Thame Farmers Market celebrates ten years

THAME today celebrated ten years of fresh, local produce provided by its Farmers Market, with street entertainers, Beau the friendly alpaca and a very special birthday cake.

Celebrity TV cook, Lotte Duncan, who lives at Long Crendon, cut a magnificent birthday cake specially made by Thame WI, which was decorated with a symbol to represent each stall, including a suger beehive.

Children were entertained by Colonel Custard with his magic, a stilt-walker and balloon sculptor, juggling and face-painting.

Also enjoying a piece of birthday cake, distributed by Lotte Duncan and the Deputy Mayor of Thame, Nicola Dixon, was Mike Le Mesurier, a former town councillor who was Mayor of Thame when the Farmers Market first came to the town in 1999.

As we are now at the height of summer, food on offer today included freshly-picked strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, plums and the first of the new season?s apples.

Five of the original Farmers Market stall-holders, who will be celebrating their tenth year at Thame, were each presented with a bottle of wine by the Deputy Mayor. They were:

? Meat producers Jane Bowler from Dews Meadow
Farm, East Hanney
? Dennis Cox from Oakley
? John and Joan Parslow from Bledlow, with
their range of honey and beeswax products
? Trout farmer, Tim Lobb from East Hendred
? Ian and Sally Forster from Long Crendon with
Baker?s Basket.

Raymond Blanc OBE, Chef Patron of Le Manoir Aux Quat?Saisons, at Milton Common, near Thame, was unable to attend the celebrations but sent his good wishes, and said: “I am passionate about sourcing food locally, so passionate that we grow as much as we can of our own produce at Le Manoir. It is incredible to think that ten years ago Thame was the first town to organise a Farmers? Market in Oxfordshire, and wonderful that five of the original traders are still among the 16 giving local people the opportunity to reconnect our food culture with the soil from which it springs.”

Thame Farmers? Markets provide all-year-round fresh vegetables, free range and organic meat, speciality and traditional breads, eggs, cakes and pastries, preserves, dairy produce, fish, beer and wine.

The Farmers’ Market is held on the second Tuesday of every month in the Upper High Street Car Park from 8.30am to 1.30pm. For more information visit www.local-food.net or www.tvfm.org.uk.

Photo: The start of the show at today’s 10th birthday celebrations at Thame Farmers’ Market, was undoubetly the cake, made by members of Thame WI.
LOTS MORE PHOTOS OF TODAY’S CELEBRATIONS