A trip round the Five Valleys

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PACK some sandwiches, fill a flask and let’s take a turn round Gloucestershire’s famous Five Valleys.

1. STROUD BUS STATION

All aboard please for a trip down memory lane on a Bristol double decker to Stonehouse or Chalford. Alternatively you may prefer a transport of delight in the shape of that single decker, bound for Cranham, via Pitchcombe and Painswick. The year is 1950 and this is how Stroud bus station looked.

2. SLAD

It’s impossible to mention Slad without thinking of Laurie Lee. The village in which he grew up stands in one of five valleys that radiate from Stroud and is, mercifully, perhaps the least changed.

On the subject of Slad itself Lee wrote ‘It was a typical village cut off from the world. I still dream about the valley - the church bell from which you knew the time, sounds of farm dogs and running water, the quality of light on fields. I smell the rotting vegetation, the roasting grass of summer, dust’.

The photo captures Laurie Lee’s home village on a Winter’s day of watery sunshine.

3. FRAMPTON ON SEVERN

Tipplers at the Bell in Frampton on

Severn must have rubbed their eyes and checked their pints of scrumpy in the early 1930s when the Graf Zeppelin flew over the village.

At the time the giant dirigible was said to be on an air cruise around the British Isles offering paying passengers with sufficient wherewithal a bird’s eye view of national landmarks.

In fact aerial reconnaissance of the country’s defences and strategic sites was undertaken to provide intelligence to Germany’s military leaders.

4. MINCHINHAMPTON

The spire of Minchinhampton’s Holy Trinity parish church has a clipped look because it was removed in 1863 following fears for its safety.

Minchinhampton’s main square has a War Memorial, and a 17th century Market House, given to the town in 1919 by the Lord of the Manor Lt Col H G Ricardo and restored in 1944.

There has been a market in Minchinhampton since the 13 century. The present Market House was initially a place where wool and yarn were traded, becoming one of the four most important such venues in the county. By degrees wool and yarn declined and the market’s principle purpose became the buying and selling of livestock. The Market House has been used for a variety of purposes, as it still is. At various times in its past is has been used as a meeting place for Quakers, the local fire station and a school.

5. STONEHOUSE HIGH STREET

This photo must have been taken on a Sunday as everyone is well turned out in their best clothes. Perhaps they’re on their way to church. The hats and costumes suggest that Edward V11 was on the throne when the camera’s shutter clicked on this delightful scene. It’s Stonehouse High Street with Laburnum Walk on the left. Surprisingly, most of the buildings are still with us today, except those in the left foreground.

6. CHALFORD

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The baker’s boy in this picture from the 1930s was Frank Gardiner who was in charge of the local shop’s delivery vehicle, see here with panniers on its back.

The scene is Chalford in the Golden Valley, where the narrow byways and steep inclines made this four legged form of transport a good idea. It’s said the local nick-name for the village was Neddyshire after the donkeys used to carry goods here and there.

In 2008 Chalford hit the national headlines and made an appearance on BBC TV’S Countryfile programme when the local community store reintroduced the Donkey delivery service after an absence of some 80 years.