STOW TIMES

COTSWOLD TIMES
STOW TIMES
MARCH 2016 ISSUE 147
In your
MARCH
magazine
Local Beef from local cattle – born
and bred in the Cotswolds
PAGE 10
A Montessori School – in a
Cotswold setting
PAGE 13
3 Cotswold Farms –
Part 2 of the report
PAGES 26, 27
PLUS EVENTS, Local News highlights
and Reports from our Councils, Schools,
Social Clubs and SPORTS Clubs
cotswoldtimes

Enjoy a special day with us this MARCH
Mum’s get free entry to the Arboretum on
Mother’s Day (when accompanied by a
paying child!).
Why not take the whole family and enjoy
lunch or afternoon tea in the Garden
Terrace Café to make her feel even more
special?
Booking not necessary.
Join gardening broadcaster and journalist
Pippa Greenwood for an interesting talk
at Batsford on successfully growing great
tasting, super-fresh vegetables at home.
Wednesday 16th March, 3-5pm
£15 per person
Tickets are limited and must be booked
in advance, please call 01386 701441.
25th March to 10th April
You may have heard of an Easter Egg
hunt, now find the chickens that laid them
- they’re all hiding in the Arboretum!
£2.50 per child, plus Arboretum
admission fee (children must be
accompanied by an adult). No need to
book – just turn up and enjoy!
Daffodil & Early Magnolia Month, 1st – 31st March
Wander through swathes of golden daffodils and enjoy beautiful Magnolia
as they begin to fill the Arboretum
2 | COTSWOLD TIMES

COTSWOLD TIMES | 3

Lunch with
Lord Digby Jones
On Thursday 5th May, Lord Digby Jones will be speaking at
a fundraising lunch at The Fire Service College, Moretonin-Marsh.
The lunch is a fundraiser for the charity Read Easy UK (www.
readeasy.org.uk) that helps adults learn to read.
Lord Digby Jones says: “I applaud all Read Easy are doing and I
look forward to supporting them at this event.”
The lunch is expected to receive significant support from local
businesses, large and small. Read Easy are currently seeking a
main sponsor for the event. They are also offering businesses
the opportunity to sponsor tables of ten for entertaining staff
and clients. Smaller businesses and sole traders will be able to
buy individual tickets to what promises to be an enormously
entertaining and informative occasion.
Ginny Williams-Ellis, founder and CEO of Read Easy UK says, “As
one of the world’s most acclaimed business commentators, Lord
Digby Jones entertains and inspires audiences around the globe.
We are absolutely delighted that he has agreed to speak at our
fundraiser.”
Lord Digby Jones says, “Having a skilled population is the only
way an economy like ours can succeed in this, Asia’s Century.
Basic skills are the bedrock of that advantage and adult literacy
and numeracy is the Number One achievable aim.”
After a Champagne reception, and a two-course lunch, Lord
Digby Jones will be sharing his views and reflections on how the
country, and the wider world, will fare, and what it will look like,
in the months and years ahead.
Business and individuals interested in sponsoring the event,
sponsoring a table, or buying individual tickets at £50, should
contact Julie Dove on 01386 701006 or
email: julie@readeasy.org.uk
For more press information, photographs or interviews,
please contact:
Julie Dove, 01386 701006 or email: julie@readeasy.org.uk
About Read Easy UK
Read Easy UK provides free, one-to-one reading tuition for
adults who struggle with reading, through affiliated, locallyrun
volunteer groups. The charity was established in 2010
and now has a network of around 20 volunteer groups, currently
mostly in South West and Central England.
The Skills for Life Survey,
2011 (Dept. BIS) revealed
that 5% of the English
working age population
have literacy levels at or
below Entry Level 1 on
the Adult Core Curriculum
(i.e. they can’t read or can
barely read), another 2.1% are at Entry Level 2 (i.e. have severely
limited reading abilities), and these percentages have risen since
the last survey in 2003. This equates to about 2.4 million adults
in England alone.
Yet people with the most serious literacy problems are
generally far too embarrassed to attend an adult education
class. As a result they can become very isolated and their
4 | COTSWOLD TIMES
difficulties can seriously affect their employment opportunities,
relationships, social life, mental health, confidence and selfesteem.
They become marginalised and there is often a knock-on
effect on the next generation.
The 2006 KPMG report, ‘The long term costs of literacy
difficulties’, concluded that the associated employment cost to
the UK economy was £800m per annum, and that the cost to the
public purse to support someone with literacy difficulties could
be anything up to £64,000 over a life-time.
Read Easy was set up to address this issue. Volunteerrun
Read Easy ‘groups’ provide people with one-to-one
tuition from trained volunteer coaches, twice a week
for just half an hour at a time at a time and place to suit
themselves. The new reader and coach meet in discreet
‘reading venues’, generously provided by local businesses
and other organisations. Read Easy has already helped
over 400 people learn to read and, in the process, has
also enabled them to grow in confidence and self-esteem,
improve their employment opportunities, read to their
children and grandchildren and move on to all sorts of other
opportunities.
Though still a young charity, Read Easy UK is (apparently) the
only organisation currently working to try to provide this type of
literacy support on a national basis. It regularly receives requests
to expand its work into many other parts of the country and is
therefore working hard to raise the funds to achieve this. More
information and some short films can be found on our website:
www.readeasy.org.uk
Issued on behalf of Read Easy UK
Date: 12th February 2016

COTSWOLD TIMES
STOW TIMES
FROM THE EDITOR INSIDE THIS EDITION ...
We launched into a number of new projects in January – you may
have noticed the not-so-subtle ‘WIP’ (Work In Progress) where
pages were missing in the last editions. This month I am delighted
to introduce the new and complete* A-Z listing of Clubs, Societies,
Associations & Charities, etc…. which spans right across the area;
and a new list of Village Halls (halls and rooms, etc for hire). While
appreciating that these are useful reference pages, we plan to
include them in alternate months, leaving space for more community
information. We always enjoy the community news, letters,
comments, photos and general information that arrives here. Sadly
however, there is nearly always some information that arrives after
our copydate and too late to be included, possibly because the space
has been fully allocated - space is always quickly taken up on these
pages. So it might be useful to note our copydate – it is always the
15th of the month!
We continue our farming theme this month, and were fortunate
to choose a beautifully sunny day to visit Lower Swell and meet
the Firbosa Hereford cattle. Next month we hope to feature the
new members of the Cotswold Farm Park families, and we will be
delighted to include some of your photos. If you have a favourite
photo of this year’s new additions, and are happy to share it, please
send an email copy to us at the address below – we will confirm
receipt. (We can accept a printed photo but please ensure that your
name and address is on the back, so that we can return it to you.)
March brings Mothers’ Day and Easter. Whatever your plans are, and
whatever the weather may bring, we hope that March will herald
spring. Wouldn’t that be lovely!
*’complete’ at the time of our copydate (15th February for this
edition) – it will always be a Work In Progress!
With our very best wishes,
Editor
PS. We have a new business number 01608 678640
With over 50,000 readers across the North Cotswolds, we are delivering the four community
magazines to letterboxes in Moreton, Todenham, Evenlode, Kingham, Bledington, Maugersbury, Stow,
Condicote, Longborough, Donnington, Broadwell, Adlestrop, Daylesford. Churchill, Idbury, Fifield, Ascott–
Under-Wychwood, Shipton-Under-Wychwood, Chadlington, Charlbury, Chipping Norton. Bourton-onthe-Hill,
Blockley, Aston Magna, Draycott, Chipping Campden. Gt Wolford, Little Wolford, Shipstonon-Stour,
Whichford, Long Compton, Little Compton, Salford, Over Norton, Hook Norton, Heythrop.
Bourton-on-the-Water, Little Rissington, Upper Rissington, Westcote, Gt Rissington, Clapton-on-the-Hill,
Notgrove, Northleach, Temple Guiting, Guiting Power, Naunton, Upper Slaughter, Lower Slaughter, Wyck
Rissington, Lower Swell, Upper Swell. Icomb, Lower Oddington, Upper Oddington, Great Tew, Ford,
Church Westcote, Batsford, Stretton-on-Fosse, Chedworth, Sherbourne.
Our next edition is for APRIL 2016
The copydate is 15th March 2016
Contact Stow Times on:
07789 175 002
editor@stowtimes.co.uk
www.stowtimes.co.uk
P O Box 6, The Square
Stow on the Wold, GL54 1AB
FEATURES
10 Firbosa Hereford cattle – local beef
13 Cotswold Montessori School – a happy place to be
20 Policing our rural neighbourhoods – Martin Surl. PCC
26, 27 Cotswold Farms – Part 2 - Edward Cowley
31 Cotswold OPEN Weekend – 2 for 1 offers
REGULARS
12 Book Reviews from Borzoi Books
16 Business – 2 jobs, a school governor and business rates
17 Local Authority information, Blood Donor sessions,
Community Notices
18 From Stow Town Council
19 District Council – Progress on the Local Plan; parking charges
21 Planning - Summary of Applications received
22, 23 Correspondence; Stow Doctors Surgery; our AONB
24 Local Church Services
40, 41, 48, 56 Community Pages: What’s going on in the background
30 – 39 LOCAL EVENTS & EVENTS DIARY (cinemas, markets, music,
walks, shopping, bingo, etc)
42 - 43 Club Notices & Rural Cinemas
44 Village Halls
45, 46 Local Clubs, Societies, Associations & Charities – an A-Z listing
49 - 52 News from some of our local Schools
53 Tax issues – Robb Eden
58 – 61 News from local Sports Clubs
62, 63 Local Business Directory
With many thanks to all our many contributors this month, including:
Edward Cowley, Christabel Hardacre, Emma Hope and Jan Marley, also to all
our volunteer deliverers. My thanks to them all – they all help to make these
magazines happen each month!
Cover photograph: Abbotswood – the River Dikler in full flow’ ©Cotswold Times.
Extra copies of Stow Times are generally available in St Edwards Hall and Stow
Library. Copies are also available on The Villager Bus.
Material published in this magazine is copyright; the Editor may give permission for copy to be reproduced
for some purposes. The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor or any
member of the team. The magazines are produced and delivered almost entirely by volunteers. Whilst every
effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information printed in the magazine, the Editor/team do not accept
any responsibility for the consequences of any errors that may occur.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 5

Handmade, hand inscribed pots for every occasion.
Endless possibilities! Please contact us for details.
Whichford Pottery
Whichford, Nr. Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, CV36 5PG
Tel: 01608 684416 www.whichfordpottery.com
Handmade British Frostproof Flowerpots
COTSWOLD TIMES | 7

“Gary Snyder has holes in his
garden fence”
From a Twitter Instagram by Robert Smith
That’s not normally the kind of oversight you’d find in a
well-kept garden in a market town like Chipping Norton….
But the holes are there for a reason: hedgehogs.
Snyder’s backyard is now one small rest stop on
what conservationists hope will be a network of hedgehog
superhighways crisscrossing Britain.
Snyder says at first he didn’t know he had hedgehogs coming
through — they’re nocturnal, hibernating during the winter
months. But one night “We heard this funny grunting noise, and
we looked out of the window and there were two hedgehogs in
the back yard.” When
he went outside,
Snyder realized the
wonderful thing about
hedgehogs - they aren’t
scared of humans. The
noisy little things just
rolled up into a ball,
spikes out, and Snyder
could pick them up. “If
you tickle the spines”, he says, “they open right up”.
Snyder did some research and found out that hedgehogs
are long-distance commuters, wandering as much as a couple
of kilometers a night. That had lead them right into Snyder’s
housing estate, where his sturdy fence was trapping them. So he
made a small hole, and another - and convinced his neighbours
to do the same, and so on through the estate.
8 | COTSWOLD TIMES
The Hedgehog Street project
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society is encouraging people
throughout Britain to do the same thing, calling it the Hedgehog
Street project. A couple of inches of clearance means that
hedgehogs can truck right through suburbia as if it didn’t exist!
Hugh Warwick, an ecologist who works with the society, estimates
that the number of hedgehogs in Britain has dropped by 30%
in the past ten years. Little things like hedgehog highways can
help, he says, but there is a bigger issue: Britain’s small farms are
disappearing, becoming
industrial agriculture plots
and housing developments,
and forcing hedgehogs into
the human world more
often.
Hedgehogs are perfectly
designed to fend off
predators, but those spikes
are terrible when it comes
to human trash. Rubber
bands dropped by British
mail carriers get stuck
around hedgehogs and
can create infections, and
hedgehogs can get their
little spiny heads stuck in
cups thrown by the side of
the road.
A hedgehog superhighway
is great, Warwick says — but
saving their homes would be
even better.

COTSWOLD TIMES | 9

Beef fresh from the farm
Following our farming theme this
year, Stow Times visited Bob
and Bridget Fletcher at Rectory
Farm in Lower Swell, home of the
Firbosa Hereford cattle, where
Bob is the stockman.
Rectory Farm is a mixed farm consisting
of arable, pasture and woodland. There
is approximately forty acres allocated as
feed and nesting sources for farmland
birds and wild flower margins as part of
a Higher Level Stewardship agreement.
Sustainability and conservation are at
the heart of the Farm, with the aim
of improving farm bird numbers and
enhancing the environment value of the
farm. This is extending to improvement
works to the River Dikler, which runs
through the farm.
The Firbosa Herefords are owned by
Jane Parker, they are born and raised
at Rectory Farm, with expert livestock
consultancy from Mike Caunter, a
neighbour from Cotswold Farm Park.
We had picked a fine morning and
the herd was comfortably munching
hay in their winter quarters, mums and
calves on one side and the bull with his
ladies on the other. The cattle are fed a
predominantly grass based diet, grazing
pasture in the summer and being fed
silage, straw and a small amount of home
grown grains through the winter months.
One of the fine young bulls, formally
known as Firbosa 1 Moreton, won the
prestigious Bull Calf Champion at the
Shrewsbury Christmas National Hereford
Calf Show in December – his photo shows
a very fine young bull surrounded by a
proud farmer and stockman, judge and
sponsor!
Bridget explained their new venture,
Hereford Beef Meat Boxes – offering
sustainable, grass-fed beef, hung for a
minimum of 28 days. The boxes come
in different sizes, offering a variety
of beef joints, grilling/frying steaks,
braising steak, diced beef and mince,
available to order online or by calling
Bridget on 07815 530372. (Still a
‘micro-business’, there is a limited
supply of beef boxes, so please order in
advance.)
Leaving the farm, with the sun shining
across the Dikler valley, the grass green
and lush below a blue sky, it was one of
those morning when it is (almost) too
good to go back to the office!
10 | COTSWOLD TIMES
From L to R - Gerald Blandford (chair of the Hereford Breed Society), Nick Hine from Halls Auctioneers, Luke
New (assistant stockman), Bob Fletcher (stockman), Drew Coppinger from a sponsor and Donald Biggar, the
judge on the day.

The Coffee House in
Stow-on-the-Wold
has a new name...
And we’re extending our opening hours
Tuesday- Saturday 8:00-23:00,
Monday & Sunday 8:00-18:00.
Although we may look like
a brand new business, we are still
The Coffee House at heart.
Speedwells
Church St.,Stow-on-the-Wold, GL54 1BB
01451 870 802
www.speedwellsatstow.co.uk (from 7th. March)
info@speedwellsatstow.co.uk
Back in the 1950s Sam’s
Grandfather, Len Adams, used
to meet 2 fellow car enthusiasts
regularly in a Coffee House in
North London. Together they
created a car tuning company
called Speedwell. Now 50 years
later we are bringing back the
name for our restaurant.
We’re taking what The Coffee
House stood for – a family run
place where you could get great
coffee, relax, read a paper and
enjoy some heart-warming
homemade food – and adding a
little bit of an influence from our
pals across the pond.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 11

Have you
played a
round of
golf at
Naunton
Downs yet?
If so then you’ll already know about the superb
facilities and first class course that we offer. If not
then why not try them?
Bring this advert along and two of you can play for
£29.00 (£14.50 each) before 31 st May 2016.
www.nauntondowns.co.uk
……the home of golf in the Cotswold’s & Cheltenham
To book your round or enquire about membership from £393.00 per annum,
please telephone us on
01451 850090
*Only one coupon per person, subject to availability
Are you a Couple?
Do you have a Cooking Partner in Crime?
Channel 4’s hit show Come Dine with Me is coming to
Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Tewkesbury,
Cirencester, Wotton-Under-Edge
and surrounding areas
and we’re looking for COUPLES to take part!
Do you and your partner host the best dinner parties in
town? Come Dine With Me are looking for the perfect
partnership to create the recipe for success!
If you’re over 18 & have the combined skills to produce an
amazing dinner party…
We want to hear from you!
Three couples. Three nights. Three dinner parties.
And a £1,000 cash prize.
If you or any couples you know would like to take part
contact us with your names, ages & numbers NOW!
Filming dates 21 st -23 rd OR 24 TH - 26 th March 2016
Email: carys.evans@itv.com
Tel: 0207 157 3785
(Callers from a BT landline will be charged a set up fee of 14p per call plus 10p per minute.
Calls from other networks may be higher and from mobiles will cost considerably more.)
12 | COTSWOLD TIMES

