Friday 31st December 2004
Family wiped out - Local communities with families and relatives in the areas devastated by this week’s tsunami are bracing themselves for confirmation of fatalities and casualties this weekend. Yesterday Berkshire petrol attendant Abdul Hakeem, aged 30, who is earning money to send home, learned that seven members of his Sri Lankan family were dead and 30 relatives are still missing. In the Wycombe area there are thought to be about 5,000 people with families in the stricken area, and communities are helping each other with fund raising and support. Special prayers and appeals will be made at Wycombe Mosque today.
Car park plunge - Easton Street car park in central Wycombe was closed yesterday after a woman apparently fell from the top deck. She was discovered by shoppers at the foot of the building and pronounced dead by ambulance personnel. A few weeks ago a man died in similar circumstances in what turned out to be a suicide attempt.
Events in and around High Wycombe today include:
New year - - Theatres switch performance times today to cater for New Year’s Eve and many pubs and clubs are introducing ticket-only attendance. Check first before venturing out tonight. Shows in the area include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Thursday 30th December
Student safe - Exhausted High Wycombe student David Sequeira returned safely home last night having amazingly survived Sunday’s tsunami. The 23 year old was in a beach hut with his girlfriend Elizabeth Newington, aged 20, when the giant wave suddenly swamped them without warning. But the young and fit couple, with the help of locals, managed to scramble to higher ground on the island of Phi Phi off the Thailand coast. They stayed on the hill for virtually the whole of Boxing Day without food or water because locals were convinced a second wave would follow.
Gerrards not Cross - Wealthy homeowners in Gerrards Cross - named by the Halifax bank yesterday as the most expensive place in Britain - were rubbing their hands last night because many believe the “top notch” title will add even more to the value of their homes. A massive 37 per cent leap in property prices in the town in 2004 puts the average price of a home in Gerrards Cross at £627,000. Henley, last year’s “winner”, dropped to fourth, although there are more houses there to affect average price.
Events in and around High Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Amersham Common Village Hall - Snow Queen by travelling theatre group
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Oxford Greyhound stadium - race night
Wednesday 29th December
Tsunami victim named - Lisa Jones, a 31 year old conservationist from Windsor, was last night named as one of the British victims in Sunday’s devastating earthquake. Her family said she had been working on environmental projects on Koh Phru Thay island, off the coast of Thailand, when the tidal wave struck.
Teresa targeted - Liberal Democrats said last night that Maidenhead will be one of their key target seats in next year’s expected general election. Teresa May, shadow secretary for the family, holds the seat with a majority of 3,284. Lib Dems leader Charles Kennedy said he expected a number Shadow Cabinet members to lose their seats.
Cruel blow for Blues - Two injury time goals depressed the Blues and raised the passion as Wycombe Wanderers lost 2-1 at Macclesfield yesterday. Wycombe fans thought their team had earned a deserved point when Roger Johnson equalised in the 91st minute. But the team’s celebrations had hardly finished when Macclesfield scored a winner with the last kick of the game. Officials had to part angry Blues manager John Gorman and his opposite number as the final whistle blew.
Events in and around High Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Chalfont St Giles Memorial Hall - Snow Queen by travelling theatre group
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Tuesday 28th December
Agonising wait - The family of an Amersham diver holidaying in a remote Indian Ocean island devastated by Sunday’s tsunami were anxiously waiting for news last night. Steve Pretty is spending Christmas diving off the coast of the Andaman Islands which are just a few hundred miles from the epicentre of the undersea earthquake. Virtually all communications with the islands have been destroyed, but news agencies report 3,000 dead and a similar number missing.
Tough task - Wycombe Wanderers’ tough Christmas fixture list continues today with a visit to top four side Macclesfield. Goalie Frank Talia is likely to have a last minute fitness test after picking up an injury during the Boxing Day fixture against Southend.
Events in and around High Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Beaconsfield Beacon Centre - Snow Queen by travelling theatre group
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Oxford Greyhound stadium - race night
Colne Valley Park visitor centre - eight mile guided walk from 10am
Monday 27th December
Family escape - A High Wycombe family told of their lucky escape from yesterday’s terror tidal wave which has estimated to have killed more than 10,000 people. Health worker Mike Williams, his wife Kathryn and daughter Sam were roused by earthquake tremors in their hotel on the beachside of Phuket in Thailand. Mr Williams told the BBC : “Sam went onto the hotel balcony and said ‘the sea has disappeared’ - the water had literally being sucked over the horizon, but roared back moments later as a 15ft tidal wave.” The wave - known as a tsunami - smashed onto the beach killing scores of people before their eyes, swamping the beachside road making it “like a floating bumper track with cars, beach brollies and street furniture swirling madly around”, said Mr Williams, aged 59.
Stay away - London Wasps last night urged fans without tickets not to come to their match with Gloucester at Adams Park today because the game has sold out. Officials from Wycombe Wanderers and Wasps are due to hold further talks before the game prior to an announcement about Wasps’ future tenancy at the stadium.
Heating fails - The undersoil heating failed at Adams Park yesterday making Wycombe Wanderers’ match with Southend touch and go on the frozen pitch. Hundreds of fans were late getting into the ground because turnstiles were not opened until the referee completed a last minute ground inspection. To round off a bad day at the office, the Blues lost their first league match under manager John Gorman by 1-0.
The undersoil heating failed at Adams Park yesterday making Wycombe Wanderers’ match with Southend touch and go on the frozen pitch. Hundreds of fans were late getting into the ground because turnstiles were not opened until the referee completed a last minute ground inspection. To round off a bad day at the office, the Blues lost their first league match under manager John Gorman by 1-0.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow Whit with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Holmer Green Village Centre - Snow Queen by travelling theatre group
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Sunday 26th December
Hunt gathers - Police are on standby today as Aylesbury Vale Hunt, one of the biggest foxhunts in the country, holds its traditional Boxing Day hunt. Anti-hunting groups, angry at the likelihood of a delay in the hunting ban because of court action, are thought to be planning a new demo, while pro-hunting demonstrators are also planning campaigns.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Southend United
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Saturday 25th December
Shops recover -Shopkeepers who introduced last minute sales to boost Christmas shopping were smiling last night as they reported a last minute flurry in business. Top Christmas present - iPods. Big surprise - a swing to goose for Christmas dinner rather than turkey - supermarkets sold out of geese two days ago.
Theatres and cinemas are closed today. There are drop in centres in Hatters Lane, Stokenchurch and Great Missenden if you fancy company. From us all at Wycombe.Info a happy Christmas.
Friday 24th December
Sentenced increased - A judge increased the sentence against the killer of a High Wycombe computer worker Rana Faruqui yesterday after protests by her family that his suggestion of parole after 11 years was not enough. Mr Justice Silber said he was not influenced by the protest, but increased Stephen Griffiths prison sentence to a minimum of 15 years. Griffiths admitted last week stalking and stabbing his former lover as she tended her horse in Burnham.
White-ish Christmas - Weather forecasters still feel the Wycombe area will be covered in white tomorrow, but although snow flurries are likely, its more likely to be frost covering the area.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Thursday 23rd December
Extradition orders - Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of two men on the run from road death charges after a court heard yesterday that extradition proceedings were underway to bring the men back to Britain to stand trial. However lawyers refused to say if the men - wanted in connection with the death of Wendover schoolteacher Deborah Peaty - had been arrested or in which country the extradition proceedings were being brought.
Ratnam Yogan, 29, and Pushiparajah Sinnappayal, 26, fled the country last year shortly after they were accused of charges surrounding the death of Ms Peaty and her unborn child in a road crash. It was believed one fled to Sri Lanka and the other to Germany. A judge in Oxford yesterday set a trial date for March next year.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
White Horse, Wycombe - Dance Electronic night
Wednesday 22nd December
White Christmas? - Odds on a white Christmas shortened dramatically last night when weather forecasters gave a 50-50 chance of snow on Saturday across the Chilterns.
Rail boost - Local rail services received a second boost in 24 hours yesterday when a scheme to straighten lines at Beaconsfield was announced. The work will enable trains to reach speeds of over 75 miles an hour and, together with signalling improvements and additional platforms at Marylebone announced on Monday, it will mean that Wycombe to London trains will increase from 17 an hour to 20 an hour.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Beaconsfield Sycob FC - Christmas jazz party with Zenith Hot Stompers
Tuesday 21st December
Rail deal - An £80m deal to build two new platforms at Marylebone Station will mean more rail services from High Wycombe, it was announced yesterday. It’s anticipated that improved signalling will also shorten journey times.
Armed robbery - A “substantial” reward was offered last night to catch a masked gunman who robbed a cash and carry store of its day’s takings. The robber, wielding a handgun forced his way past security doors at Booker Cash and Carry half an hour before it was due to close, aiming his gun at staff. Police said he made off with a large amount of cash.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
White Horse, Wycombe - Kooler Klub Kristmas Krackers
Monday 20th December
Triple rape charge - A 20 year old man, George Valentine, of Redman Road, Booker, Wycombe, will appear in court today charged with three rapes in Beaconsfield. They follow a series of attacks and alleged attacks in the town in early September. He also faces charges of burglary, attempted burglary and assaulting a police officer.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Nettlebed village hall and Chesham White Hill Centre - Folk music Christmas party
Sunday 19th December
Old boys act - Wycombe Wanderers old boys Steve Guppy and Keith Ryan combined to give the Blues three points in a 1-0 victory over Lincoln City at Adams Park yesterday to put the revived Chairboys into sixth place in League 2. In the closing minutes a Guppy corner found the head of Rhino, ending the game with wild celebrations.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway - Santa Steam Specials
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Saturday 18th December
Driver dies - Police yesterday named a driver who died when his car left the road and rolled over several times in Mentmore Road, Wing. He was Marek Butkaj, aged 21, who lived in Dormer Avenue nearby.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Lincoln City
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Aylesbury Limelight - The Frog Prince
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway - Santa Steam Specials
Friday 17th December
Shops struggle - Some shops in High Wycombe are extending sales in a frantic attempt to boost Christmas shopping figures. With just seven shopping days to go retailers in the town are disappointed with festive spending so far.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Hayes Beck - Beauty and the Beast with Paul Daniels
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Thursday 16th December
Motocross death - Twelve year old Aiden Bristow who died after losing control of his motocross bike was the victim of a tragic accident his inquest heard yesterday. The ride was a treat for doing well at school. The court heard that the bike was in good condition and Aiden, of Marlow, was wearing the right protective gear for the ride in Flackwell Heath. But he flew over the handlebars after accidently accelerating the bike. Minutes earlier he had told his mum he was enjoying the best day of his life.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Snow White with Sue Holderness and Jez Edwards
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Wednesday 15th December
Cab clampdown - A Christmas campaign to stop passengers racially abusing cabbies gets underway in High Wycombe today. Most of the town’s 70 cabbies are Asian and last Christmas there were scores of complaints of race abuse by drunken passengers and instances of people refusing to pay fares. From today every cab in the town will carry large posters warning passengers that all cases of abuse and refusal to pay will be reported to police and prosecutions will follow.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Beaconsfield Sycob FC - Delta Jazz Band
Tuesday 14th December
Mother’s fury - A distraught mother hit out yesterday after a judge sentenced her daughter’s killer to life imprisonment, and then said he could be considered for parole after 11 years. Carol Faruqui said her family had been sentenced to a lifetime of loss and her daughter Ranu’s killer, Stpehen Griffiths should spend his life behind bars.
