Compton Bassett Village News

Compton Bassett Main News

We include here a selection of main stories from around the area and within the village which we believe may be of interest to you.

Wadworth Shire Horses

Police Commissioner Wadworth Shire horses retirement 'end of an era' for Devizes

This is not quite local to us here in Compton Bassett but seeing it in print planted a seed in my mind that I just wanted to share.

Wadworth recently announced the retirement of its beloved Shire horses which, barring a brief interruption, had been delivering beers to pubs in Devizes and the surrounding villages for 125 years. Explaining the decision, managing director Toby Bartholomew cited the difficulties of carrying out local deliveries following the relocation of the brewery to Folly Road alongside rising financial pressures worsened by the government’s autumn budget.

It is a political/commercial decision about which I am not qualified to have an opinion on. However, when I first came to the area 30 years or more ago, I was learning my way around living here. Which shops to use, which pubs and where to spend my time. One Sunday morning I was sitting in my car in Devizes Square as I read the headlines in my Sunday paper, enjoying the early morning sunshine. Two magificent Shire horses with their handlers, such beautiful, powerful, animals who were being lead from their stables at the brewery down to wherever their Sunday paddock was. They were like two spaniel puppies going for their first walkies after a long wet week. Except they were over a tonne in weight and just as excitable, more than a single handler could properly control. ut they were wonderful and immediately became part of my Sunday morning program after collecting my paper. My grandparents used to have their milk delivered by a horse drawn milk float. The horse used to know his route and where each delivery was. The float had a chain through the spokes of the back wheel which offered little resistance to this giant powerful animal and when the milkman reappeared from his previous delivery his horse and float was already waiting at the next stop on his route. My grandparents house was on the edge of the footpath beside the road and the horse knew Gramps was there and always had a peppermint in hia pocket that the horse wouldn't pass until he had got. I often remember the sight of that giant of an animala coming across the footpath and up the steps. His front hairy hooves in the doorway and his huge head through the door looking for his peppermint. As an 8year old boy I was so sad when the horses were retired and the milk floats were all replaced with elecric floats. Interesting but they had no soul.

I'll miss the old Shires in Devizes with the same sadness as that young boy many years ago stood at the door of his granddads house in Peterborough

Wiltshire Bin Collections Could Be Overhauled By Wiltshire Council

Police Commissioner Wiltshire Council is considering major changes to its recycling bin collections across the county.

Residents could be asked to change the way they sort their recycling in the coming years after an overhaul of the current arrangement was recommended.

The council’s waste service has proposed cabinet adopts a “three stream” collection service when its current contracts end in 2026.

If approved, households would sort their rubbish into a wheeled bin or weighted sack for paper and cardboard, a second bin or sack for plastics, cans, cartons, and bagged flexible plastics, and a box for glass, from 2027.

Currently most residents use a blue-lidded wheeled bin for mixed recycling and a box for glass. The alternative option is to retain this approach, but the council believes a new system could cut costs and improve efficiency.

A decision on these changes will be made at a meeting on Tuesday, November 19.

Extended speed limits

Police Commissioner Compton Bassett Parish Council have got the 40mph speed limit extended in their recent efforts to control traffic using the roads through the village as a cut through between Lyneham/Swindon and Devizes.

Launched in December by the PCC, the Policing, Priorities and £s survey seeks the views of residents and stakeholders as he develops the budget for policing and commissioned services for the next financial year (2024/25).

As part of the survey, respondents are asked whether their household would be prepared to invest more in policing through the police precept element of their council tax. This, alongside a grant from the government, accounts for the entire budget for policing in the county. As it stands, due to the national police funding formula, Wiltshire Police is the second lowest funded police force in the country per head of capita.

Click on link to see full story and take the survey 'One Network'

Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner - policing budget

Police Commissioner Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson is urging residents to have their say on the policing budget as he considers an average increase of 5.2% - an extra £1.09 a month for a Band D property.