The timing couldn’t have
been better for the Cotswold
Montessori School. The rural
preschool in the estate village
of Great Barrington, between Burford,
Northleach and Bourton on the Water
had just completed their move to their
permanent new premises when it
was announced that Prince George of
Cambridge was going to attend his own
local Montessori school.
Not surprisingly this announcement has
created renewed interest in this method
of early years education and we went to
visit the Cotswold Montessori School to
find out what it is all about.
When we got there we were impressed
by the bright, tidy and uncluttered feel
coming from the plentyful use of light
wood, clean walls and high-qualitity
learning materials. The children were
calmly getting on with their day, learning
new skills as they were doing things like
grating soap, transferring pompoms with
tongs or building a roman arch out of
wooden blocks. They were working by
themselves or in small groups and tidying
away as they went. The atmosphere
was productive and peaceful - the latter
statement not being something we would
normally expect to say about a nursery.
“We are a proper school for little
people. Not just childcare, but intelligent
childcare”, we were told by Ailsa Monk,
the owner and manager of the setting.
“We try to make the things that they
do here so interesting that even the
mummies and daddies want to stay and
play.”
Speaking to some of the parents
confirmed this. One mother told us:
“lots of people have commented that my
son has really changed since he’s been
going to Montessori . We are incredibly
impressed by the school.” Another family
told us that they “would recommend the
school to any parent, especially those with
children who need a focused nurturing
environment, where school is about
enjoying and learning at their own pace.”
‘freedom within limits’
So, what is different between the
Montessori method and regular preschool
Early Years Education? Ailsa gave us a a
brief explanation. “We call it ‘freedom
within limits’ “, she said. “There is
structure, but the children don’t really
realise it. They are free to choose what
they want to do but the teachers make
sure that everything that is available is
well thought through. There is also quite a
strict set of rules which the children have
helped to develop these themselves, so
that they understand and follow them
of their own free will. This reduces any
potential frustrations for the children, and
that means that they are happy, enjoy
what they do and progress very well.”
“That’s the theory anyway ,and most of
the time it works like that, although there
are times we can’t forget that we are
between 2 and 5 years old and everything
goes slightly bonkers!”, she added,
laughing. We came away certain that the
Cotswld Montessori School is a happy
place to be.
The Cotswold Montessori School is
registered to take 40 children from
2-5 years of age and is open Monday
to Friday, 9:00 - 15:00, term time
only. For more info or to arrange a
visit please contact:
info@cotswoldmontessori.co.uk
Tel: 01451 844350
Mob: 07554 435070
COTSWOLD TIMES | 13

14 | COTSWOLD TIMES

hobsons choice
Luxury kitchen and bathroom design and installation
We are a warmhearted company, a group
of people who take pride in the care
and consideration paid to every part of
the design process. Our kitchens and bathrooms
can be found in new homes, traditional properties,
extensions, refurbishments and commercial
projects.
When you work with us you receive our full
attention, something we believe every client
deserves. Our work is done properly; there are
no shortcuts to achieve the level of thoughtful
craftsmanship we desire. Every part of our tried
and tested process is necessary to fulfil our own
demand for the very best quality workmanship and
client service.
Throughout a client’s time with us we have a
single minded goal, to make their experience as
enjoyable, smooth and trouble-free as possible. By
the time we hand over the completed kitchen or
bathroom, we will be trusted friends, and you will
love the finished space.
We would welcome the opportunity to talk to you
about your project, so please feel free to get in
touch.
Richard Keyes
Head of Design and Sales, Swindon
Convenient on-site customer parking
Shrivenham Rd, Swindon | 01793 490685 | www.hobsonschoice.uk.com
bulthaup

FREE ACCOMMODATION
Couple or single person sought to live rent free in
our two bedroom cottage near Stow on the Wold,
in exchange for domestic work in the house and
looking after two dogs.
If interested please call/ text
Fiona Mob. 07966 676392
GOVERNOR VACANCY - Voluntary position
Open to all members of the community wanting to make a
valuable contribution to the strategic management of our
‘Outstanding’ school
We are seeking to fill the vacancy that has arisen in our
Governing body. Governors need to have the necessary skills
and commitment to contribute to the effective governance and
success of the school. Governors are expected to make use of the
various training opportunities available to them in order to play
a full part in the work of the governing body.
For more information you are invited to:
• Visit the school; telephone: 01608 658366 or
email: office.2106@kingham.oxon.sch.uk
• Visit the school website: www.kingham.oxon.sch.uk
• Read the online ‘Governor Handbook’ at www.gov.uk
• Contact the Clerk to the Governors
Ms E Davis: email: DEnn1085@kingham.oxon.sch.uk
To apply: Please send your letter of application to the clerk and
include your contact details, reasons for applying, qualifications
and include any relevant personal skills and experience.
Safeguarding: Kingham Primary School is fully committed to
safer recruitment practices and candidates will have to comply
with safer recruitment checks.
Kingham Primary School, The Green, Kingham,
Oxfordshire OX7 6YD T.01608 658366
Small Business Rates Relief :
The Government are continuing to allow all
businesses operating from single premises, with a
Rateable Value of £12,000 or less to claim Small
Business Rates Relief, and if you have not already
done so, you can still re-claim rates back to April
2010.
Chartered Surveyors BANKIER SLOAN who have an
office in Moreton-in-Marsh, have just published a
simple free single page guide for the 2016 /2017
financial year which some readers may find very
profitable !
It can be found at http://www.centre-p.co.uk/Small_
Business_Rates_Relief_2016_2017.pdf
16 | COTSWOLD TIMES

LOCAL AUTHORITIES MARCH2016
C.D.C. Committee
Meetings
Meetings are held at the Council Offices, Trinity Road
Cirencester, GL7 1PX.
Agendas, reports and Minutes are published online
five working days before each meeting at
www.cotswold.gov.uk.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend
meetings of the Council and Committee. If you live in
the District and are on the Electoral Register you can
take part by asking up to two questions per meeting.
Information about your Councillors and committee
members are on the website www.cotswold.gov.uk
MARCH
Tues 1st Overview & Scrutiny
Wed 2nd Sites Inspection Briefing
Wed 9th Planning & Licensing
Thurs 17th Cabinet
Thurs 31st Joint Consultative Committe
Questions to the Council or a committee about any
matter on which CDC have any powers or duties or
which affects the district must first be received in
writing by the Head of Democratic Services –
By email no later than 5pm on the prior working day:
Nigel.adams@cotswold.gov.uk
By post to CDC at Trinity Road, Cirencester. GL7 1PX.
01285 623204/ 201
Petitions can be presented to express local feeling
about an issue or a suggested action that we might
take. A petition must contain at least 10 signatures.
Details of Meeting Agendas, Reports and Minutes
can be found on the Council’s Committee
Information System. Also available are details of
your Councillor, Committee Meetings including
dates, times and venues and Membership of the
Committees.
STOW TOWN COUNCIL
NEXT MEETING Thursday 31st March
PLEASE CHECK NOTICEBOARD
Residents are welcome to attend meetings.
Questions* from the public relating to a
proposal in discussion by Cllrs may be taken
prior to Council voting on that proposal.
General questions are taken at the end of
the meeting.
* A max of 3 minutes allowed.
Town Councillors are available before &
after the meeting. District & County Cllrs,
representatives of Stow Police and local
Press regularly attend.
STOW TOWN COUNCIL
NOTES FOR COUNCIL MEETING
JANUARY 2016
Abbreviated notes from the Meeting are
available online at www.stowonthewold.
net and are displayed on the Council’s
noticeboard on St Edwards Hall in Stow
Square. Copies of Minutes, associated
committee meetings and correspondence are
available from the Council’s Office, in George
Alley off Stow Square.
The Council office is open Tuesdays,
Wednesdays & Thursdays, 10 am – 1 pm
(subject to meetings)
Tel: 01451 832 585
E: info@stowonthewold.net
BLOOD DONOR SESSIONS THIS MONTH
CHIPPING NORTON, Glyme Hall, 02/03/16
Burford Road, OX7 5DY
SHIPSTON, Sheldon Bosley Hub, 03/03/16
Pittway Avenue, CV36 4DQ
CAMPDEN, Chipping Campden 31/03/16
School, Cider Mill Lane, GL55 6HU
For more information/ to book an appointment to
attend a session, please call 0300 123 23 23 or visit
www.blood.co.uk
COTSWOLD TIMES | 17

Stow-on-the-Wold
Town Council
Stow Youth Centre, Fosseway,
Stow-on-the-Wold, GL54 1DW
info@stowonthewold-tc.gov.uk • 01451 832 585
Notes from Kim Bedford, Clerk to Stow Town Council
18 | COTSWOLD TIMES

District Council
Parking charges raise £693m
surplus for councils:
With thanks to Richard Johnstone
Article written for Public Finance News (Dec 15)
An analysis by the RAC Foundation has found that councils in England
made a surplus of £693m from parking charges and fines in 2014/15.
The group’s annual analysis of the excess, calculated by adding up
income from parking charges and penalty notices then deducting
running costs, found it has increased by 4% compared to 2013/14, when
it stood at £667m.
However, the Local Government Association said it was inaccurate
to portray these funds as profits, as any surplus can only be spent on
transport projects.
According to the RAC Foundation, £308m of the surplus was
reported by councils in London, with boroughs in the capital making
up the top five places in the list. Westminster City Council raised the
most (£46.4m), followed by Kensington and Chelsea (£33m), Camden
(£24.5m), Hammersmith & Fulham (£23.8m) and Wandsworth (£20.4m).
Brighton & Hove City Council was the authority outside London that
raised the most funds, at £18.6m, while Nottingham City Council was
the only other council outside London in the top ten, at £13.3m.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said that the financial
sums involved in local authority parking are huge. “The legal
position is that parking charges are to be used as a tool for
managing traffic. But with local government budgets under evergreater
pressure, the temptation to see them as a fund-raiser must
be intense,” he said.
“When a parking profit is made the law states that, essentially, the
money can only be spent on transport and environment projects. We
are simply asking that all councils publish annual reports to tell drivers
exactly where this huge excess ends up.”
An LGA spokesman said income is spent on running parking services
and any surplus is only spent on tackling the £12bn roads repair backlog
or creating new parking spaces.
“Councils are on the side of hard-pressed motorists,” he stated. “The
average motorist is paying 30 times more to Whitehall in charges and
taxation each year than they do to their town hall through parking.”
Clean for the Queen’ prize
competition
Cotswold District Council’s competition linked to the ‘Clean for the
Queen’ initiative – offering £1,000 to the volunteer group that does
the best tidy up job in the District – has been extended to the end of
April.
From now until the end of April, communities across the District
will be able to enter the Council’s £1,000 prize competition. The
prize money is to be spent on improving or maintaining the
appearance of the community.
This para below In a box, red frame please_
Applying to enter couldn’t be simpler – just email cdc@cotswold.
gov.uk or call 01285 623123 giving the location scheduled for a
litter pick, the size of the work party, and the name of a community
representative to liaise with the Council.
The community representative will need to take ‘before’ and
‘after’ photographs of the area being tidied. It would also be useful
to give CDC details about the size of the work party. At the end
of the competition the representative will need meet a panel of
CDC judges at the clean-up location, to assist them in assessing the
improvements.
NB. CDC will try to supply bags, pickers, gloves and high visibility
jackets for clean-up work, and can arrange special collections of
filled bags after litter picks. Please call 01285 623123 if you require
assistance with equipment or collection of filled bags.
Funding boost for Visitor
Information Centres
Visitor Information Centres
(VICs) in the Cotswolds have
been buoyed by the news that
the Cotswold District Council will
provide grants totaling £54,000
per year, over a three year period,
to help fund them.
The details are:
Bourton-on-the-Water (£24,000 per year), Chipping Campden
(£10,000 per year), Stow-on-the-Wold (£10,000 per year) and
Tetbury (£10,000 per year), as well as retaining the Cirencesterbased
VIC which is located in the Corinium Museum.
District Cllr Chris Hancock believes that the VICs provide
extremely good value: “Even in an age when people rely more
and more on the internet to research destinations, we are seeing
heavy use of the VICs. Based on the 2014/15 figures, it costs 35p
to service the needs of every customer. Given the much needed
income that tourism generates in this area, I believe this is a
small price to pay.
Enhancing the visitor experience
“Looking ahead, there are considerable opportunities on the
horizon to build on the success of the local tourism sector, and
maintaining a network of excellent VICs will enhance the visitor
experience and help to ensure many repeat visits. Local residents
also benefit as they often use VICs to find out what is going on.
“It made sense to fix the grants for a three-year period…
giving the VIC operators more certainty about their longer term
funding. They can now plan ahead with confidence on issues
such as negotiating rents for premises.”
FAIRER FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS
Robin Walker, MP for Worcester and Parliamentary Private
Secretary to the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt.
Hon. Nicky Morgan, will be speaking at the St David’s
Centre, East Street, Moreton, on Thursday 31 March at
7.30 pm.
His talk will cover the new national funding formula for
schools, high needs and early years. This will ensure
schools funding is transparently and fairly linked to
children’s needs.
Robin Walker will speak following the Moreton-in-Marsh
Conservative Branch AGM, which will commence at 7.00
pm. He will be pleased to answer any questions.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 19

The role of the police
in our changing rural neighbourhoods
Martin Surl, Police & Crime Commissioner (13.01.2016)
ca change, plus c’est la meme chose” as
every schoolboy (who did French) knows,
“Plus
roughly means the more things change, the
more they stay the same. Where attitudes to policing
are concerned, it is a phrase which seems as true now
as when it was first coined in the 19 th century. A forum I
attended in Moreton-in-Marsh I attended and an event
I hosted for parish and town council representatives
towards the end of last year, support this.
It is fair to say that in recent years, the role of the
police force has broadened, with a whole new spectrum
of crimes related to cyber-space and human trafficking.
Yet on both those occasions, many of the questions from
the floor were around crime rates, parking, busy roads, speeding traffic
and rapidly growing communities with comparatively few amenities. I
understand that these are sensitive issues but they should be viewed
not only in the context of this extended period of austerity, but also
wider social and cultural changes.
‘rural areas need intelligence-led policing’
police and doubt over whether the crime will be taken
seriously, or effectively dealt with, have been identified
as barriers. I admit that there have been failings in
the past, however, as I pointed out to the forum in
Moreton, re-building the liaison with rural communities
is of great importance to me so every report will be
taken seriously.
When I was elected as Gloucestershire’s Police
and Crime Commissioner in 2012, I had a clear vision
for less crime and more peace in the county. Against
a background of police budget cuts this was not a
straightforward goal and it seemed clear to me the
Constabulary could not do it all on its own.
I spoke to many people, businesses and organisations outside the
police, and it was apparent that tackling anti-social behaviour - things
that aren’t regarded as crimes but which blight our communities –
was important too. That is why I was keen to tap into the public and
voluntary sectors. Their involvement has been crucial as I believe they
are an essential element of community policing and have an important
role to play in reducing crime.
As the policing landscape has evolved to where we now find
ourselves, the small rural police station is no longer a viable option
for most forces. Regrettable as this is, a similar fate has befallen the
village post office, school, pub and many other local amenities. To
try and compensate for their loss, I purchased a vehicle which travels
around the county on a daily basis. We call it NEV, which stands for
Neighbourhood Engagement Vehicle, and it acts as a mobile office
where I can meet people either by appointment, or on spec, or a mobile
police station where local people can report a crime or talk with a
PCSO. It has developed into an effective means of maintaining a form of
neighbourhood policing and has proved so useful that I have recently
obtained another similar vehicle which will be on the road in the coming
months. This will enable us to get out into the countryside and outlying
districts more often.
Aside from that, there are numerous ways you can contact the
police and we are heading in the right direction there too. I
made it a priority to improve 999 and 101 response times from
where they were when I took up office in 2012 and they are now
consistently quicker than the national targets. The constabulary
is also embracing new channels of communication, which I would
encourage everyone to make use of. The 101 crime reporting email
service 101@gloucestershire.pnn.police.uk is an example of this
– report a non-urgent crime in this manner and you will receive a
response within 4-8 hours.
Nevertheless, rural areas need intelligence-led policing, permanent
officers with a real connection with the community in which they work
and who will know the local issues, traffic blackspots and can empathise
with local people, farmers and businesses. I recognise the importance
of maintaining an effective link between rural communities and the
police, which was one of the reasons I was among the first Police and
Crime Commissioners to sign up to the National Rural Crime Network.
The network champions a better understanding of crime in rural areas
and conducted a national survey of over 17,000 people living in rural
communities earlier this year. The study revealed that the underreporting
of crime is a key issue affecting rural policing, with more than
1 in 4 crimes going unreported during a 12 month period between 2014
and 2015. That is a concern - and the network is exploring the reasons
behind this apprehension so that we can address it.
‘the rural community must step up and use its voice’
This is where the rural community must step up and use its voice.
There are a number of reasons why people choose not to report a crime
they have either been a victim of, or witnessed. Lack of trust in the
‘the same goal of making Gloucestershire safer, more inclusive’
The result is a Police and Crime Plan based on my own experience as
a front-line officer, combined with what Gloucestershire residents told
me they wanted. The plan consists of six priorities under the following
headings: ‘Accessibility and accountability’; ‘Older but not overlooked’;
‘Young people becoming adults’; ‘Safe days and nights for all’; ‘Safe and
social driving’ and ‘Safer cyber’.
To implement my Police and Crime Plan, I set aside a ‘pot’ of money
from the PCC’s annual budget and once a year community groups and
organisations in the county are invited to bid for a share of the money
from this ‘Commissioner’s Fund’. Recipients of the fund support the
delivery of one or more of the six priorities in their community work,
which can take many different formats ranging from restorative justice
schemes, young driver safety training, speedwatch, community building
activities and centres. The vast spectrum of recipients all share the same
goal of making Gloucestershire a safer, more inclusive place to live and
work.
Since November 2012, and at the time of writing, I have been able to
help fund 129 organisations and 240 projects which are reducing crime
and anti-social behaviour in Gloucestershire – a number of them in the
Cotswolds. These are primarily initiatives devised by local people which
they believe will benefit their communities. All are subject to close
scrutiny by my office before they are approved and the wider benefit
is that they help to reduce demand on the Police and are an essential
element of community policing. That is why in November, I pledged
a further £1million from the Commissioner’s Fund to see recipients
through until 2017, regardless of whether I am re-elected next year.
You can find out more about the Commissioner’s Fund and other
aspects of the OPCC here https://www.gloucestershire-pcc.gov.uk/
Budget constraints and the changing nature of policing mean we
have to make choices we might not have considered even five years
ago. As Police and Crime Commissioner, I am committed to keeping
Gloucestershire safe and re-building the trust of those whose faith in the
police appears to have diminished. As the Commissioner’s Fund projects
show, many communities are playing an important part in that process
too.
Martin Surl
Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
County Police Headquarters,
No.1 Waterwells, Waterwells Drive, Quedgeley, Gloucester GL2 2AN
01452 754348 www.gloucestershire-pcc.gov.uk
20 | COTSWOLD TIMES

