Cotters Barn

Pound Lane, Little Rissington, GL54 2ND

the post code will direct you to the wrong side of the village.

instead, go to shallower.agent.importers in What3Words.

Cottage Manual

Because you’re here for some time, there will be some housekeeping tasks to take care of that weekenders wouldn’t need to think about. These are in italics below and summarised at the end.

But first, the really important stuff!

Arrival

Cotters Barn (ringed in red) is at the lower end of Pound Lane (shown in blue) and faces the tiny Village Green on the uphill side. Depending on the season, the Green is recognisable by the pink-blossomed or russet-leaved plum tree with a circular bench around it. The entrance to the cottage is shown here.

If coming from the London direction follow this link. Otherwise, enter ‘Eden, Pound Ln, Little Rissington, Cheltenham GL54 2NB’, an address that Google Maps recognises. This will bring you to Gray’s house, which is right next door to Cotters Barn. Don’t rely on the postcode alone - it will take you to the far side of the village.

Front door keys

Two front door keys will be on the shelf outside the front door.

Utility Status

The hot water will be on. The fridge and freezer will be on. The central heating will be on and turned to 17.5 C, which you can then adjust. The Aga will be set to ~4, which is fine for normal cooking. If you prefer it left off, let us know and an electric oven will be placed on top of the Aga, along with a hob.

Broadband & Wifi

The Broadband is Gigaclear's Superfast 200 on fibre optic, with average upload and download speeds of 200 Mbps. This is provided by the extender on the bookshelf on the stairs.

You will find the Wifi login on the Cotters Barn’s Airbnb Arrival Guide. It is also on the inside of the top cupboard door immediately on your left as you enter the kitchen.

Cafés, Pubs & Provisions

Cafés

Try Bakery on the Water in Bourton-on-the-Water (river patio outback) with its in-house baking and the cafés in Digbeth Street, Stow-on-the-Wold or in the High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh.

For a touch of high class living, breakfast at Daylesford (Route) the other side of Kingham – it also has artisan food in its farm shop.

Pubs

The Plough (Route) in Kingham is a good folksy gastropub. The Wild Rabbit (Route), also in Kingham, and The Fox (Route) in Lower Oddington are also top quality, but both with lively music, perhaps overly so for some. For amuse-bouche-style cuisine and a gentler ambiance, try The Feathered Nest (Route) in Nether Westcote - it will certainly help lighten your wallet or purse. You could also try the The Swan (Route), The Chequers (Route) and The Black Horse (Route).

Provisions

There is a Tesco Supermarket (5 miles) (Route) on the far side of Stow-on-the-Wold, a Co-op Supermarket (2 miles) (Route) in Bourton-on-the-Water and a Co-op Convenience Store (1.5 miles) (Route) in Upper Rissington. There’s also an Aldi in Moreton-in-Marsh.

Tesco, Ocado, Abel & Cole, Asda and Waitrose all deliver to the village.

In Stow-on-the-Wold, try the Cotswold Cheese Company (Route) in Digbeth Street for baguettes, cheese and olives, Otis & Belle (Route) for a good selection of bread and pastries, and Alfonso Gelateria (Route) for gelato.

Please pass any feedback on these and other venues to Gray so that he can keep this advice up to date.

Walks

We recommend you open a free account with Komoot and then follow this link to obtain an interactive version of the above map, which shows Walks starting in Little Rissington located at the bottom right of the map. Consider downloading the Komoot App.

Whatever you do, be sure to view the sunsets from Little Rissington Church, from where some good walks begin and end.

Kitchen

The Aga

If the weather is briefly hot, turn the Aga down to 1 or if there’s a heatwave and you would like it turned off, please ask Gray who will provide an electric oven and a dual hob.

Dishwasher

Press the power button to turn on. We recommend either:

Program 1: Eco 50℃. Most economical washing programme for the medium soiled daily dishes.

Program 2: 40-65℃. Determines the soiling degree of the dishes and sets the temperature and amount of washing water as well as the washing time automatically. Suitable for all types of dishes.

Tablets will be found, if your party includes young children, on top of the cupboards, above the toaster. Otherwise, under the sink. Baking trays will need wire wool to keep clean (except the shallow one which is non-stick). Nothing wooden to go in the dishwasher please.

The dishwasher was filled with salt and rinse and the filter cleaned immediately prior to your arrival.

Washing Machine

Press the power button to turn on / off. The machine must be on for the door to open.

Laundry liquid can be placed in with the clothes using one of the small plastic cups.

Fridge

If there’s a power cut, the fridge will beep when the power is restored. To stop it beeping, press and immediately release the larger light on the right above the door.

Freezer

If a red alarm light flashes on the freezer, it could be that the temperature setting is too warm. It should be showing -18. Push the minus button to decrease the temperature.

