As Stroud is named the best place to live in Britain by the Sunday Times, we look at what makes this relatively small town so popular. Please note all images were taken before the pandemic

HOME to an award-winning farmers' market, Stroud is popular with an eclectic mix of writers and artists.

A hippy influx in the 70s and 80s gives the town a bohemian feel and the nearby Whiteway Colony has garnered interest since the first group of Tolstoyan anarchists settled there in 1898.

The colony was set up by a Quaker journalist, Samuel Veale Bracher who purchased 41 acres along with tools, materials and provisions. The colonists then burnt the property deeds on the end of a pitchfork as a symbolic rejection of the notion of property and a board of trustees was formed.

Stroud’s most famous son was author Laurie Lee who wrote of his childhood in the Slad Valley in his book Cider With Rosie, forever immortalising this corner of England and bringing it to the attention of the wider world.

People have continued to flock here ever since. The town remains home to a fascinating melting pot of people and myriad alternative therapists.

The wool trade in Stroud was already well established in the Middle Ages.

Hills filled with fleecy sheep, and the abundance of local streams, attracted the mill owners like magnets.

Stroudwater scarlet, a lovely rich dye, became famous throughout Europe for military uniforms. It was an industry that brought riches to the area – followed by depressions too in the 1830s and 1870s when many mills had to close.

Their sheer size has made them difficult buildings to convert from their former use – and some were demolished – but others have transformed into newly-useful lives.

Most notable, perhaps, is Ebley Mill, which now houses Stroud District Council.

As you wander through Stroud, you can see for yourself how the old and the new happily co-exist. Perhaps begin at the railway station, where you will see the goods shed built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Carrying on the railway connection, it was one of Stroud’s most famous citizens – the Rev W V Audrey – who wrote the Thomas the Tank Engine books for his son, Christopher, which rank among the most well-loved children’s tales in the world.

Mr Audrey lived the life of a quiet clergyman, despite his success, at his home in Rodborough, on the outskirts of Stroud and there is a special Thomas the Tank stained glass window at Rodborough church.

Wandering up Russell Street, from the station, you will see Sim’s clock, with its four faces, built in 1920. Behind here lies the neo-classical Subscription Rooms, dating back to 1833, which now houses the Tourist Information Bureau.

A little further down is the fine Congregational Chapel, completing an interesting group of buildings in the town.

In the High Street, Withey’s Yard is a courtyard flanked by shops and a cafe adjacent to the Shambles where there is a market every Friday. This was once the town’s meat market. Here you will find the old Town Hall, built in 1594.

Other notable buildings include the School of Science and Art in Lansdown, with its busts of Faraday, Huxley, Kelvin, Barry, Rosetti, Leighton and Turner.

St Lawrence’s Church can be seen from most approaches. Buried in the churchyard here is Lieutenant Joseph Delmont, killed in the last fatal duel to take place in Britain, in 1807.

Further up the High Street, is The Cross, the site of the former Cornmarket. Here is a dedication to Stroud’s former prosperity – a sculpture of a ram with a bolt of cloth and a waterwheel.

As you leave Stroud, you may very well bump into George Holloway, a Victorian philanthropist and MP, whose statue stands just before the railway bridge at Rowcroft.

Nowadays, you’re likely to see best-selling novelist Katie Fforde opening charity events.

She has once again put the town on the international map, by including it in her popular romantic tales.

Nowhere better can you view the town’s history, though, than in the Museum in the Park, in Stratford Park, when it reopens.

Here you can see the 1890s Dursley Pedersen bicycle, and the world’s first lawnmower.

The park itself is 56 acres with a range of facilities to suit all interests.

Interesting facts:

  • The creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, the Rev Wilbert Awdry lived on the outskirts of Stroud.
  • Best selling author Jilly Cooper lives in Bisley while Booker Prize winner Ian McEwan resides in the area too.

Places to visit when lockdown rules allow

  • Gallery Pangolin, Chalford: Specialises in contemporary bronze sculptures.
  • Stroud Valley Cycle Trail : Ideal for family cycling along a former railway track starting from King’s Stanley car park.
  • Woodchester Roman Villa: Excavated in 1993 to reveal 64 rooms including the Orpheus Pavement. However, the pavement lies buried and out of sight.
  • Thistledown Centre, Nympsfield. Environmental centre for people to understand the countryside.
  • Badger watching evenings, April – September
  • Stroud farmers' market runs every Saturday in the town centre, 9am to 2pm, - this is running at present with social distancing measures in place