Planning Applications & Approvals
COTSWOLD TIMES | 21

CORRESPONDENCE
NEW SURGERY AT TALL
TREES SITE
Initial drawing from Eastabrook Architects in Stow
An idea for Stow
From Derek Tustin
Sir, May I through your magazine ask Stow Council to consider
giving out a letter of thanks to person or persons who have
done good work for the community of Stow, as a thank you for
their work or efforts. This could be someone on the front line or
someone giving care etc.. It need not be anything fancy, and it
would give the people of Stow a chance to put forward names. It
would be nice to hear what other people think.
King Georges Field, Stow
mob 07775528870
Editor: Mr Tustin’s letter arrived in January and it was forwarded
to Stow Town Council. There has not been a response as at
15.02.2016
An Update from Jenny Scarsbrook (12/02/2016)
Talks and meetings are still continuing between both parties, and
we hope to have a further update in the April issue.
Jenny Scarsbrook.
A Reminder of where we were…(where we are?)
Local Press Release – 15th July 2015
We have given due consideration to all the options open to us
following the recent Planning Committee meeting where our
preferred option for the provision of a medical centre for the
town of Stow and the surrounding villages was refused.
We have had no discussions with our advisor since the
meeting and have no current plans to appeal the decision.
We are excited about any suitable site that delivers a surgery
that is acceptable to the NHS and can deliver the services
needed by our community. As a result we are continuing our
discussions with Tall Trees to see if a facility can be delivered
with them.
At the Planning Committee meeting we explained our
concerns over this development, but we are very keen to
continue our meetings with the owner of Tall Trees and her
agent to overcome these.
We feel there is no reason why a successful outcome cannot
be achieved, but clearly the NHS need to be reassured over
plans for a facility and that this provides value for money
before they will support it. We also need to be reassured that
we can deliver a fit for purpose primary care service to our
patients.
We have this week outlined to Tall Trees how successful
discussion can continue and are excited at the prospect of a
positive outcome.
Drs Healy, Thornett & Sherringham – Partners of Stow Surgery
Published in Stow Times (02/11/2015)
“There are many fears in the town that the arrangements
for putting the new surgery onto land belonging to Mrs
Scarsbrook are being delayed, and may falter, because they do
not ‘satisfy the financial requirements/ ambitions’ of some
parties.
In the interest of the people of Stow and the villages around
Stow, who will be using the new facility, let’s hope this is not
the case. (02/11/2015)”
22 | COTSWOLD TIMES
N O T I C E
CHARITY COMMISSION UPDATE (09/02/2016)
The Charity Commission, the independent
regulator of charities in England and Wales, is
inviting charities, trustees and charity advisers to
attend its next public meeting on 29th February -
either in person in Southampton, or by tuning in to
the live-stream.
This is the first live-stream event for the
commission, and comes as part of an effort to
improve services and interaction through digital
technology. The event will also be recorded so that
people can watch the replay when it suits.
Sarah Atkinson, Director of Policy and
Communications said: By live-streaming our public
meetings, we’re hoping to attract a new and wider
audience, and invite all interested trustees and
charity professionals to join us, whether they’re at
home, at work or on the move.
Hearing directly from us is a good opportunity,
particularly for new trustees, to learn more about
issues facing the sector, to contribute to discussions,
and to hear about the commission’s recent work.
The meeting will include presentations from senior
staff on:
• tackling abuse and mismanagement - lessons
learnt from our casework
• digitising the commission
• charity fundraising - key principles for trustees
Attendees will also be given an overview of the
commission’s recent activities and the opportunity
to ask questions of the Chairman, William
Shawcross.
The meeting will take place at Southampton Solent
University (11am - 3pm), and is free to attend.
The link to live-stream the meeting will soon be
available on GOV.UK. If you are livestreaming the
event you will need to register in advance. Email:
PublicMeetings@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk

AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY
From Andrew Lord, in response to ‘Can our AONB provide protection
to the North Cotswolds’ (Jan’February 2016)
Cllr Dr Nigel Moor (in the Jan/Feb 2016 issue) asked the question “Can our
AONB provide protection to the North Cotswolds”. However, a more posing
question would have been “How do we meet the national housing crisis
whilst not affecting the nationally protected Cotswolds AONB?”.
The Town and Country Planning Association research (2013) found
that to meet England’s housing demand for the period 2011 to 2031 we
need to build in England 240,000 – 245,000 dwellings per year. It is no
surprise therefore that all three main political parties are all committed to
significantly lifting housing completions.
The challenge within nationally protected landscapes, including the
Cotswolds AONB, is how we meet our communities needs whilst not
affecting our primary function as the Cotswolds Conservation Board, that
being the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty of the
AONB.
Unlike Green Belt, the AONB is legally protected through the Countryside
& Rights of Way Act 2000, and alongside our National Parks it has the
highest status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty;
but perhaps above all the designation of the Cotswolds AONB and its
boundaries is subject to an Act of Parliament and designation by the
Secretary of State. If a Local Planning Authority so chooses it has the ability
to remove its own Green Belt boundary. Therefore, in answering Cllr Dr
Nigel Moor suggestion that “Green Belt is now the only way to protect the
North Cotswolds”, it is worth noting that “CPRE analysis has found that
Local Plans are proposing more than 226,000 houses on the Green Belt”
(www.cpre.org.uk).
The answer therefore is to work within the Local Plan and Neighbourhood
Plan system to ensure we get the right development, in the right place at
the right time; to fully engage with communities; to plan strategically; and
for Local Authorities to consider the “tests” and “recommendations” as
highlighted within the National Trust’s report “AONBs and development”
. There is no “ban” on housing in AONBs, but AONBs are subject to a
particularly enhanced status of protection that restricts the delivery of
housing, which must be considered through the housing allocation process.
Our own research indicates that housing development within the AONB was
little more than half of what would have been expected in the absence of
the designation. The Government still directs housing allocations to “land
of lesser environmental value” whilst recognising AONBs have the “highest
status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty.” Having no
Plan in place (an all too common occurrence in recent years), rather than
the addition of a Green Belt designation (which in itself will need a new Plan
to be in place), leaves the AONB vulnerable to speculative development in
inappropriate locations at a time when housing need is a priority nationally.
(The Cotswolds AONB Board published a guide to “Preparing
Neighbourhood Plans in an AONB” in October 2015 www.cotswoldsaonb.
org.uk).
(The Cotswolds AONB Board also contributed the relevant examples
provided within the National Trust’s report: https://www.nationaltrust.org.
uk/documents/national-trust-areas-of-outstanding-natural-beauty-anddevelopment.pdf).
With thanks
Nigel Moor D BEnv BA (Hons) MCD FRTPI FRSA
Gloucestershire County Councillor for the Stow Division
Dear Editor,
Re: Article in the February edition of the Moreton Times: “Can our
AONB provide protection to the North Cotswolds?”
Andrew Lord Planning and Landscape Officer of the Cotswold
Conservation Board has rushed to defend the AONB policies following
my article in the last edition. As the late Mandy Rice-Davies so famously
riposted, “Well he would, wouldn`t he?” but I will deal with Andrew`s
points.
• I am in no way advocating that we abandon AONB policies but
that particularly in the North Cotswolds there are a number of
towns and villages close to each other, that are vulnerable to urban
sprawl, and the additional protection of Green Belt policy in the
long term will protect them. I am not advocating the application of
Green Belt policy across the whole of the Cotswolds AONB.
• I recognise the need to allocate additional land to meet housing
needs, and when drawing up Green Belt boundaries, long- term
housing needs can be established. I have championed the need
to re-use brownfield sites, as a first priority, and I believe this
should also apply to the AONB. On such sites the impact of new
development will be assessed against what exists or existed on site.
• A local authority can choose to remove parts of its Green Belt – but
the Secretary of State can intervene and does. This is happening
in areas of extreme housing pressure such as Brentwood in Essex
where the council is consulting on its draft local plan but it does
not happen in an ad hoc way as at appeal and this has been the
problem in the Cotswolds AONB.
• We need up - to date plans but successive governments have
heaped on local authorities a huge task in gathering evidence
which has slowed down the adoption of plans. This government
has commissioned a Local Plans Expert Group to advise on how to
simplify plan procedure, and this going forward, could simplify the
preparation of a Green Belt plan for the North Cotswolds.
• I can illustrate my point of view by a recent local example. There is
an area of the Gloucester & Cheltenham Green Belt that is included
in the Cotswold AONB, and in an earlier draft of the Cotswolds Local
Plan, officers no doubt in a “tidying-up “exercise, recommended
deleting this area relying only on the AONB policy. I objected and
I am pleased to note that the Joint Core Strategy group of the
Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury councils want to maintain
this area of Green Belt because it “ forms a critical connection
between wider countryside to the east and west.” The current draft
of the Cotswolds Local Plan maintains this area in the Green Belt.
Finally I do not think the Cotswold Conservation Board should be too
defensive about this. Given the enormous population pressures facing
Middle and Southern England – much greater than when the AONB`s
were designated after World War II – areas such as the North Cotwolds
need every bit of protection that the planning system can provide.
Yours sincerely
Nigel Moor
Andrew Lord
MA BA (Hons) MRTPI
Planning and Landscape Officer
Cotswolds Conservation Board
The Old Prison, Fosse Way, Northleach, Gloucestershire GL54 3JH
Direct Dial : 01451 862004
Fosse Way, Northleach, Gloucestershire, GL54 3JH
01451 862003
www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk
COTSWOLD TIMES | 23

CHURCHES a place to worship
24 | COTSWOLD TIMES

Invest In Your Health
and Wellbeing
Many people, individuals and businesses alike, no
longer see health insurance as a luxury. They see it as
an essential investment in their health today and for the
future.
Here at Premier Choice, we know that everyone seeks
different things from a Health Insurance policy, to their
business, family and individual needs. Health Insurance is
flexible and adaptable, to provide protection and cover
for a wide range of health scenarios. That means there is
no one-size-fits-all policy.
Health Insurance is an important investment, and likely
to become more so. Premier Choice offers independent
advice and guidance, backed by years of experience,
with one aim in mind: the right cover for you, for your
business, and for your future.
Want to know more?
Call Jan Burnett, Independent Healthcare Consultant, on
01295 724532 or email at janburnett@pch.uk.com
Premier Choice Healthcare Ltd is a company authorised and regulated by
the Financial Conduct Authority
Home Care Service
Care and Support in Your Own Home
A professional and caring service providing
personal care.
Light domestic duties, including shopping,
laundry and help with meals.
To discuss your requirements
Please call Karen on
01451 870902
QUALIFIED IN HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE
EXPERIENCED – RELIABLE – HONEST – INSURED
Stay Stong and Steady
exercise your way to better health
A class that focuses on strength and stability and
maintaining independence. Designed to improve your
general health and mobility, better your balance and
strengthen your muscles and bones.
All abilities and all ages welcome
Raise your confidence and find your feet!
Function Room, The George Moore Community Centre,
Moore Road, Bourton-on-the-Water, GL54 2AZ
Thursdays 10.00 – 11.00
£5 per class ***first session is free***
Experienced and qualified level 4 instructor
Contact: Cally Maxwell: 07957 546 067/cotswoldactivehealth@gmail.com
COTSWOLD TIMES | 25

Farming plays a crucial role in rural
economies… but it’s not easy in the
current climate Rob Harrison, dairy farmer
PART 2 OF A REPORT BY EDWARD COWLEY
Three Cotswold farms show
the resilience of the farming
community amid one of the
worst periods in British farming
in a generation and also how
virtually all farmers are having to diversify
and adapt to stay afloat.
In December Edward looked at
Bould Farm, a mixed farm and Bed &
Breakfast. In this second part of his
report he went to Grey Stone Farm near
Blockley, a medium sized dairy farm run
by Rob Harrison and his wife. Rob is
also president of the National Union of
Farmer’s Dairy Board.
The third farm he visited was Litchfield
Farm near Enstone, a contracted farm
managed by a separate business to the
owners. If farming is to survive then a
tendency for larger, contracted farms is
something that is only going to increase,
while smaller family farms are sold off.
Grey Stone Farm
Rob Harrison is a dairy farmer near
Blockley in Gloucestershire. He runs the
430 acre Grey Stone Farm with his wife,
which they rent from their parents. They
have one full time employee and a couple
of part timers.
Like Gwyn and Lynne Meyrick at Bould
Farm, Rob is very tuned into farming
as a global industry. The present crisis
26 | COTSWOLD TIMES
in dairying is because there’s too much
supply and not enough demand. Two
good grass growing years in Europe at
the same time as the Chinese have been
buying less dairy product, and the Russian
trade ban, have resulted in a glut of British
milk and cheese, and prices have tumbled.
“As well as all this, just like the steel
industry, we are getting absolutely
hammered by the strength of the
pound,” said Rob. Supermarket price
wars are doing little to help the global
overproduction problems, as milk is sold
at a loss in order to get customers to
spend money on other foods. Although
this doesn’t always directly affect the
farmer it means there is less money in the
supply chain and more pressure on dairy
farmers. He’s lucky that he sells his milk to
Arla, a billion litre dairy in Aylesbury and
the largest liquid dairy in Europe. It also
pays Rob 3-4 pence more per litre of milk
than many of the smaller dairies.
But, unlike other types of farming,
dairying is inelastic. It requires large
amounts of capital and it’s a long cycle,
which means it is not possible to produce
less milk at short notice.
“I’m planning now for 12-18 months
ahead. A cow milks for 12 months, so it’s a
very long cycle,” Rob explains.
Although profits are relatively low, a
huge amount of capital is turned over
in farming and Rob believes it plays a
crucial role in rural economies. “My local
fabricator is coming down to work on
the sheds; I’ve got to buy feed; I support
the local vet. So my dairy business is
supporting probably four or five people,”
he said.
Rob is positive about his medium to
long term future, but understands that
many dairy farmers are not in such a
good position. Unless they do something
different, like specialist cheese, there
is no way they can compete with the
big dairies. But diversifying from milk
production doesn’t happen overnight – it
requires getting in different equipment,
learning new skills and building up a
customer base.
Up to 450 dairy farmers have left the
industry over the past two years.
Rob doesn’t believe the government
can make much of difference to what
is happening in farming - “they haven’t
got any money, and they aren’t able to
influence the market”. But he confesses
that he’d like to see the government do
more to ease regulation to help farmers
be more competitive.
Although he’s not about to go under,
Rob has made an effort to cut his costs
and to diversify. He’s fitted solar panels
to the dairy sheds’ roofs, significantly
reducing his energy bills. He also has a

small caravan site and his wife does school
visits. “You couldn’t live off them, but they
all help,” he said.
Rob thinks it’s important to try and
attract young people into farming because
it is such an important fabric of the
community, but admits it’s not easy in the
current climate of negativity.
Litchfield Farm
Like a growing number of farms across
the UK, Litchfield Farm near Enstone in
Oxfordshire leases its land to a contractor.
Set up in 2004, Primewest Limited
manages four farms in Oxfordshire and
is a pioneer in specialist agricultural drill
manufacturing.
In many ways the polar opposite to a
family run farm, Paul Alexander, one of
the managing directors of Primewest,
explained that you have to treat farming
like any other business and you have to be
competitive and efficient.
At the moment the whole of Litchfield
Farm is organic, but it may revert to
conventional farming once the current
five year contract is up. The demand for
organically produced food has dropped
off significantly and because of shrinking
business margins, the owner may instruct
Primewest to ditch organic farming.
As contractors Primewest do not receive
subsidies or grants, and Paul thinks
the Single Farm Subsidy, a lump sum
received by farmers every year from the
government, should be enough for smaller
tenant farmers. A single farm payment
would pay for the rent on a four or five
bedroom farmhouse, “so if you were
living rent free with 300 acres you could
probably make some money couldn’t
you.” he said.
Paul’s advice for smaller farmers is to
find something which is in demand and
concentrate on producing that. “They’ve
got to go one stage further. Get closer to
the consumer. Diversify,” he said.
In 2004 Primewest Limited started
to diversify in a big way. They now
manufacture specialist agricultural drills
for seeding, which they are starting to
export to Europe as well as increasing
their sales in the UK. They are also
contracted to do all the snow ploughing
and pest control at Oxford airport.
If the price of grain becomes so
low that, for smaller farmers, farming
becomes unsustainable, Primewest’s other
businesses interests will keep them in
healthy profit until better times.
Edward Cowley has worked as a
journalist in Russia for five years.
Living in Moscow, Edward has been
a web journalist, a reporter and has
made documentaries on various
issues including the Chernobyl
disaster. Edward grew up in the
Cotswolds and this is still home for
him when he is living in the UK.
He plans to return to Moscow in a
few days to begin work on a new
documentary project.
“ I have always been interested in
the landscape and how land it is used
living in Russia where the landmass
is huge, It interests me how Britain,
with much less space, manages to
produce a good deal of its own food.
Small businesses also interest
me. They are crucial to the local
economy and historically, small
businesses have thrived in the UK.
The government makes noises about
supporting enterprise but a closer
look reveals that they could do much
more to make life easier for small
businesses and farmers.”
COTSWOLD TIMES | 27