Ranu, 35, a computer manager at the High Wycombe Hyundai car offices, was stabbed to death last year as she tended her horses in Burnham. Griffiths, 41, was her former lover who attacked her after the relationship broke down. He changed his plea to guilty when he appeared in court last week and was yesterday sentenced without, said Mrs Faruqui, “showing a shred of remorse”.
Arson attack - Police were last night still trying to determine whether an arson attack on a bungalow in Marlow was a malicious prank or something more. The front of the house in Sandygate Close was badly damaged, but no-one was injured.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - Buddy Holly tribute gig
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Monday 13th December
Medic centre - Thousands of patients in the Wycombe area will get access to quicker surgery following a weekend announcement from the Government that an £11m diagnostic medical centre is to be built in the town. When it opens in Wycombe Business Park in August next year, the centre will cater for over 18,000 patients a year from the Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Amersham and Aylesbury areas. Patients will be able to have ailments quickly diagnosed saving time for GPs and hospital consultants.
Champ Hayley - Marlow maths teacher Hayley Yelling stormed to a sensational victory in the European Cross Country championships in Germany yesterday when a final sprint won her the title by just one second. It was a big consolation for Hayley who failed to qualify for this year’s Olympics, and now staff and pupils at Sir William Borlase School in Marlow are planning a pre-Christmas celebration for her.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Sunday 12th December
Blues win and lose - Ian Stonebridge gave Wycombe Wanderers a welcome three points at Notts County yesterday when he scored the game’s only goal to put the Blues in tenth place in League 2. However former manager Tony Adams’ decision to let supporters favourite Darren Currie leave the club for free at the end of the last season was yesterday proving to be his worst decision of all. Currie joined Brighton who on Thursday sold him to Ipswich for a quarter of a million. - and on his debut yesterday the attacking midfielder scored for Ipswich, helping to take them to second in the Championship league.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Marlow Chequers - Comic Mitch Benn
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Comic Inder Manocha
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway - Santa Steam Specials
Saturday 11th December
Plea change - A former lover of a horsewoman found stabbed to death changed his plea in court yesterday and admitted her murdered her. Stephen Griffiths, 41, said to have a violent temper, said he killed Rana Faruqui, 35, as she tended her horses in stables in Burnham two years ago. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to murder but changed his plea at Reading Crown Court. The court heard he hunted down Miss Faruqui, who worked for a High Wycombe IT company, after she had broken off their relationship. He’ll be sentenced later.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - Christmas party
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Hayes Beck - Dick Whittington
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Union Baptist Church, Wycombe - Wycombe Orpheus Male Choir
John Hampden School, Wycombe - Wycombe Sinfonia
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Peter Pan, with Paul Moriarty
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway - Santa Steam Specials
Friday 10th December
Arson arrests - Police hunting arsonists who destroyed a Holyport preschool in a £100,000 blaze, last night arrested two 17 year old youths.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - Christmas party
Beacon Centre, Beaconsfield - Christmas Concert with Laurene O’Medal
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Wycombe Swan - Snow White with Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Hayes Beck - Dick Whittington
Aylesbury Limelight - Ola Onabule
Thursday 9th December
Cement works death - A post mortem will be held today to discover how 19 year old Daniel Stratford died after his body was found on a 60 foot ledge at a disused cement works in Chinnor yesterday. The discovery of Daniel’s body ended two days of intensive searching by police using tracker dogs and a helicopter. They were concerned that he had not been seen since leaving Saunderton’s Gold Cross pub late on Saturday night. Paramedics, who yesterday scaled a dangerous bank and crawled along the ledge to retrieve Daniel’s body, said it looked as though he had fallen through a flimsy roof and landed on the ledge. They said he had been dead “for some time.” Daniel lived in Carleaze, Chinnor. Police said last night his death was not suspicious.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hal - Hellfire Comedy Club
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Aylesbury Civic - Carols for Everyone
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Hayes Beck - Dick Whittington
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Wednesday 8th December
Teenager missing - A police helicopter search team backed up by dog searchers combed woodland near Chinnor yesterday as concern grew for the whereabouts of a 19 year old not seen since Saturday night. Family and friends of Dan Stratford said it was “totally out of character” for the genial Arsenal supporter to go missing without trace. He was last seen when he left the Gold Cross pub in Saunderton late on Saturday night.
Blues draw - Two goals from Nathan Tyson gave Wycombe Wanderers a deserved point in a 2-2 draw at Bury last night in a League 2 game.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - Georgie Fame
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Windsor Theatre Royal - Jack and the Beanstalk with Wayne Sleep and Sooty
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Hayes Beck - Dick Whittington
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Reading Hexagon - Mother Goose with Bonnie Langford and Christopher Lillicrap
Tuesday 7th December
Festive crackdown - Operation Gabriel, a major Christmas crackdown on burglars with stolen goods, got underway yesterday when police launched a pre-dawn raid on a house in Micklefield, making one arrest. Police said there would be several other arrests in the coming weeks as they target thieves.
Bridge smash - A driver who died when his car hit a bridge on the Bradenham Road, High Wycombe, was named yesterday as Maurice Wilson, aged 66, from Larkhill, Aylesbury.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Aylesbury Civic Centre - The Saw Doctors
Maidenhead Norden Farm - The Owl and the Pussycat
Hayes Beck - Dick Whittington
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Monday 6th December
China deal - A growing Wycombe company has signed a multi-million pound deal which gives them a good foothold in China. Walters Microsystems makes antennas for mobile phones and has already increased its Wycombe production four fold. But the company says the 50,000 antenna a month it currently produces at Wycombe will leap to more than two million a month next year and it needs to take on extra capacity in China. The company has taken a 50 per cent stake in a big factory in Nantong.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Oxford Playhouse - Peter Pan
Sunday 5th December
Cup defeat - Wycombe Wanderers are now out of every cup competition following a 3-0 defeat at home by League One high flyers Luton at Adams Park yesterday in the second round of the FA Cup.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - London Wasps v Leicester
The Chequers, Marlow - Comedy with Paul Provenza
Wycombe Swan - Festival of Carols
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway - Santa Steam Specials
Court Theatre, Tring - Jazz band Ko with Niki King
Saturday 4th December
Fingers crossed - Wycombe retailers are holding their breath that the first big Christmas shopping weekend will bring people out in their thousands today. Although traders are optimistic many admit that the festive shopping season in the town has got off to a slow start compared to last year.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Luton in FA Cup Round 2
Windsor Theatre Royal - Spirit of Christmas - festive songs
St Mary’s Church, Chesham - Baroque concert by candlelight
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Tring Court Theatre - Absurd Person Singular
Hayes Beck - The Searchers
Aylesbury Limelight - Alarms and Excursions, Michael Frayn comedy
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway - Santa Steam Specials
Friday 3rd December
Schools celebrate - Local primary schools were celebrating yesterday after performing well in the national curriculum tests for year 6. Figures out yesterday showed that the village school in Bledlow Ridge was the eighth best in the country, with every pupil reaching the grade. The school got extra points for showing big improvements. Little Kingshill County School also got top pass marks.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
All Saints Church, Marlow - English Mozart Ensemble
Windsor Theatre Royal - Spirit of Christmas - festive songs
Hayes Beck - Blues Brothers tribute show
Wycombe Swan - Don Lusher Big Band
Dr Challoner’s School, Amersham - Piano classics
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Watford Palace - Mother Goose
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Tring Court Theatre - Absurd Person Singular
Aylesbury Limelight - Alarms and Excursions, Michael Frayn comedy
Thursday 2nd December
Sex charges - A former history teacher at Amersham’s Dr Challoner’s Grammar School is facing jail after he admitted yesterday five indecent assaults on three teenage boys at the school. Richard Small, 57, who left the school to become a campaign agent for Aylesbury MP David Lidington, now lives in Wolverhampton. He admitted carrying out the offences between 1982 and 1984, and will be sentenced in January.
Natasha’s farewell - Hundreds are expected to pay their last respects today to 25 year old Natasha Derby, who died after being shot in the head on the dancefloor of Wycombe Multi-Cultural Centre in October. The service is being held in Wycombe’s main Church of England church, All Saints. A man is currently in custody charged with her murder.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Elkie Brooks
Wycombe Town Hall - Hellfire Comedy Club with Richard Morton and Simon Fox
Windsor Theatre Royal - Spirit of Christmas - festive songs
Hayes Beck - Slade Christmas show
Chesham Elgiva - Cinderella with Bobbie Chat and Roy Miles
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Tring Court Theatre - Absurd Person Singular
Wednesday 1st December
Classroom cop - Former police chief inspector Steve Clark was yesterday appointed as Bucks’ first ever consultant to help teachers deal with violence in the classroom. His appointment came after four incidents of school violence involving weapons in the country in three years.
New team - Wycombe Wanderers new boss John Gorman will work with veteran players Keith Ryan and Steve Brown as assistant managers, the club announced yesterday. However the ex-assistant manager of England got off to a losing start last night when the Blues lost 1-0 at Bristol Rovers in the quarter final of the LDV Vans Trophy.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - That’ll Be the Day Christmas Show
Windsor Theatre Royal - Spirit of Christmas - festive songs
Independence Day writer Richard Ford in audience discussion at Maidenhead Norden Farm Arts Centre
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order, Ray Cooney comedy
Hemel Hempstead Old Town Hall - I Am A Viking
Hayes Beck - Raunchy comic Jimmy Jones
Tuesday 30th November
Public inquiry - A public inquiry into the multi-million pound scheme to improve traffic flow at Wycombe’s worst congestion spot - the Handy Cross roundabout - gets underway today. The Highways Agency plans to build a new road linking the Marlow by-pass with the Oxford-bound M40, and build another new road across the centre of the roundabout. If they get the go-ahead building will start next year.
