THIS WELCOME PACK IS FULL OF USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT
COLD ASTON AND IS INTENDED FOR EVERYONE TO USE, BUT ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE RECENTLY ARRIVED IN THE VILLAGE
COLD ASTON AND IS INTENDED FOR EVERYONE TO USE, BUT ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE RECENTLY ARRIVED IN THE VILLAGE
If you would like to download and print the Welcome Pack, click here
Pease note that some of the information in this document may be out of date,
however the web page is updated from time to time..
Pease note that some of the information in this document may be out of date,
however the web page is updated from time to time..
Last update: 05/01/22
This page contains information to help you feel at home as soon as possible and to offer a warm welcome to our flourishing village community. We hope very much that you will enjoy living here and take part in village life in its many forms.
The detail in a Welcome Pack can never be complete because things change all the time, but it is hoped sufficient information is included to provide help and give details about the Parish, its people, the facilities and services in and around the area and ideas for further help. An electronic copy can be downloaded from the website - see above
The pack is kept as up to date as possible, but feedback on what is in, what’s missing and new information would be very welcome. Please contact Martin Nicholas nichhome@btinternet.com with suggestions for amendments.
The History of Cold Aston
Citation: Carol Davidson Cragoe, A R J Jurica and Elizabeth Williamson, 'Parishes: Cold Aston', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 9, Bradley Hundred. The Northleach Area of the Cotswolds, ed. N M Herbert (London, 2001), pp. 9-20.
Background
Cold Aston, also known as Aston Blank, the only English village with two official names, is a rural parish lying beside the Fosse Way and two miles from the former Roman way camp and fortified Iron Age farmstead of Bourton-on-the-Water. Remote and high, served by single track roads, the village has retained much of its historic character. The ancient parish contained 2,360 acres and was roughly rectangular in shape. The boundaries, some of which were described in a pre-Conquest perambulation of Cold Aston and Notgrove, are the river Windrush on the north, the Fosse Way on the east and the course of a stream on the south-west. In the southern corner of the parish that stream joins other headwaters of the Sherborne Brook to form Broadwater Bottom in part of the valley called Turkdean (Anglo-Saxon - Twrch - wild boar, Dene – valley). Cold Aston boundaries were unchanged until 1987 when the parish was enlarged to 2,375 acres by the addition of a few houses on the north-western boundary, and the former mill with some land at Little Aston on the north-eastern boundary, which were transferred from the parishes of Notgrove and Upper Slaughter respectively.
Village Name
In the earliest records the parish was called simply Aston or Aeston, the eastern most part of the Hundred of Wacrescumbe in the Doomsday Book. By mid 13th century it was commonly known as Cold Aston. By the Middle Ages, the village was sometimes called Great Aston to distinguish it from the hamlet of Little Aston which, when it was part of the parish of Windrush, was a separate manor and a separate tithing. The name Aston Pipard, recorded in the early 14th century incorporated that of the principal landowning family of that time. Aston Blank, possibly a reference to the land's bareness, but more probably the name of the Lord of the Manor, Robert Blanc, in 1535, gained official if not local acceptance. The official name was changed back from Aston Blank to Cold Aston in 1972. Village residents had never used the name Aston Blank, always using Cold Aston. Be clear with delivery instructions as we are occasionally confused with Cold Ashton near Bath, which never improves the mood of delivery drivers!
Land
The land of the parish rises from 476ft in the river valleys on its north-eastern and south-western sides to over 689ft in the west. Most of the land is formed by the Inferior Oolite. The underlying Midford Sand and Upper Lias Clay are revealed in the Windrush valley and the higher ground is formed by drifts of fuller's earth, valuable in cleaning fleeces, capped by the Great Oolite. The open, rolling farmland drains mostly to the south in valleys formed by streams, which in places follow, underground courses. One stream, rising in Notgrove, flows east of Cold Aston village to Broadwater Bottom where three winter streams join to disappear underground.