28 | COTSWOLD TIMES

A NEW ERA IN BLOCKLEY
Blockley locals and visitors can celebrate the return of one of the
charms of the village - The Great Western Arms. The pub is
reopening on Monday 7th March under new management,
Steve and Amanda Aubrey, who bring with them French chef
Christophe Le-Saint from The Plough Inn at Stretton on Fosse.
The couple are relishing the thought of returning to Blockley and
meeting up with new and old friends.
There will be new exciting menus - traditional meals such as
steaks, pork belly and burgers, alongside European classics such
as moules mariniere and linguinis.
Steve added "Blockley is very much a village, with a lovely
community spirit and passion. Our aim is for the Great Western
to play a key part in the community.
“We will be offering set menus for group bookings and larger
parties, with 30 covers available in the dining room. The Bar area
will be dog friendly… perfect after a long walk! You will be able to
relax and enjoy a pint of award winning Hooky and a spot of lunch.”
With fantastic support from Hook Norton Breweries, Mandy,
Steve and the team are looking forward very much to happy times
at The Great Western Arms.
01608 643897 / 07798 888962
Elmsfield Industrial Estate,
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7 5XL
www.cottonwood-interiors.co.uk
COTSWOLD TIMES | 29

Cotswold Country
music at it’s best Saturday 12 -2.00pm on NCCR repeated on Sunday at the same time.
Cotswold Country is produced and presented by John Bowlt.
John has been involved with Country
played drums with a Country band
The band was very successful
Europe playing country clubs, radio
supporting American Country artists
member of “The Country Music
He reluctantly retired from drumming
of running his own family business in
the road! But he kept in touch with
music since the 1970’s when he
based in the North East of England.
and toured all over the UK and
and television and on occasions
on tour in Europe. John is also a UK
Association of America”
in 1985, largely due to the pressures
the UK, and in part tiring of the life on
the music!
John retired to Cornwall at 55, taking
up an opportunity to produce and
present a Country music programme on Hospital Radio in Plymouth –
introducing him to Radio.
Since moving to the North Cotswolds
10 years ago he has continued to
work on Radio, joining Hospital
Radio Oxford and very soon after
North Cotswold Community Radio.
Over the years John has visited Nashville more than 30 times, and latterly visited the CMA Festival and the Grand Ol’ Opry .
Cotswold Country is a two hour long programme presented live from the studio in Chipping Campden. Showcasing John’s wide
knowledge of county music the show is split into 4 parts - from 12.15-1-00pm John reviews the UK and US Country charts; followed
at 1pm by four easy listening tracks. Then at around 1.30pm there will be four classic tracks from the 50’s and 60’s, followed at
around 1.40pm with three unsigned country tracks.
The programme has featured many UK artists performing live in the studio, and telephone interviews with US and UK stars, on
occasions recorded live in Nashville. The photograph is of John Bowlt with Number 1 UK Country artists “The Shires” taken when
he interviewed them at “The Cornbury Festival”.
2015 Mercury Prize nominee C Duncan talks exclusively to Nicholas John
What a fantastic year it’s been for C Duncan, whose acclaimed debut album “Architect” was the surprise
nominee at last year’s Mercury Prize awards, mixing lo-fi folk with electronica and intricate vocal melodies.
Although losing out to Benjamin Clementine for the top spot, the prestige and attention the nomination
brought this unassuming Scot has been phenomenal. Backstage at Oxford’s Old Fire Station, ahead of his recent
gig there, I began by asking him how the Mercury changed things for him.
“Being nominated was a complete surprise, totally unexpected and it raises your profile tremendously, almost
overnight. And I’ve had a lot of support from BBC 6 music. It all leads to radio play, selling more CDs and more
live gigs!”
You recorded “Architect” single-handedly at your own studio. Was that a difficult process? “I’ve been allowed complete artistic freedom by my
label, apart from occasional advice on elements of the final production. The album took just over a year to record, on my home set-up in Glasgow
and I recorded everything myself, layering the instruments and vocals piece by piece.”
There’s a home-grown, pastoral sound to your music – “I love working with melody, particularly with the vocals and although I listen to a lot of
American music, I do think my own songs have a very British sound.”
What are your influences? “I listen to an awful lot of music, from classical and jazz to contemporary and French late-romantic music. Lush harmonies!”
You graduated in music composition at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire and your parents were classical musicians, so why did you choose to write
contemporary music? “I was always writing pop songs at school, and whilst I enjoy writing classical music, I love the immediacy of pop music - the
three minute single! I find that a lot of what I learned in the classical field at the Conservatoire has found a home in my songwriting.”
The gig here in Oxford sold out: has it been easy bringing in a live band to perform the songs? “It was difficult at first. I kind of did the whole thing
the wrong way round, recording the album on my own, then having to take it out on the road. Months after it came out, I still hadn’t played live!
It was a bit karaoke at first, trying to play solo with backing tracks, but then I worked with my bass-player, then added keyboards and drums, so now
we can perform the songs as they sound on the album.”
And how about that ‘difficult second album?’ “I’ve already written and recorded it, again on my own at home. I found I’d written quite a lot of stuff
while on tour and I was keen to get the new songs recorded. It should be released in September hopefully.”
Nicholas John
30 | COTSWOLD TIMES

Residents - Explore our local attractions -
Welcome Open Weekend – WOW!
A TWO for ONE deal for the long weekend
of Friday 15 April – Sunday 17 April 2016.
We know that our wonderful Cotswolds has a
wide range of amazing and interesting visitor
attractions, set against a background of
outstanding natural beauty criss-crossed by
footpaths, cycle routes, bridleways and byways
stretching across both the Cotswold and West Oxfordshire
districts. No wonder that it is so popular with visitors locally,
nationally and internationally.
The exciting Welcome Open Weekend (WOW) is a voucher
scheme aimed at enticing local residents (that’s us!) to get out and
explore the local area and attractions. Residents will be able to pick
up a discounted voucher sheet from their local Visitor Information
Centre from 1st April – giving us an opportunity to see what a
valuable service these friendly centres provide to promote the area.
From Blenheim to Birdland, Bibury Trout Farm, Cotswold
Farm Park, Crocodiles of the World, Fairytale Farm &
Head4Heights, etc...
Vouchers will be available from 1st April at Visitor Information
Centres at Bourton, Burford, Carterton, Charlbury, Chipping
Campden, Cirencester, Moreton Area Centre, Stow on the Wold,
Tetbury and Witney, and The Guildhall in Chipping Norton and
Woodstock library.
ATTENTION ALL attractions and heritage centres
The District Councils are encouraging all our attractions
and heritage centres to register, and offer a 2 for 1 deal
for the long weekend of Friday 15 April – Sunday 17 April
2016. If you have not already confirmed your business in
the scheme please email tourism@cotswold.gov.uk or
tourism@westoxon.gov.uk now. The deadline to register
your businesses interest is Monday 29 February 2016.
Vouchers will be available in the information centres from
the end of March.
Spring Events
Fosseway Garden Centre
Stow Road, Moreton In Marsh, Gloucestershire, GL56 0DS
Tel: 01608 651 757
www.fossewaygardencentre.co.uk
Follow us on Fossewaygardencentre & FossewayGC
Mothers Day
Treat Mum to a wonderful
Sunday Roast at Timothy’s
Restaurant with a selection of
meat, fish and vegetarian dishes.
2 courses £14.95
3 courses £16.95
With a free potted primrose
for Mum.
Sunday March 6th only
Booking in advance needed
before March 4th.
Mothers Day Gift ideas
Mum in a Million rose
(£9.99 each)
One in a Million rose
(£9.99 each)
Garden centre
25% off oak furniture
(full price items only)
with Loyalty Card during
the month of March
Easter
Bring your children to Fosseway
Garden Centre this Easter.
Feed the baby lambs and meet
baby chicks 21st - 28th March
(closed Easter Sunday) check our
website and Facebook for timings.
FREE bouncy castle
Easter egg hunt and Easter
bonnet parade on Easter Monday.
More details will be on our website
and Facebook pages soon.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 31

DIARY MARCH 2016
Full Information is available at the Visitor Information Centres (listed separately)
EXHIBITIONS
To 13 March
Tokens of Love. Oxfordshire Museum, Park Street,
Woodstock, OX20 1SN Free Entry. 01993 814103
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/oxfordshiremuseum
13 Feb – 2 May Capability Brown, designer of ‘the finest view in England’
in partnership with The Embroiders Guild. Carriage rides in
the Park £25. Tickets - Park £5/£4 children; Park & Gardens
£14.90/£6.90; Palace, Park & gardens £24.90/£13.90.
Conc & family tickets available. Blenheim Palace,
Woodstock OX20 1PP. www.blenheimpalace.com
DIARY
3 Whichford’s Annual Marmalade Festival – Single pot ENTRIES to St
Michael’s Church, Whichford 2.30-4.30pm. 01608 684369/ 01608 684019
3 Country Music Night. Live Music with Chris Mezza. Licensed Bar.
7:30 - 11:30 pm £5 pp. Notgrove Village Hall. 07870795560 or 01451
850502
4, 11, 18 & 25 Coffee Mornings. Join us on Fridays 10.30 -11.30am.
Homemade cakes, entertainment (from singing to a few poems).
Come and be part of our community. Henry Cornish Care Centre,
Rockhill Farm Court, Chipping Norton 01608 642364.
4 Women’s World Day of Prayer – The Methodist Church, Chipping
Norton at 10am & 7pm.
4 ‘Movies & Musicals’. LIVE Cabaret of songs from Broadway & the
Silver Screen. Tickets £10. Bar & nibbles. Bledington Village Hall 01608
01608 658669.
5 PLANT SALES 20% off for one day only, fundraising for Shipston Home
Nursing. 9am-5pm Wyatts Plant Centre & Farm Shop, Gt Rollright,
Chipping Norton OX7 5SH.
5 Festival of Sport, Kitebrook Preparatory School, Moreton, GL56 0RP.
10am – 1.00pm. Free admission. Please note - children must be
accompanied by an adult at all times. Taekwondo, golf, football,
cricket. www.kitebrookhouse.com
5/6 Stow Flea Market and Collectors Fair St Edwards Hall, Stow on
the Wold 10.00 am to 4.30 pm Free Entry. Contact Rose on 01451
870675 or stowflea@gmail.com
9 North Cotswolds Arts Association. Demonstration by Rachel Higgins,
award winning metal sculpture artist. Broadwell Village Hall 2-4pm.
Admission Free to members, visitors welcome £5 includes tea. Sandi
01541 822550
12 Vintage & 2nd Hand Clothes Sale. Free Entry. £20 per table to sell
your own merchandise 9.30 - 11.30am at Sheldon Bosley Hub,
Shipston on Stour CV36 4DQ. 01608 674929
11 Valuation Day with JS Fine Art experts. £3 per item in aid of
Bledington Music Festival. Refreshments. 10am – 3pm. Bledington
Village Hall.
12 – 13 ‘Artist & Artisan’ - John Limbrey at Court Barn Museum, Church
Street, Chipping Campden. GL55 6JE. 01386 841951
www.courtbarn.org.uk
12 FAMILY BINGO NIGHT fundraising for local charities. Bar,
refreshments. £5 includes 6 games. Children under 12, £2. More cards
available. From 7pm. Guiting Power Village Hall
12 North Cotswold Disabled Club Coffee morning in Broadwell Village
Hall from 10am – 12 noon.
13 Blenheim Palace & Formal Gardens open. Times, tickets etc.
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock. www.blenheimpalace.com
13 Mary Poppins Sunday Matinee Movie in aid of the Forest School
Garden at the Cotswold Montessori School: 13 March, 3-5pm.
Windrush Village Hall OX18 4TU
15 Plonk & Pudding Party fundraising for Neuroblastoma UK, Quiz. Bring
& Buy, Bar, Raffle. Booking essential. Tickets £10 – 01451 820453 or at
Cotswold Sheepskin, Bourton.
15 Music from Shakespeare’s England. Elizabethan Lute music
in aid of the Oddington Churches. 7pm. Tickets £25 (book early,
save £5) inc. refreshments.. 0145183720 or at the church office 01451
831424/ evenvalechurches1@btconnect .com
17 Country Music Night. Live Music with George McIntosh. Licensed Bar.
7:30 - 11:30 pm £5 pp. Notgrove Village Hall.
07870795560 or 01451 850502
32 | COTSWOLD TIMES
19 EASTER CRAFT SHOW. stalls, coffee, tea, cakes, chocolate, Raffle,
plants. Bring the Family 50p Admission. (Book a stall £10.
07881 735276.) Churchill Village Hall, Churchill OX76NJ.
19 Complementary Therapies Day. 3 sessions £25. Call 01608 674929 to
book. Home-made soup artisan bread and biscuits served. 10.30 -
4.30pm at The Butts, Cherington CV36 5HZ
19 One-on-One and demonstration by Heidi Warr Ceramic artist, creating
‘Celtic Cross’. 11.30am. Court Barn, Church Street, Chipping Campden
GL55 6JE. T: 01386 841951
19 Cirencester Philharmonia – Dvorak, Brahms and Grieg. Tickets £10,
U14 Free, on the door or in advance from Moreton Area Centre
01608.650881. 7.30pm, St Davids Church, Moreton
20 QUIZ NIGHT – Prizes, Raffle, entertainment. In aid of the Army
Benevolent Fund. 7.30pm, The Swan Inn, High Street, Moreton..
19 Burford Orchestra’s Spring concert – 3 French composers.
Tickets £8/children £4 from www. Burfordorchestra.org.uk
7.30pm at Methodist Church Hall in Witney, OX28 6HG.
20 Burford Singers Spring Concert Schubert - Mass in G Paul
Carr – Requiem for an Angel. 7.30pm Church of St John the
Baptist, Church Green, Burford OX18 4RY
20 Choral Concert ‘Music, Food & Love’ by Wychwood Choral, Guest
Soloist Claire Bradshaw. Free admission & refreshments - voluntary
collection in aid of Trax local training charity. 7.30pm at Chipping
Norton Town Hall.
26 Tea & Cake at Moreton W.I. 12-4pm. Tombola. In aid of the
Army Benevolent Fund’. WI Hall, New Street, Moreton.
28 Easter Egg Hunt & Easter Bonnet Parade at Fosseway Garden Centre,
Stow Road, Moreton GL56 0DS. 01608 651757 www.
fossewaygardencentre.co.uk
31 Country Music Night. Live music with Mick McCoy. Licensed Bar. 7:30
- 11:30 pm £5 pp. Notgrove Village Hall. 07870795560 or
01451 850502

EVENTS
LIVE at THE BELL!
Live music Made in Moreton every weekend:
Sat. 27th February
Sat. 5th March
Sat. 12th March
Sun. 20th March
Sat.26th March
The Blues Anoraks
Carrick
Two Well Dressed Men
Made in Moreton Acoustic Showcase
Ben Brayshay/James Drinkwater/
Chloe Hanks/Ellen Larson
Average Wyatt Band
Live 6 Nations Rugby:
Sat. 12th March
England v Wales
Sat. 19th March
France v England
And all other matches
THE BELL INN
High Street, Moreton in Marsh GL56 0AF
T: 01608 651887
FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY ON
EASTER MONDAY 28th MARCH
plus special services running during the
holidays. See website for timetable
TRAINS RUNNING EVERY WEEKEND
FROM SATURDAY 5TH MARCH
Travel from Toddington,
Winchcombe or Cheltenham Race Course
stations on our award-winning heritage railway
24 mile round trip through glorious Cotswold scenery
693 yard tunnel at Greet - 2nd longest on a preserved railway
Famous 15 arch Stanway viaduct
Tea room, shop, heritage trail and small museum at
Toddington, café, shop and picnic area at Winchcombe
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
The Railway Station,
Toddington, GL54 5DT
01242 621405
www.gwsr.com
M5 junc 9, only 15 mins
CLASS 37
DIESEL BACK
IN SERVICE
19/20 MAR
COTSWOLD TIMES | 33

EVENTS
Chipping Norton Lions invite you to our
SP R ING BING O
on Friday 1 April 2016 from 7pm
The Town Hall, Chipping Norton
Everyone welcome
Lots of prizes, raffle, bar and snacks
All profits from the evening will go towards local causes
34 | COTSWOLD TIMES
PRIZE
NIGHT
BLEDINGTON VILLAGE HALL
Movies and Musicals
In Association with Air in G (Arts in
Rural Gloucestershire)
Saturday, 4 March, 7.30pm
Classic Cabaret of favourite songs
from Broadway to the Silver Screen
Tickets £10 – 01608 658669
Licensed Bar – Interval Nibbles, in Aid of the Village Hall
Valuation Day at Bledington Village Hall
Friday, 11 March, 10am-3pm
JS Fine Art experts will examine and f value your possessions either
for sale, insurance or interest
Simon Davies – Silver, Jewellery & Objets D’art
Sarah Lewis – Pictures
Tony Cribb – Militaria, Medals etc
£3 per item in aid of Bledington Music Festival
Refreshments available
Open Days
Come and see our refurbished Village Hall! You’ll be very welcome!
Saturday, 12 March, 10am-4pm
Sunday, 13 March, 11am-3pm
Enquiries: Phone 01608 658669 or email
bledington.vhall@homecall.co.uk

Touring nationally in Spring 2016
www.stonesinhispockets.org
“Hilarious,
lovable and at
times almost
breathtaking”
The Scotsman
Sponsored by
Tues 5th April - Sat 16th April at 7.45pm &
Sat 9th April, 2.30pm (BSL signed performance 15th April)
Tickets: £15, £13 concs, £8.50 Schools
Box Office: 01608 642350 | www.chippingnortontheatre.com | The Theatre, 2 Spring Street, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 5NL

