This is the village website for Aston Le Walls where you can find information on activities and events in the village

Village Christmas Fayre
We’ve not been able to gather as a community at our annual Summer Fete for two years now so you are invited to come together instead at a Village Christmas Fayre!                  

Save the date!!
Saturday 27^th November 10.30 am – 1 pm Village Hall

Some of the usual stalls…and festive ones too!

Come and join us for mulled wine and mince pies or tea/coffee and cake…excellent raffle prizes…delicious breads and cakes…guess the weight of the Christmas cake and win it…gifts…fun and games… and lots more!

As always, we need your support for stall items please:
Cakes / breads: to the Village Hall on the morning from 9.30
Bottles for the bottle tombola: to The Old Rectory w/b 22 Nov
Food Tombola festive items: to Comfrey Cottage w/b 22 Nov
Unwanted gifts for re-sale stall: to Comfrey Cottage Main St
Home produce ie jams/pickles etc: to the Village Hall from 9.30

All proceeds to St Leonard’s Church Main Street Aston Le Walls

Latest Food Bank message (9th Nov 2021):
The Foodbank collection this week is for Daventry – donations will be collected on Thursday, late morning/early afternoon from Comfrey Cottage on Main Street. They are requesting all kinds of tinned meat and veg, microwave rice, buttery spread and macaroni cheese.

> Next week the collection is for Banbury:  they are requesting pasta sauce, tinned rice pud, tinned custard, biscuits , small jars of coffee and…..Long life milk!

> They say they have plenty of cereal, tinned beans, tinned tomatoes, soup and pasta. Once again, thank you to everyone who is able to support the food banks  – each week your donations support so many families in and around Banbury and Daventry.

HS2 Works Notifications:
Road Closures B4455 Fosse Way in Offchurch
This will be closed mid November to early December and again from early February to early March 2022.

For more information about road closures. please see the HS2 page.

St Mary’s School
The School would like to invite everyone in the Village to the School Carol Service in Decemeber.
Wednesday 15th Dec 6:30pm to 7:30pm in the School Playground.  Children in Key Stage 2 will be performing a number of carols, there will be mulled wine, mince pies, a fire pit and candles.

W.I.
‘We tried very hard to establish WI in the village but I have to let you know that it didn’t work out. There were only 12 of us in the group and as a whole we decided that it wasn’t what we wanted and that it wasn’t the right fit for the village so no WI, we didn’t want to be tied by constitutional rules and requirements and we also felt we wanted to be inclusive to all. 

We thought that we could have a village group where everyone can take part and we can organise activities, get together, whatever comes up. There are no details or information at the moment but if you have any ideas and would like to be part of setting up the new group please get in touch.’
Fiona

Village Produce, Arts and Crafts Show
What a great success!  Please go onto the Village Hall page for more details and pictures.

HS2 Road Closures
Latest road closures affecting Wormleighton between the 27th September and the 19th November 2021.  For full details of the closures, please see the HS2 page.

Events are actually happening in the Village, (Coffee Mornings, Film Club, Produce Arts and Craft Show etc.) see the Coming Soon page or relevant pages to check them out!

Open Gardens
The idea has come up again of having an Open Gardens day / weekend in the Village next year.

The idea is for as many people in the Village as possible, to open up their gardens, and for one of them to sell cream teas.  Several people have already agreed to this but we would love to have more!  If you are interested in this or if you have any ideas about it, please leave a comment on this website.

Village Environment
The village is looking peaceful and pretty and everyone works hard to keep it that way. 

Unfortunately these efforts are being spoilt by a few people who are putting their dog mess into plastic bags but then leaving them on trees or in hedges.  As well as being unpleasant for other people, this could be a health hazard for young children as dog poo can contain toxocariasis which can lead to blindness.

Please take your dog poo home with you and put it in your black bin.
Thank You!

Blacksmith’s Lane
If you have noticed a change at the bend in Blacksmith’s Lane, click here for some pictures of the transformation, hopefully an improvement!

New Bench in Main Street
Click here for some photos of the lovely new bench, and some of the history behind it.  If you have any more information about it, please leave a comment here or contact Sue N.

Circular Trail
Please note, the footpath AA8 is now closed for HS2 works beyond the concrete track.
The concrete track should be used for a return route to the Appletree Lane and hence back to the village.
AA7 / AE17 closed at the perimeter track on the airfield and onwards to Chipping Warden.

