Steep step Stroud .....

I had a wonderfully slow and carefree morning, having finished the week's work yesterday, with happy clients. The only drawback was having to go into the council office to sort out a misunderstanding about a grant which was awarded last year. I will have a lot of reading over the weekend and need to apply some forensic skills.

I took my camera, armed with my old favourite 50mm prime lens, and I enjoyed the simplicity of using it. I wandered around the market, the park, the back streets and then the walk home through the oldest part of town. It was when I got to Lower Street that the combination of autumn leaves swirling in the wind and the varied colours still present in the gardens reminded me why I like this season.

I walked past an old building, now converted into flats, called The Castle, and my eye was caught by the small pedestrian lane called the Castle Pitch which runs down the the steep hillside beside it towards the river Frome. Just beyond this point the path becomes a set of steep steps, which I generally manage to avoid climbing, but I do like the view down it. You can just about see the Waitrose store which lies on the flatter land at the base of the hill, immediately beyond which is the canal and railway at Capel's Mill viaduct where I have blipped so often this year.

I was reminded of a poem by a very old friend of mine, Jeff Cloves, who I knew in my London days, and who moved to Stroud before me. He wrote 'Steep step Stroud and wondrous Whiteway' many years ago now, and used to perform it at poetry readings, which I attended when Helena was also performing her excellent poetry for which she was renowned. Sadly I can't remember the words to include here, nor could I find them online, so I must just live with the atmosphere that the words conjure up.