ONCE again, our Summer Exhibition at the Museum in the Park was a great success.

We had over 600 visitors during the week, quite a few of whom came back to make sure they saw everything.

Fifteen members provided stewarding services between them and Our Visitors’ Book quickly filled with questions, requests, offers and compliments, and many people took away our Society programme.

We sold copies of the books published by the Society (and some that weren’t) and featured in the local newspapers and on Radio Gloucestershire.

The exhibits were: Farming in King’s Stanley by Peter Griffin, Memories of Stroud during WWII, and Gloucestershire and the Napoleonic Wars, by Sue and Barry Harrison, Streetname Origins by Pauline Stevens, the story of St Rose’s by Jenny Bailey, two displays from our WWI Home Front research by Marion Hearfield, a number of short stories and tall tales researched jointly during the past year and, in Howard’s corner, three stories by Howard Beard about Chestnut Hill House, carpenter William Beard and blacksmith Henry Pearce – and a display of artefacts from the Pearce family.

Howard also showed some old photographs of the town in Do You Remember...?

The slideshows – especially Pauline’s Town Quiz and Jenny’s slides of Stroud Show Floats – were very popular and gave visitors a welcome opportunity to sit down and relax.

“What riches there are in our town” said one visitor – “what an excellent and informative exhibition”.

Some of the research on display is on our website: stroudlocalhistorysociety.org.uk