Village Hall
Good News!
The village hall has received a “Covid” restrictions grant from the West Northamptonshire Council of £7,573.21.  See Village Hall page for more details of this and other news.

News from the Parish Council:
Success
The Parish Council made an application to the Road Safety Fund of HS2.
Any application had to be formally agreed by Northants County Council in the first instance and then HS2.
The application was originally made over 3 years ago and we have finally received approval for the following:-

A continuation of the pavement from the Plowden Close junction with the Welsh Road heading out of the village towards the A361.  It will go as far as the pinch point opposite the footpath in the field on the left.
Originally the request was to the A361, the path approved is a compromise.

2 VAS units (vehicle activated signs) one at each end of the village on the Welsh Road.

2 Chicanes, 1 between Plowden Close and the Garages. 1 between Butlers Close and Main Street. See note 1 on the Parish Council tab.

1 new bus shelter for the school children, positioned better with appropriate drop kerbs either side of the Welsh Road.

With these measures in place the Parish Council hopes the Welsh Road will be a safer place for everyone and the speed of vehicles passing through greatly reduced.
(For any queries please contact – chairman2019alw@btinternet.com)

Looking For Somewhere to Go?
In these peculiar times when people are walking more than usual many are interested in finding new local walks.
This website, Walking in Northamptonshire, has loads of walks available for free download and printing.
www.walkinginengland.co.uk/northants

All Change for Councils in Northamptonshire
For information about changes to local government in Northants, please click here

Think NHS 111 First
NHS England and NHS Improvement has launched the next phase of the latest ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign which focuses on the NHS 111 service as a new way to access A&E.

If you have an urgent but not life-threatening medical need, make sure you contact NHS 111 first rather than going straight to A&E. If you do need urgent care, then NHS 111 can now book you in to be seen quickly and safely in A&E. 

As well as this, NHS 111 is also able to direct to or book an appointment at Urgent Treatment Centres, access to Out of Hours GP Services, pharmacies, emergency dental services and walk-in clinics.Contacting 111 first will also help the NHS to keep you safe by maintaining social distancing and ensure that you receive the right care in the right place, in a more timely and safe way.

If you or your loved one have a life-threatening illness or injury then you should always use 999 and if you do arrive at A&E without contacting NHS 111 you will still receive medical care, with emergency treatments prioritised. Just think 111 first. When you think you need A&E, contact NHS 111 by phone or online at https://111.nhs.uk/

Further information about NHS 111 First is available at www.northamptonshireccg.nhs.uk

Northants County Council
For an update on Covid 19 from the NCC please click here.

If You Need Help
The countrywide Community Resilience hub was set up at the start of April to help those needing support or assistance during periods of isolation or for those who are vulnerable.  As we enter a second national lockdown period, the Local Resilience Forum wants to reassure residents that support is available for anyone who needs it, click here for more information.

A Message from Our Postie:
Hello everyone, I’m Ray your postman and would like to say a big thank you to you all for welcoming me as your new postman after I took over from David.  Last year in June I collapsed in the Main Street and was lying there for about 3 quarters of an hour until I was found by Vicki down Blacksmiths Lane.  I started back last December, no reason could be found by the doctors but I’m ok now and am looking forward to serving this lovely village until I retire.  All my best wishes to you all and if I can help in any way please give me a shout, regards Ray the posty.

Daisy Bank Pocket Park
The story of the origin of Aston le Walls own Pocket Park; with photographs, minutes of meetings and much more.  Click here to view the Pocket Park history.  If you have memories or photographs of your own you would like to add, please let me know in the comments or email.  Please spread the word it’s here, to anyone you know who would be interested, thanks. 

Wells in the Village
Martin M is trying to record the whereabouts of all the wells that were/are in the village.  If anyone has any information he’d be very grateful to hear it.  A note through 8BC or a comment here will get to him.  He’s aware of the well in the school field; one beside the presbytery garage, one in the now filled in presbytery cellar, one in the garden of 3BC, and one in 22PC.  Any others?  Old Tom Smith said that the last well to run dry in a drought was down on the railway, where precisely, Martin doesn’t know.  Are there any others?  

Summer Fete
As you are all aware, we have had to cancel the Annual Summer Fete in aid of St Leonard’s.  This is our main fund raiser for the year and even though the Church is currently closed we still have ongoing expenses amounting to over £16,000 a year.  We are also missing out on collections at our services so if you would like to donate to the church please let the Treasurer Susan in Plowden Close, have a cheque made payable to St Leonard’s PCC.  Thank you.  Leave a comment if you need more details.