, conversations were taking place about taking the responsibility away from the police which would need a legal procedure to take offences away from being criminal to a civil offence, thereby devolving responsibility to SODC. ‘Decriminalising’ parking would require discussions with Thame Town Council, he added.
The Clerk explained that the main options would be; to install parking machines to control the two-hour parking areas; to Decriminalise all parking in the town, which would mean Thame Town Council needing to have its own parking policy; if SODC took over parking, they would see it as a revenue stream; an increase in the Police part of the Precept so that they could deal with illegal parking. None of these options, suggested the Clerk, were likely to happen within two years.
Cllr Nigel Champken Woods said that Decriminalisation was within the RADA of SODC, and that there is money set aside to look at them taking over parking.
Pavements
A new, Oxford Road resident described pavements on the south side of the High Street as ‘disgraceful’ and ‘really atrocious’. Cllr Nick Carter replied that, now that the matter had been brought to his attention, he would ask the Highways Department to look at it.
The Mayor then read out questions that had been sent in to the council from residents who were unable to attend the Town Meeting in person. The first raised the problem of the flooding of the turning circle at Lord Williams’s Upper School, which has been a problem, the correspondent said, for 35 years.
Cllr Carter said that it was the responsibility of the school itself to take the initiative and level the land.
‘Dangerous’ junction
A member of the audience asked if it would be possible to build a round-about at the junction of Thame Park Road and Wenman Road, which they suggested was dangerous because it was difficult to see traffic approaching from the left, from Thame Park Road if one was wanting to turn right into town. Cllr Carter explained that the junction had been altered four or five years-ago deliberately to discourage traffic going through the town centre from Thame Park Road. “It has fulfilled its purpose,” he said, and that in his view, the junction worked fine. He did however, agree to get Highways to look at it.
Burial space
In response to a question about the fence between the new section of burial ground at St Mary’s Church that was part of the old allotments, the Clerk said that a hedge had been planted and that the new area had provided 15 more years of burial space. Although the town council has no legal resonsibility to provide burial space, he said, the council was looking elsewhere for additional burial space for the future, in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan.
Climate Crisis
The final question from the floor was whether the town council intended to follow the example of many local authorities, including Oxford City Council, who have declared a ‘Climate Emergency‘. The panel explained that the Green Living Plan would continue to develop its policies and that the council had taken several steps towards being more sustainable, including carrying out an ‘energy audit’ of the town hall and had gone ‘paperless’ regarding minutes and reports distributed to councillors before meetings, where tablets were used to access digital papers.
The questioner said that she hoped the council would look further at aspects of its own functioning, including its energy suppliers and where it invests the community’s funds.
Soha Housing, the 6,700 home social landlord with over 450 homes in the Thame area, has received an emphatic “thumbs up” from the Regulator of Social Housing.
Assessors visited the company in January and February to scrutinise it at a planned, In-Depth Assessment. This is a check which typically takes place with about six weeks’ notice every three or four years.
The Regulatory Judgement, as the Government’s official view of a social housing provider is known, meant retention of Soha’s status as a G1 (the best Governance rating) and V1 (the best rating for financial viability) housing association.
Kate Wareing, Chief Executive of Soha, said: “Soha is proud to be local and community-owned. We are owned by our residents, are a charity, and we reinvest all our surpluses in building new homes in our communities.
“This judgement provides reassurance to our residents and partners that we are well run and financially secure. It gives us the foundations to continue to improve services for our current residents and to continue to build good quality, affordable new homes for the huge numbers of people in our communities who are struggling with the cost of housing.
“I thank our residents, staff and partners for the hard work, energy and commitment that they put in every day to make Soha an excellent community housing association.”
JIMI HENDRIX, ERIC CLAPTON & CREAM – Paying tribute to these legends of rock are VOODOO ROOM. A stunning power trio featuring some of the UK’s finest musicians who perform an incredible show in the true spirit of these legendary superstars.
No wigs, no gimmicks – simply great music played by great musicians! Featuring classics such as: Hey Joe, Sunshine Of Your Love, Purple Haze, Layla etc. Members of Voodoo Room have recorded and toured with Stevie Winwood, Massive Attack, Arthur Brown, Fish, Thunder and many other high-profile artists.
With standing ovations the norm, the word on the street is Voodoo Room are – NOT TO BE MISSED! Saturday, March 30, at 7.45pm
Tickets £15 available online from www.thameplayers.co.uk orfrom Spear Travels on 01844 217228
MEMBERS of the steering group of the Thame Remembers Project, a community commemorating the centenary of the First World War, has made a generous donation of £750 to Thame Players Theatre Company.
