Picture the scene Me facing Littl'un across the bathroom floor I'm holding a baby toothbrush She's gnawing a tube of baby toothpaste "Look, like this!" I say, using her little brush to pretend clean my teeth She gives me a strange look and continues gnawing
Thank goodness for the Attorney General. Paedophile Keith Fenn must have thought it was his lucky day when he was jailed at Oxford Crown Court for just two years after he admitted raping a 10-year-old girl. But now after the intervention of the Attorney
St Aldate's is set to be transformed into Oxford's next shopping hotspot. The city's main post office is to become the focal point of major development plans, with the large sprawling site behind the building, owned by Oxford University's Merton College
The spectrum of work done at Oxfordshire's largest hospitals, from casualty nurses to porters, has been praised at an annual award ceremony. The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust applauded six people during its healthcare conference today. It was
A MAN fighting for his company pension has been dealt another blow - his state pension has been cut. John Brooks, 68, hailed by Tory leader David Cameron as a "modern British hero" at the party conference, was told a computer error meant he received
At A time when the involvement of British and American troops in the Middle East continues to make headlines, Peter Berg's frantically paced thriller considers the vicious circle of bloodshed that links warring nations. Truth be told, The Kingdom is
During his lifetime, Ian Curtis, the troubled lead singer of Joy Division never achieved the success he and the band so richly deserved. Diagnosed with epilepsy and crippled by depression, Curtis took his own life in May, 1980, aged 23. The following
The course of true love never did run smooth, especially in Bobby and Peter Farrelly's revamp of The Heartbreak Kid. Inspired by Neil Simon's 1972 romantic comedy pairing Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd, this soulless remake peppers its simple set-up
Blake (Firth) says: "My father seemed to me infallible, invincible, immortal." He's the narrator of And When Did You Last See Your Father?, sifting through fractured memories of his terminally ill old man, searching for a way to reconcile with the fragile
Oxford's Tourist Information Centre has been recognised as one of the best in the country. The centre, in Broad Street, is one of just 20 in the South East to be awarded Enjoy England status. It is part of a new scheme developed by Visit Britain to
AEA Technology 115 BMW 3218 Electrocomponents 263.75 Isoft Group 68.5 Nationwide Accident Repair 151.5 Oxford Biomedica 32.5 Oxford Instruments 224.5 Reed Elsevier 614.5 RM 194.5 RPS 350.5 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
A man fighting for his company pension has been dealt another slap in the face - his state pension has been cut. John Brooks, hailed by Tory leader David Cameron as a "modern British hero" at the party conference, was told a computer error meant he
AN OXFORDSHIRE primary school that had to be rebuilt after a devastating fire has landed a major environmental award. Marsh Baldon Primary School was ravaged by fire just hours before the school was due to unveil a £180,000 refurbishment. But two-and-a-half
Boris Johnson has now been selected as the Conservative Party candidate for the next Mayor of London. If there is a General Election between now and next May, will the local Conservative Party confirm that Mr Johnson will not be their candidate, as he
The Departure came to Oxford bringing good hair, free 7" vinyls, and catchy new songs - a good combination in anyone's book!, writes Erica Bingley. The band are in the middle of a two-month tour, and on Sunday played to a small but eager crowd (with
I should like to apologise for any confusion experienced by Canon Michael Bourdeaux in getting his green garden waste collected by Oxford City Council (Oxford Mail, September 28). He complains that the council did not collect green waste in the extra
Berkeley Homes has increased the number of houses and student flats it wants to build on the site of the Slade Park Territorial Army barracks in Headington. The developer has bought the site from Oxford City Council and this week it submitted detailed
I appreciate Tony Blair's past efforts as Prime Minister in relation to Northern Ireland and Bosnia and what Britain owed America during the Second World War. But I think Darby Sutton (Oxford Mail, October 1) is on weak ground when he says that, following
What better band to headline an NME tour than The Enemy? And not just for the opportunity to employ some witty word play. The Midlanders are loud, young and pumped full of adrenaline. They are also, in the best possible way, utterly pointless. Their
The decision to approve the Bodleian Library book repository at Osney Mead, Oxford, in spite of its detrimental impact on the legendary view of the dreaming spires, is just another example of how city leaders and planners have abandoned any vision for
Craftsmen have travelled more than 1,700 miles to show off their work in Oxford's Town Hall. The artists are from the Russian village of Kholui, 200 miles north east of Moscow - famous as a historic centre of icon painting. The show was organised
A lost pet hamster is lucky to have escaped with its life after being brought home in the jaws of a cat. But now the search is on to find its owner. It was taken in by Diana Trinder, of Bridge Street, Witney, by a neighbour. "He's lucky not to be