There is a network of springs and wells which served the village with laundry being done at Town Well by Spring Cottage until mains water was connected in 1951, although the big houses were served by a subscription supply from the water tower next to the church from 1909. Electricity was connected in the 1930s but surprisingly the telephone was the first service in the village in the 1920s. Much open land at the north side of the Parish with evocative names such as Cow Common, Bowman’s Hay, Coursers Hill, Vent (windy) Hill and Dryground. The downs bordering the Windrush were inclosed before the rest of the parish, which retained large open fields until 1796, with an unusual four field rotational strip system. Apart from Aston Grove and its coppicing crop of ash trees in the south of the parish and several small coppices on the steep side of the Windrush Valley in the north-east, there was little woodland in the mid 18th century. Although some planting took place soon after the inclosure of 1796, Cold Aston had only 54acres of woods and plantations in 1905. Photos from that era are notable for the bareness of the skyline in contrast to the current treescape, this in itself threatened by ash dieback. Several local new plantations were created later on and above the Windrush Valley, but the area of woodland returned for the parish in 1986 was 111 acres.
Population
Cold Aston Manor, comprising the whole parish except Little Aston, had 18 tenants in 1309 and 18 parishioners were assessed for the subsidy in 1327. The lord of the Manor at that time had passed from Pipard to James Butler, later the Earl of Ormonde under whose banner Cold Aston village men would have fought at Crecy and later Agincourt. The 100 years war and the black death resulted in depopulation of Little Aston in the early 14th century which fell into disrepair. There had been an overall decline in population by 1524 when there were only ten taxpayers. The number of households in 1563 was said to be nine. In the later 16th century the population probably remained unchanged, the number of communicants being estimated at 48 in 1551 and 50 in 1603. In 1650 there were said to be 14 families, but the hearth tax return of 1672 named 25 householders. In the 18th century the population increased gradually from 120 in 1710, to 216 in 1801. By 1861 it had grown to 325, but for the rest of the 19th century it fell and in 1901 it was back to 214. Three of the four farms at that time were owned by Nancy Cunard of the shipping line, who also owned Notgrove. Thereafter, the population fluctuated between extremes of 254 in 1911, and 205 in 1931 when the village had a cobbler, two blacksmiths, two pubs, a wheelwright, two carpentry shops, a bakery and four thriving farmsteads. The 1991 census showed the number of residents was again 214.
In depth information about the history of Cold Aston can be found at the British History Online website.
The Parish Council
Cold Aston Parish Council usually meets on a Thursday evening on alternate months unless there are planning matters that need to be discussed sooner. If you would like to be included on the mailing list for the Council to be notified of meetings and agendas please contact the Parish clerk Belinda Holder on coldastonpc@gmail.com. Similarly, if you have an item to raise with the Parish Council please email the clerk.
Minutes of meetings can be accessed on the Parish website on http://www.coldaston.com/parish-council.html.
The Parish Council noticeboard is outside the village hall.
The Parish Councillors are:
Paula Marchant (chair) paulammarchant@gmail.com
Michael Sibthorpe capc@btinternet.com
Amanda Kimpton amandakimpton22@gmail.com
Mark Ziles markzparishc@yahoo.com
The Parish Council has responsibility for verges, allotments, trees which are not on the highway, planning and reviewing the Parish Plan. Issues to do with taxes, tourism, waste services, planning, social housing etc are the responsibility of Cotswold District Council: https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/.
Our local District Councillor is Richard Keeling (Con) richard.keeling@cotswold.gov.uk.
Issues regarding highways, education, safeguarding, social services, waste and recycling and transport are the responsibility of Gloucestershire County Council https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/.
Our County Councillor is Paul Hodgkinson (LD) paul.hodgkinson@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Police
Our local station is located in Stow-on-the-Wold, but calls are handled centrally from Gloucester on 01452 907200 which is open 10am-2pm Monday to Friday.
Our Community Liaison PC is Charlie Symes charlie.symes@gloucestershire.pnn.police.uk.
Emergencies obviously need to be called in on 999 and less urgent issues can be phoned in on 101. Email: 101@gloucestershire.police.uk
Crimestoppers allow you to report crime anonymously crimestoppers-uk.org or 0800 555 111
Neighbourhood Watch
There is an active group in the village lead by John Beresford jbj4549@gmail.com to whom you can send your e-mail address if you want to be included in the NW mailing list. John forwards messages from the local Police force.
