News review, part one: Henley hit by floods, burglars ransack church, fight

A RUGBY player whose girlfriend saved his life after he suffered a cardiac arrest is campaigning for greater awareness of CPR. Morgan MacRae, from Peppard, who plays for the Henley Hawks, was given CPR by Kitty Williams in bed as she waited for paramedics to arrive. She was able to remember the training she received at school and university and was told later by doctors that her swift action had saved his life.

The couple, who are both 22, are now working with charities to introduce training workshops and educate the community on how crucial CPR can be. A FORMER Olympic rower and a parish councillor have been recognised in the New Year's Honours List. After more than 35 years in the rowing world, Miriam Luke, 59, of Chilterns Close, Henley, the president of Henley Rowing Club and former chairwoman of Henley Women's Regatta, was awarded an MBE for services to women's rowing.

Diana Pearman was also awarded a BEM for her services to the community of Sonning Common. Mrs Pearman, 77, moved with her husband, John, to Sonning Common in 2009 and quickly got involved with community activities. She chaired the Memorial Park working group that oversaw the construction of the recreation ground in Reades Lane.

She also played a key role in the writing of the village's neighbourhood plan. SOME of the worst flooding for a decade caused widespread disruption in the Henley area. Some residents were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses had to close after the persistent rain brought by Storm Henk.

An 87-year-old woman died when her car hit a fallen tree that had been brought down by strong winds during the storm. There was widespread flooding in low-lying areas as both the River Thames and the River Loddon in Wargrave broke their banks. The Mill at Sonning theatre was forced to cancel performances after its building was flooded and four residents were rescued by fire crews from their home in Loddon Drive, Wargrave, on Saturday and some of their neighbours also had to leave their homes.

A DANCER from Shiplake has won a competition to perform a one-woman show in London. Kitty Pilgrim-Morris, 22, was chosen to showcase her dance, comedy and music act at the Revolution Festival, an annual event for emerging choreographers. This will be the first time in a year that Miss Pilgrim-Morris has performed due to illness resulting from a skin condition.

Her show is called "The Agony of Definition" and revolves around a character who ends up repeating her day over and over again. AN elderly couple who were rescued from their flooded home in Wargrave by firefighters have said thank-you. Albert Hubbard, 96, his wife Pat, 93, and their son Michael and daughter Caroline were saved after water began to enter their home in Loddon Drive.

They were taken a mile-and-a half on the water by dinghy to a waiting ambulance in Station Road where Mr and Mrs Hubbard were transferred to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. The couple were assessed by medics before being discharged after a couple of hours. THE Mayor of Henley has clashed with a resident over "boy racers" plaguing the town.

Kellie Hinton insisted that the town council was doing as much as it could about the problem at the car park at the Tesco store off Reading Road. Since September, 14 unofficial car meets have been held there at night involving mostly young men who rev their engines, "bang" their exhausts and screech their brakes while performing "doughnuts". A MOTHER is calling for a pedestrian crossing on a busy Henley road where she walks her children to school.

Anna Andrews says she has been reduced to tears while trying to help her children, Amber, four, and Sammy, six, get to Valley Road Primary School safely. Amber is in a wheelchair as she suffers from a MORC2-related disorder that affects the peripheral nervous system, so it makes the task harder. A SCHOOL in Henley has been granted permission to install a boundary fence which it says is needed to keep pupils safe.

Gillotts School will now erect the 2m wire mesh fence around the grounds of the secondary academy in Gillotts Lane. It will be about 40cm shorter than the one which the school previously proposed but was refused planning permission after residents raised concerns it would close off an area known as Gillotts Wood. Headteacher Catharine Darnton said the fence was to keep pupils and staff safe by preventing intruders from entering the school site and pupils from leaving during the day.

CAMPAIGNERS have won an appeal to keep a Henley footpath open to the public. The Henley and Goring Ramblers challenged Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, to keep Paradise Road open to the public. The road is used by many residents and students accessing The Henley College but is technically a private footpath.

Last year, the council refused a request by the Ramblers to add the footpath, which runs from Deanfield Avenue to Lower Lodge, to the map of public rights of way. The Ramblers appealed and the Planning Inspectorate ordered the council to make the order for the path, ensuring it will be accessible to walkers in perpetuity. A WOMAN from Henley was narrowly beaten in a quarter-final match of TV's University Challenge.