Gorman nicks it - In a dramatic last minute development, Wycombe Wanderers are set to announce former Swindon boss John Gorman as their new manager today. Ex-Bristol City boss Danny Wilson, who was favourite right up until the weekend, is thought to have had second thoughts. Gorman, former assistant England boss with Glenn Hoddle, will be a popular choice with both players and most fans. He was in control for a short period before Tony Adams’ arrival and has a close working relationship with chairman Ivor Beeks.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree with Alvin Stardust
Rock group The Open at Bucks Chilterns Uni Student Union
Windsor Theatre Royal - Spirit of the Christmas
Mill at Sonning - Out of Order - Ray Cooney comedy
Hayes Beck - Salvation Army Christmas concert
Knowl Hill village hall - organist Len Rawle
Monday 29th November
Wilson ponders - Wycombe Wanderers remained silent last night on press reports yesterday that former Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Wilson had been offered the vacant managers’ post. Wilson is said to be interested in taking over the Blues but wants to consider two other footballing jobs that have been offered to him. He will make up his mind in the next day or two.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Windsor Theatre Royal - Spirit of Christmas
Folk singer John Conolly at White Hill Centre, Chesham
Folk singer Vin Garbutt at Nettlebed Village Hall
Sunday 28th November
Chairboys victory - Wycombe Wanderers celebrated their first home league win since September following a 1-0 victory over Bristol Rovers yesterday. The only goal came from the penalty spot when Nathan Tyson scored early in the second half. However Wycombe fully deserved the victory in a game that saw returning legend Steve Guppy receive a hero’s welcome. Keith Ryan’s final game in caretaker charge is expected to be on Tuesday when the team again face Bristol Rovers in the LDV vans trophy before a new manager will take over a much more confident side from the one Tony Adams left three weeks ago.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
The Chequers, Marlow - Comic Robin Ince, from The Office
Wycombe Swn - City of London Sinfonia
Wycombe Abbey School Elgar Chamber Orchestra
Henley Kenton - From Basin Street to Broadway
St Peter and St Paul, Great Missenden - Classical trumpeter Bill Houghton
Saturday 27th November
Gupps returns - A little bit of football history occurs at Adams Park today when Steve Guppy, the most successful player ever to play for Wycombe Wanderers, returns for just one game. Fans favourite “Gupps” left the Blues 10 years ago and made appearances for England, Celtic and Leicester City. He puts on a Blues shirt again for just one game against Bristol Rovers today. Next week the club is expected to name its new manager - expected to be either John Gorman or Danny Wilson.
Ozzy’s barricade - Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are to turn their Chalfont St Peter home into a fortress after their burglary, it was reported yesterday. Twenty four hour security guards, laser tripwires, guard dogs and watchtowers are to be put in place because Ozzy says that he and wife Sharon don’t feel safe in their country mansion.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Bristol Rovers
Beaconsfield High School - Classical concert
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Wycombe Swan - Jekyll and Hyde, the musical
Wycombe Oak Room - Murder Mystery dinner
Oxford Playhouse - Iolanthe
St Mary’s Church, Hambledon - the Phoenix Choir
Five live bands at White Horse, Wycombe
Five live bands at Chesham British Legion
Hayes Beck - Syd Lawrence Orchestra
Court Theatre, Tring - Romeo and Juliet
Friday 26th November
Bad heroin - Police put out an urgent appeal to drug users in the Wycombe area last night after two men died after injecting bad heroin. Post mortems on the men are being held today but experts say the drug circulating in the town is particularly strong and poses a major threat to users. They are particularly keen to track down the supplier and appealed to users to contact them. One man died earlier this week and the other yesterday.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Wycombe Swan - Jekyll and Hyde, the musical
Wycombe Town Hall - Christmas party
Beaconsfield Bar Med - Dreamboys, male strippers
Oxford Playhouse - Iolanthe
St Mary’s Amersham - Oboist Christopher Hooker
Thursday 25th November
Murder suspect - Police in South Africa yesterday arrested a 22 year old “foreigner” suspected of murdering Aylesbury man Darryl Kempster, a crew member of the Lord of the Dance stage show. Mr Kempster, 37, was shot in the head outside his Johannesburg hotel in June. The cast was so upset the show was cancelled and everyone flown home.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - Hellfire Comedy Club
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Wycombe Swan - Jekyll and Hyde, the musical
Oxford Playhouse - Iolanthe
Wednesday 24th November
Heat is on - The crooks that nicked Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s personal jewellery will be quaking in their boots after the rock star put a £100,000 price on their head, unofficial police sources said last night. “No-one will want to touch the jewellery, but everyone will be trying to find out who is touting the gems with that sort of reward on offer,” said one experienced cop. Police are also convinced that one of the burglars is in agony after fighting with Ozzy in the star’s Chalfont St Peter mansion before falling 30ft from a window to the gravel path below.
Wilson early favourite - Ex Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Wilson emerged as favourite to take over the Wycombe Wanderers manger post last night, after he was spotted with directors watching the team at Leyton Orient last Saturday. Former Blackpool boss Steve McMahon is also tipped, as the club said it had reduced its short list of managers to seven names. They hope to make an appointment next week.
Pedestrian dies - An 83 year old man who died after he was involved in a collision with a Saab convertible in Wendover is expected to be named today.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Wycombe Swan - Jekyll and Hyde, the musical
Chesham Town Hall - Psychic Festival
Beaconsfield Sycob FC - Hugh Rainey Jazz Band
Oxford Playhouse - Iolanthe
Tuesday 23rd November
Ozzy detail - Police will hold a press conference today to give more details of the dramatic middle of the night break-in at the Chalfont St Peter mansion of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne yesterday. Burglars escaped with high value jewellery from the home, but police are particularly anxious to find one of the burglars who must be injured after falling 30ft onto gravel after being tackled in the house.
Starlet returns - Promising young striker Adam Burchall has returned to Arsenal after being offered a continued loan spell until the end of the season at Wycombe Wanderers. The 20 year old came to the Blues to learn from his Gunners hero Tony Adams, but admitted yesterday he had no real interest in staying at the club now his hero had gone.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Jekyll and Hyde, the musical
Wycombe Town Hall - Jeff Green
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Monday 22nd November
Write off - Wycombe Council looks set today to write off up to £60,000 of debt accrued by the Wycombe Dial-a-Ride service, which takes elderly and disabled people on essential trips. The service is likely to continue however, only this time under the control of Buckinghamshire County Council.
Luke wins - Wycombe golfer Luke Donald was celebrating last night after he and partner Paul Casey won the WGC World Cup in Seville, beating Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel by just one shot. The win rounds off 26 year old Donald’s most successful year so far as a pro golfer.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Wycombe Town Hall - Irish county singer Dominic Kirwan
White Hill Centre, Chesham - Folk singer Clive Carey
Sunday 21st November
Blues brawl - Wycombe Wanderers may be in more trouble after every one of their players were involved in a brawl with every member of the Leyton Orient team in a bizarre game at the Orient yesterday. Later referee Kevin Friend was knocked unconscious when he collided with Blues player Danny Senda and the game was delayed for six minutes. However, despite it all, temporary player manager Keith Ryan led his team to their first league victory for nine games. The Blues came from behind with goals from Nathan Tyson and Roger Johnson to win 2-1.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The Bootleg Beatles
Wycombe Town Hall - Pete Allen Jazz Band
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Tom Thumb
Crown at Marlow - Australian comic Kitty Flanagan
Saturday 20th November
Tory shock - Local Conservatives were stunned yesterday when they managed to cling on to a safe seat in a by-election by just 43 votes. Voting in the Bucks South ward on Aylesbury Vale District Council showed a 5 per cent swing to Labour, which surprised even Labour supporters. In a county council by-election the same day the Tories did enjoy a five per cent swing to them in an area where the Aylesbury Vale hunt is situated.
Blues inundated - More than 60 people have applied for the job of Wycombe Wanderers manager, the club revealed yesterday. Meanwhile club captain Keith Ryan - who has put a message on a supporters discussion board web site calling for fans to back the team - leads the Blues out as player-manager today when they visit Leyton Orient.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - St Petersburg Ballet Theatre present Swan Lake
Wycombe Town Hall - Queen tribute gig
Widmer End Tennis Club - 24 hour tennis marathon for Children in Need. All welcome
St Mary’s Amersham - South Bucks Choral Society
Rickmansworth Watersmeet - Girls Night
Marlow Shelley Theatre - Hobson’s Choice
Oxford Playhouse - Man and Boy
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Beacon Centre, Holtspur - Present Laughter
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Henley Kenton - Billy the Musical
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Sex, Drugs and rock ‘n roll
Friday 19th November
Hunt protests - Riders from the Vale of Aylesbury hunt led protestors outside Windsor Castle last night where the Queen was entertaining France’s President Chirac. As MPs voted to end hunting with dogs by February, the protestors said they were ready for a long and disruptive campaign.
Rainy start - Christmas got off to a wet and windy start last night when Wycombe’s panto stars Anita Dobson and Shane Lynch switched on the town’s Christmas lights.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Rickmansworth Watersmeet - Girls Night
Marlow Shelley Theatre - Hobson’s Choice
Oxford Playhouse - Man and Boy
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Beacon Centre, Holtspur - Present Laughter
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Romeo and Juliet
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Sex, Drugs and rock ‘n roll
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Henley Kenton - Billy the Musical
Thursday 18th November
Adams fall out - The fragile truce between Wycombe Wanderers and their ex manager Tony Adams was shaken yesterday when the club general manager John Harrison told a local newspaper that Adams had let himself down by leaving. Last week chairman Ivor Beeks issued a gritted teeth statement wishing Adams well, but Harrison told the Midweek paper “Tony Adams has made a fool out of himself…I think he let himself down by handling it so badly.” For his part, Adams has told journalists he was “depressed” by the Wycombe job.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - St Petersburg Ballet Theatre present The Nutcracker
Wycombe Town Hall - Hellfire Comedy Club
Chesham Elgiva - All that Jazz
Marlow Shelley Theatre - Hobson’s Choice
Oxford Playhouse - Man and Boy
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Beacon Centre, Holtspur - Present Laughter
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Sex, Drugs and rock ‘n roll
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Henley Kenton - Billy the Musical
Wednesday 17th November
Conern for missing woman - Police issued an urgent appeal last night to find a “very shy” woman from Amersham who hasn’t been seen for five days. They said they were concerned for the safety of Maria Wicks, aged 40, of Bridge Place. They raised the alarm after checked with Ms Wicks’ relatives and friends.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - Bee and Bustle Old Time Music Hall
Oxford Playhouse - Man and Boy
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Beacon Centre, Holtspur - Present Laughter
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Beaconsfield Sycob FC - George Huxley’s Jazz Band
Henley Kenton - Billy the Musical
Tuesday 16th November
Musican dies - A talented young musician and artist, well known in Wycombe, has died after his car smashed into a tree in Sussex. James Gravenstede, aged 25, a former graphics design student at Bucks Chilterns University College formed the band Cartel which played gigs here and in London. Contemporaries said he had a promising career as an artist.
Rhino rides in - Keith Ryan, the veteran battling Wycombe Wanderers club captain was called on to face his biggest challenge yesterday when he was appointed temporary player-manager. The club board were wasted no time in clearing out the remnants of Tony Adams’ management team, announcing that head coach Peter Cawley had left the club and accepting the resignation of chief scout Alan Foggarty. “Rhino” - who has been with the Blues for 13 years - has enlisted youth team boss Gary Smith to help him and there’s speculation he may call on his old mate and fellow enthusiast Steve Brown to help put some commitment into the team.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - English Touring Opera present La Boheme
Oxford Playhouse - Man and Boy
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Rock group The Factory at Bucks Chiltern Uni Students Union
Henley Kenton - Billy the Musical
Maidnhead Norden Farm - My Uncle Arly
Monday 15th November
Board meets - Members of Wycombe Wanderers board meet today for the first time since manager Tony Adams walked away from the club last week. Top of the agenda will be the search for a new manager. The directors are expected to advertise the post, even though they have had more than 20 applications from out of work managers.
