Ebley Mill early in the day

Camilla picked me up at 8-45am to go to a key meeting at Stroud District Council. As trustees of Stroud Preservation Trust we would be discussing the basis of a lease for the trust to take on the former Chapels of Rest in Stroud Cemetery with a view to securing their future. At present they are obsolete listed buildings which are much admired in the town but whose future usage is hard to envisage.

Professor H. B, another of our trustees met us there, and while we waited for him I nipped out of the reception area to take a couple of pictures. We then had a very good, friendly but realistic discussion with the head of the relevant department in the Council. I don't think it could have gone better. 

The District Council moved into this converted textile mill about thirty years ago when local government changes widened their remit to a very much wider area than just the town centre. That was also when the Town Council was established as a very large parish council. I was a town councillor for about eleven years until 2017. Now my main voluntary work is as a trustee looking after the older buildings in the area, many of which have very fascinating histories.