Hidden Stroud

Being part the first of an occasional series

Part 1: the Catholic Quarter.

Twenty years ago, in August 1992, I flew to Eastern Europe to start a new job, and a new life. CleanSteve drove me to the airport, and I was not sure if I'd see him again. He brought me an Observer kissed me goodbye, and I went through the unpack-my-spare-knickers routine for airport security (hand luggage was not scanned then, unbelievable!) and snivelled my way to Prague.

Someone on the plane told me that it was a glorious city, because it had not been bombed during WWII. It remained unspoilt, and deserving of the name 'golden city'. After I had landed; missed a train; and found a room for the night, I went out for a walk. I was astonished by the bright sunlight, the soaring architecture, and the golden stonework. Only Wenceslas Square failed to move me: I was shocked to find McDonalds there 'already', and even more shocked when I later found out that my sister, TMLHereandThere, had helped to launch it, from New Zealand! (She told me the Czech for ice cream sundae, which I have never forgotten, and never used). You must remember that this was in the pre-internet and email days; there was no Google Translate, no Blipfoto. All was fresh and new to me, and nothing like Tallin, Riga or Skopje, the only cities I had visited behind the Iron Curtain.

No trace of the curtain in Prague! But all the fancy new stores I saw could not take away from the essential fairy tale quality of the city. The architecture is a mixture of Mediaeval, Renaissance and Baroque, and to describe it as uplifting does not do it justice. I can only advise a visit of at least several days, if you haven't been there.

But I am losing the plot...the following day I went to the main station (Praha hlavní nádra?í) a succeeded in buying a ticket to Otrokovice, and commenced my new life in the shoe manufacturing town of Zlín, in South Moravia, also wonderful, in a completely different way.

Today, I started a new job in Stroud. It's in a building owned by the Dominican Sisters, which has extensive grounds. Next door is the health centre, in its own grounds; the Church of the Immaculate Conception; the Rosary School; and the Old Convent (can you see where this is going?) Having returned early from my lunch in the park, I popped out through a random door, and found myself staring at an enormous redwood tree. It turned out I was in the grounds of the health centre, which, as far as I know, is nothing to do with the church. It crossed my mind to change my doctor's surgery, which I have been meaning to do for years. My own has no trees at all. I snapped a few green shots and returned to work.

When I came out later by the same door, I wondered how many more shortcuts I could find. Being on foot, I like to save time and avoid traffic. I set off towards the Rosary school, which I vaguely know, and stumbled across this fairy tale tower! It's part of the Old Convent, which is now let out to small businesses and therapists. I had seen it before, even rented a room at the Old Convent once, but had forgotten its existence, because all of Old Catholic Stroud and its grounds and mature trees are hidden from the main roads. Visitors entering Stroud from the A46 are more likely to notice Tesco's, the Apollo cinema, and, yes, even McDonalds!

I took some cygnet shots in the park, and some floral ones near this little tower, but I have chosen this because I like the idea of showcasing unknown parts of my town. When I visited Budapest for the second time a few years ago, I took a book called Only in Budapest: A Guide to Hidden Corners, Little-known Places and Unusual Objects, and as a result I found places that nobody else on the college trip had heard of.

I think if there were a book called Only in Stroud it would run to at least 26 volumes, because Stroud is known for its bohemian/artistic tendencies; as well as its old mills, which are part of it history as a wool town; and for being an unofficial Rudolf Steiner town, and a Transition Town.

Hidden Stroud, Part 0 here