Grazing quietly on the meadow above Folly Lane

I had to visit someone on the upper slopes of the hillside which marks the land between two valleys, the Slad and the Painswick streams. These are two of the Five Valleys, which all flow into the main River Frome close to what is now the town centre of Stroud.

I'm now on a quest to find good vantage points where I can get a photograph featuring St Lawrence Church to show its place with the town. In fact it is the oldest known structure in Stroud, having originally been built in the 12th century. From that period onwards, the town developed into the administrative centre of the area, taking over from the Hundred of Bisley which is sited about two miles up these valleys, on the open countryside of the higher Cotswolds. 

Increasingly Stroud grew in importance following the development of the woollen industry, based on local rearing of sheep. The powerful flow of the rivers was harnessed to provide power in the many mills that evolved in these five river valleys, particularly for the vital 'fulling' process. 

From Wiki:
Fulling, also known as tucking or walking (Scots: waukin, hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate (lanolin) oils, dirt, and other impurities, and to make it shrink by friction and pressure. The work delivers a smooth, tightly finished fabric that is insulating and water-repellent. Fulling involves two processes: scouring (cleaning) and milling (thickening). Removing the oils encourages felting, and the cloth is pounded to clean it and to encourage the fibres to 'felt', so in practice the processes overlap.

It required immense energy to swing the fulling mechanisms, which in turn needed the plentiful supply of Fuller's Earth lying between the many limestone strata which outcrop in the local area. The limestone rocks were also vital to provide the building blocks for the mill buildings, the workers' and weavers' cottages as well as raw material for lime production in local kilns fired by the abundant wood on the steep hillsides. All in all you can understand why the area became such an important industrial area in medieval times.

Today I was surprised to see a herd of light coloured cows in this field, and as the light was delightful I thought it might provide a charming scene.