Customers fight - Tesco customers tackled credit card fraudsters in an amazing bust up in the Amersham store’s car park, it was revealed yesterday. A customer noticed a camera and card reading device on the store’s cash machine and went into the store to alert security. When they came out again they found two men dismantling the machine. The male customer and security man then gave chase and were joined by other Tesco customers. There was a scuffle in which the security guard was injured, but the two fraudsters, with East European accents, managed to escape in a car.
Boris safe - Henley MP Boris Johnson, sacked at the weekend as a shadow front bench spokesman for allegedly lying about an affair, was boosted by support from his constituents yesterday. Conservative bosses in the true blue town are also expected to give him their support when they meet later this week.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - English Touring Opera present The Cunning Little Vixen
Nettlebed Village Hall - Folk singers Chris While and Julie Matthews
Oxford Playhouse - Man and Boy
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Haunted Hotel
Henley Kenton - Billy the Musical
Sunday 14th November
Wycombe through - Wycombe Wanderers are through to round 2 of the FA Cup but only after making heavy work of a team 5 leagues below them. A 71st minute goal from defender Roger Johnson proved to be the deciding goal but the blues had to endure a few scares on the way.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The Hollies
Crown, Marlow - American comedy night
Theatre Royal, Windsor - From Basin Street to Broadway
Saturday 13th November
Schoolboy stabber - A 15 year old boy who stabbed a girl at a Wycombe school was detained for four years by a judge yesterday. The court heard that the youth stabbed the 14 year old in the back with a bread knive at Sir William Ramsay School, Hazlemere, as she tried to protect his ex-girlfriend. The teenager, who was said to have “an anger problem”, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Coalville in Round 1 of the FA Cup
Wycombe Swan - Oh What A Night
Wycombe Town Hall - Viva Santana
Chesham Elgiva - The Little Match Girl
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Tring Court Theatre - Tomb with a View
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Mike Reid
Friday 12th November
Guns swoop - Seven people were helping police last night after pre-dawn raids on homes yesterday recovered a variety of illegal weapons, including grenades. Police made the raids on houses throughout the Thames Valley area, including Wycombe.
Booze con - The owner and manager of a Marlow restaurant were fined a total of £500 plus £1,500 court costs after they were found guilty of using cheap gin in Gordon’s bottles and cheap vodka in Smirnoff bottles. The court heard that trading standards officers paid an unannounced visit to the Tiger Garden restaurant armed with equipment that can tell one brand of booze from another.
Gutted we are not - A Wycombe Wanderers fans poll showed yesterday that 30 per cent were not surprised Tony Adams left the club this week because they never thought he would make a manager. Twenty seven per cent were disappointed he left when he did, saying he should have hung on a bit longer. But only two per cent on the Chairboys on the Net fans site ticked the box saying “I’m completely gutted; he was my hero”.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Oh What A Night
Chesham Elgiva - The Little Match Girl
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Tring Court Theatre - Tomb with a View
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Pink Floyd Tribute concert
Thursday 11th November
Backroom shambles - The spotlight was turning on Wycombe Wanderers chairman Ivor Beeks last night when friends of walkaway boss Tony Adams revealed the ex-England star was unhappy with cut backs and the lack of backing from some directors. Beeks himself admitted that Adams was unhappy with the set up at the club, but said the Adams left because he wanted to manage better players. Head coach Peter Cawley and youth team boss Gary Smith were yesterday put in temporary charge for Saturday’s FA Cup game against Coalville. Meanwhile sacked MK Dons boss Stuart Murdoch was the first out-of-work manager to stake a claim for the Wycombe job.
Murder charge - Wycombe man Roger Vincent, 32 and two London men denied murdering a bodybuilder outside a gym when they appeared in court yesterday. David King, 32, was shot by a killer with an assault rifle in Hoddesdon last year. The three accused men will stand trial next year.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Oh What A Night
Wycombe Town Hall - Hellfire Comedy Club
Chesham Elgiva - The Little Match Girl
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Tring Court Theatre - Tomb with a View
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Reduced Shakespeare Co
Wednesday 10th November
Here we go again - Wycombe Wanderers will today name their tenth manager/caretaker manager in nine years following yesterday’s shock departure of Tony Adams. The ex-England star’s one year tenure ended bitterly on the club’s side after Adams first told the players yesterday morning that he was off; then issued a statement to the media and didn’t get round to telling the chairman Ivor Beeks until five o’clock last night in a tense meeting. Both sides disguised their anger in public statements however, thanking each other and wishing each other well.
He couldn’t hack it - For all Tony Adams’ image as a non-quitter, when it boiled down to it he couldn’t hack it in division 2, a source close to the club said last night. He said that Adams could never get to grips with the fact that the players he had to deal with did not have the same skills or footballing brain as himself, and he could never understand why they were unable to do what he wanted them to do. Adams told the players yesterday that he made his decision to walk away after considering his options following Saturday’s dismal 0-1 defeat by Yeovil. He told the players he was going to continue his university studies.
Club in turmoil - Yesterday’s shock departure leaves Wycombe Wanderers at its lowest ebb in its recent history. Backroom bust-ups resulted yesterday in the departure of marketing director Mark Austin a day after Tony Leese returned as conference/catering manager a year after mysteriously leaving the club. Money has failed to come in as expected after the club went public in the summer and issued new shares; and further financial troubles loom if rugby side London Wasps decide not to renew their ground share as expected. More superstitious fans point out that Wanderers has staggered from crisis to crisis since it decided to sell its treasured stadium name of Adams Park to the software company Causeway.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Oh What A Night
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Tring Court Theatre - Tomb with a View
Wycombe Town Hall - Film show, Bucks at War
Tuesday 9th November
Homeless - The number of homeless has leapt dramatically in Wycombe this year as more and more people fail to keep up mortgage repayments. Councillors will tonight agree to spend an additional £140,000 over the next four months to cover the extra cost of housing homeless people whose numbers have risen 20 per cent and are still rising. A council report says that increasing personal debt is the main reason for the jump.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Jeremy Hardy
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Wycombe Town Hall - An evening of clairvoyance
Reading Hexagon - John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
Monday 8th November
Wyman farewell - Hundreds of Bill Wyman fans who have been unable to get tickets for his last ever tour performance tonight are expected to gather outside Wycombe Swan. The ex-Rolling Stone and his band the Rhythmn Kings finish touring for good tonight in what will be an emotional gig at the Wycombe theatre.
Last try - Wycombe MP Paul Goodman will today launch a last ditch attempt to save the town’s hospital services from being decimated. He is to try and get Health Secretary John Reid to intervene and prevent children’s wards being moved from the town to Stoke Mandeville 15 miles away. There’s increasing concern that the decision by the local health trust to downgrade the special care baby unit in the town will eventually lead to its closure.
Adams anger - Tony Adams decision to dash off to a fireworks party rather than explain his side’s poor performances after Wycombe Wanderers game with Yeovil on Saturday is convincing more fans he couldn’t care less about the club. The ex-England star has already spoken of what he plans to do once he leaves the Blues and his demeanour throughout Saturday’s game was one of controlled boredom.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Folk group Craobh Rua play Chesham’s White Hill Centre
Nettlebed Village Hall - Kathryn Tickell Band
Sunday 7th November
Murder remand - A 28 year old man was remanded in custody when he appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court yesterday charged with murdering Natasha Derby of Crest Road, High Wycombe. Dwayne Haughton from Caversham will appear in court again next week. Natasha, 23, was shot in the head on the dancefloor of the Wycombe Multi-Racial Centre on September 4. She died the next day.
Adams under pressure - Tony Adams was under increasing pressure as his Wycombe Wanderers side put up another disorganised, uninspired performance in a 0-1 defeat at home to Yeovil Town yesterday. The ex-England and Arsenal star, who is finding his first foray into managership more and more difficult, declined interviews after the game. The Blues are now in 17th position and have gone 10 league games without a win.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The Stylistics
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Moscow Ballet present Sleeping Beauty
Windsor Theatre Royal - The Commitments
Wycombe Irish Club - Live Irish music from 3pm to 6pm
The Crown, Marlow - Canadian comics night
Saturday 6th November
Murder charge - Dwayne Haughton, aged 28, from Caversham in Reading will appear in court today charged with the murder of Natasha Derby, who was shot in the head on the dancefloor of the Wycombe Multi-Racial Centre on September 4. Miss Derby, 23, died the next day. Haughton was charged yesterday after police visited his home.
Adams anniversary - Tony Adams celebrates his first anniversary as manager of Wycombe Wanderers today when his side entertain former non-league opponents Yeovil Town. It hasn’t been the glittering year that the former England and Arsenal ace hope for. Out of 45 games in his first year, the Blues have won just nine.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Yeovil Town
Wycombe Swan - Bjorn Again
Chesham Elgiva - Musical comedy Rip ‘Em Off
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Aussie comic Kevin Bloody Wilson
Wycombe Town Hall - Boothby Graffoe
Friday 5th November
Gurkha settles - Wycombe ex-Gurkha Lal Budha, 44, settled a race discrimation case against the Ministry of Defence out of court yesterday when he accepted a one-off payment of £55,000. Mr Budha, of Loudwater, was invalided out of the army after 24 years service. But he was shocked to find his pension of £95 per month was about a fifth of what British soldiers in the same circumstances would receive. He said he hoped the case would force the Government to change the rules in favour of other Gurkhas.
Toy protest - Local businessman Gary Grant, who owns The Entertainer chain of toyshops, was featured in a national TV documentary last night because his religious beliefs means he doesn’t stock anything to do with Harry Potter or Halloween and he doesn’t open his 35 stores on a Sunday. Yet Mr Grant, who opened his first shop in Amersham and donates much of his profits to charity, now runs Britain’s biggest independent toy shop chain.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Bjorn Again
Chesham Elgiva - Jazz singer Stacey Kent
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Russian Cossack State Dance Co
Thursday 4th November
RAF base doomed - A “technical note” attached to the end of a Ministry of Defence document yesterday spelled certain doom for the RAF’s Strike Command base at Naphill in High Wycombe. Last night the Government said it was still consulting over the future of the base and the 2,000 people working there and that an announcement would be made before the end of the year. But yesterday, in a document announcing that up to 10,000 MoD jobs will be lost or moved from the south east, the Ministry all but confirmed that the Naphill base would go by saying “RAF Strike Command may leave its headquarters.”