In the nicest possible way, Turin Brakes are one of those bands that just refuse to go away. They bring out an album of sweet and sour songs, play a sell-out tour, then slope off back to quiet domesticity to have babies, and busy themselves with the
The Kiwis have taken something ordinary, added a bit of spice, given it a shake and hey presto - you have a new restaurant chain. The kiwiburger, venison, Thai chicken and vegetarian falafel are just a few of the exotic treats offered by the Gourmet
Humble hospital trolleys hold the weapons being used at Oxford hospitals to successfully battle against so-called superbugs like MRSA. Staff at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals have been using a simple range of procedures and equipment since
A lorry driver was killed when he was thrown from his cab following a collision on the M40. Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash which took place at about 3.20am yesterday on the motorway between junction 9 at Bicester and 8A at Wheatley
A 60-year-old retired soldier has trekked to the lost city of the Incas - high up in South America's Andes. David Gray, who has worked as an office manager since leaving the army, followed Peru's Inca Trail to the lost city of Machu Picchu. He raised
OXFORD University is preparing to launch the biggest fundraising campaign in its history to raise more than £1bn. The money will fund a series of major building projects across the city centre, including a new £600m city centre campus on the Radcliffe
POLICE are aiming to cut down on trouble on Halloween night with a publicity campaign. A ghoulish' poster will be distributed to police stations, libraries and community centres across the force area. It will show anyone out on Halloween night which
Landlords renting out property to students are making more money than those letting in the wider market, a report has revealed. Mortgage provider Paragon Group said that landlords in cities with expanding universities, such as Oxford, could get higher
An unknown Oxford student has beaten off popular local bands to win top billing at a concert celebrating the city's best music. Sarah Warne, who is studying English Literature at Christ Church and whose family lives in Sutton Courtenay, near Abingdon
POLICE today appealed for witnesses to a crash on the M40 in which a lorry driver was thrown from his cab and killed. The crash happened at about 3.20am yesterday when police received a report of a lorry on its side in a field on the M40 motorway between
Government inspectors have said Jamie Oliver's school dinners revolution is turning more pupils off school meals. And Oxfordshire's meals chief says more help from parents is needed if children are to choose the new, healthy option. In a report released
A PAEDOPHILE who raped a ten-year-old should have been jailed for at least four times longer than the two-year sentence he received, the Attorney General has said. Baroness Scotland appeared before the Court of Appeal to argue the sentence for Keith
Oxford University is preparing to launch the biggest fundraising campaign in its history to raise more than £1bn. The money will fund a series of major building projects across the city centre, including a new £600m city centre campus on the Radcliffe
Charity worker John Townend was happy to be returning home to Oxford from Jamaica until he was a victim of two crimes within hours of arriving back in England. Mr Townend, 60, spent eight months in Kingston, the Caribbean island's capital, which has
The competitive spirit that lurks within us surfaced when I saw the woman with long red hair stepping out with athletic determination into Botley Road from the Seacourt park-and-ride. It was four-tenths of a mile from that point to the end of the bus
PEOPLE from Abingdon town centre, north Abingdon and the Peachcroft Estate are being encouraged to have their say on policing at three public meetings. People are being asked to attend and tell police and other local agencies what issues need tackling
TRAVELLING between London and Oxfordshire in the rush hour is not usually an easy task: congested roads and rail delays can conspire to make the commuter's journey a hellish one. But yesterday the greatest obstacle I encountered was a cloudy sky and
A MAN who was injured in a coach crash at the M1 Newport Pagnell service area on September 3 is still in hospital in Oxford. The 61-year-old man from Kenilworth is being treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital, where his condition is described as stable
Oxford Hawks men started their South Premier League Division 1 campaign with a 2-1 win over Oxford University. The students took an early lead when Mark Kinder deflected a cross into the roof of the Hawks net. After a barrage of short corners, Paul
SATURDAY. FOOTBALL. BLUE SQUARE PREMIER. Droylsden v Oxford Utd (5.15). FA TROPHY. Prelim round: Bishops Cleeve v Oxford City, Malvern Tn v Didcot Tn. BRITISH GAS BUSINESS SOUTHERN LEAGUE. Premier Div: Mangotsfield v Banbury Utd. Div 1 South
WITH the game season now properly under way, we are being asked for suitable wines to go with this excellent source of low fat, organic, free-range food. Grouse is, as usual, very expensive this year but the ever-popular pheasant and partridge are great
IN my tiny university bed-sit I possessed a very aged, precariously-positioned, two-ring Baby Belling oven. It was tiny. It couldn't have been more than 50cm wide and it was barely possible to roast half a chicken in the modestly proportioned oven.