For more urgent matters Martin Nicholas nichhome@btinternet.com runs a WhatsApp group where we can notify suspicious activity in the village, power outages, missing cats etc. There is also a link into the Rural Crime Group which specifically targets crimes of poaching, agricultural theft etc.
Electricity
Our supply network is managed by Scottish and Southern Electricity. You can call 105 to be put through to report a power cut or damaged supply equipment etc. They also have an app called Power Track which is very useful. If you are elderly or in poor health you can register to be put on their Priority Register which allows you to jump the queue in the event of a power cut.
Water
Thames Water is our water supplier. Most houses in the village can get a pressure of 3 Bar or better. https://www.thameswater.co.uk/ tel 0845 9200888 or in an emergency call 0800 3169800
Gas
There is no mains gas supply in the village
Fibre broadband
Much of the Cotswolds is supplied by Gigaclear, but we have fibre to the cabinet installed by BT and copper from there. Speeds of 45mB are possible, but the infrastructure is run by BT, so your best chance of a good broadband connection is through them.
Mobile Phone
O2 and Vodaphone have the best signal strength in the village, but 4g is not guaranteed
Refuse and Recycling
Collection day is alternate Tuesdays and they often arrive first thing (7am); check dates on https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/check-your-collection-day/
Food waste is collected weekly.
Fortnightly general waste in the black bin and garden waste in the green bin.
Plastic and tins in the white plastic bag, cardboard in the blue bag, glass and paper in the black boxes.
Doctors, Dentists and Hospitals
The Cotswold Medical Practice has branches in Bourton (Moore Rd. 01451 820242) and Northleach (Westwoods Centre 01451 860247) www.cotswoldmedicalpractice.nhs.uk. Cold Aston residents are able to have medicines dispensed at the dispensary in the surgery. Emergency contact is through 111 out of normal hours (6.30pm – 8am).
Stow Surgery https://stowsurgery.co.uk/ in Maugesbury Rd., Stow, also covers our village (01451 83062).
Both surgeries make use of facilities at George Moore Community Clinic (0300 421 6940) for physiotherapy, podiatry and consultant outpatients.
The North Cotswolds Hospital at Moreton-in-Marsh provides a minor injury unit (8am - 8pm, variable), inpatient and outpatient facilities, X-Ray (variable times) and physiotherapy.
A full time accident and emergency service is provided at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital along with a full range of acute medical services. Cheltenham General Hospital provides an emergency, consultant led service between 8am and 8pm and a nurse led minor injuries and illness unit from 8pm to 8am as well as non urgent in-patient care, rehabilitation, a midwife led maternity unit and an outpatient service.
Pharmacies: Rowlands in Bourton at the Chestnuts is part of a large national chain, and takes a week to turn around repeat prescription. The Cotswold Pharmacy Northleach 01451 820295 https://www.thecotswoldpharmacy.co.uk/ delivers prescriptions on request, and has easier parking. Badham’s, Stow-on-the-Wold (01451 830623) is part of a small local chain and also delivers prescriptions.
Dentists: The Riverside Dental Practice, Bourton, 01451 820306 - private patients only.
Stow-on-the-Wold Dental Practice https://www.stowonthewolddentalpractice.com/ - private only.
Brewery Yard Dental Practice, Stow-on-the-Wold 01451 830885 - private only.
Forge dental practice, Bourton on the Water - 01451 821268.
Village Defibrillator scheme
Ambulance response times here are generally over 20 minutes, so if someone in your house collapses or develops chest pain we have an automatic defibrillator in the old phone box by the village hall. 1) dial 999, ask for an ambulance, 2) call 01451 612012 – this rings in 10 Cold Aston homes simultaneously. The person who picks up will bring the defibrillator to your house and provide help whilst the ambulance is on its way. Commence chest compressions if the patient is not breathing. Contact Yvonne Nicholas nichhome@btinternet.com for more information about the scheme.