Kidnap charges - Lee Bozward, 24, of Stoke Mandeville and Stephen Baker, 21, from Aylesbury were remanded in custody until January charged with kidnap, false imprisonment, robbery, grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm when they appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court yesterday.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Wycombe Swan - The Elvis Collection
Wycombe Town Hall - Hellfire Comedy Club
Oxford Playhouse - Lenny Henry
Wednesday 3rd November
Internet rapist jailed - A Wycombe carpenter who snared a 13 year old girl through an internet chatroom was jailed for life yesterday for rape and indecent assault. The judge said that John McIver, 40, of Westover Court had shown complete lack of remorse or “victim empathy” by forcing the girl to give evidence. McIver had acted as a teenage girl in the chatroom and then when he met the 13 year old claimed to be the father of the fictitious girl.
Blues win - On loan striker Adam Burchell scored the only goal that gave Wycombe Wanderers victory over Swansea City in the LDV Vans Trophy at Adams Park last night.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Girls Night
Beaconsfield Sycob FC - Gambit Jazzmen
Wycombe Town Hall - Irish folk singer Brendan Shine
Rickmansworth Watersmeet - Tea Dance with Mr Wonderful
Hayes Beck - Foster and Allen
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Tuesday 2nd November
Market stalls - Property sales in High Wycombe have virtually ground to a halt, estate agents admitted yesterday. They said buyers were making low offers for houses fearing that prices will fall in the coming months - one said that Christmas, the traditional “dead” time for the property market, had come six weeks early. Halifax said at the weekend that the Wycombe area - which has the fourth highest average house price in the country outside London - saw property increases of just one per cent in the last three months, the lowest increase for over 10 years.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Richard Alston Dance Co
Hemel Old Town Hall - Romeo and Juliet
Hayes Beck - That’ll Be The Day
Windsor Theatre Royal - Michelle Collins in Appetite
Monday 1st November
Hospital protests - Local MPs are to make a last ditch bid today to try keep Wycombe’s special care baby in the town. Health officials are expected to agree to move the unit and other children’s wards to Stoke Mandeville from Wycombe Hospital when they meet later this week. Protesters however say babies about to be born prematurely could die if mothers have to travel a further 20 miles to give birth. Local midwifes toured the Wycombe area yesterday to drum up support for the protest - hundreds gave their backing.
Couple to be named - An elderly husband and wife who died in a car crash at Little Missenden on Saturday are expected to be named by police today.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Oxford Playhouse - Folk singer Kate Rusby
Live folk music at Chesham White Hill Centre and Nettlebed Village Hall
Sunday 31st October
Midwife protest - Midwives from Wycombe Hospital begin a bus ride of protest today. They have hired a double decker to tour the town in a last ditch attempt to keep the Special Care Baby Unit in the town. The local health authority meets on Thursday and is expected to go ahead with plans to close the unit and other children’s wards at Wycombe and move them to Stoke Mandeville Hospital as part of an economy move.
Blues slip - Wycombe Wanderers slipped to 16th position in League Two - their lowest position since they joined the Football League 11 years ago - following a 1-0 defeat at Darlington yesterday. No luck either for village club Flackwell Heath whose attempt to get into the first round of the FA cup failed 3-0 at Billericay. Following the draw for that round Wycombe learnt they will take on non-league minnows in either Liversedge or Coalville Town. The match which Wycombe should win with ease (at least on paper!) takes place at Adams Park in two weeks time.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - Acoustic duo Show of Hands
Wycombe Swan - Hits from Broadway
Mill at Sonning- Old Time Music Hall
Court Theatre, Tring - Claire Martin
Hayes Beck - Humpty Dumpty
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Brass Band Concert
Hughenden Manor - Halloween stories for children
Saturday 30th October
Couple killed - A husband and wife were killed instantly yesterday in a car smash at Little Missenden. The 74 male driver and his 68 year old wife were in a Volvo which collided with an Audi at a junction on the Little Missenden Road. The Audi driver is in hospital with head injuries. Their names are not being released until relatives have been told.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Masked Ball at the Monkey Island Hotel, Bray
Wycombe Swan - Bad Girls
The Harrow, Hughenden Valley - Charity Halloween party
Theatre Royal, Windsor - Jus Like That - Jerome Flynn in Tommy Cooper tribute
Hemel Old Town Hall - Harry and Me
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - Jeremy Hardy
Reading South Street - Singer songwriter Keith James
White Horse, Wycombe - Four live rock groups
Friday 29th October
Queen’s dentist mourned - Hundreds of people crammed into RAF Halton’s chapel yesterday for the funeral of the Queen’s dentist, Surgeon Commodore Geoffrey Myers. The 57 year old commodore, who was one of Britain’s top dental surgeons, died after a car crash near Aylesbury 12 days ago. His 15 year old son, who was in the car with him, escaped with minor injuries. Commodore Myers was awarded an OBE for his work in the Gulf War.
Red faced council - The council that caused a stir by putting up town centre Christmas decorations a month too early have now put town centre clocks back a week too early, the Bucks Herald reported yesterday. Goofy Aylesbury Vale District Council again blamed its contractors for the screw-up - the clocks go back an hour this coming Sunday. Meanwhile the paper reports the council has made yet another cock-up - it is having to rebuild the entrances to a new town centre shopping development because they are not wide enough to allow buses in.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Wycombe Swan - Bad Girls
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - Puppet Theatre
Theatre Royal, Windsor - Jus Like That - Jerome Flynn in Tommy Cooper tribute
Lancaster Arts Centre, Wycombe - Little Shop of Horrors
Oxford Playhouse - Cyrano De Bergerac
Hayes Beck - Sing-a-long-a-Elvis
Hemel Old Town Hall - Comedian Mitch Benn
Wycombe Town Hall - Medieval banquet
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - English Sinfonia family concert
Thursday 28th October
Boot camp - Local children between eight and 13, who are deemed to be in danger of setting off on a life of crime, are to be among the first in the country to experience American style “boot camps”, it was announced yesterday. Youngsters from the Wycombe and Aylesbury area will be sent to Wendover’s RAF Halton for six day courses involving strict military discipline and tough outdoor exercise. Halton is one of three military bases in the country being used by the Government to trial the scheme.
Wasps blow - QPR dealt Wycombe Wanderers finances a blow yesterday, saying that if rugby champs London Wasps don’t return to QPR’s Loftus Road ground at the end of this season, they will sue. The west London club reckons that Wasps are under contract to return now that Fulham are no longer sharing the Loftus Road ground. Wycombe are bending over backwards to keep Wasps as their tenants at Adams Park, not least because the deal is worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Wycombe Swan - Bad Girls
Aylesbury Civic Centre - The Singing Kettle
Theatre Royal, Windsor - Jus Like That - Jerome Flynn in Tommy Cooper tribute
Wednesday 27th October
New Tesco - A multi-million pound deal that will change the face of the centre of High Wycombe is set to be signed today when Tesco agree to take over the Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College site at the bottom of Marlow Hill. It will eventually lead to one of the biggest Tesco stores in the country and probably enable a redesign of the new Wycombe shopping centre which was to have being built around the existing Tesco store. Meanwhile the college, which is set to become a “proper” university, has plans to build a state of the art uni on old furniture factory sites behind Morrisons - another massive development which will enable all the existing spread-out campuses to be on the one site.
Girl missing - Police last night appealed for a 14 year old girl, missing from home for ten days, to make contact. They believe that Emma McCullach, from Aylesbury, is in the Wycombe area but need to find out to ensure she is safe.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Wycombe Swan - Bad Girls
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Engie Benjy
Tuesday 26th October
Joining forces - Ministry of Defence police, RAF police and local police have joined forces in a unique anti-crime move in High Wycombe. The three are to share resources and cover for each other, working from a specially built base by the entrance to RAF High Wycombe in Naphill. The move, announced yesterday, follows a spate of burglaries and anti-social behaviour in the area.
Canoeist named - Police last night named the man who died in the weekend canoeing accident at Marlow Lake as Roy Sandalls, aged 49, who is believed to come from the Marlow area.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Bad Girls
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Chosen Few Jazz Orchestra - TJ. O’Reilly’s, Marlow Bottom
Limelight Theatre, Aylesbury - Firebird, play based on Russian folklore
Monday 25th October
Canoeist dies - A canoeist who died when he capsized in foul weather on a Marlow lake at the weekend is expected to be named today. The 49 year old man was discovered after an intense search by helicopters and police divers late on Saturday night. Bypassers reported seeing him capsize in the lake in Fieldhouse Lane four hours earlier.
Flood alerts - Flood watches on two local rivers remains in force today after a weekend of torrential rain. The Environment Agency said that Bear Brook, between Aylesbury and Aston Clinton, and parts of the River Thame are liable to burst their banks.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Tony Robinson
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Theatre Royal, Windsor - Jus Like That - Jerome Flynn in Tommy Cooper tribute
Wycombe Swan - The Singing Kettle
Rock, Salt and Nails, folk band from the Shetlands, play Nettlebed village hall
Sunday 24th October
Fireworks danger - Police yesterday issued an urgent warning after a set of display fireworks were stolen. If the fireworks were not stored properly the giant rockets could cause serious injury, they warned. The Shellshock fireworks - stolen from a garden centre in Amersham - should only be lit by an expert, they warned.
Blues unlucky - Wycombe Wanderers were unlucky not to take all three points from a strong Mansfield side at Adams Park yesterday, but had to make do with a 1-1 draw, with Arsenal loanee Adam Birchell netting the Blues’ goal.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - London Wasps v Biarritz
Wycombe Swan - Richard Digence
Merlins Cave, Chalfont - Lunchtime music with jazz violinist Christian Garrick
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Paul McKenna
Court Theatre, Tring - The Vale Symphonic Wind Band
Watersmeet Theatre, Rickkmanswroth - Engle Benjy family show
Wycombe Swan - The Singing Kettle
Three stand up comics at Marlow Comedy Club in The Crown
Saturday 23rd October
Near miss - A major disaster over Chesham was averted with just seconds to spare it emerged yesterday. A report on a near miss between two Boeing 777s blamed an air traffic controller for directing a plane into an area he thought was empty air space, only to discover with 600 feet to go that another plane was already there. The incident happened at 6am on December 1 last year in what’s called the Bovingdon Stack - the area over Chesham where planes waiting to land at Heathrow circle until they are called in. An inquiry heard there were so many planes in the stack the controller mistook an aircraft at 12,000 ft for a British Airways plane at 13,000ft. When he ordered a United Airlines plane into what he thought was empty space at 13,000 ft the two planes - carrying more than 500 passengers between them - had to take evasive action.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Mansfield Town
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Windsor Theatre Royal - Season’s Greetings
Wycombe Swan - The Shell Seekers
Chesham Elgiva - Carmen
Wycombe Wesley Church - The Wycombe Philharmonic Choir
Four local bands, including Ladyfuzz, play Wycombe’s White Horse
Curzon Centre, Beaconsfield - Salad Days
Friday 22nd October
Fans clash - Wycombe Wanderers directors are set for another clash with their fans over plans to build a new stand for home supporters. The club wants to make the new stand an all-seater as they continue to bend over backwards to keep the rugby side London Wasps as tenants at Adams Park. But last night both the official and independent supporters groups joined forces to issue a statement urging that the new stand remain as terraces for fans preferring to stand. Most fans are still unhappy with the board for selling the name of the Adams Park ground to a software company, feeling the move betrayed the sacrifice of Frank Adams who gave the club their town centre ground in the 1940s which the club later sold for thousands.
