Pyke Quarry at Horsley is open seven days a week while Hempsted is shut until mid-November, and no Gloucestershire tip will take fridges or freezers. Hours, booking and what to do instead.

Two changes hit Gloucestershire’s recycling centres within a week of each other. Both matter to anyone in the Stroud district with a car boot full of rubbish.

The district’s own tip, Pyke Quarry at Horsley, is now open seven days a week. It normally closes on Wednesdays. The extra day is temporary cover for Gloucester’s Hempsted centre, which shut on Thursday 13 August for refurbishment and is expected to reopen in mid-November. (Gloucestershire Recycles, Pyke Quarry; HRC closure days)

Separately, and for an unrelated reason, no Gloucestershire recycling centre will take a fridge or a freezer. That suspension started on Saturday 8 August and has no end date. (Gloucestershire County Council, 7 August 2026)

Pyke Quarry: the practical details

The site is two miles west of Horsley on the B4058 Wotton-under-Edge Road. Read the county’s own warning before you set off. The site’s postcode is inaccurate, and in the council’s words “may send you a mile in the wrong direction”. Search sat nav and digital maps for “Horsley Recycling Centre” instead. (Gloucestershire Recycles, Pyke Quarry)

Every visit has to be booked in advance, for cars and vans alike. Opening hours are seasonal:

  • Now until Saturday 24 October: 9am to 5pm, seven days a week
  • From Sunday 25 October to Saturday 27 March 2027: 10am to 4pm
  • Monday 31 August (bank holiday): open, as are Fosse Cross, Oak Quarry and Wingmoor Farm
  • When Hempsted reopens in mid-November: Pyke Quarry goes back to closing on Wednesdays

The county switches to shorter winter hours because its sites take almost 30% less waste over the winter. It says that saves money.

The one-day-a-week closures are staggered so a nearby site is always open. Fosse Cross at Cirencester and Oak Quarry at Coleford both close on Tuesdays. Wingmoor Farm at Bishop’s Cleeve opens seven days a week all year. (HRC closure days and seasonal opening hours)

Stroud District Council has asked residents to “book your visit in plenty of time”, warning that Hempsted’s closure may increase demand at the other sites. (Stroud District Council update, 10 August 2026)

Why Hempsted is shut for three months

The county council says the work will bring:

  • six new electrical waste compactors powered by renewable electricity
  • a new reuse shop, where items can be repaired and given a second life
  • improvements to the site surface and concrete walls
  • better drainage, to cut the risk of flooding and unplanned closures

Cllr Ashley Bowkett is the cabinet member for nature, climate and waste reduction. He said the works “are an investment in a better service for the future”, and would make the site “more efficient, more environmentally friendly and more resilient”. He also warned of temporary disruption. (Gloucestershire County Council, July 2026)

The closure was originally meant to run from early January 2026 to Easter. The council pushed it back last December. Hempsted sits on an old landfill site, it explained, and more groundwork was needed than expected. Reopening at Easter, when the centre is busiest, was not feasible. Moving the work to late summer also put it in better weather. (Gloucestershire County Council, 11 December 2025)

The fridge and freezer suspension is a national problem

This one has nothing to do with Hempsted, and it is barely a Gloucestershire decision. The county council says the number of appliances waiting for collection nationally now exceeds the industry’s capacity to remove and process them. Its sites, it says, “cannot safely accommodate any more”.

It is not alone. Warwickshire suspended acceptance the same week, following Nottinghamshire and South Gloucestershire.

Cllr Bowkett said the council had “explored every possible option available to us and worked closely with our contractors to continue accepting fridges and freezers for as long as possible”. It would resume, he said, “as soon as it is practical and safe to do so”. Council leader Cllr Lisa Spivey is writing to Defra asking for support in resolving the issue nationally. (Gloucestershire County Council, 7 August 2026)

Anything that cools counts, not just fridges and freezers, and customers with existing bookings were emailed about the change.

What to do with a fridge in the meantime

Stroud District Council’s bulky waste service can still collect fridges and freezers, as things stand. The council said on 10 August that it would let residents know if that changed. (Stroud District Council update, 10 August 2026)

What it costs, from the council’s own page:

  • £25 for up to three items, then £5 for each extra item
  • £5 for the first three items if you receive Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support. Universal Credit does not qualify, and you need your benefit claim reference when booking
  • Payment by credit or debit card at the time of booking, and it is non-refundable
  • Collections only from properties a 3.5 tonne vehicle can reach. If you are unsure, email recycling@stroud.gov.uk or ring 01453 766321, option 2
  • Commercial fridges and cookers are not collected

(Stroud District Council, bulky waste collection service)

The county council’s other suggestions are:

  • give away or sell an appliance that still works, through Freegle or Freecycle
  • use a retailer take-back scheme when you buy a replacement
  • store it safely at home until the suspension lifts

It adds one warning with teeth. Use only licensed waste carriers. Unlicensed operators may dump the appliance illegally, and you can be held responsible if it is traced back to you.

What it means for you

  • You can go to Horsley on a Wednesday now, but not after mid-November. Book first, and search “Horsley Recycling Centre” rather than trusting the postcode.
  • Do not drive a fridge or freezer to any tip in Gloucestershire. It will be turned away. The bulky collection at £25 for three items, or £5 if you are on Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support, is the route that still works.
  • Winter hours start on Sunday 25 October, an hour later in the morning and an hour earlier in the afternoon. That is the change most likely to catch people out.
  • Expect the sites to be busier than usual until November, particularly at weekends, with Hempsted’s traffic spread across four remaining centres.

If you are driving over to Horsley, our Stroud roadworks and travel page covers current closures on the district’s roads.

Sources