Post
The post is collected at 3.30pm each weekday and 9am on Saturdays from the letterbox in the wall of the Plough Inn. Post Office Counters are available in Northleach in the square between the Black Cat Café and the wine bar, and in Bourton at the Rissington end of the Hight Sreet.
Cold Aston Village Fayre
Cold Aston Fayre has been an annual event since the first Fayre in 1975 - and every year it gets bigger and even more successful. It was inaugurated to meet the rising amount of the Church precept, that exceeded donations and collections the Church received. So successful has it become that the precept is exceeded fourfold now, and the profits are divided equally between local charities and the village – Church, Hall, School etc. The Fayre is held on the village greens and lanes with the access roads closed to traffic.
Nearly everyone in the village contributes to the Fayre in some way or other, working, making, donating and organising thus each year the Fayre improves by featuring a large selection of stalls and attractions and to feature new ideas as well as keeping to our tradition of providing a typical village fayre. For example, in 2018 we introduced "light lunches" and in 2019 we had a Dog Scurry for the first time. 2020 was the first time for 45 years the Fayre was not held, but villagers came up with some novel ways to raise money for charities nonetheless.
All the stalls are organised and run by villagers, their friends and families and there are no external commercial stalls.
If you would like to become involved in the Fayre then please contact Sally Morris sally.morris@squarecorner.co.uk
St Andrew's Church
You can find out about the history of the church on https://northleach.org/benefice-churches/. Our new vicar is Alyssa Timmis. St Peter’s & St Pauls in Northleach is one of England’s most important wool churches and worth a visit. The benefice office can be contacted at beneficeoffice@northleachbenefice.org or by phone.
Church services are held on four Sundays each month, with Matins on the 1st Sunday, Café Church held in the Village Hall on the 2nd being a less formal and family friendly celebration, Holy Communion on the 3rd and Compline in the evening of the 4th Sunday. Where there is a 5th Sunday in the month, a benefice service rotates between all eight parishes in turn. There are additional services at Easter, harvest festival and at Christmas, with midnight communion on Christmas Eve.
Our church wardens are John and Stephanie Hollows 01451 822070. John is also a reader for the church. Flower arranging in the church is co-ordinated by Deborah Toogood 01451 810586.
The Parish Magazine is full of useful information about the church, services and local social life, as well as many advertisements and you can contact Alison Rainbow, benefice secretary at magazine@northleachbenefice.org or 01451 861132 to subscribe to a digital version circulated by e-mail for £8/ year, or a paper copy for £12/year.
Village Hall
Built in 1925, the village hall is still a thriving hub of village life 95 years later. Before the COVID interruption we could enjoy yoga classes 3x/wk, upholstery, ballet, a monthly coffee morning, a quiz night, a summer barbecue, harvest lunch, a winter drinks evening, talks, music and theatre events. It is also available for private hire and has hosted everything from children’s parties to wedding receptions. If you would like to book the village hall for an event, please visit the GRCC website.
To contact the Village Hall committee (excluding to book the hall), please use the following email address: coldastonhall@gmail.com.
Cold Aston Primary School
Cold Aston has had a Primary school is an OFSTED Outstanding school with 86 pupils drawn from our own and nearby villages. Situated next to the church which it uses daily for worship and assembly, it has a playground, a large level sports field and Forest School. Accepting children from aged 5, it runs a four class structure for Reception, years 1&2, 3&4 and 5&6. Pumpkin Patch cares for children from 8am to 5pm for working parents, and being part of a four school federation, the North Cotswolds Schools Federation (NCSF), it is able to offer specialist sports teaching, pastoral support workers and SEND teaching. The NCSF has allowed each school to retain its small school feel, but with the benefits of a large school, enjoying strong staff retention, career progression, joint sports and outing days. You can find out more at https://www.northcotswoldschools.co.uk/.
The Nature Nurture Group
Cold Aston is a wonderful place for nature, with rare and special things. We are blessed to have some important and special kinds of habitats on our doorstep. Out and about in the local countryside you can see many wildflowers, veteran trees, hedgerows and creatures.
Some residents have set up the Nurture Nature Group because many things are declining and at risk.