Ellie Romans, 40, and her three colleagues in the Open University's quiz team were defeated by Trinity College, Cambridge, by 190 to 170 points in a closely contested match shown on BBC 2 on Monday night. But they will be given another chance to appear on the show in a second quarter-final match next month. Miss Romans, of Cromwell Road, used her nautical knowledge to correctly answer a starter for 10 question when she identified two wars in 1850 and 1950 named after peninsulas in the Black Sea and Yellow Sea as the Crimean and Korean wars.

OPPONENTS of Henley's new parking restrictions claim they have been ignored. Residents of Harpsden Road in particular are angry at the introduction of double yellow lines and no waiting in their street near junctions. They say this will prevent them parking outside their homes and they will have to park elsewhere, putting pressure on other streets.

The town council and Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, say the changes will help improve the flow of traffic and provide better visibility at junctions. HUNDREDS of people visited St Botolph's Church in Swyncombe at the weekend to see the snowdrops. The churchyard is filled with the flowering bulbs and yellow aconites and traditionally hosts teas for visitors in the first three weeks of February to raise money for maintenance of the Norman building.

On Sunday a large crowd that included former children's TV presenter Timmy Mallett gathered to watch the blessing of the flowers by Rev Daniel Thompson, the rector of Watlington. A FOOTBRIDGE over the River Thames in Henley is to remain closed for an "extended" period despite criticism of the costly delays to date. Walkers, anglers and councillors are angry that the rotting wooden bridge at Marsh Lock has already been shut for almost two years and have called on the Environment Agency to speed up the process to reopen it.

Now they are frustrated that a new diversion involves crossing the busy A4155 Reading Road and diverting through Harpsden and Shiplake. A WOMAN was left with a GBP2,700 bill to repair her car after she was hit by a driver being chased by the police. Minnie Wilson was left stunned by the incident, which happened as she was on her way to buy petrol.

Now she is trying to find out from the police who the driver was so she can claim on her insurance. Mrs Wilson, 77, of Nicholas Road, Henley, was driving her Nissan Juke along Reading Road towards Shiplake when the incident happened near the Harpsden Road junction at about 11.30am on Tuesday, January 30. A FORMER Henley pastor has set up a successful bicycle repair business after moving to Wiltshire.

Roger Cole, 70, retired from Henley Baptist Church in 2021 and relocated to Tadpole Garden Village, near Swindon, with his wife, Diana. He now works part time as a pastor at Swindon Community Church and mends bikes in his spare time. Mr Cole said mending bikes was a way of integrating with the community and he now fixes about one machine every day.

HENLEY should be the first town in the country to ban vapes, says a retailer. Sandie Harrow says she is "frustrated" by how easily vapes are available to buy in the town centre and by the number of children she sees using them. About 10 shops currently sell the colourful, disposable vapes, which are promoted in large, colourful advertisements which critics say target young people.

Ms Harrow, 76, who runs Stocks boutique and gift shop in Bell Street, called on the town council to try to introduce a ban. A BID to secure bathing water status for the River Thames at Mill Meadows in Henley has been rejected. Thames21, a charity which improves and restores rivers, applied to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in October.

It was part of its "Reclaim our Rivers" project, which aims to increase the number of inland bathing waters across the Thames Basin. Bathing water status places a legal obligation on polluters and government to test water quality during the bathing season and improve water quality. But Defra has now written to the charity to say that its bid was unsuccessful because it did not meet the criteria.

SEVEN care beds in Henley which were closed last year were funded and operated by the NHS after all, the Henley Standard can reveal. Now campaigners have reiterated their call for the "step-down" beds to be reinstated at Chilterns Court while a full public consultation on their future can be carried out. They were removed from the care centre, next door to Townlands Memorial Hospital, in December after seven years.

The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board and Oxfordshire County Council has said no consultation was needed because they were not NHS beds. But Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Henley Standard reveal that while the beds were contracted by the council, the costs were covered by the NHS Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group. A BOY has been caught on camera daubing graffiti on the side of Henley Bridge.

The teenager was photographed writing "f***ing filthy" in black on the side of the wall of Red Lion Lawn, which is attached to the Grade I listed structure. The incident comes more than two years after a large black and white "H" tag appeared on Wokingham side of Henley Bridge just below the Henley Royal Regatta headquarters. It is still there.

