CotswoldLink
North Cotswolds
Your
www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
|
Bi-Monthly Royal Mail distribution: 16,600 homes & businesses
January / February 2021
Northleach Court - The Covid-19 Safe Care Home
Northleach Court is a family-run care home that provides exceptional ‘home from home’ accommodation and specialises in nursing, dementia, residential and couples care. Northleach Court remains free of Covid-19, and our professional infection control measures mean that our home is the safest and best option in these challenging times. It is vital that families can continue to spend time together and to make this possible we organise safely distanced family visits. Following the government guidelines as they change from time to time, we will do everything possible to enable you to relax and enjoy your time together. Currently this includes using our welcoming and covid safe visiting room. We also have free access to Wi-Fi and phones throughout the home, so relatives and residents can video / phone call each other 24/7. Our aim is to provide you with the reassurance that everything is being done to protect our residents and their families. We have the experience and organisation to ensure that life at Northleach Court is much safer and more fulfilling than life outside. If you would like to find out more or arrange a virtual visit, please: Call: 0 1451 798027 Email: info@northleachcourtcarehome.com Visit our website: www.northleachcourtcarehome.com
Can I just ask about my foot? Who can resist walking, cycling, golfing or running in such wonderful Cotswold surroundings? Pushing your feet to their limits to stay fit and healthy is good. But do you have painful heels in the morning? Corns, blisters or sensitive toenails? Hard skin on the soles of your feet? For some of us our foot troubles can start to slow us down or cause discomfort. If this is the case why not ask a professional about your aches and pains? The cause could be the way you walk, the shoes you wear or something not at all obvious to you (diabetic neuropathy, for example). A PODIATRIST is a trained and knowledgeable professional and is the right person to answer all your foot health-related questions. My name is Kate Walker and I am a podiatrist at Bourton Podiatry Clinic. I have worked in the industry since 2013 and I am happy to offer all my experience to help you try to solve your problem or to give you sound advice. At the Bourton Podiatry Clinic we offer a wide range of treatments
2
Your CotswoldLink
for many foot problems including heel pain, verrucae, fungal infection and painful and unsightly toe nails. Bourton Podiatry Clinic is modern and easy to find, with plenty of parking and no steps to climb! As COVID is still an issue in our society, all appointments are spaced out to ensure no social interaction with other patients. Until February 2021 we are offering 15% off your first consultation, so why not book an appointment now and have all those foot questions answered? Kate Walker, Podiatrist, BSc (Hons) MCPod 07557 766651 / 01451 824301 www.bourtonpodiatry.com
Please mention Your CotswoldLink when contacting any of our advertisers
Advertising - contact Christine: 01609 777401 | www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
Your CotswoldLink
3
inside
Your CotswoldLink
02
12
Can I just ask you about my foot?
We speak to local foot health experts, Bourton Podiatry Clinic, about how to look after your feet
Garden View
How to get the best from your garden in the Winter light
10
What about exams? A look at how Covid-19 has affected school exams
02 advertorial Northleach Court update 10 Can we see the Milky Way? education: advertorial: 02 Can I ask about my foot? 10 What now for the Summer exams? garden view: 07 advertorial Transform how you work from home 12 The Winter Garden astronomy
FEATURED
FEATURED
FEATURED
Welcome to the January - February issue Happy New Year everyone. At last we welcome in 2021 and let’s hope we see that ‘Light Fantastic’ at the end of the tunnel. Spring is just around the corner with all the hope and promises of new beginnings that brings. I hope that you all enjoy this issue and I’ll see you again in March Best wishes,
01609 777401 cotswoldlink.co.uk
Christine Campbell | Editor
Cotswold Link Magazine is published in good faith and the editors cannot be held responsible in any way for inaccuracies in reports or advertis-
in reports or advertising that appear in this publication and the views of the contributors may not be the those of the editors. Adverts and Your Cotswold LinkLink Magazine carry no implied recommendation from the magazine or the publishers. All rights reserved. appearing in Cotswold 4ingadvertisers Please YourforCanyotswoldLink when contacting any of our advertisers All information is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of going to press. Cotswold Link Magazine cannotmention be held responsible errors or omissions.