36 | COTSWOLD TIMES
Friday 4 March, evening
Youth Jazz Challenge
Tickets £2.50
Sunday 6 March at 7.45pm
‘Gin and Jazz’ with the Helen Abbey
Quartet
Tickets £12 with nibbles and a gin cocktail or glass of wine,
£3 under 18s
Sunday 13 March at 3.30pm
Ellipsis …
Tickets £10, £3 under 18s
Saturday 19 March at 7.30pm
Festival Concert
Tickets £5 (free to Friends of the Festival)
Tickets can be reserved in advance by email from
tickets@cnmf.org.uk or from Jaffé & Neale, Chipping Norton.
Local Walks with the
Cotswolds Voluntary Wardens
March 2016
Spinning and Weaving at Stanton – Thursday 3 March –
Moderate
We will walk up to the Guildhouse where we will hear about this Arts
& Crafts centre, before climbing the scarp and returning via Buckland.
3 hours: 6 miles. Start: 10:00 am Stanton Village Car Park). OS Map
ref SP 067 344.
Isbourne Way 3 (Toddinton to Wormington) – Tuesday 8 March –
Moderate
One of series of circular walks incorporating the whole of the new
Isbourne Way. Breakfast and/or lunch can be obtained at The
Pheasant. 3 hours: 6 miles. Start: 10:00 am The Pheasant Inn,
Toddington GL54 5DT at the intersection of the B4632 and the B4077.
OS Map ref SP 048 325.
An Amble from Adlestrop – Thursday 10 March – Moderate
A spring walk from Adlestrop passing Chastleton House and
Chastleton Barrow, the village of Cornwell and the Daylesford Estate.
3 hours: 6 miles. Start: 10:00 am Adlestrop Village Hall car park –
donation. OS Map ref SP 241 272.
A Glimpse through a Window – Saturday 12 March – Moderate
A walk focussing on Brockhampton Park and its benefactors. Bring
packed lunch and drinks. 5.5 hours: 10 miles. Start: 9:30 am
Whittington Village Green opposite telephone box, Please park
considerately in village. OS Map ref SP 014 209.
Water, water, everywhere – Thursday 17 March – Moderate
A circuit including most of the streams flowing into the River Windrush
at Guiting Power. Bring suitable refreshment. Lunch available at the
Farm Park cafe on our return. 3 hours: 6 miles. Start: 10:00 am
Cotswold Farm Park (by kind permission). OS Map ref SP 115 266.
Sunny and Sherborne again – Friday 18 March – Moderate
We leave the Barringtons and head for Westwell before joining a
riverside walk to Sherborne and back through Windrush. Bring a
packed lunch; possible pub stop. 5 hours: 11 miles. Start: 9:30 am
The Fox Inn, Great Barrington. OS Map ref SP 205 132.
PLEASE use appropriate footwear as some walks may be steep
and muddy in places. EASY – Length may vary but terrain is mainly
flat (level); MODERATE – includes some hills and rough ground.
STRENUOUS – may be rough underfoot and ascents and descents
may be steep. We welcome guide and hearing dogs – sorry, others
not allowed.
Walks are free although we do invite donations to help fund our
conservation and improvement work.
The Wardens run a full programme of guided walks throughout the
Cotswolds. For more information see www.escapetothecotswolds.org.uk
or Tel: 01451 862000, also for any changes to arrangements such as
due to extreme weather.
STOW RAIL 2016
Sunday 22 May 2016, 10.30am to 4.30pm
St Edward’s Hall, Stow on the Wold
A selection of English, Continental
and New World layouts
Adults £2.50, children under 16 free
Cakes and refreshments available
A fund-raising event
EASTER CRAFT SHOW
Churchill Village Hall, Churchill, OX7 6NJ
Saturday 19 March 10-5pm
Stalls, coffees & teas, cakes, chocolate,
RAFFLE, plants, bulbs etc etc
Bring the Family!
Admission 50p
To book a stall £10 call 07881 735276
Chipping Campden Festival Chorus
presents
J S BACH – ST JOHN PASSION
With Orchestra and soloists on Saturday, 19 March at 7.30pm
in St James’ Church, Chipping Campden
Tickets - Adults: Reserved £15, Unreserved £10,
Students £1
from Chipping Campden Tourist Information Centre
or at the door
EVENTS

BLOCKLEY DECORATIVE AND FINE ARTS SOCIETY
a lecture
Italian & Northern
Renaissance
by Leslie Primo
at 2.45pm on 21 March 2016
in St George’s Hall, Blockley
Please contact Elaine Parker (01386 840326)
for booking guests (which is essential) and more details.
were a
EVENTS
rich manatchmaker
Chipping Norton Amateur Operatic Society
Presents
at The Theatre Chipping Norton
S
Songs include:-
Sunrise, SunsetFiddler on the roof
Thurs 12th Sat 14th May 7.30pm & Sat 14th May 2.30pm
Tickets £13.50, matinee £11.50 conc (incl £1.00 booking fee)
Tickets from The Box Office 01608 642350
Book by JOSEPH STEIN, Music by JERRY BOCK, Lyrics by SHELDON HARNICK
Produced on the New York Stage by Harold Prince Original New York stage production directed and
choreographed by Jerome Robbins
01608 642350
Based on Sholem Aleichem stories by special permission of Arnold Perl
Book by JOSEPH STEIN, Music by JERRY BOCK, Lyrics by SHELDON HARNICK
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with JOSEF WEINBERGER LTD on behalf of
Produced on the New York Stage by Harold Prince Original New York stage production directed and
MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL of NEW YORK
choreographed by Jerome Robbins
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with JOSEF WEINBERGER LTD on behalf of
MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL of NEW YORK
STOW ON THE WOLD
Moreton-In-Marsh & District
LOCAL TAXI HISTORY SERVICE SOCIETY
The Society promotes 6 SEATER the study GALAXY of local history within
• Moreton-in-Marsh AIRPORTS and the surrounding • STATIONS district, an area
steeped • HOSPITALS in history, The membership • averages COURIER around SERVICE 100. The
Society meet on Wednesday LOCAL OR LONG evenings DISTANCE to hear presentations
from informed and knowledgeable speakers.
Meetings TONY are held KNIGHT at the Women’s – 07887 Institute 714047
Hall, Moreton
info@stow-on-the-wold-taxi-service.co.uk
commencing at 7.30pm.
01608 www.stow-on-the-wold-taxi-service.co.uk
650349 or jinglesblenheim@btinternet.com
Friday 15 th April - 7.45pm
at U p
per
Farm, C
lapton-on-th e-H ill,
G L54
2 LG
Tic kets £
10.0
0
( Admission by ticket only)
av
ailable from Jim a nd Helen
01451 820453
o r Co
tswold Sheepski n,
B o
urton o n the Water
Quiz Bring-and
and-Buy Paid bar Raffle
COTSWOLD TIMES | 37

EVENTS
38 | COTSWOLD TIMES

EVENTS
COTSWOLD TIMES | 39

There are more than five hundred local talking
newspapers in the UK serving their communities by
providing local news in recorded formats for people who
are unable to read newsprint.
The Cotswold Listener, a registered charity, is the local talking
newspaper covering the north Cotswolds, Tewkesbury and
Cheltenham. Since its establishment in 1978, The Cotswold
Listener’s purpose is to help the sight impaired to stay in touch
with what’s happening in their local community whilst providing
entertainment and specialist information. Anyone who is unable
to read newsprint owing to any sight impairment is welcome to
join as a listener. The service is completely free of charge.
The Cotswold Listener is produced every week throughout the
year and is available on CD or memory stick. These are sent out
by first class mail, free of any postage charge. We also provide
free of charge specially designed, easy to use players for people
who don’t have suitable equipment. Our recordings are also
available on our website.
Each week’s edition lasts around eighty minutes and comprises
three sections. There’s around forty minutes of local news,
our thirty minute “magazine” of general
interest articles to amuse and entertain,
and finally, a brief “Infosound” piece
containing information specifically for the
sight impaired. Our news is recorded by
kind permission of the Gloucestershire
Echo and the Cotswold Journal.
The Cotswold Listener is based in
Rodney Road, Cheltenham, is run entirely
by volunteers and funded entirely by
donation.
Geoff Bland & Jackie Anderson
The charity has more than forty
volunteers who donate their time and
expertise on a rota basis acting as news
and magazine presenters, sound recorders
and administrators to ensure that each
week’s recording goes out every Thursday
throughout the year.
We currently have 170 regular weekly
listeners and are always willing and able
to welcome more. If you would like more
information or would like to try The
Cotswold Listener or know someone who
might, please phone or email us and we’ll
be in touch.
The Cotswold Listener,
21 Rodney Road,
Cheltenham, GL50 1HX
Telephone 01242 252072
admin@cotswoldlistener.co.uk
www.cotswoldlistener.co.uk
Charity Registration No. 276631
40 | COTSWOLD TIMES

NEW ‘MUSIC AT STOW’ CONCERT SEASON
WITH A ROYAL BIRTHDAY THEME
Music at Stow, the enterprising local concert group responsible
for bringing artists as diverse as Fairport Convention, Jacqui
Dankworth and the Military Wives Choir to Stow-on-the-Wold,
are promoting their most adventurous range of artists yet for the
coming season.
The concept of bringing “Big Names to a Small Town” has
proved a huge success, attracting enthusiastic audiences to a
wide range of musical events, in the unique surroundings of the
12th century St Edward’s Church.
The first concert of the season on Saturday 9th April, will
donate all profits to We Are Macmillan Cancer Support. Local
composer and songwriter Michael Omer brings his ‘off-
Broadway’ New York jazz-cabaret show to Stow - intriguingly
titled BACH to the Future (all puns intended!) – it features jazz
and topical songs which celebrate familiar characters in their
own time – from Bernstein to Amy Winehouse: an entertaining
trip down memory lane…and back (or should that be Bach?.Ed)
Picking up on the Royal theme this year, Music at Stow will
present a very special concert celebration to mark the 90th
Anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen, over her celebratory
weekend on Saturday 11th.
Another birthday is being marked on Wednesday 6th July
when a group of Tibetan Monks visit Stow to celebrate the 81st
birthday of the Dalai-Lama. Already seen at Glastonbury, Womad
and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, their inspiring performances
of masked dance and sacred chant will also include the unique
sound of Tibetan alpine horns!
The season culminates with the three-night Music at Stow
Festival, a regular fixture for the final weekend in October.
This year’s festival launches on Thursday 27th with the awardwinning
Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, who shot to fame when
Oasis Events in Moreton in Marsh is 20 years old
in 2016 and is celebrating with Open Days on Friday
11th March 12pm-8pm and Saturday 12th March
10am-4pm.
she was appointed the Official Harpist to HRH Prince of
Wales. The headline act for Saturday 29th October will be the
acclaimed Darius Brubeck Quartet. Jazz and non-jazz fans
alike will remember the legendary pianist and composer Dave
Brubeck, along with his enduring popular hit ‘Take Five’, and it
is a real coup to have attracted Dave’s son Darius to Stow. The
quartet has been playing to sold-out houses in the UK, including
London’s Ronnie Scott’s, as well as performing in Germany,
Ireland and at the Edinburgh International Festival. No doubt
some of the Brubeck classics of yesteryear will find their way into
the set-list. This promises to be a very “cool “evening indeed!
Tickets will be available nearer the time of each concert: online
at WeGotTickets.com and at the Borzoi Bookshop, Church
Street, Stow-on-the-Wold Tel: 01451 830268
www.musicatstow.com info@musicatstow.com
All are welcome to browse, or appointments
to meet the team can be made via
hire@oasisevents.co.uk
Oasis have notched up 20 years in business through
a recession, with steady growth and low staff
turnover, to become an expert in their niche.
They’re rocking the Cotswolds with their event hire
and management service and work with over 400
clients annually for events on every scale all over the
UK, and beyond.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 41

Club
Notices
42 | COTSWOLD TIMES

RURAL CINEMA
MARCH
The Playhouse, St George’s Hall
BLOCKLEY
Thursday 24 March
SUFFRAGETTE
2016 Season Tickets available – £25
7.15pm. Hot dogs on sale from 6.30.
Doors/Bar open at 7.00pm / 7.45pm
film. Advance tickets £3.50/ on
door £4. Advance tickets 01386
700647/593386
The Old School
BOURTON ON THE HILL
Saturday 26 March
BROOKLYN
7.15pm. Wine with a donation £3.50
on the door. Tickets/Queries 01386
7013857/701396
Victoria Hall
BOURTON ON THE WATER
Monday 21 March
BROOKLYN
Film 2.30pm & 7.30pm Tickets £3
refreshments. Family Tickets £10 (2
adults, 2 children) Queries 01451
822365
Memorial Hall
CHARLBURY’S OWN CIMEMA
Sunday 13 March
MACBETH Cert 15
Film: 7.30pm – Doors & bar from
6.45pm. Tickets £5 / U15s £3, at the
door. Family ticket £12 (2 adults, 1 or 2
children) Queries: 01608 810713
Village Hall
CHURCHILL AND SARSDEN
Saturday 12th March
SUFFRAGETTE
Film 7.30pm. Tickets £4.50 at the door.
Advance tickets/queries 01608 659903
screenbythegreen@btopenworld.com
Screen on the Green, Village Hall
ILMINGTON
Friday
Please consult local notices
Film 7.30pm Tickets £4.50 (students
£2.50) Advance tickets Red Lion.
Queries 01606 682806 Refreshments
Village Hall
LITTLE WOLFORD
Thursday 17 March
BROOKLYN
Film 7.30pm Tickets £4.00 inc.
refreshments. Advance tickets/queries
01608 684223
St. Andrew’s Church
NAUNTON
Tuesday 1 March
BROOKLYN
Doors open 7.15, Film 7.45. Tickets
£3.00 at the door. 01451 850897 or
bob@markets-international.com
Village Hall
ODDINGTON
Tuesday 15 March
BROOKLYN
7 for 7.30pm. £3.00 Wine and soft
drinks. Advance tickets/queries Ted
01451 830738
Lower Swell Village Hall
LOWER SWELL
Friday
Please consult local notices
Doors open at 7pm for refreshments.
Film starts at 7.30pm. Tickets £3.50
Food, alcohol and hot and cold drinks
for sale.
Macbeth (Michael Fassbender), the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of
witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred
to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Suffragette Foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, who were forced underground to
pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Brooklyn Romance Drama,12a Julie Walters & Jim Broadbent.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 43

Village Halls
We are updating this page to include
more entries.
To ensure that your words are legible
the RECOMMENDED CONTENT is up to
25 words PLUS contact information.
44 | COTSWOLD TIMES
Please Email your entry to
Editor@cotswoldtimes.co.uk

