Blue Monday in Gloucester Street

Gloucester Street, Stroud, is my #onestreet on blip. There are many changes of occupancy as it's not a fashionable street, but this is a sad tale.

A few years ago my former landlady bought two shops with flats above. The two flats have now cost so much to renovate that she has had to sell one of the shops below to a financial shark. She struggled to find tenants for the shops, as most businesses try to move uptown once they're established.

Whether the ladies' hairdresser will succeed in this part of town is doubtful.

Sad day, too, for Thomas Cook travel agents and their customers. We had a fabulous TC holiday to Kefalonia a few years ago. Stroud has now lost its last remaining bricks-and-mortar travel agency. Tui, Going Places and Lunn Poly are long gone, and so too is Stroud's Tourist information centre.