A TEACHER from Henley has been crowned Oxfordshire's strongest woman. Lisa Wallman, 34, was awarded the title after winning an invitation-only strength competition against five other women in Banbury. She completed five tasks in front of a crowd of about 200 people and earned the most points.

Miss Wallman, who grew up in Henley and attended Gillotts School and The Henley College, said it was "amazing" to win the event, which was run by England's Strongest Man. RESIDENTS were evacuated from their homes after a 10-year-old girl found a suspected Second World War bomb. Eva Walton, 10, of Priory Copse, Peppard Common, came home with the 2in long piece of rusty metal and put it in her garden.

The alarm was raised by a man from Goring who called Thames Valley Police after reading about her find online. Officers went to the street at 7am and cordorned it off and Eva and her parents, Jonathan, 49, and Kate, 38, and the couple's four-month-old daughter Isla were evacuated from their home, as were two neighbours. NEARLY 3,000 children participated in this year's Henley Youth Festival as it celebrated its 30th anniversary.

"My Favourite Things" was the theme of the festival, which ended on Sunday after days of events, including musical performances, school workshops and art, film and writing competitions. The Kenton Theatre hosted a gig night for bands and singer-songwriters, a variety night, a proms night for older musicians and a young performer night. More than 1,755 pupils watched school performances of shows including Fartology by Stefan Gates, which explored the science behind flatulence, Along Came A Magpie by the Scarlet Oak Theatre and A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Young Shakespeare Company.

THE rector of Henley has told of his sadness after burglars smashed a stained-glass window at his church and stole sets of silver communion vessels. Fr Jeremy Tayler said that St Mary's in Hart Street was broken into between the end of evensong on Sunday and 7am on Monday. He believes the raid, which comes shortly before Easter, was carried out by a professional gang.

Fr Jeremy said: "It is upsetting in a sense to be without these vessels at this holy time and because they were donated by people." A MAN from Henley who lost his brother in a double fatal car crash has warned others about the dangers of reckless driving. Jamie Morris, 25 spent months making a TV documentary film called Drive Fast Die Young featuring himself and his mother, Justine, a BBC producer.

He talks on camera about his brother Sammy Philips's death and explores the culture of reckless driving that is popular among young men. A GROUP of residents has got together to fix potholes in Henley. The six "super-users" have undergone special training so that they can identify defects in the roads and pavements and report them.

Pauline Vahey, Tracy Scott, Jilly Carter, Nicholas Dear and town councillors Laurence Plant and Tom Buckley responded to a call from Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, to help tackle the problem. SWIMMERS raised GBP3,341 for charities at Henley Lions Club's Swimarathon 2024. Eleven teams took part in the event at the Henley leisure centre pool on Saturday, swimming as far as they could in 40 minutes.

There was a total of 74 swimmers, mainly children, representing teams from Valley Road, Trinity and Nettlebed primaries, Gillotts School, Henley 1st Brownies and South Oxfordshire Mencap's Meteor Club. A POLO horse trainer from Shiplake has been creating artworks out of old horseshoes. Sam Gravestock, 28, who works at the Black Bears Polo Club at Lower Bolney Farm, makes sculptures and household items using the metal horseshoes that would otherwise go to scrap.

He recently finished a large sculpture of a red kite inspired by his passion for nature and the birds of prey that often visit the polo field. A COUPLE who met as children have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary. Robin and Ginny Batchelor-Smith, from Lower Assendon, were married on April 1, 1964.

They moved to Henley in 1970 before moving to their current home 19 years later. Mr Batchelor-Smith, 85, a former mayor of Henley, spent the majority of his working life with Hugo's in London, which published home-study language books. His wife was a teacher for 30 years.

The couple have two daughters, Polly Kemp, 54, who lives in Berkshire Road, Henley, and Lucinda Bassett 58, who lives near Wokingham, as well as five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. BROADCASTER and writer Ben Fogle has told how he was almost killed by a delivery driver while out running. Fogle, 50, was on the narrow road through the rural village, which has a number of blind bends but a speed limit of 60mph.

In a letter to the Henley Standard, he said: "I nearly died yesterday, not on Everest or in some remote jungle. Not on an ocean or in a desert, but on a small, single-track lane outside my home. "A delivery driver driving at the perfectly legal, but obviously dangerous, 60mph careered around one of the many blind bends, threw on its brakes and skidded to a halt just a few feet from me and my dog."

