Hiiden Stroud: Painswick stream at Stratford Mill

I know all too well that this scene could have been shot anywhere. It's not site specific. In fact, it's the Painswick stream at the remains of Stratford Mill (first mentioned in the Domesday book) near Tesco's in Stroud. A viaduct runs overhead, carrying the railway line, but my lens isn't wide enough to take the whole view in, and I had forgotten about the panorama option on my camera.

After work (hard today, because we had swimming, and didn't leave till nearly 4 pm) I went to the supermarket because the weather had turned lovely, and I had been seized by an urge for chicken. Once I'd stocked up on a few items, I walked past this scene of dappled loveliness which I blipped from a small bridge, and along the footpath/green space to the main road, where I walked for 500 yards before joining the newly restored canal.

It's now possible to walk along the canal to within ten minutes from my home. I hadn't been that way for a while, so was keen to see if anything had changed. The site still looks new, and rather barren, but signs have gone up warning potential 'tombstoners' (wild swimmers dive bombing in ) that the water is only one and a half metres deep!

By Arundel mill I stopped to rest. One of the loveliest things about that place is that the water hurling down the remains of the mill race drowns out the sound of the traffic, so the scene feels tranquil and rural, though not far from the main Stroud-Cirencester-London road! I must return there to try and blip the mill race.

Tomorrow is our last day of work for a week! We are off camping on Sunday, in sunny South Devon. I have been besieged by calls today, begging me to work here and there, but I Just Said No. Liberation at last!

More Hidden Stroud blips are listed in my bio.