Population: 13,500
Eat at: The Woolpack (01452 813429)
Why? Famed as Laurie Lee’s favourite hostelry, the Slad-based Woolpack’s modern menu ranges from traditional dishes like battered cod, to divine delights like burrata.
Drink at: Woodruffs (01453 759195)
Why? Drink ethical, alternative and organic teas, coffees and infusions, vegetable and fruit juices, and sensational smoothies at this splendid café.
Stay at: The Bear of Rodborough (01453 878522)
Why? The Bear overlooks Rodborough Common. Rooms are decorated with fine textiles front and centre – think beautiful bright bed linens and window treatments.
Stroud is the heart of the Five Valleys, known for its creative, brewing and farming industries and fabulous foodie credentials. It’s a brick-and-bustle kind of place rather than genteel, which is probably why Stroud’s residents love it fiercely and proudly. Built on the business of mills, thanks to its waterways, these days the town hosts galleries, thriving shops and cafés, markets and some quirky festivals and traditions. Stroud is surrounded by green countryside, and you’ll find sheep and cattle roaming the commons abutting the urban heartlands, just as they always have, and Neolithic longbarrows hinting at a long history of settlement.
Most noted for... Its award-winning farmers’ market. Launched in July 1999 by fashion designer Jasper Conran and style icon Isabella Blow, the market now hosts as many as 50 stalls.
While you’re here... Take a walk in Cider With Rosie country. Celebrate local author Laurie Lee’s love of the Slad Valley by tackling the five-mile trail, the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way.
But try not to... Get stuffed or studded. Notorious for his creatures preserved in formaldehyde and famed for a diamond-encrusted skull sculpture, former Young British Artist (YBA) Damien Hirst has a studio on Stroud’s outskirts.
Who’s who:
Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ Portas and Melanie Rickey shared a country house just outside Stroud. Authors Laurie Lee, the Rev W Audrey, Katie Fforde, Jilly Cooper, Jamila Gavin and Cindy Jefferies have all lived locally, and Robert “Jack” Russell, the England cricket wicket-keeper, was born in Stroud. Besides its living luminaries, the town is the resting place of the last British man to be killed in a duel, Lieutenant Joseph Francis Delmont.
Cloth…
Stroud’s famous cloth was used in military and naval uniforms, giving the soldiers and sailors their distinctive red and blue jackets, respectively. Today the name of WSP Textiles is known to snooker and pool table makers, and top-class tennis ball manufacturers, who use its products for tournament-grade fabric. The High Street sculpture of a ram with a bolt of cloth celebrates Stroud’s textile industry. Find out more at Stroudwater Textile Trust. (stroud-textile.org.uk)
…and culture
Stroud celebrates its artists and performers, writers and musicians with a range of activities. Stroud Brewery is a hub for community events and activities – from makers’ fairs to comedy and open mic nights, art-house film screenings and live music evenings - all with a backdrop of organic beer on tap (stroudbrewery.co.uk).
