William Ewart Gladstone, Late nineteenth century Liberal, Principled opponent of imperialism, According to some history books; Serial...

The Memoirs of William Cuffay, as recorded as faithfully as possible by his amanuensis, James Rochester, the Tasmania workhouse,...

The voice of Robert Wedderburn: ‘My father was a plantation owner, by name, James Wedderburn. My mother, Rosanna, was the other side of a...

Walter Tull as a baby 1. Born 1888 2. In Folkestone, Kent 3. Mother, the daughter of a farm labourer from Kent – Alice Palmer. 4. Father,...

The Soldier BY RUPERT BROOKE If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever...

Saul The waters that run past Saul Junction, And the Stroudwater Navigation, On the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, Flow past Phillpott’s...

Chalford has such a labyrinth of weavers’ walks and footpaths – And on a mid-winter’s day, with plumes of smoke rising from Chalford...

From Stroud to Strouds: The Hidden History of a British Fur Trade Textile Cory Wilmott Textile History Journal November 2005 These rough...

A comparison of Island Man and Limbo with a formal piece of writing as an assessment, if wanted. There then follows a piece about...

At first glance, any connection between Kings Stanley, Near the Cotswold mill town of Stroud, And Jesse James of Wild West infamy, Would...

Notes and Thoughts derived from reading The New Working Class How to win Hearts, Minds and Votes Claire Ainsley, Policy Press 2018 How do...

Novels, Fiction, Facts, Allegories and Covid-19 Following on from resonant extracts from Daniel Defoe, here's something similar from...

A Ghost Pub Pilgrimage through Stroud and the Five Valleys An A-Z Gazetteer With thanks to Geoff Sandles and his invaluable and necessary...

Reimagining how the Railway Lies I live in Stroud, Home of the arch commemorating the abolition of slavery, An arch from 1834, Standing...

In 1984 Orwell wrote “If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.“ I think he was wrong. If...

Statues and History and Heritage ‘You can’t change history,’ they cry. Forgetting the old Collingwood adage: ‘Every generation re-writes...

Novels, Fiction, Facts, Allegories, History and Covid-19 The first in a series of posts: A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe ‘ … it...

When I was a little, tiny boy, Me daddy said to me The time has come my bonny, bonny bairn, To learn your ABC. Now Daddy was a lodge...

I’ve written this simple A to Z guide so it can be used to stitch a sampler; be recited at night when you can’t sleep; used as a memory...