Local Clubs, Societies, Associations and Charities
CLUBS
Bourton and District U3A.
Contact: Jenny Stanfield 01451 824388. u3asites.org.uk/bourton
Bourton on the Water WI 2nd Tues 7.15pm, Victoria Hall, BOW.
Sec Janet Randall 01451 821739
Bourton-on-the-Water Probus 2nd & 4th Mondays 10 a.m. at the
George Moore Community Centre. Sec Chris Fowler 01451 820787
Bourton Vale Horticultural Society 7.30 pm every second
Wednesday of the month at the Baptist School Room, Station Road,
Bourton Panto Group www.bourtonpantogroup.com
Bridge Club at Broadwell Village Hall Weds afternoon at 1.45pm.
Mary Wood, 01451 822313
Chadlington Flower Club Ann Aston 01608 683289
Charlbury Art Society Second Weds/month at 7:30 pm.
Kati Eidenbenz 01608 810911
CH. Norton Amateur Astronomy Group www.cnaag.com 3rd
Monday/m. 7.30pm. Methodist Rooms, CN.Chairman Robin
Smitten 07527 224411 or robin@cnaag.com
Chipping Norton & Area U3A. Janis Paxton, 01608 644896
Chipping Norton Art Club All abilities. Thurs mornings, fortnightly,
01608 730268
Chipping Norton Bridge Club David Megson, 01608 645382
Chipping Norton Historical Research Group
Jan Cliffe, 01608 641057
Chipping Norton Lions Club Liz Nason & Mike Graham both on
01608 644678 liznmike47@btinternet.com
Chipping Norton Museum & History Society 2nd Mondays 7.30pm,
September to May Methodist Hall, West Street, Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton Postcard Club Brenda Morris, 01608 643779
Chipping Norton Probus 3rd Tues at The Crown & Cushion 11am
Sec. Geoffrey Norris, 01608 676997
Chipping Norton Probus for Ladies
Sec Christine Carpenter, 01608 642155
Chipping Norton Railway Club Alan Brain, 01608 641586
Chipping Norton Rotary Club Mons 7/ 7.30pm at The Mason’s
Arms, Swerford, OX7 4AP
David Haine, 07889 609221/01608 643964
Chipping Norton Scrabble Club
Sarah Turner. gos.info@yahoo.co.uk
Cots Conservative Association Moreton-in-Marsh Branch
mrb1@btinternet.com. www.moretonconservatives.org
Cotswold Volunteers North Lunch Club – St David’s Centre,
Moreton 3rd Thursday/month – £4.00
Cotswold Investment Club Meets 2nd Tues of each month.
Judith Borsay, 01608 650787
Cotswold Wardens (conservation, guided walks) 01451 862000
www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk
Dinner Hosts Single 35–55 yr olds, social life through dinner
parties. www.DinnerHosts.net
Duplicate Bridge Club Broadwell Village Hall, 2 pm every
Wednesday afternoon. Contact Mary Wood 01451 822313
marcuscwood@aol.com
Friends of the Town Hall, Chipping Norton
Jackie Haworth, 01608 641368, jaxy1@btinternet.com
Inner Wheel Terry Howes, 01608 642423.
www.kinghamrotary.org.uk/wwwribi.org
Gloucestershire Heart Support Group 10.15 am every Wednesday
morning. Moreton-in-Marsh Congregational Church Rooms.
John Green, 01451 824141
Knit One, Sip One Knitting Group Alternate Weds at 8pm Coach &
Horses, Longborough Contact Carlin on 07769646996 or fenhill33@
yahoo.co.uk
Life Saving Club (Fire College)
Co-ordinator Lynette Mantle 01386 882430
Moreton Conservatives Chairman Nigel Moor nigel.moor@
nigelmoorplanning.co.uk
Moreton-in-Marsh Flower Club Meets 4th Thursday every month,
7.30 Broadwell Village Hall Joan Malings 01451 822723
Moreton-in-Marsh Interest & Leisure Club 2nd Weds monthly.
Club Sec Morag 01608 652621
Moreton-in-Marsh Probus Club 2nd and 4th Mondays each
Month.10.30 am. Swan Hotel, Moreton-in-Marsh. Secretary:
Norman Frost 01608 652749
Moreton-in-Marsh W.I. 1st Thursday (afternoon) W.I. Hall,
New Road. Trish 01608 651367
Moreton-in-Marsh (Evening) W.I. 2nd Thursday. W.I. Hall,
New Road. Sec: Jo 01608 650821
Moreton & District Local History Society Sec Jane Ingles 01608 650349
Moreton Reading Club Newcomers welcome 01608 654111
Northleach & Fosse Lions Club 2nd Tuesday/month
(business meeting) at The Ox House, Northleach 8pm.
northleachandfosselions.org.uk 0845 8339825
N Cotswold Arts Association Sandi Garrett 01451 822550
N Cotswold Bee-Keepers Assoc Julie Edwards 01608 659396 julia@
ncbka.org.uk
N Cotswold Bridge Club Meets Bourton-on-the-Hill on Tues,
Weds, Thurs. Alan Lamb 01608 650202 www.bridgewebs.com/
northcotswolds
N Cotswold CAMRA
01451810305 chair@northcotswoldcamra.org.uk
N Cotswold Disabled Club Joan M Oughton 01451 830580
N Cotswold Digital Camera Club James Minter 01451 824175
www.ncdcc.co.uk
N Cotswold Friendship Centre (Within Age UK) 1st Weds monthly.
Peter 01608652267/annemorgans167@btinternet.com
North Cotswold Model Aero Club Flying site at Far Heath Farm,
Moreton-in-Marsh Brian Lacey 01608 652213.
sites.google.com/site/northcotswoldmac/home
N Cotswold National Trust Pat Poulton 01608 651372
N Cotswold Rotary Club Dudley Mills 01451 820704 Bourton on
the Water, Brian Honness 01451 830052 Stow,
Barry Peaston 01608 650526
N. Cotswold U3A. Contact: John Bissett 01386 859319.
u3asites.org.uk/northcotswold
Oddington WI Meet on the 2nd Tue each month Oddington Village
Hall Sue John 01451 830989
Oddfellows (CN Branch) A social group, 3rd Wed/M at the Lower
Town Hall, Market Street. Dave Talbot, 07815 099 884. Dave.
Talbot@oddfellows.co.uk
Over Norton History Group Jan Cliffe, 01608 641057
Round Table Gavin Southwell, 01993 730888
Royal British Legion Michael Dixon, 01608 643755
Royal British Legion (Women’s Section) Betty Hicks, 01608 642551
Rural Living Group Betty Bryan, 01608 674255
Royal British Legion/Stow on the Wold Social Club Branch chair
Derek Arthurs 01451 831550 Club at Well Lane, Stow.
01451 830242
Royal British Legion Branch The Naight, Lansdown, Bourton
GL54 2AR. Branch, 01451 824303
Salford Players Drama & Music Group
Doreen Herrington 01608 642853
Scottish Country Dance Group Brenda Parsons 01451 831876
Shipston on Stour ‘The Literary Society’ Meets on the last
Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm at the George Hotel.
01295 680628 or 01608 663482
Single File Social group for unattached 45-70’s living within
15 miles of Chipping Norton. Fortnightly pub meetings and
programme of events. 07765 598518
www.meetup.com/single-file-chipping-norton
Stow Disability Association George Hill 01608 658636
www.stowda.org.uk
Stow & District Civic Society Meets 1st Friday evenings alternate
months, St Edward’s Hall, Stow. Nigel Surman 01451 833783
Stow and North Cotswold Probus Club 1st & 3rd Thurs mornings,
Broadwell Village Hall, Broadwell nr. Stow, 10.30 a.m. Secretary
Martin Hornby 01608 654356
Stow on the Wold and Countryside Embroiderer’s Guild
01608 651006
Stow on the Wold Social Club Well Lane. 01451 830242,
incorporating Stow RBL Branch and Women’s Section
Tredington & District Gardening Club Every 3rd Tuesday at the
Tredington W I Hall at 7.30pm 01608 682644
Tangent Val Carpenter, 01608 641452
The Theatre Friends Heather Leonard, 01608 643691
Trefoil Guild Betty Gardener, 01608 641664
Twinning Association Jo Graves, 01608 643976
WI Chipping Norton Prudence Chard, 01608 642903
WI Over Norton Becky Pearman, 01608 643463
WOWI West Oxfordshire WI Hilary Dix 01608 646228
Weavers Spinners & Dyers Club Rose Kirkcaldy, 01295 253789
Wychwood Old-Time Dance Club Margaret Pitman, 01993 810897
Young At Heart Club 1st and 3rd Thursdays monthly, 10.30am-
2.30pm, Lounge at Jameson Court. A light lunch is served; Carer
Respite Service available for a modest charge. Val 01451 810637
for more info.
BUSINESS ASSOCIATION GROUPS
Bourton on the Water Chamber of Commerce
admin@bourtoninfo,com
Moreton Chamber of Commerce to be advised
Redesdale Hall Management Committee
Clerk Sarah James 07519 330096
Cotswold Business Clubs Cotswold Business Centre,
sharonhooton@ymail.com
Stow Fund Trustee Robert Barnett
Tesco Community Champion Ann Lattimore
stowonthewold@communityattesco.co.uk 07514 408598
WIRE Network (Women in Rural Enterprise, N Cots)
Emma Heathcote-James. www.wire.org/networks
01386 831379/07977 226025
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Breathe Easy Groups (British Lung Foundation) 2nd Tues/monthly
2–4pm. 01451 822102/810520 Baden Powell Hall, Bourton-onthe-Water
Carers Clubs, Cotswold Friends Kirsty@cotswoldfriends.org
Chipping Norton Amnesty International Group meets 2nd
Thursday monthly. 7.30pm, Lower Town Hall, Chipping Norton.
Priscilla Peace 01451 830459
Chipping Norton Leisure Centre Burford Road OX7 5DY,
01993 861951 euen.kennedy@westoxon.gov.uk
Chipping Norton ‘The Lido’
01608 643188 Email info@chippylido.co.uk
Cotswold Volunteers (a local charity helping disadvantaged people)
Jane Winstanley CEO 01285 658802, jane@sc-vs.com
Cotswold Friends Lunch Club Wendy@cotswoldfriends.org
Cotswold Friends Carers Club Kirsty@cotswoldfriends.org
Friends of Stow Surgery 01451 832200 & 830610
Gateway Club (social club for learning disabled adults) 2 nd and 4 th
Weds. Meet at Rugby Club, Greystones 7 – 9pm.
Sara Mcrea 01608 643855
Gloucestershire Stroke Gp
Caroline Seguro www.stroke.org.uk 01452 520723
Henry Cornish Care Centre (The Orders of St John Care Trust),
Manager Natalya James, 01608 642364,
manager.henrycornish@osjctoxon.co.uk, www.osjct.co.uk
Home-Start N Cotswolds Family Support Charity 01451 831781
Independence Trust mental health, drug and alcohol support
01608 652232, www.independencetrust.co.uk. Sue Tomlinson –
local contact East Glos Mental Health 01285 650523/07920 427608
Insight Moreton Area Centre, High St, Moreton Mondays 10am–
1pm 01242 221170. steph.mckeever@insight-glos.org.uk
Kate’s Home Nursing (palliative nursing care at home) Karen
Pengilley, info@kateshomenursing.org, 0754 0898 143.
Lawrence Home Nursing Team Jenny Nolan, 01608 641549
Lights Up Arts Club for people with dementia – meets 2nd and 4th
Tuesdays monthly, 10.30am- 12.30pm at Highlands, Burford Road.
Lunch Clubs, Cotswold Friends Wendy@cotswoldfriends.org
Mind in Chipping Norton
(people with mental health difficulties) Di Taylor, 01608 645296,
mindinchippingnorton@oxfordshire-mind.org.uk
Multiple Sclerosis Society Carol Owen, 01993 880099
Medical Detection Dogs (charity no 1124533) Oxon and Cotswold
Volunteer Support group. Organising fundraising events and talking
to local groups. 01993 831909
oxon.supportgrp@medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk
Moore Friends Secretary, Sandra Morgan 01451 824316 sandra.
morgan12@btinternet.com
National Childbirth Trust 0870 444 8707
N Cotswold Community Radio Old Police Station, Chipping
Campden, www.nothcotswoldonline.com
N Cotswold Neighbourhood Watch Non-emergency 0845 0901234
www.northcotswoldsnw.co.uk
N Cotswold Support Group – Parkinson’s UK
Mike Winter 01451 831194
Oxfordshire Association for the Blind
Bradbury Lodge OX1 4XL. 01865 725585
P3 Stow on the Wold Drop In Centre
Youth Centre: every 2nd & 4th Tuesday 1pm to 4pm
P3 Charity (Supporting People through Advice & Guidance) High
Street, Moreton in Marsh. 01608653377. www.p3charity.org
Redesdale Hall Plays Committee Mike Rees 01608 650825
Read Easy North Cotswolds 1-1 reading coaching for adults,
0844 493 0686 suebrereton@readeasy.org.uk
RNLI N Cotswold Branch Chairman Diana Porter 01451 830508
The Cotswold Listener talking newspaper for the visually impaired.
01242 252072. admin@cotswoldlistener.co.uk
Save the Children Fund Katherine Kimmance 01295 810189
The Cotswold Listener talking newspaper for the visually impaired.
01242 252072. admin@cotswoldlistener.co.uk
The Stroke Association (Age UK) Louise Read 01452 520723,
louise.read@stroke.org.uk
Villager Community Bus
Keith Gowing 01608 658579 www.villagerbus.com
U3A – Bourton & District Sec Janet Prout 01451 821478
u3asites.org.uk/bourton
W. Oxfordshire Citizens Advice Bureau Adviceline 08444 111 444
Young At Heart Club 1st and 3rd Fridays monthly, 10.30am-2.30pm
Lounge at Chamberlayne House. A light lunch is served; Carer
Respite Service available for a modest charge. Please call Kelly
Hennessey-Ford on 07707787580 for more information.
CHARITIES
Cotswold Friends reception@cotwoldfriends.org 01608 697009
First Responders (St John Ambulance)
01452 858234 countyhq@gloucestershirejja.org.uk
Moreton in Marsh Save the Children Joyce Rees 01608 650825
SPORTS AND OUTDOORS
Adlestrop Cricket Club Mr S/N Kean 01451 831458
Angling Club Chairman Neil Halley 07961 920708,
www.moretonanglingclub.co.uk
Angling Society Robert Jarvis, 01608 643494
Athletics Club Allen Souch, 01865 372484 / 0798 1089457
Banbury Ornithological Society Frances Buckel, 01608 644425
BBOWT Reg Tipping, 01295 251673
Bourton Badminton Club Monday evenings 6.30–10pm.
07840 113477 bourtonbc@gmail.com
Bourton Hockey Club Chairman Stuart Colmer
01451 821921/07900028732. Home fixtures at the Cotswold
School, The Avenue, Bourton-on-the- Water, GL54 2BD
Bourton Roadrunners Tuesday & Thursday evenings at Bourton
Leisure Centre, 7.00 and 7.30pm. Info on adult sessions Lynn
Hudson 01242 820920. Juniors meet at Cotswold School, Tuesdays
7pm. Richard Bufton 01451 824379/ Chris Hartley 01451 830015
Bourton Vale Cricket Club
Philip Winter 01451 821920 philip@inkshed.vispa.com
Bourton Vale Equestrian Centre Pony Club
Weds 3.45-5.45. 01451 821101. leannebvec@aol.com
COTSWOLD TIMES | 45