Kitchen Sink Surround

Please would you wipe away any water on the wood when you have finished using the sink. The wood suffers from being left wet. Sorry, bad sink design! 🙄

Fire Extinguisher

The duck-head bottle by the kettle is a fire extinguisher. Instructions are underneath it.

Back Door Light

The switch on the right, in the row of four switches, by the kitchen back door controls the back door outside light. The other three switches control lighting in the kitchen.

Yard Light

The yard light (above the water butt) is turned on by the light switch in the shed.

Other Kitchen Switches

There are three switches in the kitchen that NEED TO BE LEFT ON or things will not work: one is by the toaster (central heating), one above the skirting board on the yard-facing wall (shed and garage lights), and one beside the Wi-Fi extender (the lavatory extractor fan).

Smart Speaker

You can cast audio from your device from Spotify, Apple Music, etc. via Wi-Fi either to the television (if switched on) or to the smart speaker. Feel free to move the speaker to wherever you like. If you do move it, you may find it better to connect to the ‘Cotters Barn’ Wi-Fi, which is provided by the three Mesh cubes located by the router, in the kitchen and in the bedroom on the right at the top of the stairs. To do this, first connect your phone to the ‘Cottors Barn’ Wi-Fi (the login is on the Welcome sheet), and then follow the steps here.

How you will cast audio from your phone depends on the app you’re casting from. But, as an example, in Spotify (above right) when you select a tune, the smart speaker icon will be displayed (ringed red). Tap it and on the next screen tap ‘Airplay and Bluetooth’. You should see TV and ‘kitchen’ listed. Select ‘kitchen’. After a few moments, you’ll be able to cast 🤞

Living Room

Television

To turn the TV on, press “On” on the large Panasonic TV remote control. You can access terrestrial channels via the TV remote control. For internet-delivered channels, switch to Apple TV, which is better at connecting to the Wi-Fi than the TV.

DVD

Use the Panasonic DVD remote control. The DVD library is for your use.

Log Fire

There’s paper in the stairs cupboard, logs by the front door and sticks in the shed. Help yourself.

Pot Plants

Please water the pot plants as you would at home, especially if you notice them wilting. There’s an olive oil bottle and a blue bottle with rainwater in them. There’s a large and a small watering can outside the front door. There’s rainwater in the butt by the garage. Tap water is also fine. 

Fuse Box

The fuse box is in the small cupboard on the wall above the television.

Radiators & Water

There’s an oil boiler to the left of the Aga. It heats:

1. The radiators. The living room temperature is set to 17.5°C from 07:00 to 22:00 and 9°C at night.

2. The water. The water is heated between these times: 06:00-08:00, 11:30-12:30 & 17:00-20:00 every day.

The boiler is controlled by the thermostat on the right side of the stairs (shown above). By revolving and pressing the Nest (2nd Generation) thermostat you can adjust both radiators and water heating.

Radiators

You can adjust the living room temperature, switch the heating to Eco (which maintains a minimum 9°C to guard against frozen pipes), adjust the schedule or turn the heating off.

Water

Water heating can be switched on or off and the schedule adjusted. The water can also be heated by the immersion heater controlled by the switch on the right, inside the airing cupboard in the entrance hall.

Nest Heat Link

The control (pictured) attached to the left wall in the downstairs airing cupboard is a boost button for both radiators and water. Pressing it switches the system to manual mode and heats the radiators and water. It will keep raising the room temperature, even beyond the target temperature, until you press it again, which returns it to automatic mode.

If all too technical, Gray can adjust the central heating remotely so please do ask him.

Oil Supply

The central heating and Aga run on oil. The oil tank is in the shed. Oil deliveries are on a top-up system, which means that the oil supplier will keep the tank replenished. They do not tell Gray when they’re coming, but the tanker driver usually knows where the tank is, so no action is normally required from you.

Upstairs

Spare Linen

There’s a full change of bed linen in the bathroom airing cupboard.

Duvets

There’s a spare single duvet in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers in the small double bedroom. There are summer and winter duvets for both double beds. The one not on the bed is above the door in the smallest bedroom.

Clothes Drying

Walk up through the gate to the right of the garage. There is a foldable clothesline attached to the garage wall. Pull the handle it and it will unfold. There’s also a drying rack under the stairs. You will find a bag of clothes pegs on the inside of the larder door.

Ironing

There is an iron in the airing cupboard. Please use the de-ionised water next to it, which will prevent the iron furring up. In the event that there is no de-ionised water, it’s okay to use ordinary tap water.

Shower Room

The Fan

The fan turns on when you turn the ceiling light on. If you don’t want it to turn on there’s a switch outside the shower room door up to your right as you enter.

Shower Drain

You are here for a few weeks so you will need to keep the shower drain clear of hair, especially if anyone has long hair. It is cleaned before you arrive, but it may clog during your stay and will need to be cleaned.

