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A People’s History Chapter Eight

A MISCELLANY OF HISTORY A TEXTUAL WEAVING OF A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES A TEXTUAL SAMPLER Chapter Eight The last chapter looked at the 1825 Riots and emigration with a particular focus upon Clay Sinclair of A People’s Republic of Stroud and coincidences worthy of Dickens and Hardy in the tales of his family’s emigration. But we return to Fisher and Stroud in the 1830s: Shades of Dickens and Hardy in these laconic jottings from Fisher:   1833-12-06 Joseph KING robbed by two highwaymen, APPERLEY and WILKINSON, in Rodborough-lane.   1834-04-04 APPERLEY and WILKINSON, at Gloucester, transported for life for robbing Joseph KING in Rodborough-lane.   1839-05-18 A man named DALBY committed for trial for cutting a girl’s throat on Rodborough Hill.   1839-08-28 A man sold his...

The Fascination of Railways

The Fascination of Railways Rodborough Church Performance   A friend at Stroud Walking Football lent me his boyhood collection of 17 Awdry stories, given to him at Christmas and birthdays in the early 1960s. I emailed him with a few questions and observations,...

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Stations like Stroud (and Macbeth)

Stations like Stroud (and Macbeth)   They’re great theatre, railway stations, don’t you think? The platform as the stage with Life and Existence itself in the limelight. For it’s almost as if a state of beatitude is attained whilst sitting on that platform, regarding...

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The Refreshment Rooms at Swindon

The Refreshment Rooms at Swindon The next time you stop at Swindon and grab a coffee, you might be astonished to discover that the refreshment rooms at Swindon were both famous and infamous (also possibly remind yourself of Shelley’s poem Ozymandias with a quick...

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The Rodborough GWR Bus Service

The Rodborough GWR Bus Service   The GWR experimented with some local bus services in the 1920s around Painswick, Cainscross, Chalford, Kingscourt and Rodborough. I recorded some residents’ memories of Spillmans off Rodborough Hill a few years ago: red brick...

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