Local Clubs, Societies, Associations and Charities
Bourton Vale Lawn Tennis Club Ann Whitney,
07917163001 awhitney@btconnect.com
Chipping Norton Bowls Club Greystones Leisure Centre,
01608 644154, chippybowls@hotmail.com Indoor (Oct-Mar)
Roberta Jarvie 01608 643556. Outdoor (Apr-Oct) Val &
Mike Harris 01608 65820. www.chippingnortonbowls.co.uk
Chipping Norton Cricket Club Graham Beacham, 01608 810047
Chipping Norton Easy Riders – Cycling Club
Jill Reynolds, 01608 642667
Chipping Norton Golf Club 01608 642383 golfadmin@
chippingnortongolfclub.com www.chippingnortongolfclub.com
Chipping Norton Green Gym (environmental projects, Weds
mornings), jennyharrington@btinternet.com
www.chippygreengym.org
Chipping Norton Horticultural Assoc Sec. Eileen Forse, 01608 643275
Chipping Norton Hockey Club Clive Briant, 01608 677913
Chipping Norton Pistol & Rifle Club John Chaplin, 01608 641245
Chipping Norton Rambling Club: First Sunday afternoon in the
month. Heather 01608 643691 rheatherleonard@yahoo.co.uk
Chipping Norton Rugby Football Club Andy Dawson, 01608 683352
Chipping Norton Skater Hockey Club Contact Louise Murphy,
01608 644091 for details.
Chipping Norton Town Football Club Shaun Green, 07845216412.
info@chippyswifts.co.uk
Chipping Norton Yacht Club Duncan Wheatley, office@cnyc.co.uk
www.cnyc.co.uk
Cotswolds Aikido Club Friday nights 7.30-10pm. Village Hall,
Hawker Square, Upper Rissington, GL54 2NT. 07738 837904
info@cotswoldsaikido.org.uk
Cotswold Voluntary Wardens Wendy Lines, 01608 642360
Cotswold Walkers Sarah Clifton-Gould 01285 623450 Every Thurs
2pm Moreton Area Centre. Wed 2pm Bourton Parish Church. Alan
Robinson 01451 821067
Great Rissington Archers Sat 10.30am at Gr Rissington Social Club
(+ Weds 6.30pm in summer) Michael Ebelthite 01451 824161,
Niall McIntosh 01451 870221
Little Compton Bowls Club All Year Club. Play stars April.
Sue Grantham, 01608 642859
London Chinatown TaeKwondo Weds 6.30pm kids and families,
7.30pm teens and adults Redesdale Hall, Moreton 0751 7437300
Moreton Badminton Club Mike and Joyce Rees 01608 650825
Moreton in Marsh Bowling Club Club Captain, Brenda Dix
01451 821020 brendadix@gmail.com Club Chair,
Helen Tuff 01608 650893 demonstitcher@btinternet.com
Moreton Cricket Club Capt: 01608652630 Sec: 01608 650929
www.moretoninmarshoc.co.uk
Moreton Rangers Football Club
Sec: 01608 650955 www.moretonrangersfc.co.uk
Moreton Tennis Club
www.moretontennis.co.uk Sec Sue Bull 01386 853298
Monkey Dragon School of Karate Chipping Norton Leisure Centre.
John 01608 643903 or 07984 791866
North Cotswold Cycling Club
Club Secretary: Fiona Barnett, 01608 650217
North Cotswolds Aikido Club Thursday nights 8-10pm.Village Hall,
Naunton, GL54 3AS. 07554 252021
www.northcotswoldsaikido.co.uk
North Cotswold (Chipping Norton) Badminton Club Contact:
James, james@coffeeandcountries.com, 07917835325 or Mick,
micksaffrette@tiscali.co.uk, 01993 881545
North Cotswold Cycling Club
Club Secretary: Fiona Barnett, 01608 650217
Northwick Bowls Club 01386 700390/ 01608 650853
N Cotswolds Youth Cricket Club
Shaun Williams 01608 652138 www.nycc.co.uk
Rambles Association Peter Barbour, 01608 641081 Wychwood
Forest (Friends of) Stuart Fox, 01993 832004
Riding for the Disabled Ann Nobbs, 01869 338404
Stow Badminton Club Forbes Campbell 01451 832188, Dennis
Fisher 01451 830068
Stow Cricket Club Captain Ash Andrews 07891 536418
ashandrews@yahoo.co.uk, http://stowotw.play-cricket.com/home
Stow Gymnastics and Trampoline Club Wed, Thurs and Sat.
Sessions for 2-17 year olds. Caroline Ardron :07793949198.
www.stowgymnastics.co.uk
Stow Rugby Club Tim Bevan/Liz Fraser/Andrew Cartlidge
www.stowrfc.co.uk
Tae Kwon Do Assoc of GB Lee Chapman 07977 560086. Tues 6.30
Adults, Thurs 6.30 Juniors, 7.30 Seniors, 8.30 Adult Self Defence
info@combinedselfdefence.co.uk www.combinedselfdefence.co.uk
MUSIC
Bell Ringers, Bourton-on-the-Water, Anne Clark, 01451 821 759
Bell Ringers, Great Rissington, Mondays 7:30-9pm, Sheila Jesson,
01451 820 395
Bledington Music Festival www.bledingtonmusicfestival.co.uk
Blockley Blokes Choir (BBC!) Thurs 7.30-9 pm Little Village Hall.
David Artingstall, Sec: 01386 701556 blockleyblokes@gmail.com
Blockley Brass Band Friday 7.30–9.30 pm St George’s Hall.
Sec: Rachel Galt 01386 841677
Blockley Ladies Choir Tues 7.30–9pm Little Village Hall. Sue
Wareham 01608 654299, 07917198327 smwareham@gmail.com
Burford Singers www.burford-singers.org.uk (Box Office The
Madhatter Bookshop, High St Burford)
46 | COTSWOLD TIMES
Burford Orchestra (community orchestra) Rehearse Monday
evenings at Witney. burfordorchestra@gmail.com www.wospweb.
com/site/The-Burford-Orchestra Helen Jenkins, 01993 830559
Campden Music Society
Carol Jackson – concert mgr cra.jackson@virgin.net
Chipping Norton CHAOS (Amateur Operatic)
David Court, 01608 811031
Chipping Norton Choral Society
Sarah Cobb, 07836 518868, sarah@cobb.uk.net
Chipping Norton Creative Arts Society Kathee Coonerty,
01993 891312
Chipping Norton Folk Club
www.chippingnortonfolk.org.uk/contact us
Cotswold West Gallery Group Annette Smith 01451 830160
Cotswold Youth Choir Every Saturday for children ages 3-6, and
7 upwards. Burford Methodist Church. Contact Amanda Hanley
07976 353996
Hook Norton Film Society Harry Smith, 01285 737417
Kingham Choral Society Linda Sale, 01608 658647
North Cotswold Chamber Choir Shauni McGregor, 01608 642352
Nortonians Amateur Dramatic Soc Andrew Pitman, 01993 830930
Society of Recorder Players Jenny Graham-Brown, 01285 740156
Naunton Music Society Barbara Steiner 01451 850897
info@NauntonMusic.org.uk
Stour Singers Vic Twyman Choir Manager 01451 870361
vicandjill@btinternet.com
YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN
Activity Camps All holidays for ages 3-13 years old. 07793949198
www.activity-camps.com
Aikido for Kids Saturday mornings 10-11am. Village Hall, Hawker
Square, Upper Rissington, GL54 2NT. 07738 837904
info@cotswoldsaikido.org.uk
6th Chipping Norton Scout Group and Explorer Scout Unit
Ian Bushrod Group Scout Leader, ian@6thchippyscouts.co.uk
Bourton BumblebeeZ babies/pre school group St Lawrences
Church, Thursdays 9.30-11.00am.
Contact Linda Powell 01451 822206.
Bourton Pre-school & Out of School Clubs, Contact Pam Coombes
07950048066 or email: bourtonpreschool&eygloucestershire.co.uk
Children & Young Peoples Directorate Stephen McDonald – Senior
Youth Worker. North Cotswold Rural Youth Work Team. Bourton
Youth Centre, The Avenue, Bourton-on-the-Water
01451 820525. Mobile: 07825732523.
email: stephen.mcdonald@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Blockley Toddler Group Jubilee Hall, Blckley Thursday 10 - 11.30am
(term time only) Clare 01386 701695
blockleytoddlers@hotmail.co.uk
Bledington Toddler Group Nicki 01608 658137 Mon 10–11.30am
Chipping Norton St Mary’s Toddler Group Julie Jennings, 01608
643796 Kingfishers Playgroup 01608 659502
Chipping Norton Air Training Corps Steve Taylor, 01608 641299
Chipping Norton Army Cadets Colin Tye 07917 273535
Chipping Norton Brownies 1st CN Tracey Shadbolt, 01608 645563
Chipping Norton CN Rainbows Alison Dunbar, 01608 644480
Chipping Norton Crusaders (11–13) David Radcliffe, 01993 831472
Chipping Norton Crusaders (14+) David Radcliffe, 01608 646202
Chipping Norton Guides 1st CN Tracey Shadbolt, 01608 645563
Chipping Norton Pre-School 01608 643376
Children’s Art Club (ages 4–12) After school, Saturdays and
holidays, Gill Parkes 01386 700991
Condicote Playgroup & Toddlers
Leader Jo Abrahams 07796 987173
Guiting Power Brownies (age 7–10) Tuesday Evenings 6.15–
7.30pm, Leader Cheryl Millar 01451 831233
Guiting Power Pre-School Playgroup 01451 851742, Becky
Roseblade, leader playleaderguitingpowerplaygroup@outlook.com
Kingfishers Playgroup 01608 659502
Methodist Junior Church Club Sec 01608 643847
Monkey Music (pre-school music classes) Tues afternoons. 07768
457403 or Sian.ferris@monkeymusic.co.uk
Moreton in Marsh Guide Unit Wednesday 6.30-8pm at the Scout
Hut. Open to girls 10 - 14.Alison Eastabrook 01608 650515
Moreton Scouts
Beavers Mondays 17:30–18:45 Age 6–8½ Cubs, Mondays
18.45–20.15 Age 8–10 Explorer Scouts, Wednesday (fortnightly)
20.00–22.00 Age 14–18 Scouts, Thursdays 19.30–21.30 Age
10½–14 Dave Manley, Moreton Scout Group Secretary
01608 650814
N Cotswold St John Ambulance & St John Cadets (from age 10)
Meets at Bourton Thurs 7–9pm. 01451 820570
Springboard Children’s Centre St Edwards Drive, Stow on the Wold.
01451831642. www.springboardcc.co.uk
Stow Gymnastics Club Every Saturday,Tuesday and Thursday for a
fun Gymnastic Session for 2-13 year olds. Caroline:07793949198
www.stowgymnastics.co.uk
Stow Youth Centre Fosseway, Stow. Youth Worker, Linda Burke, Stow
Town Council, 01451 832585. Office hours T, W, Th, 10am–1pm
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Bourton on the Water Parish Council George Moore Community
Centre, Moore Road, GL54 2AZ. 01451 820712 clerk@
bourtononthewaterpc.org.uk ww.bourtononthewaterpc.org.uk
County Cllr Paul Hodgkinson Shire Hall, Gloucester GL1 2GT. 01285
831359/ 07785 263759 paul.hodgkinson@gloucestershire.gov.uk
District Cllr Len Wilkins (Bourton Ward) 01451 821063
len.wilkins@cotswold.gov.uk District Cllr Richard Keeling 01451
831146. richard.keeling@cotswold.gov.uk
Chipping Norton Town Council The Guild Hall, Chipping Norton
OX7 5NJ 01608 642341 cntc@btconnect.co
Chipping Norton Town Councillors Mrs L Carter, G Saul, G Wall
Chipping Norton Intermediate Care Unit Russell Way, Off London
Road. Ward clerk and nurses office in-patient number 01608
690411. Out-patient unit which houses physio, x-ray, podiatry and
other clinics 01608 648200.
Chipping Norton Visitor Point The Guildhall, Middle Row. Mon to
Fri 8.45–13.00, 14.00–16.00. 01993 861000
County Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles (Chipping Norton)
01993 831822 / Mob07793 935655 Hilary.biles@oxfordshire.gov.uk
County Councillor Rodney Rose (Charlbury & Wychwood)
01865 810419 / 07919 298277 rodney.rose@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Chipping Norton District Council Guy Wall, 01608 643306
Guy.wall@westoxon.gov.uk
Oxfordshire County Council
County Hall New Road OX1 1ND. Tel 01865 792422
West Oxfordshire Council Offices The Guildhall, Middle Row, OX7
5NH Open Mon–Thurs 08.45–13.00 & 14.00–16.00 Fri 08.45–13.00
& 14.00–16.00.
Cotswold District Council
Trinity Road, Cirencester. 01285 623000 www.cotswold.gov.uk
County Cllr Nigel Moor 01386 700240/07778 207034
Nigel.moor@gloucestershire.gov.uk Shire Hall, Gloucester GL1 2GT
Glos Homeseeker applying for affordable housing
www. gloshomeseeker.co.uk 0300 666 6330 –charged at local rate
Glos Rural Community Council Marilyn Cox 01452 528491
marilync@grcc.org.uk gloscc@grccorg.uk www.grcc.org.uk
Moreton Area Centre High Street, Moreton 01608 650881.
moreton@cotswold.gov.uk
Moreton in Marsh Town Council, Council Office, Old Town,
Moreton in Marsh. GL56 0LW. 01608 651448
www.moretoninmarshtowncouncil.co.uk
Moreton in Marsh District Councillors
Alison Coggins 01608 652124 alison.coggins@cotswold.gov.uk.
Robert Dutton 01608 651914 robert.dutton@cotswold.gov.uk
Stow Town Council Stow Council Office, Stow Youth Club, Stow,
GL54 1AB 01451 832585 info@stowonthewold.net
Stow-on-the-Wold District Councillor
Barry Dare barry.dare@ cotswold.gov.uk (01386) 700457
Village Agents
maureeng@villageagent.grcc.org.uk.
stevew@villageagent.grcc.org.uk
KEY INFORMATION
Bourton-on-the-Water Police Station Moore Community Centre,
Moore Road, GL54 2AZ Non-emergency 101, Emergency 999
Bourton-on-the-Water Visitor Information Centre Victoria Street.
01451 820211 / 822583. bourtonvic@btconnect.com
Bourton on the Water Citizens Advice Bureau Moore Health Centre
Freephone 0808 800 0511 (10am-4pm Monday to Thursday).
www.cotswoldcab.org.uk
Carers Oxfordshire (Support Group for Carers) 0845 050 7666
carersoxfordshire@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Chipping Norton First Aid Unit Rear of Chipping Norton War
Memorial Community Hospital, Russell Way, off London Road.
Open Monday to Friday 5.00pm– 9.00pm, weekends
and bank holidays 10.00am–9.00pm, no appointment necessary
Chipping Norton Health Centre The White House Surgery & West
Street Surgery are now amalgamated as – Chipping Norton Health
Centre, Russell Way, Chipping Norton, OX7 5FA 01608 642742k
Chipping Norton Police Station
London Road, OX7 5AW. Non-emergency 101, Emergency 999
Cotswold Maternity Unit at Chipping Norton 01608 648222
chippingnortonmidwives@ouh.nhs.uk
Childrens Physio Direct helpline 0300 421 6980 9.00am-12.00pm,
Monday-Friday (except Bank Holidays) Childline 0800 11 11
Childline 0800 1111
Chipping Norton Veterinary Hospital
Albion Street, Chipping Norton, OX7 5BN 01608 642547
Crime Stoppers 0800 555 111
Citizens Advice Bureau Freephone 0808 800 0511 (10am-4pm
Monday to Thursday). www.cotswoldcab.org.uk
Glos Heart Support Group Weds 10.15am. Moreton Congregational
Church Rooms. John Green 01451 824141
First Responders (St Johns Ambulance) 01865 378228
John Radcliffe Hospital Casualty 01608 644655
Mobile police station: MPS can still be booked to attend local
community events by contacting PCSO Simon King, 07718 708520
or simon.king@gloucestershire.police.uk
N Cots. District, Community First Responders, Notgrove Training
Centre, SJA, Bourton-o-t-Water 3rd Monday at 7.30pm. You can
train to be a CFR in this area, William Warmington 01608 651886
North Cotswold Hospital Stow Road, Moreton in Marsh GL56 0DS.
daily 8am-8pm, 0300 421 8770 www.gloshospitals.nhs.co.uk
N Cotswold Neighbourhood Watch
Non-Emergency 0845 090 1234. www.northcotswoldsnw.co.uk
Police Station High Street, Stow on the Wold. Mon-Fri 08.30–16.30.
Non-emergency 101, Emergency 999

CELEBRATING EVERYTHING MADE IN MORETON IN MARSH
In March the Moreton-in-Marsh Business Association
(MIMBA) is once again organising a month-long celebration
of everything produced in and around the town. Every local
business who is producing items - from heavy engineering
and homes, to food and gardens – can participate in this exciting
annual event promoting our vibrant market town. This year it is
hoped that the hospitality businesses, schools and retail outlets
will also take part.
MIMBA will be promoting out vibrant market town and
the event encourages local businesses to get involved – they
anticipate a variety of open days, demonstrations, receptions for
invited guests, displays and exhibitions, and much more.
In the first instance, any local business interested in taking
part in this event, and located within a 4-mile radius of Moretonin-Marsh,
should contact the Moreton in Marsh Business
Association’s secretary Sabeeha Jackman via sabymba@hotmail.
com or Ian Sloan at Bankier Sloan Chartered Surveyors via
reception@centre-p.co.uk
NEW-LOOK WEBSITE LAUNCHED
cotswolds.com
“Welcome to the Cotswolds”
Cotswolds Tourism have launched a brand new website to promote and
market the Cotswolds to the domestic and international travel market.
The six month project to transform www.cotswolds.com follows
consultation with Cotswolds Tourism partners to create a new website
that reinforces the area as one of the country’s leading tourist
destinations. The emphasis on bold and beautiful imagery makes the
website a great showcase of what the Cotswolds can offer visitors. It’s
also easy to navigate and has a clean and contemporary look, all in a
responsive format for optimum mobile browsing.
Cotswolds Official Visitor Guide App
The new website will complement the Cotswolds Official Visitor Guide
App – one of the top performing destination apps.
The Cotswolds are already one of the most recognised brands both
nationally and across the world thanks to the unique landscape,
picturesque villages, vibrant towns and cities as well as great food and
drink, accommodation and attractions.
48 | COTSWOLD TIMES

SCHOOLS
COTSWOLD TIMES | 49

SCHOOLS
50 | COTSWOLD TIMES

SCHOOLS
COTSWOLD TIMES | 51

SCHOOLS
52 | COTSWOLD TIMES

facebook.com/booksyulelove
@booksyulelove
01608 238416
www.booksandplace.com
Reading - the gift that goes on giving
Get all your books in Moreton now!
21 Old Market Way, Moreton
Cotswold Montessori School
Intelligent Childcare for 2 to 5 year olds
“More than childcare… a real, proper school for little people.”
Located in Chipping Norton Health Clinic, Footworx
is a private podiatry clinic for the treatment of
common foot and ankle conditions including:
• Ingrowing Toenails (inc. nail surgery procedures)
• Corns, Calluses & Verrucae
• Fungal Nail Advice
• Musculoskeletal & Sports Conditions
• Heel Pain (plantar fasciitis)
• Gait Analysis & Alignment
• Insole Therapy (bespoke foot orthotics)
• Foot & Ankle Mobilisation
www.cotswoldmontessori.co.uk
Great Barrington, Nr. Burford, OX18 4UR
Tel: 01451 844 350 E-Mail: info@cotswoldmontessori.co.uk
Contact us for more information and to book an appointment:
T 01608 438 038 E info@footworxclinic.co.uk
www.footworxclinic.co.uk
Time For A Change?
Contact
Robb Eden
for
Business Tax
Accounts Preparation & Analysis
PAYE & Book-keeping
Vat Returns
Sage Training
More than just accounts - a personal service
tailored to your needs. We will work with
you
to help you get the best from your business.
01608 651802
obbeden@aol.com
At last, someone has admitted that the tax system needs a
thorough overhaul & it’s a former Chancellor, Nigel Lawson,
who has put the case for a complete change. As I have said
many times, the current system allows some businesses to avoid paying
a fair rate of tax leaving us poor individuals & those honest businesses
to bear the brunt. I believe that a radical step should be taken,
perhaps initially for non-Vat registered businesses, where tax is paid
at a flat rate based on sales. This will not only help to lift the burden
of bureaucracy for small businesses, it could also be the first step
towards synchronising PAYE & self-employed business tax so that both
are paid over by a set date the following month (currently the 19th of
each month for PAYE). The effect on our economy will be immediate
& increase the tax take significantly. It will also mean that the selfemployed
won’t have to find a large lump sum twice a year or to make
payments on account (money they haven’t actually earned but still are
asked to pay). The added bonus for those who hate paperwork is that
calculating a percentage of sales is so much easier. The downside for
accountants is that many could become redundant. However, I would
far rather see a fair tax system for all than one that keeps accountants
in business for the sake of it.
With the above in mind would it not be a good thing if all
government departments were required to make things for easier for
people rather than introducing rafts of legislation that no one can
understand? The buzzword “mindfulness” springs to mind.
If you’re in business, or you are an employer having problems with
year-end paperwork, don’t hesitate in contacting your accountant or
you can contact me by phone or e-mail for free, impartial advice.
Robb Eden is based in Moreton-in-Marsh. He can be contacted via
e-mail at robbeden@aol.com or by telephone 01608 651802.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 53

• Glass and Glazing Specialists
• Toughened Safety Glass & Sealed Glass
Units Manufactured in our workshop
• Installers of Bespoke High Quality
Windows & Doors in PVCu – Timber – Aluminium
For A QUoTE CALL: 01295 263364
or 01608 643261
EMAiL: info@cnglass.co.uk
Workshop & Showroom:
Norton House, Beaumont Road, Banbury, OX16 1SD
ToUGHeneD
GlASS
www.cnglass.co.uk
EnErgy & Vision the future of glass technology
CAll US
WITH yoUr
enQUIry
SeConDAry DoUBle GlAzInG GlASS BAlUSTrADInG MIrrorS leADeD GlASS
SHelVeS & TABle ToPS PAInTeD SPlASHBACkS CoMPoSITe DoorS
KC Carpets QTR Pg:KC Carpets QTR Pg 16/06/2010 15:43 Page 1
190x136mm_2015.indd 1 09/07/2015 12:30
C A R P E T S , C U R TA I N S & B L I N D S
Free Estimates Without Obligation
Carpets Fitted Free (Over 10sq mtr with underlay)
Pattern Books to Your Home When Required
Furniture Moved Free of Charge
2 High Street, Moreton in Marsh, Glos, GL56 0AP
Tel 01608 650331
54 | COTSWOLD TIMES

Domestic & Commercial
Full range of Skips
available for Hire
EA Carriers Licence CB/ZM3347GX
• House Clearance
• Cleaning out the Loft
• Tidying up the Garden
• Building an Extension
BASED IN
STOW-ON-THE-WOLD
Competitive
Rates
Please phone /email us to discuss your requirements
01386 841747
DELIVERING TO
Stow-on-the-Wold,
Moreton-in-Marsh,
Bourton-on-the-Water ,
The Rissingtons,
Northleach,
Lower Swell,
Bledington,
and surrounding Villages.
FOSSEWAY TOOL HIRE LTD
Compact tele-handler
Manitou 625
with all wheel drive
four wheel steer
5.8 metre lift height
2.5 tons capacity
(max)
1.8 metres wide
Call us and book your hire now!
Shipston On Stour, Tilemans Lane, Shipston Ind Estate 01608 661677
Bourton On The Water, Unit 5 ,Station Road Ind Estate 01451 810885
www.fossewayhire.com
COTSWOLD TIMES | 55

