News, Events & Meetings

A new TWJPC-funded map, detailing the walks and footpaths around The Wolfords, was unveiled recently, as part of the Beating the Bounds event. The map was beautifully drawn by Jenny Henderson, and features local landmarks, farms and also illustrations of local Wolfords wildlife. Two copies of the map were produced - one is located by the Church in Great Wolford, and the other has been installed opposite the noticeboard in Little Wolford.    

The Wolfords Joint Parish Council's modern take on the traditional ‘Beating of the Bounds’ took place on Saturday 12 September. More than a dozen parishioners gathered at the church, initially for the unveiling of the new footpath map ‘Wolfords Walks’ for Great and Little Wolford.

The walk started down the Todenham Road and along the brook to the west of the village, which is the parish and county boundary, going through the Crosslands field and the bottom of Diana Henderson’s field before picking up the footpath which follows the brook all the way to Wolford Wood. This was a lovely bit of the walk where we were lucky to see a barn owl disturbed from his roost in a tree he was sharing with a wasp’s or possibly a bee’s nest. We did not go into Wolford Wood but walked up beside it and past the lake before going through further fields and crossing the Moreton Road. We walked behind the hedge alongside the road back into the village and the Church. From the Church we went down the well-trodden footpath to Nethercote and up the hill to the Village Hall where we were greeted with homemade soup and various sweet goodies, thank you to the various cooks. In all, the walk was around 3.5 miles, and we were blessed with Goldilocks weather – neither too hot nor too cold and no rain. As much of this was over private land not normally open to the public, TWJPC would like to thank all the landowners, Crosslands, Diana Henderson, Goodwins and Wrench’s who allowed us to walk over their land for this one day. Next year we are hoping to be able to arrange a similar walk based around Little Wolford.

The Wolfords Joint Parish Council has made an application to Stratford-on-Avon District Council requesting a Community Governance Review (CGR) is undertaken in regard to current warding arrangements for Little Wolford Ward, ahead of the Ordinary Parish Elections to be held in 2027.  A CGR is a legal process where Stratford-on-Avon District...

Dust off your dancing shoes for a summer get-together at the Wolfords Village Hall on 6th June 2026.  Doors open at 5.30pm and the bar is open from 6.30pm.  Pizza will be provided by The Street Food Co. and ceilidh band Brimstone will lead us through the dances (all included in the ticket price).  Any profits will go towards the upkeep of the Village Hall. Everyone is welcome, but tickets are limited, so please contact Marie Crossland to book yours soon - email: marie.c.crossland@gmail.com. 

Weather permitting (fingers crossed), there will be a stargazing evening on 24th April at 8pm at the Wolfords Village Hall.  The event will be hosted by Robin Smitten, from the Chipping Norton Amateur Astronomy Group. Expert astronomers will be on hand to share their scopes and knowledge. On BBC's Countryfile recently, there was an interesting report from a Dark Skies Reserve with night time walks focussing on the harm that artificial daylight does to our wildlife by disorientating them. Thoughtful changes to the way we light our outside spaces can be very beneficial to the natural world, as well as allowing us to view the magic of the night sky.

Following on from the litter pick in Great Wolford last month, it was Little Wolford's turn yesterday.  A huge thank you to our small team for helping out with the Little Wolford litter pick on Saturday 26th April. A substantial amount of rubbish was collected, along with some discarded road signs, a traffic cone - and even a shoe! Special thanks also go to a couple of other Little Wolford residents, who recently took the initiative and did their own litter picks earlier in the month, and also cleaned up our grubby road signage.      

The lambing season is now upon us, and this year, once again, the police (via Operation Recall) and local authorities are compelled to raise public awareness about sheep worrying. Sadly, sheep worrying incidents are on the increase. Such incidents not only cause extreme distress to sheep, but can often result in mutilated sheep, fatalities and aborted lambs. It is an offence to allow a dog to worry sheep, which includes chasing.

Dog owners should note that farmers have a legal right to shoot any dog that chases, endangers, attacks or harms their livestock.  

To avoid such awful and upsetting scenes, dog owners are urged to keep their dogs under control and to observe the following:

•  - PLEASE always keep your dog(s) on a lead if you are near an area or field with livestock in it.
•  - If your dog(s) are outside unsupervised at any time, please ensure that they are unable to escape from your property.
•  - Do not go onto private land unless there is a public footpath, or you have permission from the landowner.
•  - Please be a responsible dog owner, enjoy the countryside and being with your pet, but don’t put other animals at risk.

The Police will take action against anyone whose dog is found to be attacking or worrying livestock or other animals. An animal welfare bill is likely to be passed into law this year, meaning that there will be unlimited fines for offenders, and any dogs suspected of attacking livestock will be seized by the police.

At the parish council meeting on 26th November 2024, TWJPC announced its 'Dark Skies Policy and Artificial Lighting Guidelines' - this document was finalised and formally approved by TWJPC on 28th January 2025.  The document aims to achieve a consistent approach to conserving our dark skies and rural darkness, and...

A planned power outage will affect Little Wolford on Friday 31st January 2025 between 10:00 and 13:00.

This will enable National Grid to safely undertake essential tree cutting work. For further information, please visit:

https://planned.nationalgrid.co.uk/reasons/tree-cutting.

Residents are advised to switch off and unplug potentially sensitive electrical appliances. For further advice, please visit: https://planned.nationalgrid.co.uk/information-and-advice.

There will be a Burns Night Supper and Ceilidh on Saturday 1st February 2025 at 7pm in The Wolfords Village Hall.  All are welcome.  There will also be a 'Save the Fox & Hounds' pop-up pub. This event is a fundraiser for the village hall.

Tickets are £37.50 per person - this includes a welcome drink, 2-course meal, whisky to toast the Bard (and lassies), Ceilidh band and dancing.

To purchase tickets, and for further information, please email Marie Crossland at marie.c.crossland@gmail.com.