Street life in Stroud on our Goodwill Evening

Woodpeckers and I went to town tonight to see what was happening on the streets during Goodwill Evening, Stroud's annual Friday night precursor to the Christmas season. We got there at about 6-30pm and arrived at the Subscription Rooms just as the procession was setting off from Threadneedle Street headed by Rinky-Dink's Sound System, Stroud's very own pedal powered musical extravaganza. We followed the procession down the High Street, taking some pictures amongst the throngs of children, parents and local people. That is what makes the evening so special, as residents from all parts of the town and its valleys gather together for a fun evening. The shops are all open, mostly offering mulled wine, mince pies and many other snacks whilst several choirs, buskers and street performers play music. The Farmers Market was opened fifteen hours early than usual with many unusual stalls to attract the shoppers to their often hand-made wares.

Helena was going on at 8pm to meet friends and colleagues for a quiz night in the Lock-Keepers cafe down by the canal lock, so after we split up I headed on around town. I was asked by a woman, when I first photographed Rinky-Dink's crowd at the head of the procession, if I could provide her with some photos, which I agreed to do, and she gave me her card. Apparently she was the organiser of the event to which the Town Council gives a sizeable grant to help pay its bills. I'm only too happy to help.

Unfortunately I had forgotten my flash, so I was rather hampered in my scope tonight. I shot a range of pictures, which I like to do to see what results I get when I am filming handheld and at a brisk pace, going from scene to scene. I spent a bit of time with the fire jugglers, who were obviously a bunch of young friends gathered together by the main junction of the High Street. There were two men who seemed to be the more expert, and two women who were close by who were using hula-hoop type rings with various internal patterned lights.

I focused on one man and one woman around whom a good crowd had gathered and asked the man if he minded me getting up close. He laughed and said no, as long as I was prepared to accept the danger of the fire. I enjoyed trying to photograph them in the street and rather hoped for the best. I whacked up the ISO to levels I have never reached before, and I'm relatively pleased with the results.

As I was leaving to move elsewhere, I spotted Ashley, my farmer friend from the Bisley farm shop where I blipped yesterday, with his two children. This was timely as I'd wanted to speak to him about arranging to get a Christmas tree from him, so I hailed him. He said that I should come up to the farm tomorrow, and he would take me out into the field and I could choose which tree I wanted and he would cut it down for us. What service!

Then he commented that he thought the woman I had been photographing was the best of the performers. At which point a friendly, and rather drunken man, who had been shouting out rather loudly, as if from the 'chorus', came up to me and told me 'I must get her name'. I think he thought I was a journalist or at least a photographer for the local newspaper. He then walked away to approach the performer and brought her over to me, saying I needed her name! So Raphaela Sandwell-Walters quite happily proceeded to tell me it, correcting my initial spelling and then as we smiled at each other and the situation, she went back to carry on her artistry, whilst I headed away with Ashley. I will try to contact her and let her know I have taken these pictures.

It was a fun evening, and soon afterwards I bumped into an old friend of Helena's, Jen, who we don;'t see too often anymore. We chatted for a long while and she said she loved Goodwill Evening because it brought all the different sides of Stroud out onto the street to play together, which I think is very true. Long may it continue. I then wandered home and Helena has only just walked in the door many hours later, very 'happy' after three bottles of cider, which is quite a lot for her, and having contributed a lot to her team coming third in the quiz competition, in aid of a local hospice. Well done them.


I have put some other pictures from the evening, although mostly of the street performers, on my Flickr gallery.