An old door at Stafford Mill

I went early to pick up Helena from her afternoon teaching job at Hope Mill and on my way up the London Road (yes, it was the old coach route to London) I drove into the entrance to Stafford Mill.  I had been meaning to explore there for years, and today with half an hour to spare I ventured forth.

Apparently the site was first recorded in 1608, the name "Stafford" comes from a ford across the river (Stone Ford). Now a number of stone buildings built between 1825 and 1831 still survive, and the site is currently occupied by a variety of small businesses including D M Foundry, which had many odd buildings all with different functions related to metalwork.  A tall stone chimney rises high into the sky and still seems to be a vent for nasty fumes, although probably not the ones for which it was built.  Stroud has a surprisingly large array of small metal working businesses dating from when the old mills were converted from water power to coal and the traditional cloth related processes were no longer profitable.

I didn't have a wide angle lens with me, so given the narrow alleys and industrial yards I couldn't stand back far enough to record many shots.  I will definitely return suitably kitted out.  But this wooden shed attached to one stone warehouse caught my eye.  It had sliding wooden door with a wonderful twisted wrought iron handle which I nearly blipped.  But I like the layers of time shown by this old wooden swing door with its rusting hinges and lucky horseshoe.  Close up you can probably can see traces of many layers of paint including a particularly lovely deep blue still shining in the cracks of the woodwork and around the rusty metal fittings.