MPs relief - The three Wycombe area MPs - Paul Goodman, Dominic Grieve and Cheryl Gillan - were all relieved last night when figures showing how much MPs claim for additional expenses showed them amongst the most frugal. None claimed any travelling expenses, while other expenses were in the lower half of politicians’ spending scale.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The Shell Seekers
St Mary’s Church, Amersham - Festival concert
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Windsor Theatre Royal - Season’s Greetings
Thursday 21st October
Postmaster fights back - A post office manager was praised for his bravery yesterday when he fought off a would-be robber wearing a Scream mask and wielding a 10inch knive. The manager, who was not being named last night, struggled with the robber after he entered the post office in Chesham’s Waterside. The thief fled, still wearing his mask, through lunchtime shoppers.
Drugs raid - wenty people were arrested yesterday when police carried out dawn raids at 16 addresses in Marlow and Maidenhead. Drugs, including heroin, and stolen property were recovered.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The Shell Seekers
Wycombe Town Hall - The Hellfire Comedy Club
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Aylesbury Civic Centre - 80s night with Nick Heyward and Toyah
Windsor Theatre Royal - Season’s Greetings
Reading Hexagon - The Waterboys
Chesham Elgiva - Folk singer Dougie Maclean
Wednesday 20th October
Woman identified - A woman who fell to her death from the Easton Street car park in the centre of Wycombe was named yesterday as Margarita Hickox, aged 54, of Anriston Avenue, High Wycombe. Police are still keeping an open mind on her death until a post mortem is completed today.
Gloomy night, gloomy result -Wycombe Wanderers huffed and puffed in the mist but produced an uninspiring display to gain a 1-1 draw with Rushden and Diamonds at Adams Park last night. A crowd of just over 3,800 - the lowest for the Blues’ League 2 games this season - watched the match, a number leaving before the end.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The Shell Seekers
Wycombe Town Hall - Sherlock Holmes - the last act
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Windsor Theatre Royal - Season’s Greetings
Tuesday 19th October
Death fall - Lunchtime shoppers looked on in horror yesterday as a woman fell to her death from a Wycombe town centre multi-storey car park. Police were last night still trying to confirm the identity of the woman who fell from the car park in Easton Street. They were keeping an open mind on the cause of the fall.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Rushden and Diamonds
Wycombe Swan - The Shell Seekers
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - The Music Man
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Mill at Sonning - Murder by Misadventure with Jeffrey Holland
Windsor Theatre Royal - Season’s Greetings
Hayes Beck - The Vagina Monologues
Monday 18th October
Heroes return - More than 4,000 people lined the streets of Henley yesterday to welcome home Britain’s Olympic medal winners. The rowers - including Matthew Pinsent, Ed Coode, James Cracknell and Steve Williams and the successful women’s competitors - arrived by river and then took an open topped bus through the town to a civic reception. Most of the rowers are based at the town’s Leander Rowing Club.
Adams wrath - Tony Adams’ interviews about what he plans to do after leaving Wycombe Wanderers as manager at the end of next season are beginning to get up some fans’ noses. In another case of a footballing man’s honesty being castigated - following David Beckham’s lamasting last week - fans have bombarded official and unofficial web message boards saying Adams should go now if he is so keen to leave.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The Shell Seekers, starring Rosemary Leach
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jacks
Windsor Theatre Royal - Season’s Greetings with Matthew Kelly and Lisa Goddard
Folk trio Coope, Boyes and Simpson at Nettlebed folk club
Hayes Beck - Male strip show
Sunday 17th October
Cabinet leak - A temp from Flackwell Heath was at the centre of a storm over an embarrassing leak from the Cabinet Office last night. Wannabe journalist Claire Newell, 23, was arrested and questioned after information which could only have come from official sources appeared in the Sunday Times. Yesterday the Government admitted that Miss Newell had been dismissed as a temp doing admin work. It later transpired she had also done temporary work at the Sunday Times and wanted to be a journalist. It’s alleged she fed secret papers on subjects ranging from identity cards to US foreign policy. Last night Miss Newell kept her head down as the rest of the press tried to find her. Her mother Elaine said she didn’t know where her daughter was.
Blair denial - Also biting his lip last night was Great Missenden priest Father Tim Russ who caused an official prime ministerial denial yesterday when he said Tony Blair wanted to become a Catholic. The priest, who officiates when Mr Blair and his Catholic wife Cherie attend his church when they are staying at nearby Chequers, the PM’s country retreat, told local radio on Friday that Mr Blair was ready to convert. Mr Blair, aware that any decision by him to convert to Catholicism would cause a storm in Northern Ireland, denied the claim, dismissing it as a rumour that comes up every now and then.
Blues blow - Wycombe Wanderers dropped to mid table after another lack-lustre performance at Boston is League 2 yesterday. There was better news for village side Flackwell Heath who beat Harrow 1-0 in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup yesterday and are now one game away from the first round proper. Other local teams in the round included Maidenhead who beat Windsor and Eton 2-1; and Thame who drew 1-1 at Weymouth. Aylesbury lost out to Ashford 0-1.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Little Missenden Church - Concert of Mozart and Bach
Wycombe Swan - City of London Sinfonia
The Crown, Marlow - Marlow Comedy Club
Bucks Art Society autumn exhibition - Fitzwilliam Centre, Beaconsfield
Saturday 16th October
I’m off - Wycombe Wanderers manager Tony Adams repeated his intention to leave the club at the end of his contract at the end of next season - this time to coach a foreign club. And the straight talking boss will have angered some fans when he told the BBC that he wants to go abroad because he wants to coach more and manage a team with more “flair”.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Oxford Playhouse - The Price
Abbey Farm, Great Missenden - Abby Woodwinds
Little Missenden Church - Steve Waterman trumpet quintet
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Windsor Theatre Royal - My Cousin Rachel
Friday 15th October
Medics verdict - It’s crunch day today for Wycombe Hospital’s children and baby wards when four senior childcare medical experts tell the local health trust their view on the effect of closing the units. The panel, which includes one of Britain’s top paediatricians, Professor Sir Cyril Chanter of Great Ormond Street Hospital, were asked to give their verdict on the trust’s plan to close the units at Wycombe and move them to Stoke Mandeville. They were called in after local people protest at the closure plan in their thousands. The trust makes its final decision on 4 November.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Oxford Playhouse - The Price
Windsor Theatre Royal - My Cousin Rachel
Limelight Theatre, Aylesbury - Stephen Sondheim songs
Little Missenden Church - Full string orchestra, Sound Collective
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Elgar Chamber Orchestra
Mill at Sonning - New production, Murder by Misadventure
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Audience with Barry Norman
Thursday 14th October
Bill’s farewell - Rock and roll legend Bill Wyman is to finish his touring career in High Wycombe, it was announced last night. The former Rolling Stone and his band the Rhythm Kings finish their British tour at Wycombe Swan on Monday, November 8 and then the guitarist plans a long break with his young family. The time has come, he said, to call and end of touring. Tickets for the show are selling like hotcakes and the theatre expects to sell out today.
M&S expansion - Marks and Spencer have shrugged off doubts about their poor performance by announcing a big expansion in High Wycombe. A store three times the size of their existing one is to be incorporated into the new Wycombe town centre scheme. It will be opposite the planned House of Fraser department store and be below a new 12 screen cinema. But what’s good news for the new town centre is a worry for the existing Chilterns Centre shopping arcade where M&S is currently the main player. There’s concern if the Chilterns can remain viable.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Oxford Playhouse - The Price
Little Missenden Village Hall - five centuries of folk songs
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Windsor Theatre Royal - My Cousin Rachel
Wednesday 13th October
Storm in a testube - The American emeritus professor featured in nearly all the national newspapers yesterday because he’d been told he could not keep his job as head of physics at Wycombe’s Royal Grammar School unless he took a GCSE in maths, will be given the go-ahead to continue to teach after a two hour assessment by the Teacher Training Agency. Last night officials at the Department for Education were privately wondering why the head of one of the brainiest schools in the country had not thought of such a simple solution. In Westminster Labour politicians were putting it down to political point-scoring - the story featured strongly in the Tory press and the issue was quickly highlighted by local Tory MP Paul Goodman and shadow education spokesman Tim Collins. The RGS head, Tim Dingle - the official spokesman for grammar school heads in the country and a leading opponent of education secretary Charles Clarke’s scepticism about grammar schools - was said last night to be relieved the situation had been resolved just hours after it appeared in the national press.
Child killer hangs himself - A 20 year old found hanging in his cell at Aylesbury Young Offenders Institute was a child killer who lived in constant fear that other inmates would discover what he had done, his inquest heard yesterday. Brian Smith was 13 when he killed nine year old Jade Matthews on a railway line in Merseyside. The inquest at Amersham heard that when he was found hanged last September he had severed all connections with his family because he did not receive any cards on his 18th birthday. The inquest resumes today.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Oxford Playhouse - The Price
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Elkie Brooks
Windsor Theatre Royal - My Cousin Rachel
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - Ralph McTell, folk singer
Tuesday 12th October
Cancer breakthrough - Scientists in Amersham are at the centre of a major breakthrough in cancer detection. The medics, who work for Amersham Health, have joined forces with an Italian company to produce a substance that whizzes through the body highlighting where cancer cells are forming. It was described yesterday as a major breakthrough in early diagnosis of cancer.
Man dies - A motorist who died in a smash which injured three others was named yesterday as John Collett, 74, of Hillside Road, Marlow. Three women received minor injuries in the two car crash at Little Marlow.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
Oxford Playhouse - The Price
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Windsor Theatre Royal - My Cousin Rachel
Monday 11th October
Stadium talks resume - Behind the scenes talks on the future of Adams Park resume today with Wycombe Wanderers and London Wasps pressing the council for either an enlarged Adams Park with new road access or the building of a new stadium just off the M40. The need for improved or new facilities was pressed home again yesterday when spectators took over an hour to clear the car park at yesterday’s sell-out clash between Wasps and Newcastle Falcons.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - The giants of jazz
Oxford Playhouse - The Price
Windsor Theatre Royal - My Cousin Rachel
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Live folk music at White Hill Centre, Chesham and Nettlebed village hall
Sunday 10th October
Remarkable escape - A motorist drove 25 miles unaware that a muntjak deer was wedged into the radiator grill by its horns, it was revealed yesterday. When the motorist, who was not named, hit the deer on the Chalfont Road in Amesham before dawn on Friday he thought he’d hit a stone. It wasn’t until he arrived at work in Borehamwood 25 miles further on that he discovered the tiny deer. Fire fighters and the RSPCA freed the deer which suffered no more than a slightly bleeding horn. It was later released back into the wild in woods near Amersham.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - London Wasps v Newcastle Falcons
Wycombe Swan - Singalong Joseph & Singalong Rocky Horror
St Dunstan’s Church, Monks Risborough - opera with the Full Monteverdi
Oxford Playhouse - Yo Manifiesto
Chiltern Open Air Museum - Victorian Harvest Festival
Little Missenden Church - Dante Quartet
Eton College School Hall - Southbank Sinfonia
Saturday 9th October
Stupid 1, Sense 0 - Local Football Association bosses were under fire last night for insisting that local football clubs must play their games at 3pm today, at exactly the same time as England play a vital World Cup qualifying match against Wales - a move that has angered local players. A similar stubbornness by the national FA in insisting on a Saturday 3pm kick off for the England game also hit Wycombe Wanderers and their fans. Only a handful of supporters managed to travel all the way to Scunthorpe last night for a rearranged League 2 game. To add insult to injury, the Blues lost 2-0.
