Cotswolds taxi service, book in advance?

We had a prearranged taxi to Chipping Campden so can’t comment on availability there. But will say we later ran into problems in the Cotswolds after hiking part of the Cotswold Trail. We assumed we could get a taxi but turned out to not be so easy. There is a taxi app actually but we found out we had to have cash which we did not. So I would say prearrange and/or make sure you have cash on hand.

Taxis in the Cotswolds are not the norm.

I think it is worth defining a taxi.

Think of taxis in New York City. Yellow, expensive badge, sedan car, used to be one brand of car, now several but generally similar. Easy to pick out, see one that's available and raise your hand or stick out your arm and you've caught one. Unless it is raining or you really need it then or both.

Think of taxis in London. Distinctive shape, expensive badge, used to all be black but with some variations, cheeky chap or chapess behind the wheel. Easy to pick out, see one that's available and stick your arm out and you've caught one. Even if it is on the wrong side of the road because they famously can turn around in the narrowest of roads (it is part of the legal requirement). Unless it is raining or you really need it or both.

Think of taxis in rural England. How do you identify them? How do you get one? They look like an car, any style, any colour, and not driving around looking for fares. They are what are called in London minicabs. They will have a various coloured Council issued plate somewhere on the back of the car, usually near the rear number plate bearing the number plate information, the make and model of car and the number of passengers which may legally be carried. They may or may not have a magnetic sticker on their doors. Otherwise usually indistinguishable from other cars. It is illegal for most of them to ply for trade or stop if flagged down. Fares are agreed before Some larger stations will have an actual taxi rank with taxis waiting, who will use a meter or can be decided prior to starting. Most however will have a telephone number either on a poster in the station or on a bus stop outside. Such is Moreton-in-Marsh. You can also get the phone number on some bus stops near a station. In any event have a look at the station information on National Rail and the station information for Great Western Railway who run the trains in that part of the world. A call earlier in the day a little while before you need one, or from the train before you arrive will take care of you.

Or try for the bus and if you make it, great, otherwise call the number but you may have to wait a little while for the pickup depending on where the driver is when you call and perhaps other arriving passengers.

I've never used a taxi from Moreton-in-Marsh, it has always been that I have my car parked there or family picked me up.

The station poster is also available on line https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/posters/MIM.pdf which towards the bottom shows 3 taxi companies.

Please read carefully the notice next to the word Taxis.

Locals ride trains and use taxis on Sundays. Just call a little bit earlier or book one the previous day...

Nigel, that's a really handy web link you've provided (https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/posters/MIM.pdf). I didn't realize station pdfs like that existed. Is there a way to navigate to them from the nationalrail.co.uk page? I can't find that; www.nationalrail.co.uk/posters/ doesn't take me to a live page. I did find that the following search-string format returns links which among them will be--probably in the first position--what I'm looking for, but I'm looking for a link I could save where I could just type in the name of a station I'm interested in.

nationalrail.co.uk posters liverpool street

See nationalrail website for full station information
Just search "stations and on train" and then "onward travel information"

There is a sign at the station with phone numbers for taxis. Only had to wait for a few minutes for one to arrive.

Just an idea: When we used a taxi (2019) to get to Sissinghurst (NOT in the Cotswolds) from the train station, the driver mentioned in the course of conversation that taxis are in huge demand during school opening and closing hours. He declined to change our long-in-advance email return reservation from 5PM to 4PM that day. Some students are cheaper to move with taxis than they would be with school busses. So it can be hours of delay if you try to get a cab at peak times without a reservation.

I personally don't like reserving things, but I suggest you book in advance.

Super helpful everyone, thank you! And these links are great... I sure hope this trip works. With 2 weeks to go, and weighing risks of a positive test between 4 of us with 3 rounds of testing, the hoops of getting the right tests in advance etc... some of our party getting cold feet. So discouraging. Fingers crossed.

Thank you, rogerbrownwarwick.

This link takes you as far as you can go before indicating which station you're interested in:

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/default.aspx

The entry field for the name of the station or the three-letter code is inside a dark-blue box. Then, after you perform that search, as Roger said, you look for the light blue box displayed at the upper right on the Stations & Destinations tab. Click on "> Local area maps" inside that box and you'll get the sort of poster Nigel tipped us off to, if it's available for the station you chose. I came up empty on Plockton in Scotland, but that is a truly tiny place.