We look for opportunities to help our local nature to flourish in our gardens, fields, roadsides and footpaths. Members are also happy to share their expertise. Along the roads in the parish we have identified verges that merit special conservation management through enrichment planting and special management. Already the number of wild flowers is increasing, with other parishes following suit. A bulb lawn is being developed in the village itself. To get involved, seek advice or help please call Diana on 01451 820274.
This page contains information to help you feel at home as soon as possible and to offer a warm welcome to our flourishing village community. We hope very much that you will enjoy living here and take part in village life in its many forms.
The detail in a Welcome Pack can never be complete because things change all the time, but it is hoped sufficient information is included to provide help and give details about the Parish, its people, the facilities and services in and around the area and ideas for further help. An electronic copy can be downloaded from the website - see above
The pack is kept as up to date as possible, but feedback on what is in, what’s missing and new information would be very welcome. Please contact Martin Nicholas nichhome@btinternet.com with suggestions for amendments.
The History of Cold Aston
Citation: Carol Davidson Cragoe, A R J Jurica and Elizabeth Williamson, 'Parishes: Cold Aston', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 9, Bradley Hundred. The Northleach Area of the Cotswolds, ed. N M Herbert (London, 2001), pp. 9-20.
Background
Cold Aston, also known as Aston Blank, the only English village with two official names, is a rural parish lying beside the Fosse Way and two miles from the former Roman way camp and fortified Iron Age farmstead of Bourton-on-the-Water. Remote and high, served by single track roads, the village has retained much of its historic character. The ancient parish contained 2,360 acres and was roughly rectangular in shape. The boundaries, some of which were described in a pre-Conquest perambulation of Cold Aston and Notgrove, are the river Windrush on the north, the Fosse Way on the east and the course of a stream on the south-west. In the southern corner of the parish that stream joins other headwaters of the Sherborne Brook to form Broadwater Bottom in part of the valley called Turkdean (Anglo-Saxon - Twrch - wild boar, Dene – valley). Cold Aston boundaries were unchanged until 1987 when the parish was enlarged to 2,375 acres by the addition of a few houses on the north-western boundary, and the former mill with some land at Little Aston on the north-eastern boundary, which were transferred from the parishes of Notgrove and Upper Slaughter respectively.
Village Name
In the earliest records the parish was called simply Aston or Aeston, the eastern most part of the Hundred of Wacrescumbe in the Doomsday Book. By mid 13th century it was commonly known as Cold Aston. By the Middle Ages, the village was sometimes called Great Aston to distinguish it from the hamlet of Little Aston which, when it was part of the parish of Windrush, was a separate manor and a separate tithing. The name Aston Pipard, recorded in the early 14th century incorporated that of the principal landowning family of that time. Aston Blank, possibly a reference to the land's bareness, but more probably the name of the Lord of the Manor, Robert Blanc, in 1535, gained official if not local acceptance. The official name was changed back from Aston Blank to Cold Aston in 1972. Village residents had never used the name Aston Blank, always using Cold Aston. Be clear with delivery instructions as we are occasionally confused with Cold Ashton near Bath, which never improves the mood of delivery drivers!
Land
The land of the parish rises from 476ft in the river valleys on its north-eastern and south-western sides to over 689ft in the west. Most of the land is formed by the Inferior Oolite. The underlying Midford Sand and Upper Lias Clay are revealed in the Windrush valley and the higher ground is formed by drifts of fuller's earth, valuable in cleaning fleeces, capped by the Great Oolite. The open, rolling farmland drains mostly to the south in valleys formed by streams, which in places follow, underground courses. One stream, rising in Notgrove, flows east of Cold Aston village to Broadwater Bottom where three winter streams join to disappear underground.
