The Brew House, on Nelson and Acre St., again

I was rung rather too early for my liking this morning by Camilla, who asked if I would come at 10-30am for a photo-call for Stroud Preservation Trust. As I am sure regular readers of this journal will know, we are producing an exhibition next week and we want to get publicity in the local papers. A little later the phone rang again to with a little voice say 'Can you come at 10am?'.

So without enough coffee in my system, I dressed up (hah!) and wandered down to the top of the High Street, which Camilla had chosen as a suitable backdrop for us to stand awkwardly. We ended up taking four sets of pictures with differing backgrounds of the Medieval Hall, which was restored by the Trust in 1984. Anne M., who was the third trustee to attend this photo-call, was actually a founder member of the Trust and absolutely pivotal to its thirty years of success in saving Stroud's buildings.

The staff photographer for Stroud Life, the paper in question, was Simon P., who once kindly joined in my call for photographers to record their own visions of the Brunel Goods Shed, before the Trust began its final restoration in November 2010. As part of the exhibition, sixteen of those images will be printed and hung to accompany the history of the Trust's work. It was interesting to chat to him about his situation now, having been a professional photographer for nearly thirty years in the Stroud area, which he loves doing, but he fears will not be a job for much longer.

When we finished, I demanded a proper coffee, so we crossed the busy intersection, originally called The Cross (before the start of the demolition of old parts of Stroud in the 1960s and 70s), and went to the Black Books cafe. I hadn't been there before but like everyone else who I've talked to, found it a very good venue for reading, chatting, drinking and sitting to mull over life. I took some pictures there of Anne and Camilla, but forgot to ask their permission to use any of them as my blip, even though I did tell them about this site and hope they may come and view my journal, and others.

I walked up Nelson Street, a very old road of early Stroud, which runs up the hill beside the cafe. I looked back at this house on the corner of Acre Street to see how it was faring. On one of the new house doors the name 'The Brew House', seems to suggest its origin. I am worried about its condition, as it was re-rendered after some building works a couple of years ago (as I showed on one of my earliest Blips), but still seems to have damp patches on the lime-based render. The vine has grown a lot, and has lots of grapes, but all the signs of damp penetration are still there and it doesn't look too good to me. I must try to find out more about its history. Anne's husband is an amazing source of knowledge, being an esteemed local historian, particularly about Stroud's textile industry's heritage. Ian will be giving a guided tour recounting the history of Stroud High Street, as part of the events related to the Preservation Trust's exhibition next week. I must attend!