Station closed - Gerrards Cross station will be closed today as the major work to build the first Tesco store over a railway line gets underway. Eventually trains will not only travel under the controversial superstore, but a special sideline will enable Tescos to take deliveries by rail. The station will also be closed next Saturday.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Ramert Dance Company
Wycombe Town Hall - The Kaos Richard III
St Nicholas’ Church, Great Kimble - organ recital
All Saints, Marlow - Vespers by candlelight
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Chiltern Open Air Museum - Victorian Harvest Festival
Little Missenden Church - Pavio Beznosiuk
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Oxford Playhouse - Misconceptions , surreal adult comedy
Court Theatre, Tring - Pink Floyd tribute gig
Friday 8th October
Accused missing - A man accused of killing a Wendover teacher and her unborn baby is likely to stand trial in his absence after he is believed to have fled the country. Ratnam Yogan, 29 is accused of killing Deborah Peaty and his unborn baby daughter by dangerous driving. He failed to turn up for a court hearing shortly after the smash last year and hasn’t been seen since. Interpol are searching for him in Sri Lanka where he is believed to have fled. Yesterday a judge said he would start the trial in January but wanted to give police a few more weeks to trace him. Another man in the car which allegedly pulled out of a traffic jam to hit Mrs Peaty head-on, is also missing. A third man accused of offences relating to Mr Yogan’s disappearance did appear in court yesterday and will be dealt with in December.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Ramert Dance Company
Wycombe Town Hall - Love and Madness- Hard Times
Holiday Inn, Wycombe - Black Media Festival
Little Missenden Church - Tenebrae by candlelight
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Oxford Playhouse - Sheila Hancock
Chesham Elgiva - Led Zeppelin tribute gig
Watford Palace - The Country Wife
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Deitra Farr
Oxford Playhouse - Misconceptions , surreal adult comedy
Thursday 7th October
Pub ban - Public pest Jason Oram was yesterday banned from 42 pubs for the next five years when he became the first man in Buckinghamshire to be served with an anti-social behaviour order. Oram, 34, of Bury Lane, Chesham, has been banned from every pub in and around the town after a court heard he had a string of offences for aggressive and abusive behaviour when drunk. He was told that he was found drunk or being a nuisance again anywhere in the country he would serve a prison term.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Ramert Dance Company
Wycombe Town Hall - Taking Charlie, directed by Susan Tully
Wycombe Town Hall Oak Room - Poetry Reading
Four live bands at White Horse, Wycombe
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Chesham Elgiva - Gerry Marsden
Hayes Beck - Audience with Jimmy Greaves and Ron Chopper Harris
Maidenhead Norden Farm - Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker
Oxford Playhouse - Misconceptions , surreal adult comedy
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Elvis tribute show
Wednesday 6th October
Doctor accused - Chesham doctor Ronald Tovey is one of seven medics accused of serious professional misconduct by wrongly prescribing medicines at a private clinic for drug addicts in London. Dr Tovey, 47, who is no longer working at the clinic strongly denies the accusation, which is being heard by the General Medical Council.
Accident girl identified - The girl killed in a road accident in Bell Street, Princes Risborough on Monday was identified yesterday as a 13 year old schoolgirl. Jessica McCully, of Winterton Drive, Aylesbury, was a pedestrian involved in the accident with a lorry.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Rambert Dance Company
Live jazz bands at Beaconsfield Sycob FC
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Four hands at one piano
Hayes Beck - Flamenco music
Oxford Playhouse - Misconceptions , surreal adult comedy
Old Town Hall, Hemel - Brecht play Mother Courage
Tuesday 5th October
Murder link - Police are checking any possible links between a double killing at a London nightclub and the shooting of Wycombe woman Natasha Derby at a reggae party a month ago. Two men were shot dead at a Croydon night club on Saturday. Police believe a gangland Yardie link is likely but they are still baffled about the motive for Natasha’s killing. Many witnesses to the Wycombe murder have still to come forward despite a £10,000 reward for information.
Road death - An 18 year old woman pedestrian died yesterday after an accident involving a lorry in Bell Street, Princes Risborough. Police are expected to name her today.
Rising star - At least Wycombe MP Paul Goodman has something to smile about amid the battered egos and gloomy scenarios at the Conservative Party Conference. Tory heavyweight Stephen Norris yesterday tipped Goodman as a rising star in the party, destined for the top. Norris said the former novice monk and Telegraph leader writer was “able, amusing and ambitious.”
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Town Hall - My Uncle Arly
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Tea dances at Rickmanswoth Watersmeet Theatre
Hayes Beck - The Bachelors and Susan Maughan
Oxford Playhouse - Misconceptions , surreal adult comedy
Court Theatre, Tring - Audience with Barry Norman
Monday 4th October
Sports centre - Plans for a new multi-million pound sports centre for Wycombe, to replace the Handy Cross centre, are being considered tonight. Top councillors are meeting in secret to look at the figures involved in selling the existing Handy Cross site for a big hotel development and rebuilding a smaller, but more modern, sports centre nearby. The plans will be looked at in conjunction with an offer placed on the table last week by Wycombe Wanderers and London Wasps to build a new stadium also in the Handy Cross area.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Reelin and Rocking- sixties gig
Wycombe Town Hall - Biserk Dance Company
Live folk music at White Hill Centre, Chesham and Nettlebed Village Hall
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Oxford Playhouse - Misconceptions , surreal adult comedy
Sunday 3rd October
Store blaze - A pine furniture and household goods store was badly damaged by fire yesterday. Firefighters spent most of the day at the Etc store in Aylesbury after a blaze started in the early hours. A cause has still not been identified - and neither has the cause of a blaze at farm outbuildings by Marlow’s Rebellion brewery on Thursday.
Adams blast - Wycombe Wanderers manager gave a half-time rollicking to his side for what he described as their worst first-half performance ever seen. The bawling did the trick - after going 0-1 down for the fifth game in succession in the first half, Danny Senda pulled a goal back against Shrewsbury at Adams Park to ensure the Blues salvaged a point. But it was still two points lost than a point saved as many Wycombe players spent the first 80 minutes distinctly off colour.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Lenny Henry
The Crown at Marlow - Comedy club with Reginald D Hunter and Howard Read
Kings Arms, Stokenchurch - psychic fair
Bourne End Community Centre - Classical concert
Court Theatre, Tring - National Youth Jazz Orchestra
White Horse, Wycombe - drag acts
The Rye,Wycombe - Cottle and Austen circus
Hyde End near Great Missenden - Crafts fair
Mill at Sonning - Dutch Swing College Band
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Festival of Well Being
Saturday 2nd October
Christmas crackers - Red faced council workers yesterday took down Christmas tree decorations they had put up a month too early by mistake in Aylesbury town centre. Earlier council officials said they wouldn’t remove them because it would be a “waste of money”, but the outcry from shoppers was such that the trees yesterday went back into storage.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Shrewsbury Town
Court Theatre, Tring - Travels with my Aunt
Wycombe Swan - Grease
Oxford Playhouse - The Glee Club, poignant drama
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Wycombe Town Hall - The Merchant of Venice
Chesham Elgiva - Terry Lightfoot band pay tribute to Louis Armstrong
White Swan, Wycombe - Six live rock bands
The Rye,Wycombe - Cottle and Austen circus
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Victorian music hall
Hyde End near Great Missenden - Crafts fair
Friday 1st October
New stadium plan - A plan to build a new stadium for Wycombe Wanderers and for London Wasps rugby club just off the M40 at Wycombe’s Handy Cross is being considered by the local council, it was claimed last night. In hush-hush talks which paused yesterday, the council told the sports clubs that the chances of expanding Adams Park much beyond its present 10,000 capacity and building a new access road through Green Belt were virtually nil. But in response the clubs produced plans for a brand new jointly owned stadium on a green field site by the motorway. The council is considering the scheme but Government permission would be needed if it’s to be a runner.
Fireman hurt - A Marlow firefighter was hurt when a gas tank exploded in farm buildings next to Marlow’s Rebellion brewery yesterday. The blaze was so intense at one stage yesterday that nearby residents were evacuated and the Marlow Bottom Road closed. Firefighters spent the night at the farm - Bencombe Farm - last night just in case flames sprang up again. The fireman was allowed home after hospital treatment. The cause of the blaze is being investigated - the brewery itself was undamaged.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Court Theatre, Tring - Travels with my Aunt
Wycombe Swan - Grease
Oxford Playhouse - The Glee Club, poignant drama
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Limelight Theatre, Aylesbury - Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf
Wycombe Town Hall - The Merchant of Venice
Watersmeet, Rickmansworth - Jaleo - flamenco dancing
Thursday 30th September
Armed robbery - A armed robber made off with a “substantial” amount of money after a raid on a Marlow betting shop. The robber staked out the inside of Ladbroke’s for several minutes before pulling a gun when other customers had left.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Grease
Court Theatre, Tring - Travels with my Aunt
Oxford Playhouse - The Glee Club, poignant drama
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Wycombe Town Hall - The Merchant of Venice
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - Endellion String Quartet
Wednesday 29th September
School sport boost - Local schools will be able to boost their sports facilities after a £4.5m kitty was made available to them yesterday. Plans include the reopening of the swimming pool at Millbrook Combined School in Wycombe which will also serve children from three primary schools. Elsewhere multi-purpose sports facilities are to be built in schools in Princes Risborough, Amersham and Great Kingshill which will also be made available to local communities.
Commuter chaos - Thousands of local motorists had a nightmare journey home last night after the A40 was closed in both directions for eight hours at the Polish War Memorial junction. It appears the driver of a big lorry collapsed behind the wheel, careered over the central barrier and overturned. The driver was declared dead at the scene.