A GROUP of residents has bought the pub in Crazies Hill to safeguard the "beating heart" of the village. The Horns has been closed for the last 18 months after tenants Owen Hardy and Jade Jeffries left in September 2022 after two years. Numerous people have tried to make the Brakspear pub a success over the last 15 years but found trading a challenge.

Now the company has sold the pub to Horns Hospitality, a consortium comprising 37 investors, for GBP753,000. The purchase negotiations were led by managing director Dave Smith and fellow directors Phil Davies, Angela Collis and Justin McKeegan. A WOMAN whose dog died while choking on a chew is calling for the product to be recalled.

Nicola Silverlock, from Chalkhouse Green, wants Pets Corner to remove its Great & Small vegetable chew from its shelves after losing her two-year-old French bulldog Ace. Ms Silverlock, 60, described the incident as "horrific" and believes the chew may be a danger to other dogs. Pets Family, which owns the pet shop where she bought the chew and the company that manufactures it, says there is nothing wrong with its product.

A TREE consultant from Stoke Row is helping to commemorate a pioneering female pilot by donating special timber to a reconstruction of her plane. Hugo Loudon, managing director of Heritage Tree Services, has worked with the Hangar 42 Spitfire Museum in Blackpool on an exhibition about Amy Johnson, who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. FORMER Henley mayor Sarah Miller says she feels happy to be alive after undergoing cancer treatment.

She is "effectively cancer-free" after having a single mastectomy and immunotherapy and chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer. She had stepped down from her mayoral role in September after her diagnosis, which came 15 years after she was previously treated for breast cancer. A COUPLE from Henley have become the faces of a national cancer charity.

Graham and Eva Rickett, who run Henley Scan, took part in a photoshoot for Pancreatic Cancer UK, which supports people affected by the disease. Mr Rickett was diagnosed in October 2022 and underwent surgery to remove a tumour as well as having 18 chemotherapy treatment sessions. A SECONDARY school cannot afford to hire experienced staff because it is not big enough.

Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge in Sonning Common is losing an estimated GBP1million a year in government funding because it has only about 450 pupils when it should have 600. The school, which is part of the Maiden Erlegh Trust, has lost 13 teachers since 2022, although its teacher-to-pupil ratio is slightly better than the national average. The trust has since recruited 15 new teachers and last year introduced a policy of replacing staff with less experienced teachers where possible.

A PUB landlady has told of her surprise when pop star Ed Sheeran came in for a drink. Claire Wakefield, who runs the Old Bell in Bell Street, was expecting a quiet evening when her plans to go to the gym were interrupted by the arrival of the singer and his friends. The A Team singer popped in for drinks late on Thursday afternoon last week to celebrate the wedding of a friend who had got married but hadn't had a chance to hold a stag do.

Their evening began with just Sheeran and one of his friends before several more joined them until they headed off for dinner and ended their night at the Jacobini wine bar in Hart Street. AN experienced boater was stranded at a lock for more than an hour with no lock-keeper on duty to come to his aid. Jim Sneddon, founder of the Henley Boating Company, was stranded in Hambleden lock for 90 minutes on Tuesday after an electrical fault meant it would not fill up with water.

The lock-keeper had to be called back from his day off so the system could be reset and the lock opened again. Mr Sneddon has criticised the Environment Agency's decision to hire a reduced number of seasonal relief workers on the locks this summer. A MICRO-BAKERY in Stoke Row has won an award for producing the best plain sourdough loaf in Britain.

Imma The Bakery, which is based in Busgrove Lane, came ahead of 200 other bakeries in the competition held at the NEC in Birmingham. Judges examine the external appearance, internal structure, aroma and taste to determine the winners. Imma's Oxford Country Loaf was praised for its "simple yet profound flavour".

THE new Mayor of Henley has pledged to help clean up the Thames. Rory Hunt said he would hold Thames Water and the Environment Agency to account for the pollution of the river by sewage. He said: "The river having become an open sewer is not something we should tolerate."

Councillor Hunt, 30, was speaking at the mayor-making ceremony held at the town hall, which was attended by more than 100 people. NEW litter bins for Henley have had to be sent back to the manufacturer TWICE because of the same problem with the finish. The town council has spent GBP8,242 on replacing 10 single green and gold heritage cast iron bins.

