30 years of Stroud 1984 to 2014

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This review of Stroud is based on a slide-show Was it really 30 years ago..?, prepared for the Stroud Local History Society’s 30th Anniversary Exhibition, July 2014.

30 years of Stroud 1984 to 2014 is a reminder of some of the changes in Stroud during the past thirty years by Pauline Stevens and Marion Hearfield using the Citizen, Stroud Life and Stroud News and Journal cuttings archives and current photos.

30 years ago (1984) – groceries

Fine Fare in Merrywalks was fighting competition from the new Tesco in Quedgeley:

1984-09-06 SNJ groceries
SNJ 6th Sept 1984

30 years ago (1984)

Moonflower and Withey’s Yard – Stroud Preservation Trust’s second project to rejuvenated Stroud and protect its historic buildings.

Withey’s was the town’s major grocery store in the early 1900s   Click here for Withey’s shop & documents

Moonflower small
Photo P Stevens Feb 2015

30 years ago (1984)

… and Stroud house prices looked like this:

1984-09-30 SNJ houseprices trimmed
SNJ 30th Sept 1984

 

 30 years ago (1984) – proposals for secondary schools

– Stroud High School and Marling to cease

- new Sixth Form College

- five 11-16 comprehensives

 1984-09-27 Schools SNJ trimmed

27th Sept 1984

 

In 1988/90 SHS and Marling became Grant-maintained, converting to Foundation Status in 1998/9.

Marling School celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2012                                                               

Marling website        SHS website

 

29 years ago (1985) – Marina proposed

1985 c TWEAKED

 

The 2010 vision includes a water-balanced cliff railway

1985 b TWEAKED
Stroud Life 8th Sept 2010

 

Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

28 years ago (1986) – Museum on the move

The Cowle Museum’s industrial displays moved to Lansdown Hall in 1986.

1986b TWEAKED

1986 TWEAKED
SNJ 1st May 1986
April 2010
Lansdown Hall, Photo P Stevens April 2010

Then in 1993 they had to move again. They were expected to go to a new home at Stanley Mill but nothing happened. Much is still in storage.

 

27 years ago (1987) – Woodchester Roman pavement

The replica of Woodchester Roman pavement was on display at Stroud Sub Rooms – after that it needed a new home.

1987d TWEAKED
Citizen 28th Sept 1987

It took Bob and John Woodward 10 years to make the replica from 1.6 million tiny tesserae tiles.

In 2010 it was put on display at Prinknash Abbey, but still without a permanent home.
A Woodchester consortium failed to get the mosaic, and it was sold to an anonymous buyer for £75,000.

Does anyone know where it is now?

1987 a TWEAKED
Citizen 30th June 2010

 The original Roman mosaic is under the grass in the churchyard at Woodchester

July 2014
Tomb of Sir George Onesiphorus Paul, Woodchester Churchyard. Photo P Stevens July 2014

Side-track – Sir George Onesiphorus Paul was a prison reformer and had Gloucester prison rebuilt

27 years ago (1987) – the East-West bypass plans

 Road to replace canal, leaving a dead-end.

SNJ 5th Feb 1987
SNJ 5th Feb 1987
July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

A new section of the canal opened in 2013 to go through a different arch of the viaduct and re-connect again.

 

You can see the canal from the by-pass Photo P Stevens March 2014
You can see the new section of canal from the by-pass. Photo P Stevens March 2014

27 years ago (1987) – the LMS bridge was demolished

As part of the bypass works, the LMS bridge over the canal was removed,

Stroud News & Journal 5th Feb 1987
Stroud News & Journal 5th Feb 1987
July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 leaving a cul-de-sac behind the Bell Hotel

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

26 years ago (1988) – Ebley Mill transformed

Stroud District Council new offices open at Ebley Mill

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

Postcard courtesy of Susan Harrison
Postcard courtesy of Susan Harrison

26 years ago (1988) – Woodchester Mansion

“Stroud District Council buys mysterious Victorian masterpiece, which has lain unfinished for nearly 130 years.”

1988 TWEAKEDc

Stroud News & Journal 1988
Stroud News & Journal 1988
July 2011
Photo P Stevens July 2011

The Woodchester Mansion Trust was formed in 1989 to save this Grade 1 Listed building from dereliction, but it will never be completed.

 

25 years ago (1989) – Former Union St car park will become Cornhill

Citizen 11th January 1989
Citizen 11th January 1989

 This building remains:

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014
July 2014
Cornhill Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

July 2014
Cornhill market place Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

24 years ago (1990)

Developers removed historic glass from the former Witcher menswear shop in The Shambles.