There is a network of springs and wells which served the village with laundry being done at Town Well by Spring Cottage until mains water was connected in 1951, although the big houses were served by a subscription supply from the water tower next to the church from 1909. Electricity was connected in the 1930s but surprisingly the telephone was the first service in the village in the 1920s. Much open land at the north side of the Parish with evocative names such as Cow Common, Bowman’s Hay, Coursers Hill, Vent (windy) Hill and Dryground. The downs bordering the Windrush were inclosed before the rest of the parish, which retained large open fields until 1796, with an unusual four field rotational strip system. Apart from Aston Grove and its coppicing crop of ash trees in the south of the parish and several small coppices on the steep side of the Windrush Valley in the north-east, there was little woodland in the mid 18th century. Although some planting took place soon after the inclosure of 1796, Cold Aston had only 54acres of woods and plantations in 1905. Photos from that era are notable for the bareness of the skyline in contrast to the current treescape, this in itself threatened by ash dieback. Several local new plantations were created later on and above the Windrush Valley, but the area of woodland returned for the parish in 1986 was 111 acres.
Population
Cold Aston Manor, comprising the whole parish except Little Aston, had 18 tenants in 1309 and 18 parishioners were assessed for the subsidy in 1327. The lord of the Manor at that time had passed from Pipard to James Butler, later the Earl of Ormonde under whose banner Cold Aston village men would have fought at Crecy and later Agincourt. The 100 years war and the black death resulted in depopulation of Little Aston in the early 14th century which fell into disrepair. There had been an overall decline in population by 1524 when there were only ten taxpayers. The number of households in 1563 was said to be nine. In the later 16th century the population probably remained unchanged, the number of communicants being estimated at 48 in 1551 and 50 in 1603. In 1650 there were said to be 14 families, but the hearth tax return of 1672 named 25 householders. In the 18th century the population increased gradually from 120 in 1710, to 216 in 1801. By 1861 it had grown to 325, but for the rest of the 19th century it fell and in 1901 it was back to 214. Three of the four farms at that time were owned by Nancy Cunard of the shipping line, who also owned Notgrove. Thereafter, the population fluctuated between extremes of 254 in 1911, and 205 in 1931 when the village had a cobbler, two blacksmiths, two pubs, a wheelwright, two carpentry shops, a bakery and four thriving farmsteads. The 1991 census showed the number of residents was again 214.
In depth information about the history of Cold Aston can be found at the British History Online website.
The Parish Council
Cold Aston Parish Council usually meets on a Thursday evening on alternate months unless there are planning matters that need to be discussed sooner. If you would like to be included on the mailing list for the Council to be notified of meetings and agendas please contact the Parish clerk Belinda Holder on coldastonpc@gmail.com. Similarly, if you have an item to raise with the Parish Council please email the clerk.
Minutes of meetings can be accessed on the Parish website on http://www.coldaston.com/parish-council.html.
The Parish Council noticeboard is outside the village hall.
The Parish Councillors are:
Paula Marchant (chair) paulammarchant@gmail.com
Michael Sibthorpe capc@btinternet.com
Amanda Kimpton amandakimpton22@gmail.com
Mark Ziles markzparishc@yahoo.com
The Parish Council has responsibility for verges, allotments, trees which are not on the highway, planning and reviewing the Parish Plan. Issues to do with taxes, tourism, waste services, planning, social housing etc are the responsibility of Cotswold District Council: https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/.
Our local District Councillor is Richard Keeling (Con) richard.keeling@cotswold.gov.uk.
Issues regarding highways, education, safeguarding, social services, waste and recycling and transport are the responsibility of Gloucestershire County Council https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/.
Our County Councillor is Paul Hodgkinson (LD) paul.hodgkinson@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Police
Our local station is located in Stow-on-the-Wold, but calls are handled centrally from Gloucester on 01452 907200 which is open 10am-2pm Monday to Friday.
Our Community Liaison PC is Charlie Symes charlie.symes@gloucestershire.pnn.police.uk.
Emergencies obviously need to be called in on 999 and less urgent issues can be phoned in on 101. Email: 101@gloucestershire.police.uk
Crimestoppers allow you to report crime anonymously crimestoppers-uk.org or 0800 555 111
Neighbourhood Watch
There is an active group in the village lead by John Beresford jbj4549@gmail.com to whom you can send your e-mail address if you want to be included in the NW mailing list. John forwards messages from the local Police force.
For more urgent matters Martin Nicholas nichhome@btinternet.com runs a WhatsApp group where we can notify suspicious activity in the village, power outages, missing cats etc. There is also a link into the Rural Crime Group which specifically targets crimes of poaching, agricultural theft etc.