Town clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edward said that when the bins were first delivered in March the paintwork was unsatisfactory so they were sent back. Then when they were returned this month the same problem was spotted. ELEVEN friends from Henley participated in England's highest-ever altitude cricket match to raise money for a team-mate.

Past and present members of Henley Cricket Club travelled to the Lake District on Monday to play the game on the summit of Helvellyn, 3,116ft above sea level. The newly formed CMTRF Henley XI took three hours to reach the top of the mountain -- the third-highest in England. The match was in aid of the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Research Foundation, which was set up to find a cure for CMT, a form of muscular dystrophy.

A WAR hero who survived five years in a German prisoner of war camp has died, aged 103. Dick Charlton, a lifelong Henley resident, passed away in his sleep at the Chiltern Court care centre, off York Road, on Tuesday, five days before his birthday. He served in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during the Second World War and is thought to have been the last surviving member of his battalion.

A MAN from Bix has told of his disappointment and pride after just missing out on a spot the final of TV's Britain's Got Talent. Alfie Hay was part of a choir formed by his grandson, eight-year-old Ravi Adelekan, who was diagnosed with a brain stem tumour two years ago, to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity and Brainstrust. The singers included about 50 friends, family, teachers and medical professionals, called Ravi's Dream Team, who appeared on a live semi-final of the show to sing Take That's Greatest Day.

JOHN HOWELL spent 16 hours unconscious on the floor in his flat after suffering a stroke. Mr Howell, 68, who is not standing at the general election next month, says he has been helped by "true friends". He was at his London flat on November 1 preparing to meet his partner Gloria Martin when he collapsed.

She raised the alarm and police broke into his flat and discovered Mr Howell on the floor. In late February he was moved to the Frank Cooksey Rehabilitation Ward in Orpington, Kent, where he remains. RISHI Sunak was "photo-bombed" by political rivals while on the election campaign trail in Henley.

The Prime Minister was visiting Leander Club and chatting to some of its female rowers on the outdoor terrace when the incident took place. After asking each of the athletes how they got involved in the sport and their experiences, Mr Sunak said he would encourage his daughters to give rowing a try. But the conversation was cut short when a boat went past filled with Liberal Democrat campaigners holding luminous orange signs.

A VILLAGE shopkeeper was left stunned when a bailiff tried to seize her van. Sarah Harper, 51, general manager of Hambleden Village Stores and Post Office, fell victim to criminals who cloned the licence plates of the shop's Volkswagen Caddy. She was hounded for payment of bogus fines run up by the crooks in London.

She appealed each one and Lambeth and Hackney councils revoked the fines. However, Transport for London continued fining Ms Harper despite her providing evidence. A UKRAINIAN couple were married in Henley two years after fleeing the Russian attack on their homeland.

Svitlana and Bogdan Karashevskyi's wedding ceremony was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in front of 15 friends and family on Friday. The couple, who have been together for four years, walked down the aisle together and followed tradition by wearing Ukrainian national dress. THE Kenton Theatre in Henley would have closed if it hadn't been for a GBP100,000 council loan, says the chairwoman of trustees.

Tara Macleod was speaking as she revealed that the historic venue made a loss of GBP165,551 for the financial year up to August 2023. But she insisted that it is now back on track financially after an overhaul of the staff and should be back in profit next year. A JEWELLERS in Henley has closed down suddenly because it was no longer viable.

David Rodger Sharp in Market Place shut at the end of last month, eight months after the death of its founder of the same name. Mr Rodger-Sharp, 39, had two eponymous jewellery businesses with his business partner Andy Byerley. The second branch was in Oxford.

In a statement, Mr Byerley said there was no other option but to close the business after finding "many irregularities". SERVICES at Townlands Memorial Hospital could be streamlined, the Henley Standard can reveal. Consultant cover for the rapid access care unit at the Henley hospital, which opened seven years ago, has already been withdrawn.

A consultant who was sub-contracted from the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading did not have their contract renewed while another retired with no plans to replace them. The Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust said it would consult before any changes to services were made. A SCHOOL cook from Shiplake has won more than GBP821,000 after dreaming that it would happen.

Sally Maudlin, 61, of Reading Road, said the money would change her family's lives and she would love to spend some of her winnings on a cruise.

The mother of two has been playing the People's Postcode Lottery for six years but had never won more than GBP50 until now.