1990 TWEAKED
Citizen 16th Aug 1990

Only this window remains:

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

24 years ago (1990)

The Nelson School (originally Stratford Lodge) was bought by Premier House, after a Bovis retirement homes plan failed.

After a ‘modest’ extension, it became a County Inn hotel and Millers Kitchen pub and restaurant.

 

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014


23 years ago (1991)

Plans for Waitrose to replace bus depot and old SDC rubbish depot

1991Waitrose TWEAKED
Citizen 27.12.1991

 

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

23 years ago (1991)

The Door Youth Project established in Gloucester St. (Now in High St)

1991c

23 years ago (1991)

Plastic cards replace tickets at library

1991b Library TWEAKEDc1991b Library TWEAKEDbCitizen 27.2.1991

23 years ago (1991) – Stratford Rd

The Alpine Lodge had gone from wedding receptions to a hostel for the homeless, and was being reinvented as The Stratford

1991d AlpineLodge TWEAKED c
Citizen 5th Feb 1991
1991d AlpineLodge TWEAKED b
Citizen 5th Feb 1991

 

Alpine Court flats are there now.

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

23 years ago (1991)

150 people in cast for Stroud community play at Leisure Centre

 ‘Making Up Time’ about Stroud’s history was a great success, but a financial failure.                                                                                                    Citizen 30th Oct 1991

Click here for more information

Courtesy of J Sampson
Courtesy of J Sampson

 

22 years ago (1992) – Supermarket proposals

Possible competition for Tesco, Gateway, Coop (Cainscross) & the soon-to-be-built Waitrose

Citizen 24th Sept 1992
Citizen 24th Sept 1992


22 years ago (1992) – “We Ain’t Closing”

Says poem about Smith & Lees – ironmongers in High St, which closed in 1993 (now Holland & Barratt).

 

Citizen 23rd Nov 1992
Citizen 23rd Nov 1992

 

 It had been an ironmongers for over 100 years – here is James Butt in the same shop in 1870:

1870 PostOffice Dir Butts at 16 High St
1870 PostOffice Dir Butts at 16 High St

 

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

21 years ago (1993) The British School and Old Painswick Inn

 1993e BritishSch headline

Citizen 1st Oct 1993
Citizen 1st Oct 1993

 

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014
July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

20 years ago (1994) – Parliament Primary School

Parliament Street Primary School moved into new buildings at the top of Bisley Road.

It became Severn View Primary Academy in 2012.

1994d ParliamentSt Sch TWEAKEDcCitizen 21st July 1994

Citizen 21st July 1994

And on 8th July 2014:

1994 SevernViewOfsted
Stroud Life 8th July 2014

School celebrates journey from special measures to good

 

The old school was built in 1883

1994 ParlmtSch1884 MH
Photo M Hearfield 1994

 The Register Office moved into part of the old school in 1995.
(In 1991 it had moved from Winterbottom’s solicitors in Rowcroft to London Rd)

20 years ago (1994)

Laurie Lee says supermarkets should have a bar “for husbands, to keep them out of mischief until their wives need the money”

Citizen 7th Sep 1994
Citizen 7th Sep 1994

 

20 years ago (1994)

Citizen 27th July 1994
Citizen 27th July 1994

 

The wall is still there

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

20 years ago (1994)

Citizen 20th May.1994
Citizen 20th May.1994

Stroud – one of the most affluent areas of the country. ‘The town ranks among South East stock-broker belts like Mid Sussex.’

19 years ago (1995) – Stroud Valley School

Plans for Stroud Valley infant and junior schools on same site at Castle St

Citizen 18th Jan 1995
Citizen 18th Jan 1995

This threatened Roxborough House Youth Centre (built in 1963 by Stroud Boys’ Club, replacing Roxborough House).

enquiry 50 roxborough house
Roxborough House SNJ 16th Dec 1960

 

July 2014
Old Junior School. Photo P Stevens July 2014

The Ryeleaze Rd building is now Stroud Youth Centre

Old Castle St building Photo P Stevens July 2014
Old Castle St building Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

New Castle St building Photo P Stevens July 2014
New Castle St building Photo P Stevens July 2014

18 years ago (1996) – Stroud General Hospital

New elderly care unit and outpatient department opened

 1996 headline TWEAKED

Citizen 8th Aug 1996
Citizen 8th Aug 1996

 

1996 sketch of hospital
1996 sketch of hospital

 

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014
Hospital's new building Photo P Stevens July 2014
Hospital’s new building Photo P Stevens July 2014

18 years ago (1996) – Rowcroft Medical Centre opens

Citizen 11th Sept 1995 and 19th July 1996
Citizen 11th Sept 1995

 

 

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

It was built on the site of Rowcroft House, where GP Dr Mould had lived.

