Weston Colley
Weston Colley is a hamlet of about twenty dwellings, adjacent to (and within the parish of) Micheldever, Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is within the City of Winchester local government ward of Wonston And Micheldever.[1] Winchester is also the nearest large settlement, lying approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of the hamlet.
Services
Whilst some residents operate cottage industries, there are no overt commercial activities in Weston Colley, save for Weston Farm. The hamlet has no shops, pubs nor places of worship.
ADSL broadband-internet is limited to about 6GB because the local telephone exchange (at Micheldever) only serves a small population (therefore is low priority) and because of the distance from that exchange. Both the telephone / broadband wires and those that deliver electricity are located overground between telegraph poles. There is mains water. However, there is no cable tv / broadband, no mains gas nor mains sewage (residents have septic tanks in their gardens).
By the bridge, carrying railway over lane, is a mobile telephone transceiver, owned by Orange Telecommunications. Recently, Vodafone have applied to install another mast, close-by. However, whereas the Orange mast is camouflaged by trees, the proposed Vodafone mast is much taller - it, therefore, has been the cause of considerable local opposition.[2]
History
Within the past thirty years, the landed estate which owned much of Weston Colley has divested itself of its housing portfolio (which has been mostly sold to private residents) but it retains most of the farmland within and around the hamlet, together with Weston Farm, which is run on a long tenancy. The landed estate is now owned by Zurich Financial Services, which acquired it as part of its buy-out of Eagle Star Insurance - which, in-turn, bought the assets from the estate of J. Arthur Rank - based at near-by Sutton Scotney.
The housing stock mainly dates from the 1930s but there are some notable thatched, oak-timber properties which are centuries old.
Geography
Weston Colley is located entirely within the Dever Valley; the River Dever (Template:Pron-en) flows through the hamlet but briefly disappears under the tall Victorian railway-track embankment which separates Weston Colley from Micheldever. The busy main London (Waterloo) to Southampton railway still uses the line. There is one proper through-road (Weston Lane) in the hamlet, from Northbrook (Micheldever) at one end and toward Stoke Charity at the other. There is also a green lane (unsuitable for most road transport) from Micheldever Station.
Weston Colley sits on southern English chalk downland. This means the valley sides rise gently and the River Dever runs very clear - though it dries in arid summers (chalk being porous). Bare soil is alkaline and populated by chunks of flint. Most of the non-garden area is arable fields with some woodland by the river. A few cows, nursing young cattle, are often to be seen in the water meadow but the dairy has not operated for decades.
References
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