Advertising - contact Christine: 01609 777401 | www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
Your CotswoldLink
5
6
Your CotswoldLink
Please mention Your CotswoldLink when contacting any of our advertisers
Advertising - contact Christine: 01609 777401 | www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
Your CotswoldLink
7
8
Your CotswoldLink
Please mention Your CotswoldLink when contacting any of our advertisers
Advertising - contact Christine: 01609 777401 | www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
Your CotswoldLink
9
WHAT NOW FOR THE 2021 SUMMER EXAMS?
The
Cotswold Sky
Can We See The Milky Way? We are part of the Milky Way Galaxy so all the stars we see with our eyes are part of this spectacular structure. However, under the right conditions with little or no light pollution you may observe the faint irregular pattern of the Milky Way in the sky but sadly you will not see one as spectacular as the photograph from NASA shows.
The Milky Way is only one Galaxy, How many Galaxies are there? This is a difficult one for the astronomers to calculate. NASA originally estimated that there were 200 Billion galaxies in the Universe, but following information gleaned from the Hubble Space Telescope it is now believed that there were at one time 10 times this number. Many of these eventually merged together, but the numbers, as one of the researchers said, “Are mind boggling”.
Diary
Photograph of the Milky Way Courtesy of NASA
The size of the Milky Way
Schematic diagram Courtesy @Anglo-Australian Observatory
It is very difficult to count the number of stars in the Milky Way. Our best estimates tell us that the Milky Way is made up of approximately 100 billion stars. These stars form a large disc whose diameter is about 100,000 light years in size. This means that light; which can travel the equivalent of 10 times around the Earth in one second; will still take 100,000 years to travel from one side of the Milky Way to the other. We are an estimated 25,000 light years from the centre in which there is a Black Hole.
10
Your CotswoldLink
The Earth: Reaches its closest point to the Sun on Saturday 2nd January at 13.51 hours (this is known as “perihelion”. Mercury: Visible most of the month but easier to observe at twilight during the last 2 weeks of January when looking South West. Far more difficult to observe during February. Venus: The keen observer may catch a glimpse of Venus when looking South East at 07.00 hours during the first few days of January following which it is obscured by the Sun. Mars: Readily visible during January and February but fading in luminosity as the weeks go by. Jupiter and Saturn: Both planets are just observable at dusk during the early days of the new year but it will be March before they make a further appearance during the early hours of the day.
By the time this issue is published, it may be that the Government have amended their present policy of the GCSE and A Level examinations of 2021 going ahead from June to early July. All students due to sit the examinations missed 14 weeks of formal classroom tuition in the Spring/Summer of 2021 and a substantial number have since been quarantined at home. This means that students have not been taught the specifications in the normal thorough manner that schools would normally have ensured, but this is also true of other countries throughout the world affecting 1.5 billion youngsters, so what of their experiences? Germany School leaver’s exams went ahead as normal, but they account for only a small percentage of the final grades. France Entering new reforms to their examination system based on 40% coursework.
References: www.nasa.gov/feature/ goddard/2016/hubblereveals-observable-universecontains-10-times-more-galaxiesthan-previously-thought John Harris
Please mention Your CotswoldLink when contacting any of our advertisers
Spain Had an atrocious outbreak of Covid but its university entrance exam still went ahead, though it covered less of the curriculum than usual. Italy Stopped written tests for school leavers but aloud oral tests to proceed. Austria and Hungary Allowed written tests to proceed USA Allowed their Advanced Placement examinations to proceed but shortened to 45 minutes and covered only material candidates were likely to have studied. China In July 10 million students sat the school leavers exam as usual. South Korea Half a million students sat their matriculation exam (wearing face masks) having missed 5 weeks tuition. Can we learn from the experiences of other countries? This is the ultimate question. Obviously, we need to look at the detail of the experiences of other countries...