A paedophile from Oxford who raped a 10-year-old girl should have been jailed for at least four times longer than the two-year sentence he received, the Attorney General said today. Baroness Scotland appeared before the Court of Appeal to argue the
Two men arrested on firearms charges after armed police shot out the tyres on a car in Oxford were remanded in custody today. Rahjinder Bassi, 29, of Southall, and Sukhjinder Virdee, 38, of Earls Court, both in London, appeared at Oxford Magistrates'
TWO men arrested on firearms charges after armed police shot out the tyres on a car were remanded in custody today. Rahjinder Bassi, 29, of Southall, and Sukhjinder Virdee, 38, of Earls Court, London, appeared at Oxford Magistrates' Court charged with
Any lingering doubts I might have harboured about the future sales success of the Mini Clubman were dispelled in seconds by the waves and smiling faces of the primary schoolchildren of Logie Coldstone. The youngsters in the Aberdeenshire village had
Three Court of Appeal judges were today due to rule on whether Oxford paedophile Keith Fenn was given an unduly lenient sentence for raping a 10-year-old girl. Controversial Oxford judge Julian Hall sparked outrage in July when he gave the 25-year-old
LEWIS Hamilton believes his lack of experience around the Shanghai International Circuit will not prove a burden as he attempts to clinch the Formula One drivers' world championship at the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend. The 22-year-old is bidding
AEA Technology 113.75 BMW 3186 Electrocomponents 265 Isoft Group 68.25 Nationwide Accident Repair 150.5 Oxford Biomedica 33.5 Oxford Instruments 228.75 Reed Elsevier 616.25 RM 193.5 RPS Group 352.5 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
FRILFORD HEATH Ladies September Stableford & Cancer Relief Spoon - Div 1: 1 J Simpson 38pts (cb), 2 A Tyreman 38 (cb), 3 C Bickerton 38 (cb). Div 2: 1 B Hamilton 35, 2 A Rudkin 34, 3 C Chapman 33. Ellerie Hoare Foursomes & Daily Mail Qualifying: 1 P
Summer rains brought a flood of debts to an innovative Oxford theatre production company famed for staging Shakespeare in unusual places - such as the BMW Cowley plant. Staff at the Creation Theatre Company told The Oxford Times that ruin had stared
The Oxfordshire will host next year's Ladies English Open. No date has been confirmed for the event, which also took place at the course near Thame in the mid-1990s. This year's tournament was held at Chart Hills, another course run by The Oxfordshire's
A new version of the Mini will not be built at the Cowley plant, bosses have admitted. While details of the model known as the Sports Activity Vehicle are being kept under wraps, managers at the plant's parent company BMW, say it will be assembled elsewhere
Banbury coach Grant Holmes says things are getting better, despite their fourth successive defeat in Midlands 2 East. Holmes's men lost 20-14 at Derby last time out, but he felt there were some positive signs. "Overall we produced our best game of
Chipping Norton proved themselves Oxfordshire's form team during September with four straight wins and a stack of points. Chippy and Chinnor both had 100 per cent records, but the west Oxfordshire men had a far superior points difference per game (DPG
James Shields has taken over as Bicester coach after Mark Johnson stepped down due to work commit- ments. Shields, who was recommended by Johnson, took his first training session on Tuesday, assisted by former Bicester No 8 Dave Clayton. Johnson was
Henley Hawks will be hoping there is no repeat of Jonny Wilkinson's extra-time heroics when England face Australia in the world cup quarter-final on Saturday. Hawks have been given the all-clear from the English RFU to delay the kick-off of their National
As if Oxford United's fixtures haven't been messed around enough by the demands of satellite TV station Setanta, it now appears that their end-of-season programme is to be moved forward a week - by order of the league. The Conference have confirmed
OXFORDSHIRE was today facing up to the start of yet another postal strike. About 2,000 workers across the county were due to walk out at noon today, along with colleagues across the UK, as the next round of action in the national dispute is launched