 

18 years ago (1996) – plans for pedestrians

‘Cut the chaos’ town centre plans revealed – revolutionary changes to cut the number of vehicles driving through Stroud town centre by more than 70%

Citizen 25th Nov 1996
Citizen 25th Nov 1996

2 way traffic in Kendrick St 1986

1986
Kendrick St 1986 Photo P Stevens

Walkers The Bakers are in the same shop now

Kendrick St 2014
Kendrick St 2014 Photo P Stevens

 

17 years ago (1997) – street CCTV cameras

Citizen 6th Jan 1997

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

16 years ago (1998) – Lord John

Wetherspoons proposal for the former postal sorting office in Russell St

Citizen 9th Jan 1998
Citizen 9th Jan 1998
Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

15 years ago (1999) – ‘Made in Stroud’ Market

The first Farmers’ Market in 1999 had 11 stalls and was opened by Jasper Conran and Isabella Blow – now it has around 50 stalls per week.
It has won many awards, been seen on TV and even inspired a novel.

Previous markets at Cornhill had been a flop.

1999 FarmersMkt Wiki
Photograph from WikiMedia under Creative Commons licence

 

 

kardien
Kardien Gerbrands, one of the founders of Stroud Farmers’ Market. Citizen 7th July 2014

 

14 years ago (2000) – Slad Rd flooded

Citizen October 2000
Citizen October 2000

Citizen October 2000
Citizen October 2000

 

It was repeated in 2007

2007 flood slad rd
Citizen 2007

13 years ago (2001) – Stratford Park Mansion is new museum

Building finished Citizen 18th Feb 2000

Building finished Citizen 18th Feb 2000

The Cowle Museum opened as the Museum in the Park in 2001              

Click here for information about the Museum and History of the Museum

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

The museum contains more than 5,000 objects, this is about 10% of the museum’s collection

13 years ago (2001) – Hill Paul was nearly demolished

 A local campaign group saved the former clothing factory from the bulldozers,

Click here for more information

Citizen 9th January 2001
Citizen 9th January 2001

 Citizen 9th Jan 2001

Citizen 9th Jan 2001

and by 2003 it was flats.

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

12 years ago (2002) – Cotswold Playhouse re-opens

New raked seats for auditorium and new lighting and sound rooms.

Then in 2007/08 there was a major extension.  

                                                                 Cotswold Playhouse website

 The Cotswold Players bought the former Methodist Chapel in 1951.

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

11 years ago (2003) – Greyhound Inn

Greyhound Inn newly refurbished, but keeps (Grade II listed)Victorian gent’s lavatories
– which are mentioned on the History Board nearby.

Greyhound
Citizen 9th Jan 2003

 

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

12 history boards were installed in the town in 2004.

11 years ago (2003) – Closure of Old Bus Station imminent

Citizen 11th Mar 2003
Citizen 11th Mar 2003

 

New ‘bus station’ –it was supposed to be temporary

July 2014

Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

10 years ago (2004)

Stroud 700 Exhibition celebrated Stroud becoming a separate community from Bisley in 1304 .

History of Stroud

Part of Stroud 700 quilt. Courtesy of S Harrison
Part of Stroud 700 quilt. Courtesy of S Harrison

        
Ten years earlier, Stroud 400 had celebrated the town’s Market Charter – obtained in 1594.

 

1994 Stroud400 patchwork1 BHarrison

1994 Stroud400 patchwork2 BHarrison

The Stroud 400 and 700 Quilts are now in the Old Town Hall, (photographs courtesy of Barry Harrison)

 

10 years ago (2004)

“A multi-million pound new shopping mall is set to open on the site of Stroud’s Cotswold Indoor Bowls Club in spring 2006.”

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

Cotswold Indoor Bowls Club moved to the Cope Chat playing field in 2004.
(Safeway was rejected when it wanted to build a supermarket there in 1989)
In 2014 the old building is still empty.

 

9 years ago (2005) – the end of Butts at Wallbridge

Butts builders merchants closed.

 

July 2014
Now Travis Perkins. Photo P Stevens July 2014

They started trading there in the 1870s:

1879 PostOffice Directory

9 years ago (2005)

“New cinema, and 16-lane 10-pin bowling alley, have been built on the site of the old bus station.

“The previous cinema in Stroud, the Gaumont Cinema in London Road, closed more than 30 years ago.”