...and this short article is to point out that we are not suffering educational problems on our own. Other countries are applying different methods. Can the vaccine save us? Sadly, regarding this year’s cohorts it is too late, GCSE and A Level candidates will have to go along with the Government’s recommendations. Some Universities are now preparing by lowering their entry grades, but in the meantime with all students having missed so much of their final education and having not been taught the subjects thoroughly
they are feeling the unwarranted and unjustified pressures affecting their future lives. The Solution The solution stares us in the eyes, and that is to trust the integrity of the teachers. No teacher is going to forecast a too high a grade for a student, knowing that the youngster will then progress to higher level of education only to struggle and fail. So, Mr Government please listen and hand over the decisions to the integrity of the teachers. John Harris
Advertising - contact Christine: 01609 777401 | www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
Your CotswoldLink
11
GARDEN VIEW
The ‘Light Fantastic’ of
The Winter Garden
If I say ‘winter garden’ what do you imagine? A stately home? Evergreen shrubs? Topiary maybe? It dawned on me a few years ago when I was out walking the dog on a frosty morning that winter gardens are really all about the light. From late autumn through the winter there is a pink-gold low slanting light in the morning and afternoon which makes frost and raindrops sparkle, casts interesting shadows and makes everything look magical. Watch your garden throughout the day from the rooms you where you see it best. Watch where and when the sunlight falls and plan accordingly. Grasses look beautiful when they are covered in frost and backlit. The red or yellow winter stems of Cornus (or dogwood) however seem to glow when winter sunshine illuminates them directly. Most suburban houses have smaller gardens, easily visible from the house so it’s important to choose plants which look good in more than one season. As well as shrubs with good stem colour, look for smaller trees with pretty bark. There are plenty of small Japanese Maples which can be grown in tubs. If you have a little more space a silver birch can look stunning, or even my favourite, the paper-bark maple, Acer
12
Your CotswoldLink
griseum, which is a slow-growing small tree, pretty all year round with crimson leaves in the autumn then a characteristic chestnut bark which peels naturally to reveal bright orange red bark underneath. Look for plants with architectural shapes such as one of the sculptural eryngiums (sea holly), salvias or sedums. All look beautiful in the summer and autumn but gain a second lease of life when covered with frosted cobwebs. Plants like these will make you want to get out in your garden even in winter, so add a little scent with a winter jasmine or a sarcococca confusa (Christmas box) which has tiny white highly scented flowers. These late flowering plants provide a source of nectar for early pollinators. I no longer tidy my flower beds. I leave piles of fallen leaves and debris in beds to provide shelter for wildlife. The leaves to rot down in the end which is good for the soil too. But I do spend time neatening the edge of the lawn and sharpening the edges of my borders. It’s amazing how much smarter my garden looks with minimal effort. I wish you a Happy New Year and happy gardening. By Rachael Leverton
Please mention Your CotswoldLink when contacting any of our advertisers
Advertising - contact Christine: 01609 777401 | www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
Your CotswoldLink
13
There are thousands of reasons to advertise with us...
Next issues
Dowdeswell Andoversford Shipton
North Cotswolds
16,600 homes & businesses
