Continuing my wander around one of the Stroud Five Valleys, I come across this lovely old cloth mill with the mill pond in front. To be honest I was a bit disappointed with the state of the pond, as I remember it clean with no weeds and ducks enjoying their lives on it.
As I've said before, our valleys are full of these mills producing cloth for around the world in the past, including the famous green beige for snooker tables and the red cloth for the Grenadier Guards that protect the Queen, along with other duties of course.
This is Belvedere Mill, built in the early 1800's with a sluice gate to the left. This of course turned the river water away from the mill, or towards the waterwheel that drove the machinery around all the floors.
As you can imagine, these mills where the main employers through the valleys and families walk to them from their cottages built on the hillsides. In fact many of the mills had their own terrace cottages and took the rent from the workers’ wages.
The mills are still used today but for many other industries, with only one still actively producing cloth. I’m so glad they are preserved for everyone to admire. I love them.
I love that book