Oxford City's veterans had a great day at the Southern 4-Stage Road Relay Championships at Aldershot. Run over a traffic-free 6km course, the club returned home with medals in all age groups. Leading the way were the Vet 60 team, nationally recognised
Oxford City's junior teams emulated their veteran clubmates in the South of England Road Relays at Aldershot. The under 13 girls' team won team gold. Lauren Hawtin led the way, clocking 8mins 36secs, with Rebecca Byren (8.38) and Imogen Kempton (8.44
Former Radley athlete Hatti Dean finished ninth in the elite women's 3,000m race at the BUPA Great North Run weekend. She clocked 9mins 36.6secs, with Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot winning in 9.02.7. Four Abingdon Amblers made the long trip to the north
Despite a severe attack of cramp at the 19-mile mark, White Horse Harrier Paul Jegou still finished an excellent sixth in the Clarendon Marathon. The race, which is a multi-terrain event, is far tougher than a conventional marathon with its hilly terrain
Richard Ingrams once suggested, rather daringly I thought, that it should be incumbent upon anybody commenting in print on the Arab-Israeli situation to state whether she or he was a Jew. I feel somewhat the same about those driven to give their opinions
A NEW version of the Mini will not be built at the Cowley plant, managers have admitted. While details of the model, known as the Sports Activity Vehicle, are being kept under wraps, managers at the plant's parent company BMW, say it will be assembled
I grew a moustache when I was 17 and apart from a two-week interval in my mid-twenties - a ghastly mistake -I have worn one ever since. It will be understood, then, that I viewed with some discomfort the report in the Daily Telegraph this week, claiming
'A human form of bear-baiting which goes under the guise of entertainment." Thus a learned judge memorably described The Jeremy Kyle Show (ITV1) - and many people would agree with him. The judge was summing up a case in which a wronged husband was accused
Food lovers who would like to meet the witty, erudite and sometimes downright provocative A.A.Gill, whose restaurant and TV reviews in the The Sunday Times have earned him the reputation as one of our sharpest writers, can do so next weekend. He is one
I'm not sure that what A.A.Gill would make of this recipe, which I've called Eynsham Dumplings. Perhaps he would find it just a little bit too provincial? Creating it, however, proved irresistible, as a friend had given me a basket of freshly harvested
There's still plenty of time to buy tulip bulbs because the best time to plant them is from mid-October until early December. Later flowering tulips have an advantage. They bloom when most of the garden has been softened by lush, new foliage and the combination
With his stylish 2004 blockbuster Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor), the first instalment of a proposed trilogy adapted from the novel by Sergei Lukyanenko and Vladimir Vasiliev, Russian director Timur Bekmambetov shattered western expectations about post-Soviet
SUB-POSTMASTERS across Oxfordshire have been warned to expect a visit next month from Post Office inspectors deciding which branches to close. In May, the then Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling announced that 2,500 of the country's 14,000
'My father seemed to me infallible, invincible, immortal." So says Blake (Colin Firth), the narrator of And When Did You Last See Your Father?, as he sifts through fractured memories of his terminally ill old man, searching for a way to reconcile with
Hollywood teenpix have always peddled the mantra, "the geek shall inherit the earth". However, a growing number of neophyte directors have taken this as a green light to release movies that are little more than a string of sniggering sex jokes - viz the
I was at my parents' B&B this morning, cooking breakfast for the guests," Paul Reeves was saying. "I probably still smell of bacon!" The B&B in question is in Crowmarsh, near Wallingford, where Paul grew up, and where he still returns whenever his operatic
IT HAS been 'last orders' ever since husband and wife Tim and May Morgan called time at their pub on the night of July 20. The next day flood water from the River Windrush surged through the back and front doors of the picture-postcard Maytime Inn in
No one could have missed the - I'm sorry - blizzard of publicity that has accompanied Slava's Snowshow during its 14-year worldwide odyssey. Even so, seeing the show for the first time show at Milton Keynes Theatre this week, I was astonished by the extent