Electricity
Our supply network is managed by Scottish and Southern Electricity. You can call 105 to be put through to report a power cut or damaged supply equipment etc. They also have an app called Power Track which is very useful. If you are elderly or in poor health you can register to be put on their Priority Register which allows you to jump the queue in the event of a power cut.
Water
Thames Water is our water supplier. Most houses in the village can get a pressure of 3 Bar or better. https://www.thameswater.co.uk/ tel 0845 9200888 or in an emergency call 0800 3169800
Gas
There is no mains gas supply in the village
Fibre broadband
Much of the Cotswolds is supplied by Gigaclear, but we have fibre to the cabinet installed by BT and copper from there. Speeds of 45mB are possible, but the infrastructure is run by BT, so your best chance of a good broadband connection is through them.
Mobile Phone
O2 and Vodaphone have the best signal strength in the village, but 4g is not guaranteed
Refuse and Recycling
Collection day is alternate Tuesdays and they often arrive first thing (7am); check dates on https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/check-your-collection-day/
Food waste is collected weekly.
Fortnightly general waste in the black bin and garden waste in the green bin.
Plastic and tins in the white plastic bag, cardboard in the blue bag, glass and paper in the black boxes.
Doctors, Dentists and Hospitals
The Cotswold Medical Practice has branches in Bourton (Moore Rd. 01451 820242) and Northleach (Westwoods Centre 01451 860247) www.cotswoldmedicalpractice.nhs.uk. Cold Aston residents are able to have medicines dispensed at the dispensary in the surgery. Emergency contact is through 111 out of normal hours (6.30pm – 8am).
Stow Surgery https://stowsurgery.co.uk/ in Maugesbury Rd., Stow, also covers our village (01451 83062).
Both surgeries make use of facilities at George Moore Community Clinic (0300 421 6940) for physiotherapy, podiatry and consultant outpatients.
The North Cotswolds Hospital at Moreton-in-Marsh provides a minor injury unit (8am - 8pm, variable), inpatient and outpatient facilities, X-Ray (variable times) and physiotherapy.
A full time accident and emergency service is provided at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital along with a full range of acute medical services. Cheltenham General Hospital provides an emergency, consultant led service between 8am and 8pm and a nurse led minor injuries and illness unit from 8pm to 8am as well as non urgent in-patient care, rehabilitation, a midwife led maternity unit and an outpatient service.
Pharmacies: Rowlands in Bourton at the Chestnuts is part of a large national chain, and takes a week to turn around repeat prescription. The Cotswold Pharmacy Northleach 01451 820295 https://www.thecotswoldpharmacy.co.uk/ delivers prescriptions on request, and has easier parking. Badham’s, Stow-on-the-Wold (01451 830623) is part of a small local chain and also delivers prescriptions.
Dentists: The Riverside Dental Practice, Bourton, 01451 820306 - private patients only.
Stow-on-the-Wold Dental Practice https://www.stowonthewolddentalpractice.com/ - private only.
Brewery Yard Dental Practice, Stow-on-the-Wold 01451 830885 - private only.
Forge dental practice, Bourton on the Water - 01451 821268.
Village Defibrillator scheme
Ambulance response times here are generally over 20 minutes, so if someone in your house collapses or develops chest pain we have an automatic defibrillator in the old phone box by the village hall. 1) dial 999, ask for an ambulance, 2) call 01451 612012 – this rings in 10 Cold Aston homes simultaneously. The person who picks up will bring the defibrillator to your house and provide help whilst the ambulance is on its way. Commence chest compressions if the patient is not breathing. Contact Yvonne Nicholas nichhome@btinternet.com for more information about the scheme.
Post
The post is collected at 3.30pm each weekday and 9am on Saturdays from the letterbox in the wall of the Plough Inn. Post Office Counters are available in Northleach in the square between the Black Cat Café and the wine bar, and in Bourton at the Rissington end of the Hight Sreet.
