Good Friday on the Cotswold Canal

I first came to Stroud in April 1992, on Good Friday. Arriving at the small station, I was met by my friend Joy, who whizzed me up to Rodborough common to attend a meditation group. Cowslips were blooming, wild, all over the common. In the rest of England, they were considered an endangered species. I knew, immediately, that I would end up living here.

Twenty-three years on. I have still not learned to meditate! But I am not giving myself a hard time about it. Let's just say that my eventual move, in 1994, turned out to be a good one.

The town has changed. The canal, known then as the Thames and Severn, was in a state of disrepair. It still is, but restoration work goes on, and on. This lock, known as Wallbridge upper lock, has been restored, and the former Lock Keepers bar turned into a tea shop. I haven't been back there since the former cafe owner was priced out by a greedy landlord after her three year lease was up. More or less the same thing happened to my mates T and Y, who ran "the Lockies" as an LGBT bar for three years.

One of the long-term aims for the town is to link the restored canal with the town centre. At the moment it is not easily accessible, owing to the road layout; the position of Stroud railway station and its numerous car parks; and the warehouses on the other side adjacent to Stroud's ring road. A casual visitor to Stroud might never know that it was there.

As for my restoration, we might start with the bags under my eyes...or just accept that I'm 23 years older!

A lovely day of modelling for a very organised artist, followed by a very long chat in a cafe (not this one) with a friend and poet, Jeff, and a meander home, which took in the pub and its music festival, where I bumped into some friends, Symon and Jon. They came back for tea and hot cross buns. Back in the 70s, we only ever ate HCBs on Good Friday.