When it came to good time bands, it was hard to match those folk rock Geordie boys Lindisfarne in the early seventies. But today it is a different story. While the likes of Nicely Out of Tune and Fog on the Tyne still produces a smile, it is difficult
PAEDIATRIC nurses at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre have resigned ahead of a proposed transfer to the Oxford Children's Hospital. Managers say the move across Headington to the John Radcliffe site will ensure the children's hospital is second only
The New Theatre has echoed to stirring music many times in its history - the Welsh National Opera, say, or Status Quo. But the bee-swarm sound of nearly two thousand kazoos grinding out The Blue Danube will not easily be forgotten by the audience last
This year's Music at St Peter's season in Wallingford has been another magnificent chamber music fest, with the usual mix of established and emerging talent, performing a range of works from the baroque to the present. But it was left, as always, to the
MORE than 1,000 homes and businesses were left in the dark for almost three hours yesterday after an overhead power cable caught fire. Firemen were called to the incident opposite the fire station on Ormond Road shortly before midday, although the
How do you know my name?" snaps Mr Green. A smartly suited, briefcase carrying, young man has just arrived at Mr Green's New York apartment. He looks for all the world like an insurance salesman, or financial advisor. But in fact Ross Gardiner has been
OXFORD City Council is planning to charge residents to use public toilets in an attempt to fill a £5.2m financial hole. As Town Hall finances continue to prove problematic, the Liberal Democrat administration has outlined £3.7m savings and fee increases
First, a reminder of the gig tomorrow by Oxford County's Youth Big Dozen plus Digby Fairweather's Half Dozen at the Holywell Music Room at 7.30pm. Tickets at the door. Tomorrow the Oxford Contemporary Music season continues with a one-off performance
Oxford Contemporary Music's autumn season, subtitled International Music Events in Oxford' began last Wednesday. It has the mix of performances by the known and the less known that we have come to expect. Two of the headline performers, pianist Harold
PLANS to rip out a park's flowerbeds to pay for security have been shelved - for now. Users of Florence Park in Cowley condemned the plans - one of the options proposed by Oxford City Council, to raise money to help protect the park from vandals by
Seven. As Oxford Chamber Music Festival artistic director Priya Mitchell pointed out in a programme note, the number has an almost limitless range of connotations - seven wonders of the world, and seven deadly sins among them. In this lunchtime concert
Here's something unusual: Encoro is a new choir. So what's so unusual about that, I hear you cry, in a city and county blessed with an enormous variety of choral groups? No, the unusual thing about Encoro is that it is co-directed by its two founders,
Children Young and Old at West Ox Arts in Bampton is an innovative and delightful exhibition bursting with ideasfor all the family. Yvonne and Robert Longstaff have an enviable name for excellence: their unique Lazercut wood items "made from plantation
There was a spontaneous and warming round of applause when Pete Oxley stepped up to the microphone at the beginning of the evening, a welcome not only to the band but to the start of another season of gigs at the Spin. But it was also a special evening
Scottish Dance Theatre is celebrating ten years under the artistic direction of Janet Smith, who, for the previous two decades, had toured venues in the UK and abroad with her own company. So it was interesting to see what a woman of such experience would
When a musical is nominated for nine Tony Awards and not only wins them all but manages to remain on Broadway for more than five years, it's no wonder it ranks as one of the greatest musicals of all time. Yes- it's South Pacific, and a new production
FOUR people were arrested in Bicester yesterday as part of police crackdown on caravan thefts. They were arrested on suspicion of stealing caravans and money laundering during a raid at a travellers site near Manor Farm, Bicester Road, at 7.15am.
