25 years ago

THE bumpy road of matrimony started with a jolt for a Mapledurham bride on Saturday. After tying the conjugal knot at the local church, Lucy Maunder, of Chazey Court Farm, set off with her husband Leigh Walker perched on the back of a horse-drawn cart. The pealing bells were already making Maisie, a Welsh pony, fidget but when a bugle was sounded by the huntsman of the Garth and South Bucks Hunt, it was too much for the mare. She shot off at a gallop for about 100 yards, flinging the newlyweds into a ditch.

Police believe a bogus policeman may be operating in the Henley area and have warned people to be on their guard. The alert comes after a man was stopped and questioned by “the officer” who was driving what appeared to be a police car in Gainsborough Hill. Police fear Friday’s incident could be connected with the suspicious sighting of a bogus police car in Sonning Common last month.

Dean Ashley can certainly cut a swathe when he gets on the seat of his lawnmower. At 17, he has won the title of world lawnmower racing champion. Dean, from Sonning Common, won the competition at Wisborough Green in Sussex and also regained the British championship title that he first won three years ago.