Index Bathrooms Country Bathrooms: p4 Builders & Contractors Calarel Developments: p5 Country Roofing & Building: p15 CSG Building & Maintenance: p13 Garolla Garage Doors: p15 Hooper Joinery: p6 Morgan Roofing Services: p4 North Cotswold Builder: p13 Phil Dadge: p6 RJB Window Restoration: p5 Thomas Contracting: p13 WB Home & Garden Maintenance: p13 Wychwood Oak Frames: p7 Children’s Services Cotswold Tutor: p11 Walkers Day Nursery: p1 Drinks Cotswold Brewing Company: p8 Education Cotswold Tutor: p11 Elderly Services Hearing & Mobility Store: p11 Northleach Court: p2 Windrush Care: p9
14
Your CotswoldLink
Compton Abdale Withington
Chedworth
Copy: 3rd February Dist: w/c 1st March
Blockley Bourton-on-the-Hill
Moretonin-Marsh
Little Compton Evenlode
Longborough Condicote
Great Rollright Little Rollright Over Norton
Chipping Norton
Oddington Broadwell
Winchcombe
Whittington
West Oxfordshire Mar / Apr
Aston Magna
Stow-onthe-Wold
Heythrop
Cornwell
Lidstone
KinghamChurchill Dean Sarsden Naunton Chadlington Wyck Bledington Taston Lower Slaughter Rissington Church Greenend Spelsbury Westcote Shorthampton Nether Westcote Notgrove Shipton-underIdbury Little Wychwood Chilson Rissington Fifield Ascott-underMilton-underClapton-on-the-Hill Great Fawler Wychwood Wychwood Turkdean Rissington Finstock Langley Ramsden Great Leafield Barrington Fulbrook Taynton Hailey Asthall Windrush Little Leigh Eastington Swinbrook Barrington Crawley Upper Slaughter
Icomb
Bourton-onthe-Water
Charlbury
North Cotswolds Mar / Apr Copy: 3rd February Dist: w/c 1st March
Christine 01609 777401 07742 595747 christine@jkanorth.com
West Oxfordshire
19,600 homes & businesses
Northleach
Burford
Coln St Dennis Aldsworth
Asthall
Minster Lovell
Bradwell Village Shilton
Brize Norton
Carterton Electrical Services P Wheeler Electrical: p14 S Turner Electrical Services: p5 Estate Agents Townsend Estates: p1 Fuel Cotswold Petroleum: p15 Furniture Amanda Hanley By Design: p1 Graham Lane Furniture: p6 Hooper Joinery: p6 Phil Dadge: p6 Roundabout: p6 Garage Doors Garolla Garage Doors: p15 Gardening & Outdoors Coln Clearances: p13 Mustoes Haulage: p12 Stockwell Davies Tree Contractors: p12 Thomas Contracting: p13 WB Home & Garden Maintenance: p13 Gifts Cotswold Brewing Company: p8 Healthcare & Wellbeing Bourton Podiatry Clinic: p1 FitActive Personal Training: p3
Witney
1/8 Page
1/4 Page
£70!
£110!
from only
from only
Paul Brookes Foot Health: p10 Property Maintenance Sports & Leisure Runnerbean: p11 Coln Clearances: p13 FitActive Personal Training: p3 Country Roofing & Building: p15 Runnerbean: p11 Hearing Aids CSG Building & Maintenance: p13 Tree Surgery Hearing & Mobility Store: p11 Garolla Garage Doors: p15 Stockwell Davies Tree Home & Interiors Contractors: p12 Amanda Hanley By Design: p1 Hooper Joinery: p6 Just Carpentry & Locks: p6 Country Bathrooms: p4 Tuition Morgan Roofing Services: p4 Country House Curtains: p6 Cotswold Tutor: p11 Phil Dadge: p6 Hillary’s Blinds: p9 Diyana Piano Studio: p10 WB Home & Garden Paul Dadge: p7 Walkers Day Nursery: p1 Maintenance: p13 Legal Vets Property Sales Honey Legal: p3 Vet On The Net: p16 Townsend Estates: p1 Locksmiths Windows Removals Just Carpentry & Locks: p6 RJB Window Restoration: p5 Coln Clearances: p13 Motoring Cotswold Garage: p15 Bourton and District U3A Dean Tyres: p15 The next meetings of this group will be on Wednesday 27th January Painters & at 10.30, and will be a talk by Andy Lewis via Zoom on the subject of Decorators “Windrush Wildlife” The following month will be on Wednesday 24th Phil Dadge: p6 February when the talk will again be via Zoom and given by David Allen WB Home & Garden on the subject “The Amazing Mr Dickens.” Connection details will be Maintenance: p13 available nearer the time.Although we are unable to hold meetings as Piano Tuition a result of the Covid restrictions, it is proposed to hold monthly Zoom Diyana Piano meetings until we are able to meet as a group once more. For full Studio: p10 details and information about the special interest groups please see Plumbing our website: www.u3asites.org.uk/bourton I.D Godden: p4
Please mention Your CotswoldLink when contacting any of our advertisers
Advertising - contact Christine: 01609 777401 | www.cotswoldlink.co.uk
Your CotswoldLink
15
www.cotswoldlink.co.uk