DANNY Betson, whose career has taken off since former England international David Norris took him under his wing, has been selected to ride for Great Britain against Germany in an Under 21 International at Brokstedt on Sunday. Norris has not only impatred
OXFORD Cheetahs head into their most important meeting of the season so far when they travel down to South Devon tomorrow night for the first leg of their play-off semi-final against the Plymouth Devils. And after finishing their league programme with
EXETER Hall were crowned champions in the South Oxford BC Tuesday Afternoon Triples League. They won 15 of their 18 matches to pip Kidlington for the title by two points. Summertown finished eight points back in third. In the Champion Team competition
DOLPHIN A went joint top of the Premier Section in the Johnsons Buildbase League with a 5-0 win over Democrats. Sean Lee (11,970) set the ball rolling, before Simon Ellam (11,310), Paul Caister (11,940), Jimmy Robson (16,320) and Dave Barnes (14,000
OXFORDSHIRE'S teams have been enjoying a string of successes in national competitions. The county's men recorded a marvellous double at the All England County Championships at the Reading Post Office Club. And not to be outdone Oxfordshire's women
Burford moved into title contention in Division 1 of the Shaw Gibbs Oxfordshire Foursomes League by beating relegation-threatened Oxford City 2-1. They are now just one point behind Tadmarton Heath, and one ahead of Frilford Heath, with two games remaining
Witney coach John Campbell is not setting his sights too high despite their strong start to the Southern Counties North season. Campbell and Phil Harper took over the team from Matt Watts this summer and have seen them collect seven points from eight
A CELEBRATION of Oxford's artistic life has been hailed as a huge success. The second annual Oxford Arts Festival was held this weekend - and up to 4,000 people are thought to have enjoyed everything from music concerts and theatre, to dance, art
GREEN campaigners in the county have won their bid to get a discount on bulk sales of low-energy light bulbs. Oxfordshire's Green Party group lobbied energy company Powergen to get the same deal as major supermarkets on the subsidised bulbs - allowing
FORMULA Renault UK driver Will Bratt enjoyed a productive official test at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk to emerge as the third fastest driver. The 19-year-old used the marathon seven hours of track time to prepare for the championship finale which
ARTWORK from some of the county's most talented teenagers has been on show at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Students from 12 Oxfordshire secondary schools saw their work exhibited in the historic building, which is home to some of the world's most
A PUB is helping celebrate British Food Fortnight by encouraging diners to feast on traditional - and contemporary - country fare. The Oxford Arms in Kirtlington, has launched its own game week - with customers invited to choose from a variety of classic
YOU can't see it, smell it, or even taste it, but it could soon be added to Oxford swimming pools in a bid to cut heating bills. Oxford City Council is set to test innovative liquid pool covers' to stop thousands of pounds worth of energy evaporating
Abingdon bus services are in line for a shake-up to cope with traffic jams. Some under-used services in the north of the town are likely to be scrapped and buses that become snarled up in peaktime traffic could be re-routed. The county's public
A RECORD number of runners raced around the grounds of Blenheim Palace - raising more money than ever for the fight against cancer. Almost 2,100 runners took part in the 10k race, netting £135,000 for Cancer Research UK. And even landowner the Duke
STAFF catering company Aramak is sending a chef to King Alfred's School, Wantage, today in support of national British Food Fortnight. Children aged 12 and 13 will be given the chance to take part in a Ready Steady Cook-style competition. They will
Oxford's cash-strapped city council is planning to charge residents to spend a penny in a desperate measure to fill a £5.2m financial hole. As Town Hall finances continue to spiral into meltdown, the Liberal Democrat administration has outlined £3.7m
THE language of Latin could be resurrected as a mainstream subject at primary schools throughout Oxfordshire. Latin courses are taking place at schools across the county as part of the curriculum thanks to the Iris Project, a Classics outreach programme
An Oxford playscheme fears it has become a political football after learning a promised £20,000 rescue package could be scrapped. Three weeks ago the city council agreed to hand the Dovecote Centre in Nightingale Avenue, Greater Leys, a lifeline - after
