Tea and cake by the river in the Felt Cafe garden

Helena suggested a walk along the canal towpath to visit the Felt cafe on the far and eastern side of Brimscombe port. We drove to near Stroud Brewery and walked towards Brimscombe. My dodgy joints played up so we curtailed the whole walk and popped in to The Ship Inn where timely beer and cider were imbibed in its garden. I’ve not eaten there, but Helena assures me that its reputation for fine food and a good chef is well deserved.

Helena left the pub to walk further on up the valley of the River Frome, while I walked back to the car to drive to meet her at the Felt Cafe. It is sited at the former Bourne Mill, whose buildings have been converted for use by a variety of small businesses, the main one being Ark cycles, which sells and services bikes, including electric models.

Across the yard the Felt Cafe is in another former ancillary mill building where a ground floor kitchen now opens onto various spaces where people can sit inside or out close to the river Frome, which formerly provided the water power for the mill.

It is a very peaceful scene with the path leading down beside the river to Brimscombe Port, bordered by a Cotswold stone wall beyond which is the remnants of the old canal which is now mostly very overgrown. There is a canal lock beside this site which hopefully will be rebuilt when the canal is regenerated in the direction of the River Thames, to which it was formerly connected via a long canal tunnel beneath Sapperton village, about five miles away.

I had a fine peppermint tea and a slice of very tasty fruit cake, and sat in the quiet of the river’s presence. I saw a jay flying across the river from tree to tree, as well as wrens, wagtails and even some people. This gallery of images of the Felt Cafe gives a fine sense of their delightful place.