To clean it, pull the drain cap up and remove any hair. The cap is only held in place by a rubber seal. Should the drain remain blocked, pour drain cleaner in. Please read the instructions on the bottle, which you will find in the basin cupboard.

Alternatively, ask Tina to do a periodic clean of the cottage.

Recycling

The Collection Timetable is on the fridge door.

When a kitchen bin is full, empty it into the appropriate bins in the shed. In the case of the food bin, the waste must be in a plastic bag (which needn’t be a biodegradable bag).

What and how to recycle

Given that different countries and even different councils in the UK have different rules, there are instructions in the larder and shed. Here is a synopsis:

Please leave your recycling at the corner of the cottage by Pound Lane.

Cleaning

Tina has prepared the cottage for you. If you’d like her to clean during your stay, ping Gray and he’ll pass you her phone number so you can arrange days and times directly with her.

The days she can NOT do are Tuesday and Wednesday, and her minimum call out is for three hours and she charges £20 per hour, which you’d pay directly to her (not via us).

Accidents Happen

IF SOMETHING GETS STAINED, PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE THE STAIN YOURSELF IN CASE IT MERELY SERVES TO FIX THE STAIN IN. LET GRAY KNOW AND HE WILL GET EXPERT STAIN-REMOVERS ON THE CASE.

And if anything gets damaged, again let Gray know as soon as possible so that we can get it quickly mended or replaced. He is sanguine about breakages. They are to be expected.

Garden & Yard

Garden Furniture

If moving the garden table, please lift it from the sides, not the ends, which are not equipped to take the weight. The cords on the backs of the chairs are an attempt to deter birds.

There are four garden seat cushions under the stairs for the wooden chairs. The two seat cushions under the shelves outside the front door are for the metal chairs.

Lawn Mowing

Gray will mow the lawn, aiming to do so when the grass is dry and you are out.

Garden Tools

The garden is tended in between lets, so it shouldn’t need any attention. The yard and patio, however, collect a fair amount of creeper and tree debris including red ash tree berries, which can stick to the soles of your shoes and can find their way into the cottage and your car. If you wish to keep the yard and patio clean, there’s a broom, hand brush, pan and trug in the shed for your convenience. If the trug needs emptying, please leave it beside the greenhouse in the yard of Hill House and Gray will deal with it.

Lights

The shed light and the light above the water butt are both controlled by a switch low down on the inside kitchen wall that faces the yard. It should be left on, but does tend to get turned off by accident, so keep an eye on it!

Parking

Cotters Barn is within the yellow square. The yard can easily accommodate one car. The image shows two sizeable cars parked there, so that’s doable too. The light green area is public parking and tends to be used by the neighbours across the lane. The red area is kept clear so you and we (in the adjacent house) are free to come and go.

There’s a cable running above the cottage yard where birds perch. If your car is hit, there’s a sponge in the shed; then either use the watering can refilled from the butt or the hose in the garage attached to the tap at the back of the cottage.

Leaving Day

When leaving, please…

Note that the check-out time is 10am.

Pile used towels, linen and mattress covers (inc. inner pillowcases, but not duvets) beside the washing machine.

Leave the two keys outside on the shelf by the front door, allowing you to gain re-entry if you realise you’ve forgotten something!

Ping Gray so that he can get the cleaning under way.

Please note…

Because you are here for a substantial period of time, there will be things you will need to keep your eye on that you wouldn’t need to if just staying for a few days.

With apologies to those for whom these things are second nature, please keep an eye on:

Dishwasher

Wooden things, e.g., the breadboard, should not be put in the dishwasher. They will warp and split because of the heat.

House plants

They need watering, say once a week or whatever you think they need. Rainwater can be found in the olive oil bottle on the windowsill behind the kitchen sink, in other bottles kept upstairs and in the two watering cans outside the front door. Tap water is also fine.

The Aga

The Aga is coated in vitreous enamel – that’s essentially glass. It’s tough and will withstand a gentle wipe after cooking with wire wool and some Cif. Any cooking residue left on the enamel surface will harden on and prove very laborious to remove.

The Shower Drain

The shower drain will clog up if not regularly cleaned. It has been thoroughly cleaned before your arrival so it’s just a matter of checking once a week or so. To remove the shower drain plug, pull it up. It’s only secured by a rubber seal.

Recycling

Anything put into the Large White Sack must be washed and clean.

The bins will be emptied every other Tuesday. Except that the small black food bin is collected every Tuesday. The lorries come as early as 7am so we put our bins out the evening before.

The recycling timetable is on the fridge door.

TIP: If a bin or bag is not full and will last for another two weeks, we don’t bother to put it out. This saves us and the dustmen time.

Surplus Food

On your last day here you may have perfectly good provisions you don’t want to take with you nor want to bin. Please feel free to leave them, even if partly used, for we also hate waste and will find a use for them.

Gray is here to make your stay enjoyable so do feel free to ask for anything you need.