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

  It can be seen from the surrounding hills

July 2014
View from Birches Farm, Uplands. Photo P Stevens July 2014

9 years ago (2005)

McDonalds opens on former builders’ yard, despite objectors

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

8 years ago (2006) – Creamery demolished

The Slad Road dairy had closed in 1994. This is there now:

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

Benjamin Grazebrook was a plumber who in 1769 built Stroud’s first reservoir and piped in water from Gainey’s Well

 

8 years ago (2006) – Maternity Unit saved

Stroud Maternity unit was saved (yet again) in 2006, but the ward at Weavers Croft closed

Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

7 years ago (2007) – Stroud College                                               Click here for   Origins of the college and  More information

  • 2007 – New college replaced 1950/1960s building
  • Cricket pitch moved to Ryeford
  • New houses on both sites
Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

 

Photo P Stevens July 2014

July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

July 2014

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

6 years ago (2008)

Stratford Park, Balloon Fiesta

Photo P Stevens Sept 2008
Photo P Stevens Sept 2008

 

6 years ago (2008) – Uplands Post Office saved

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

5 years ago (2009) – Woolworths closes

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

5 years ago (2009)

 the decorative arch of Park Gardens was reinstated

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

4 years ago (2010) – Stratford Park lake frozen

January 2010Photo P Stevens January 2010

Photo P Stevens January 2010

 

4 years ago (2010) – Road works

First, Slad Road was closed for months to solve that flooding problem:

slad rd 1 slad rd 2

Photographs by Tony Macer, March 2010

4 years ago (2010) – More road works

Then the A419 was closed in the centre of Stroud for many months, lifting the road for the canal to go under.

The Canal Trust Visitor Centre watched as a Bailey Bridge carried the diverted traffic up and over Wallbridge.

Stroud Life, 22nd May 2011
Stroud Life, 22nd May 2011
Photo by T Macer, Oct 2010
Photo by Tony Macer, Oct 2010

4 years ago (2010)

Stroud & Swindon merged with The Coventry Building Society – the old S & S HQ has been taken over by Ecotricity

 

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

3 years ago (2011) – Lansdown Hall

Lansdown Hall and Gallery hosted Lansdown-on-Sea – there were Punch and Judy, ice creams, deckchairs and beach balls and much more.

lansdown on sea
Stroud Life 16th Nov 2011

 

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Lansdown Hall & gallery. Photo P Stevens July 2014
SDC’s About Town, Dec 2012
SDC’s About Town, Dec 2012

Stroud Town Council bought the hall in 2010 to save it from possible closure.
(Previously it was The Space).

 

2 years ago (2012)– Stroud on Water canal festival

Boats on a three-mile stretch of waterway and activities on Marling playing fields

Photo P Stevens June 2012
Photos P Stevens June 2012
Festival opened by Prof Mark Horton

1 year ago (2013)

 Last summer we were able to walk in the canal near Waitrose, before it was filled.       Link to Cotswold Canals Trust

Photo P Stevens May 2013
Canal joined up again Photo P Stevens March 2014
Now canoes go up canal and then down river - Photo P Stevens March 2014
Now canoes go up canal and then down river – Photo P Stevens March 2014

1 year ago (2013)

And the arguments for and against the Incinerator continued ….

2013 Incinerator

This year – 2014

The headline in Stroud Life 1st July 2014, when we started to assemble this slide-show:

46

Photo P Stevens July 2014
Photo P Stevens July 2014

 

Next year? (2015)

The new Neighbourhood Development Plan will influence and affect what happens next in Stroud town centre. Take part in the discussions! Join in. It’s your town, and one day all this will be history too.

Stroud Life 27th May 2014 – picture by Steve Hurrell
Stroud Life 27th May 2014 – picture by Steve Hurrell

 

What else has happened in Stroud during the last 30 years?

We welcome any comments or additions – please use the contact form

Sources and acknowledgements

Pauline Stevens, a member of Stroud Local History Society, assembled this slideshow using cuttings from our local newspapers’ archives and some of her own photographs. We are also grateful for Tony Macer’s fascination with road works.

We would like to thank Gloucestershire Media, publishers of the Citizen, and Stroud Life, whose helpful staff cleared a space so Pauline could browse their cuttings archive – and also the editor of the Stroud News and Journal for her consent to use extracts from the microfilmed archive at Stroud Library.

Stroud Library’s microfilms go back to the 1850s, when the Stroud Journal was published, shortly followed by the Stroud News.

A research note from the SLHS digital archive added Aug 2014

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