Cold Aston Village Fayre
Cold Aston Fayre has been an annual event since the first Fayre in 1975 - and every year it gets bigger and even more successful. It was inaugurated to meet the rising amount of the Church precept, that exceeded donations and collections the Church received. So successful has it become that the precept is exceeded fourfold now, and the profits are divided equally between local charities and the village – Church, Hall, School etc. The Fayre is held on the village greens and lanes with the access roads closed to traffic.
Nearly everyone in the village contributes to the Fayre in some way or other, working, making, donating and organising thus each year the Fayre improves by featuring a large selection of stalls and attractions and to feature new ideas as well as keeping to our tradition of providing a typical village fayre. For example, in 2018 we introduced "light lunches" and in 2019 we had a Dog Scurry for the first time. 2020 was the first time for 45 years the Fayre was not held, but villagers came up with some novel ways to raise money for charities nonetheless.
All the stalls are organised and run by villagers, their friends and families and there are no external commercial stalls.
If you would like to become involved in the Fayre then please contact Sally Morris sally.morris@squarecorner.co.uk
St Andrew's Church
You can find out about the history of the church on https://northleach.org/benefice-churches/. Our new vicar is Alyssa Timmis. St Peter’s & St Pauls in Northleach is one of England’s most important wool churches and worth a visit. The benefice office can be contacted at beneficeoffice@northleachbenefice.org or by phone.
Church services are held on four Sundays each month, with Matins on the 1st Sunday, Café Church held in the Village Hall on the 2nd being a less formal and family friendly celebration, Holy Communion on the 3rd and Compline in the evening of the 4th Sunday. Where there is a 5th Sunday in the month, a benefice service rotates between all eight parishes in turn. There are additional services at Easter, harvest festival and at Christmas, with midnight communion on Christmas Eve.
Our church wardens are John and Stephanie Hollows 01451 822070. John is also a reader for the church. Flower arranging in the church is co-ordinated by Deborah Toogood 01451 810586.
The Parish Magazine is full of useful information about the church, services and local social life, as well as many advertisements and you can contact Alison Rainbow, benefice secretary at magazine@northleachbenefice.org or 01451 861132 to subscribe to a digital version circulated by e-mail for £8/ year, or a paper copy for £12/year.
Village Hall
Built in 1925, the village hall is still a thriving hub of village life 95 years later. Before the COVID interruption we could enjoy yoga classes 3x/wk, upholstery, ballet, a monthly coffee morning, a quiz night, a summer barbecue, harvest lunch, a winter drinks evening, talks, music and theatre events. It is also available for private hire and has hosted everything from children’s parties to wedding receptions. If you would like to book the village hall for an event, please visit the GRCC website.
To contact the Village Hall committee (excluding to book the hall), please use the following email address: coldastonhall@gmail.com.
Cold Aston Primary School
Cold Aston has had a Primary school is an OFSTED Outstanding school with 86 pupils drawn from our own and nearby villages. Situated next to the church which it uses daily for worship and assembly, it has a playground, a large level sports field and Forest School. Accepting children from aged 5, it runs a four class structure for Reception, years 1&2, 3&4 and 5&6. Pumpkin Patch cares for children from 8am to 5pm for working parents, and being part of a four school federation, the North Cotswolds Schools Federation (NCSF), it is able to offer specialist sports teaching, pastoral support workers and SEND teaching. The NCSF has allowed each school to retain its small school feel, but with the benefits of a large school, enjoying strong staff retention, career progression, joint sports and outing days. You can find out more at https://www.northcotswoldschools.co.uk/.
The Nature Nurture Group
Cold Aston is a wonderful place for nature, with rare and special things. We are blessed to have some important and special kinds of habitats on our doorstep. Out and about in the local countryside you can see many wildflowers, veteran trees, hedgerows and creatures.
Some residents have set up the Nurture Nature Group because many things are declining and at risk.
We look for opportunities to help our local nature to flourish in our gardens, fields, roadsides and footpaths. Members are also happy to share their expertise. Along the roads in the parish we have identified verges that merit special conservation management through enrichment planting and special management. Already the number of wild flowers is increasing, with other parishes following suit. A bulb lawn is being developed in the village itself. To get involved, seek advice or help please call Diana on 01451 820274.