Blues win - Young striker Jonny Dixon did his chances of winning a regular first team place some good last night when he scored a 66th minute winner for Wycombe Wanderers in an LDV Vans Trophy victory at Aldershot.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Grease
Court Theatre, Tring - Travels with my Aunt
Oxford Playhouse - The Glee Club, poignant drama
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Wycombe Town Hall - The Merchant of Venice
Wycombe Town Hall Oak Room - Lunchtime recital
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - Eugene Onegin
Tuesday 28th September
Predatory paedophile - Wycombe man John McIver of Westover Court, was yesterday found guilty of raping and indecently assaulting a 13 year old girl he met via an internet chatroom. The jury at Warwick heard that McIver, 39, first posed as a teenage girl called Lisa to attract the 13 year old's attention, and then met his victim by pretending to be Lisa's father. McIver, described as predatory paedophile, was told by the judge that he will be sentenced to a lengthy prison term
Fresh appeal - Police will today make a fresh appeal to find the occupants of a Mini involved in a horror smash near Henley one year ago today. Six year old Jack Powell, his mother Rachel Turk and her husband Richard were killed in the smash which left Jack's nine year old sister Emily seriously injured. A red Mini was seen driving erratically just before the crash in Gangsdown Hill. Police have spoken to hundreds of mini owners in the past year - and have been featured on the BBC programme Crimewatch - but so far they have failed to find the one they are looking for.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Grease
Oxford Playhouse - The Glee Club, poignant drama
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Old Town Hall, Hemel - Gus Gascoigne, one man show
Monday 27th September
Wasps talks - Wycombe Wanderers and their Adams Park tenants London Wasps begin unofficial talks with Wycombe Council this week to see what can be done to improve traffic access at the stadium. London Wasps are keen for a new road to be built linking the stadium to the M40, but as that would involve building in Green Belt, the council will say no. If the talks make no progress London Wasps are likely to decide before Christmas not to renew their Adams Park deal and return to Loftus Road, the home of QPR. Yesterday less than 8,000 people attended a key local derby between Wasps and London Irish and some Wasps officials believe the poor access to and from the ground is putting fans off. Some fans were still stuck in the car park yesterday an hour after the end of the game.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Windsor Theatre Royal - Rula Lenska in Pride and Prejudice
Live folk music at White Hill Centre, Chesham and Nettlebed Village Hall
Sunday 26th September
Village mourns - Villagers in Stone will say special prayers today for the families of the three friends from the village who died in an horrific road smash on the Thame to Aylesbury Road last weekend. Richard Ladyman, 20, Richard Friday, 22, and Ashley Stolp, 17, died after the car they were in hit a tree. Damien Montague, 19, is still in a critical condition in Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Unbeaten away - Wycombe Wanderers preserved their unbeaten away record at Cheltenham yesterday when scored a second half equaliser, to finish the game 1-1. The point puts the Blues in fourth position in League 2.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Adams Park - London Wasps v London Irish
Holyport Green - Carters Steam Fair
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - Indian classical music
Saturday 25th September
Rape denial - Wycome man John McInver, 39, denied in court yesterday raping a 13 year old girl he allegedly met via an internet chatroom. Prosecutors at Warwick Crown Court said that McInver, of Westover Court, High Wycombe, was later trapped by police pretending to be a young girl in a chatroom.
Medical breakthrough - Research work carried out at Amersham Hospital made headlines around the world yesterday when the medics declared that for the first time there’s real evidence that dogs can detect cancer in humans. The research work is being partly sponsored by the local charity, the Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.
Murder quiz - Police hunting the killer of 25 year old Natasha Derby on the dancefloor of Wycombe’s Multi-Racial Centre two weeks ago, will this afternoon join black community leaders to talk to shoppers in the town centre to see if they offer any clues to the shooting.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Grimethorpe Colliery Band
Wycombe Town Hall - Spirit of the Drum with Kagemusha Taiko
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - World of Orpheus, 1pm
Norden Farm, Maidenhead - Does Love Have A Plan? By Poet’s Kitchen, 8pm
Sarratt Festival of Music, village hall - Locrian Ensemble
Oxford Playhouse - Macbeth, featuring a walking audience and African theme
Windsor Theatre Royal - Nunsense
Bell House, Beaconsfield - Best of West End Cabaret
Court Theatre, Tring - Swing to the Rythmn
Beck Theatre, Hayes - Wheels on the Bus
Watersmeet, Ricmansworth - Wind in the Willows
Elgiva, Chesham - Sixties night
Holyport Green - Carters Steam Fair
Friday 24th September
Amazing escape - A woman and her grandson are back home today after what was described as a “truly amazing escape” when they were thrust through a brick wall by a mechanical digger. The woman, who has not yet been named, was pushing the 11 month old baby in his pram near Henley Library when the digger - which was gouging out a trench in the road - suddenly lurched backwards. It forced them three metres into and through the brick wall of a garage. The woman however walked away uninjured; while the baby was hardly aware of what happened - he was saved by his pram cover which was covered in bricks. The pair were lucky because the shape of the digger was such that it offered them some protection as they smashed through the wall.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Sarratt Festival of Music, village hall - Tango Volcano with Los Tangueros
Windsor Theatre Royal - Nunsense
Oxford Playhouse - Macbeth, featuring a walking audience and African theme
Life and Times of Gus Gascoigne, Maidenhead Norden Farm
Wycombe Swan - Comic Al Murray, the pub landlord
Wycombe Town Hall - The Yetties
Elgiva, Chesham - Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty
Thursday 23rd September
Radio expansion - The Wycombe based Local Radio Company continued its march to become a big player in the radio market yesterday when it snapped up Southport’s local commercial station Dune FM for £1.2m. Last month the group, launched with expansionist plans by former bosses of Jazz FM, bought 2BR, a local station in Burnley. The group now owns 23 stations, claims over 800,000 listeners and employs over 300 people. The move comes at a time when big changes are occurring in commercial radio, with the new earlier this week that the companies behind Capital Radio and Classic FM are to merge.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Windsor Theatre Royal - Nunsense
Oxford Playhouse - Macbeth, featuring a walking audience and African theme
Wycombe Museum - exhibition on 50 years of G Plan furniture
Wyccombe Swan - The Wheels on the Bus, for toddlers this afternoon
Wycombe Swan - Psychic performer Tony Stockwell
Wycombe Town Hall - Rosemary Squires
Wycombe Town Hall Oak Room - Poetry reading
Wednesday 22nd September
Missing witnesses - More than half of the partygoers at a reggae party when 25 year old Natasha Derby was shot dead on the dancefloor have still to be traced by murder squad detectives more than two weeks after the killing. Inquiries have been concentrated in the Brixton area of London and yesterday police opened an email address in the hope that witnesses contact them anonymously if necessary. Natasha, of Crest Road, Wycombe, died in hospital after the shooting at Wycombe Multi-Cultural Centre.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Windsor Theatre Royal - Nunsense
Oxford Playhouse - Macbeth, featuring a walking audience and African theme
Live jazz at Beaconsfield Sycob FC
Wycombe Museum - exhibition on 50 years of G Plan furniture
Tuesday 21st September
Horror smash victims named - Police yesterday identified two of the three men killed in the horror smash on the Thame to Aylesbury Road at the weekend after the Fiesta they were travelling in hit a tree. They are Richard Friday, aged 22, from Aylesbury and Richard Ladyman, aged 20, from Stone. A 17 year old also died in the smash and a 19 year old is in a critical condition in Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Police are withholding their names for the time being.
Adams not staying - Wycombe Wanderers manager Tony Adams yesterday appeared to rule out any question of him staying beyond his current contract at the club which ends at the end of next season. In and interview with yesterday’s Independent he said he will take some time off at the end of the 2005/06 season to consider what to do next. In a swipe at his predecessor Lawrie Sanchez - now Northern Ireland manager - Adams told the paper that Wanderers was “dusty” when he arrived, adding “it was horrible.” He added that when he arrived in November last year he did not think he would be able to work with any of the players.
Olympic silver - Wycombe salesman Ian Rose, 32, took a silver medal in the paralympics games in Athens yesterday in the 100kg division of judo, improving on the bronze he took in Atlanta.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Wycombe Swan - Think Floyd
Wycombe Priory Centre - Rise and Fall of Marshall Zhukov
Windsor Theatre Royal - Nunsense
Oxford Playhouse - Macbeth, featuring a walking audience and African theme
Monday 20th September
Speechless Luke - Wycombe golfer Luke Donald - the rookie of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team - received special praise from his team mates last night for one of the best debuts in the competition. Luke, 26, lost his singles match but played a crucial role in earlier team games. For once, after the team victory, he was speechless telling millions on TV that the experience was indescribable.
Victims to be named - Police are today expected to identify the three men in their twenties who died when the car they were in smashed into a tree on the Thames to Aylesbury road at the weekend, closing the road for 10 hours. A fourth man is still in a serious condition in Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Events in and around Wycombe today include:
Windsor Theatre Royal - the musical Nunsense
Live folk music at White Hill Centre, Chesham and Nettlebed Village Hall
Sunday 19th September
Horror smash - Three men in their twenties died yesterday when the Fiesta they were travelling in hit a tree between Stone and Haddenham at three o’clock in the morning. A fourth man is in a serious condition at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. The road - the main Thame to Aylesbury road - was shut for 10 hours while investigators searched for clues to the cause of the smash.
Blues slip up - Wycombe slipped down to third in the table after a 0-1 home defeat to Swansea City. Despite having a majority of the possession, the blues never looked like scoring as the home fans went home frustrated.
Events in and around High Wycombe today include
Sarratt Festival of Music, village hall - music from Hamelin to Hogwarts
Wycombe Swan - Caroline Salmon School of Dance
New Theatre, Oxford - Aida
Mill at Sonning - Vince Hill
Chiltern Open Air Museum - The Sealed Knot present English Civil War re-enactment
Saturday 18th September
Donald delight - Hundreds of golf fans crammed clubhouses in Wycombe and Beaconsfield last night to celebrate a stunning Ryder Cup debut by local golfer Luke Donald. The 26 year old - who hails from Wycombe and plays for Beaconsfield Golf Club - shared the spoils in his first game - fourballs with Paul McGinley - and then last night, playing with his friend Sergio Garcia, beat the American pair in the foursomes.
New loan - Wycombe Wanderers manager Tony Adams is set to secure another loan signing of a bright young Premiership player today, in time for today’s clash with Swansea at Adams Park. He is 18 year old defender Charlie Comyn-Platt who is joining for a month from Bolton Wanderers. Top of the table Blues are expecting their biggest crowd of the season today when they face Swansea.
Events in and around High Wycombe today include
Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers v Swansea
Sarratt Festival of Music, village hall - Jazz from Claire Martin
Wycombe Swan - The Merry Widow
Oxford Playhouse - Twelfth Night
Aylesbury Civic Centre - Don Lusher Jazz Band
Windsor Theatre Royal - Going Straight with John Alderton and Pauline Collins
New Theatre, Oxford -Boogie Nights 2
Court Theatre, Pendley - Jesus Christ Superstar
Chiltern Open Air Museum - The Sealed Knot