Celebrate your Community Health Hero
Patients, carers and their families are being given the
opportunity to acknowledge local healthcare professionals
who have gone ‘above and beyond’ to deliver exceptional
health and social care across Gloucestershire.
The Community Health Hero award will be nominated by
service users, and the winner revealed at the Trust’s third
annual Celebrating You awards on Wednesday 25 May.
When thinking about your experiences with local community
services, please consider:
Did a member of staff make extra effort to reassure you
and make your stay/appointment as comfortable as
possible?
Did they explain what would be happening to you during
your stay/appointment?
Did they treat you and your family with true dignity and
respect?
Did they take the time to discuss your concerns, or find
someone who could?
Were they caring and attentive to your needs?
Were they particularly approachable, kind and helpful?
If the answer to one or more of these points is Yes,
then please nominate!
You can nominate someone from your local community
healthcare services by using the form on our website:
www.glos-care.nhs.uk/communityhealthhero
OR by picking up a nomination form from one of our
community hospitals or clinics.
Nominations close on Friday 1 April 2016. If you have any
questions or would like to speak to someone about your
nomination, please email celebratingyou@glos-care.nhs.uk or
call 0300 421 8599
1 in 6 privately rented properties is unsafe.
Thank you to the Freemasons of Stow
Mike Jacques, Clive Dellow from The Princes Lodge, Monica Farthing and
Steve Martin of Insight
Insight Gloucestershire would like to thank the members of
the Prince of Wales Lodge in Stow, for their kind donation
of £1000. The cheque was presented to Insight
Gloucestershire by Clive Dellow, Worshipful Master and
Mike Jacques, Charity Steward of the Lodge
Insight is a local charity that provides practical advice and
support to people living with sight loss throughout the
county of Gloucestershire.
If you know anyone living with sight loss or are yourself,
please get in touch 01242 221170 or
www.insight-glos.org.uk
Is yours one of them?
From neglected repairs and mould to faulty fire alarms,
an unsafe rented property can put you, and your family,
in danger.
Feel safe in your rented home
Call Shelter's free
housing advice helpline:
0808 800 4444
Shelter's helpline is open
8am – 8pm on
weekdays and 8am –
5pm on weekends, 365
days a year
Shelter’s FREE guide can help you keep your rented
home safe. You’ll also discover how to make sure
repairs are done, manage costs, protect your deposit
and much more.
Find out about your tenancy agreement, your
landlord's responsibilities and how to deal
with repairs, deposits and letting agents.
56 | COTSWOLD TIMES

COTSWOLD TIMES | 57

SPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTS
Chipping Norton Bowls Club
Members of the Unit plus Chipping Norton members
On Thursday 11th February Chipping Norton Bowls Club
entertained 13 members of the Joint Air Delivery.
Test and Evaluation unit from RAF Brize Norton to an
afternoon of Bowling .
The Unit comprised of twelve men and one woman with
three from an army unit with four civilians and six RAF
engineers. They were given training by members of the Bowls
Club and later played a match.
Mike and Val Harris from the bowls club organised the event
and Mike said “ It is a pleasure to host members of the armed
forces here to the club and we hope you have enjoyed your
afternoon and will continue to play bowls in the future .”
The visit was organised by Chief Technician Daryl Lockwood
North Cotswolds to welcome top
women cyclists in June
The world’s top women cyclists will
ride through the North Cotswolds
on Thursday 16 June.
Just under 100 of the world’s top
racers, including Olympic gold medal
winner Lizzie Armitstead, will compete in the second stage of the
world leading Aviva Women’s Tour. They will tackle a 140-kilometre
route, crossing the Warwickshire countryside and passing through
Atherstone, Kenilworth, Warwick, Shipston-on-Stour and Stratfordupon-Avon.
The racers then cross into North Gloucestershire,
passing close to Chipping Campden and Moreton-in-Marsh.
Taking place over five days, the race is part of the new UCI
Women’s World Tour calendar, currently one of just four multi-day
stage races on the season-long programme for the world’s top
riders and teams. Highlights of each stage will be shown on ITV4
every evening during the race.
The Warwickshire stage starts on Wednesday 15 June;
competitors ride from Southwold on the Suffolk coast to Norwich.
The Day 2 stages go through Warwickshire/North Cotswolds.
The route then goes north to Derbyshire, Nottingham- shire and
Staffordshire, before the final day of racing between Northampton
and Kettering, on Sunday 19 June.
Look online for more details: http://www.womenstour.co.uk/
stages/index.php#.VrHblrfcuM9
58 | COTSWOLD TIMES
and Craig Benson and afterwards Daryl said “ Many thanks to
the members of Chipping Norton Bowls Club for providing such
an interesting and entertaining afternoon and I am pleased to
announce that there is a good possibility that up to six of our
group could be interested in taking up bowling in the future. “
“This afternoon also provides an opportunity for our social
group to say good bye to one of our members Matt Usher, who
is leaving the Army today, on his birthday, after 12 years of
service. We wish him well in his new civilian role “
Chipping Norton members who helped throughout the
afternoon were Carol and Ron Thornhill, John Bowlt and John Cox .
From John Bowlt press officer (01608 684140)
STOW MARTIAL ARTS CELEBRATE
STUDENT OF THE YEAR
Stow Tae Kwon-Do club are celebrating this month after
awarding student of the year to Ben Davidson in the junior
class. Ben has been training for 2 years and attends almost
every lesson. He works hard and pays attention, and as a result, has
a good performance in his Tae Kwon-Do.
Kerrie Harrison
has been training
with Stow Tae
Kwon-Do club
for 8 years now,
both in the junior
and adult lessons.
Kerrie is about
to start training
to become a
Black Belt, which
involves 2 separate pre-grading and grading events and 2 black belt
seminars, before taking the grading in April. Kerrie has worked very
hard over the last year to implement small tweaks to her training in
preparation for the grading.
Lee Chapman
lee@cirencomputers.com
07977 560086

Debra – a shining example for
West Oxfordshire sports stars
An inspirational coach
who picked up a top
honour at the West
Oxfordshire Sports
Awards has urged others like
her to come forward to have
their achievements recognised
this year.
Debra Courtenay-Crane won the Coach of the Year category
in 2015 for her work at Carteron Gymnastics Club. She said
it was a “huge surprise and honour to win. As a volunteer,
to be recognised like that was phenomenal and I felt very
proud. People should apply, as they may not realise how
much they are doing for their communities.”
Carteron Gymnastics Club also picked up the title of
Sports Club of the Year, where Debra has worked in the
project team at West Oxfordshire District Council. She has
run Carterton Gymnastics Club for the last 25 years and
coached members who have gone on to compete at the
World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
With a catchment area stretching beyond Oxford,
members range from aged five to 76-year-old Marge
Scholes, herself a British champion. “The club would not be
successful if we did not have the infrastructure and support
from volunteers, committee members and parents.”
“Gymnastics is not just about keeping fit – it helps with
problem solving, delivering goals and building confidence.”
COTSWOLD TIMES | 59
PORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSP

SPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTS
60 | COTSWOLD TIMES
Moreton Rangers FC
Barnett steps down after 10 years as Manager
Moreton Rangers first team coach Gary Barnett has stood
down as manager but will remain as Director of Football at the
club. Gary made the decision during a recent visit to Australia
to see his daughter with his family. The former professional
player, manager of Barry Town and assistant at Kidderminster
and Hull has been with Moreton Rangers for the past 10 years,
leading the team to the Cheltenham League title, promotion to
the Gloucester Northern Senior League and into the Hellenic
League this year. Club Chairman Paul Luker said “Gary was a
great acquisition for the club due to his vast experience in the
professional game, and our current squad of young players
have all benefited from his coaching, all at the club will wish to
thank Gary for his commitment”.
Reserve Team Coach Nick Timms has taken on the first team
coaching role until the end of the season.
MORETON RANGERS
QUIZ NIGHT
INN ON THE MARSH
SUNDAY 6TH MARCH 7.30PM
TEAMS OF 4- £10 PER TEAM
PRIZES AND RAFFLE
Goal scorer Will Wall challenges a Kingham Player in the 3-1 win.
On the Pitch
The weather played its part as several games were postponed.
However, the First team managed wins at Hook Norton 5-0
with Paul Whitehouse and Lee Brooks scoring twice and Ben
Shurmer adding the fifth. They then travelled to Purton and
won 7-1 with hat-tricks for Lee Brooks and Harry Peters with
Robbie Shurmer adding the seventh.
The Reserves also secured two wins with a victory be 3-1 at
local rivals Kingham. Will Wall opened the scoring before Dave
Toon netted twice. This was followed by a home victory over FC
Nomads 2-0 with a goas from Callum Peters and an own goal
securing the win.
Quiz Night
We are holding another quiz night on Sunday 6th March at the
Inn on the Marsh. 7.30pm start with teams of four @£10.
Left: Rangers Reserves Graham Jones in action at Kingham
1st Moreton in Marsh Scout Group
an active and vibrant Scout group in Moreton in Marsh
If you are aged between 6 and 18 years and are interested in joining
Beavers, Cubs, Scouts or Explorers please visit
www.moretoninmarshscouts.org.uk
T20
Helping your Cotswold business reach
a wider audience via social media
media
SETUP | MANAGEMENT | SUPPORT
www.t20media.co.uk
tom@t20media.co.uk
07765 424022

The Clubhouse, Oddington Road, Stow on the Wold , GL54 1JAH. 01451 830887
www.pitchero.com/clubs/stowrtfc/ CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR REPORTS, PHOTOS, NEWS & INFO From Sean Clarke
Spotlight On
Barney Maynard
Team U11s
Time To Consolidate
It’s fair to say that results have not gone the 1st XV’s way this season
with some narrow defeats and some not so narrow. The team
were unlucky to lose 10-13 at home to Wallingford, in the middle of
February, with the teams drawing with 3 minutes to go. Stow were
camped on the opposition’s line for the last play but couldn’t convert
it into points. The season so far has been a case of ‘what might
have been’. However, the positives are that there are a lot of good
young players coming through, as was noted in the last issue. Coupled
with the experience the team has (there are still a good number
of players such as James Holmes above from the 20 wins from
20 season) and the future looks bright. Stow are sitting ninth in the
table and the remainder of the season is about consolidating with a
view to pushing on next year. There are 7 games left and all are
matches that the team are capable of winning. A run of wins will
move them up the table and give them confidence going forward.
There is a tour to look forward to and lots of good rugby ahead.
All That Jazz
Take a step back in time on the 5th of March when the club will be
hosting a Roaring Twenties night. The Jazz band are booked and
cocktail waiters will be there to get you into the party spirit. Tickets
are £25 or 5 for £ 100 and available from James Holmes on 07717
376635. Flapper Dresses for the ladies and Black Tie for the gents.
Position Prop but wherever my
coaches say !
Favourite Player Mike Brown
(Quins & England) &
Henry Slade (Exeter & England)
I enjoy Rugby because it’s a great
team sport that everyone can play
and all respect each other & the ref
My Rugby ambition is to play for
Gloucester & England of course!
Each Month the Spotlight
is focused on a player
from the club
Stow on the Wold
& District RFC
Photos by Sean Clarke, Joe Cooper, Matthew Maynard and Neil Piercy.
Tourists Are All Lit Up
Stow’s U10s and 11s hosted touring teams from Birkdale Prep.
School from Sheffield on Friday the 12th of February. For most of
the players, it was the first time they had played a competitive
match under floodlights and they and their parents loved it. Indeed,
it led one of the Birkdale supporters to question whether it was
Twickenham or Stow, such was the atmosphere. A high number of
Stow parents turned out and the Birkdale Barmy Army travelled
down from Yorkshire to join their children on tour. The rugby by all
4 teams was played in the right spirit with teamwork, respect, enjoyment,
discipline and sportsmanship shown by all. The matches
were all fairly even with both clubs winning and losing some. Birkdale,
in both age groups, were particularly good at the breakdown,
with their communication and moving the ball out wide also of
note. Stow also played some great rugby with strong tackling and
recycling of the ball. After the post match meal, the teams settled
down in the clubhouse for a sports quiz organised by Birkdale. A
measure of the new found friendship between the teams was the
fact that they combined to make 6 quiz teams. The 2 clubs swapped
gifts with Birkdale U11s captain Andrew Charlish presenting Stow
with a commemorative shield. Evenings like this at the club are
great and we will look to make them a more regular feature in the
future. The photo below shows both Birkdale and Stow’s U11s.
Here Come The Girls
A handful of dedicated girls are training at Stow with the hope that
they will be joined by more to help form a team. No experience is
needed and all abilities are welcome.. The girls are receiving plenty
of support from the RFU with Ben Smith, below, helping to coach
along with Martha Farnworth (far right) of Worcester Warriors.
However, the club are also looking for a coach to help take the team
forward. If you would like to join the girls or help coach, get in touch
with Sean Clarke on 07971 287733. The club and RFU will support
you. At the moment training is on Tuesdays at 6.30pm for one hour.
COTSWOLD TIMES | 61
PORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSPORTSP

LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY
ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN EVERY EDITION • ALL 4 MAGAZINES FROM £12 PER MONTH +VAT
LBD
Animals & Pets
Dog walking/Sitting Service
Telephone Carol 01451 820661
Carpets & Upholstery Cleaning
Electrical
Home Care
CARE & SUPPORT IN YOUR OWN HOME.
Experienced mature lady. Reasonable rates.
01451 850294 / 07890 187164
SHIRLEY • REGULAR RESPITE CARE. CRB.
INSURED. EXPERIENCED. 01451•821•626
Hotels & Restaurants
Florests
Cleaning & Cleaners
HOUSES: Holiday Cottages, Private Homes
One-Off cleans. Call Katie/Carly 01608 659514 / 0796
4444 283
Clothes & Curtain/ Alterations
Moreton-in-Marsh
New Road, Moreton in Marsh
GL56 0AS • 01608 650630
Stow-on-the-Wold
The Old Post Office
Sheep Street, Stow on the Wold
GL54 1HQ • 01451 830188
www.allliumflorist.co.uk
Marquees
Health & Lifestyle
BERNIE’S ALTERATIONS 35 yrs experience
Tel 01451 833831 or 07768 305427
Delivery Services
Photography
WORK SMARTER
For £22 / m this space can work for you in every
home and business in our delivery area.
07789 175 002
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY. 0145186012
maria.lizana@yahoo.co.uk
Competitive Prices • Album • CD • A4 photo canvas.
62 | COTSWOLD TIMES

LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY
ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN EVERY EDITION • ALL 4 MAGAZINES FROM £12 PER MONTH +VAT
LBD
Pet Supplies
Property & Gardening Services
Unusual & Occasional
Professional Services
CONFIDENTIAL, PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING
at the Breakspeare Clinic
Milton-under-Wychwood. 01993 830913.
Elaine Russell-Jarvie P.G. Dip. Counselling &
Psychotherapy. MBACP
Property & Gardening Services
Batsford Timber Ltd – Fencing & Sheds
01608 651096. www.batsfordtimber.co.uk
YOUR ADVERT HERE
£12/M plus VAT
07789 175 002
Entries are for a calendar year
(eleven editions) and priced per
business. Your advert can include
photos and logos as well as text
– IT’S STRAIGHTFORWARD AND
SIMPLE
SMALL BOX:
15mm high x 60mm wide
(1 column)
£120/year or £72/6 months
minimum
at
£22/month +VAT. Payment in
Advance.
LARGE BOX:
33mm high x 60mm wide
(1 column)
£22/month (by DDM minimum
6 months) or £220/year +VAT.
Payment in advance or by DDM
please. This size can be amended up
to 4 times a year @ £10 design fee.
CREDIT & DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED.
FOR INFORMATION/TO BOOK YOUR
ENTRY
Tel: 07789 175002 or
email: editor@stowtimes.co.uk
The Villager bus service has taken delivery of a new free bus, courtesy of the
government.
A small reception was arranged at The Mill House Hotel at Kingham for the team to
have a good look at their new bus, with a few invited guests from the local community,
county councils and the press.
Contact 01608 658579
kcgowing@talk21.com / or 01608 658092.
www.villagerbus.com
COTSWOLD TIMES | 63

EASTER SHARING
HALF
PRICE
SAVE
1/3
SAVE
1/3
SAVE
1/3
HALF
PRICE
£1.50
each
Banrock Station
£5.59 £11.19
Yellow Tail
£5.99 £8.99
£9
Blossom Hill
£3.99 £5.99
Oyster Bay
£9.29 £13.99
Banrock Station
£4.99 £9.99
Carlsberg Export
10x440ml £10.59
Budweiser
12x300ml £12.29
£1 each
£2
Walkers Tear n Share
150g All varieties £1.99
each
£8
Diet Coke
Pringles
190g £2.70
10x330ml £6.35
Carling
12x440ml £11.45
£3.50
Coke £3.50
10x330ml £6.35
each
each
2 for
£4
Mini Eggs cakes
£2.25 each, 6 pack, 5 pack
Mini Eggs cakes
£2.25 each, 6 pack, 5 pack
£1.50
2 for
each
£2
Hot Cross Buns
£1.25 per pack, 6 pack
J2O Spritz
£2.49
each
each
Crème Egg Minis, Crème Egg Multi pack
200ml, 197g
High Street,
Moreton-in-Marsh, GL56 0AF
Tel: 01608 651854
warnersbudgens.co.uk
Freixenet Cava
£10.95
Mionetto
Prosecco £8.99
£5 OFF
To the customer: Redeemable at Warner’s Budgens Bidford on Avon,
WHEN YOU SPEND
£40 IN STORE
Broadway and Moreton-in-Marsh only. Only one coupon will be accepted
per transaction, and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
The offers excludes tobacco, infant formula, e-top up, fuel, concessions
(Post Office), stamps and National & Health Lottery. Photocopies are no
acceptable. Offer only valid if presented with this coupon. £40 must be
spent in one transaction. Valid until 31st March 2016.