Family History Meet up with Cousin Janet

We went to Uley, Glos. to meet up with my cousin and her husband from Stourbridge. Uley is just outside Dursley on the edge of the Cotswolds and it was a delightful place .
Much time was spent in the Prema Arts Cafe sited in the old Bethesda Chapel .
After a wander round we were able to locate the chapel where my Great Great Grandfather had been baptised and we also found the Elcombe Farm in a tiny hamlet where our ancestors had worked as agricultural labourers.Its from here that Great Grandfather Joseph French moved to Kidderminster in the 19th Century to be a Cordwainer .
We had also unearthed that one poor relative who’d had an illegitimate child had ended up in the Workhouse described as an ‘imbecile ‘ as many were described in those times .
Janet and I hadn’t seen one another for 15 years so we had non stop chat .
Uley itself has much history to discover including its famous Gorilla who was treated as a human child and would take tea and cider in the village - sadly ended up being sold and falling into the hands of Barnum Circus . https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/26/john-daniel-gorilla-drank-tea-school-uley-gloucestershire
The post office there is community run and we’re really helpful - by the time we got home the Uley archivist had rung so I will speak to her about some of our unanswered questions .Extra photos are of the area and places connected to the French family .