The donation, made on Wednesday, March 13, at the theatre, was made in recognition of the enthusiastic support and assistance given by Thame Players to the Thame Remembers project during its four-year campaign. The objective of the campaign was to commemorate the centenary of the First World War by researching all the names on Thame war memorials, identifying the location of their grave or memorial and placing a Thame Remembers cross on each resting place wherever in the world that may be. The people of Thame rose magnificently to this challenge and the lives of 212 men lost in warfare from the Boer War to the present were commemorated during the four years 2014-18, leading up to the centenary of the Armistice in November 2018.
The Players Theatre was involved in this campaign during two of those years, by working with Thame Remembers to stage two innovative theatre productions commemorating aspects of the First World War. The first production was performed on 1st July 2016, commemorating the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The second, entitled Ten Tommies from Thame, was performed on 9th and 10th November 2018 to sell-out audiences on both evenings. Ten Tommies from Thame was written by Thame Remembers steering group members Mike Dyer and Catherine Jones and performed partly by seasoned actors from Thame Players Theatre Company and partly by amateurs who had never been on stage before. The production was made possible by Thame Players letting out the theatre without a hire fee and by providing stage management, lighting, back projection, sound, and front of house functions, all on an entirely voluntary basis.
On presenting a cheque donation of £750 to Pat Shepherd, chairman of Thame Players, Thame Remembers steering group leader David Bretherton said, ‘Thame Players have been extremely generous with their time and their resources, both for the Somme production in 2016 and for Ten Tommies from Thame in November last year. We could not have achieved what we did without their invaluable help and support. Both shows were a fantastic success and will linger on in people’s minds for many years to come. They enabled us to put across a powerful visual representation of the horrors of this conflict and the part that people from Thame played in it’.
Thame Remembers has just been presented with the Mayor of Thame’s Special Award at the eleventh Thame Town Awards, held on March 14. The award was in recognition of its members’ extensive efforts to mark the centenary of the First World War in Thame. Although the key objectives of the Thame Remembers campaign have been achieved, their educational talks continue to be in demand and research – into those who went to war and returned – continues, involving future generations who can continue their pioneering work.
NOTES:
Thame Remembers is a partnership project with Thame Museum also supported by Thame Town Council. The project has been unique in its global scope and scale, with volunteers travelling 150,000 miles to place crosses, covering four continents, 23 countries, 102 cemeteries and 31 battlefield memorials. Around 1000 people were involved in these missions, including expeditions to locations as far apart as Portsmouth and New Zealand.
Thirty new names identified through Thame Remembers’ research will be added to Thame’s War Memorial at a future date, hopefully in July 2021, the centenary of its unveiling by the then Prime Minister David Lloyd George. For more information about the project’s continuing work, visit https://www.thameremembers.org/
Thame Players Theatre Company is a registered charity, run entirely by volunteers, offering a varied range of entertainment all year round, from serious theatre to comedy and pantomime, including their own productions, visiting shows, and film screenings by Thame Cinema For All.
In July Thame Players celebrate their 75th anniversary with a revue entitled Landmarks, produced by Tony Long and Bernadette Tildesley. Thame Players started with a performance in July 1944 in the Town Hall to help the war effort to become the vibrant, busy theatre we know today. Landmarks is filled with sketches, songs, and fascinating facts from those 75 years and will be performed at 7.45 pm on Friday 26th and Sunday 28th July.
For more information about Thame Players, upcoming shows, and how to join as a member or a friend, call 07881 688895 or visit www.thameplayers.co.uk
A World Village Market is returning to Thame on Friday, April 5 to 7, 2019, for the third year, showcasing products from around the world including pottery from Portugal, baskets and tableware from Madagascar, wool products from Ecuador and Peru, jewellery from Rajasthan and much more!
There’ll also be plenty of international hot food and beverages stalls to tantalise your taste buds. For the children, there’ll be face painting and an ice-cream van!
Entry to the market is free. For more information, LINK HERE www.zoomevents.co.uk/thame.
The World Village Market is hosted by the Market Square Group – LINK HERE . The market is open 11am-5pm on Friday, April 5, 9am-6pm on Saturday, April 6, and 10am-5pm on Sunday, April 7, and will take place around the Town Hall (the same location as the French Market in October).
THAME Town Council’s Grants Scheme is now open to local organisations in the Thame area. The scheme aims to ‘fund projects that address the needs, aspirations and issues of the people in our community’.
The Town Council is inviting local charitable organisations who are working for the benefit of Thame to apply for funding to support projects that aim to develop skills, improve health, revitalise the local environment and enable people to become more active citizens.
Who can apply?
Any group can apply for a Town Council grant as long as it is a community or not-for-profit group working for the benefit of the people of Thame. Other terms and conditions apply; visit www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/grant-aid for further details.
How to apply
Application packs are available from the Town Hall or you can download a pack from the Town Council’s website using the above link (scroll down for PDF Download)
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Tuesday, April 20, 2019. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their grant application by the end of June 2019. For further information or for assistance in completing your form please contact the Town Council on 01844 212833 or email info@thametowncouncil.gov.uk.