History at Capel’s Viaduct
It’s a great walk down to Capel’s Viaduct,
Past old ridge and furrow and tenterhook hedgerows,
Teazles here and there to raise your nap,
Imagining the patchwork quilt of fields of two centuries ago,
Field-names such as Bacon Slad, Calves Close, Sheep Furlong,
Little Chapel Hill, Freeze Land, Side Long Piece, Fir Tree Ground, Wheatlands,
Cobbs Acre, Spout Leaze, Home Ground, Old Well Close, Dye House Mead, Sweetmead;
Each name a toponym with a history and euphony.
The only names we now know and use are ‘Rodborough Fields’.
You pass an old oak sentinel to reach the River Frome
When walking down from Rodborough
(Where the Rev Awdry of railway story fame used to live),
Railway viaduct and river-bridge close at hand,
And there is the dell that once was Capel’s Mill:
Trees clambering down the steep riverbank to shroud the waters,
The remains of a mill sluice quickening the river’s pulse,
Rusting iron work still visible,
The steady drip down from the railway arches,
Sometimes, wild swimming in season,
Sometimes, picnics on high days and holidays,
Sometimes the turquoise flash of a kingfisher,
The splash of an otter or the curve of a dipper;
It’s hard to imagine that spinning jennies once clanked away,
With spinners clocking on and clocking off,
Clerks frowning at the figures in the ledgers,
As the world kept revolving and turning;
But a Spinning Jenny could only stand still at Capel’s Mill,
And watch the steam powered spinning world go by,
As the wooden Capel’s Viaduct was erected by the GWR,
To be succeeded by the brick structure you now see,
Towards the end of the 19th century.
Some years later, a picture postcard scene
Portrays an elegant Edwardian lady
Clutching the rustic fencing on the river’s bridge,
Just by the old mill site and new-brick viaduct,
Staring at the waters with a detached composure,
As land is sold for the building of the houses where I now live:
“Near the GWR and Midland Railways”,
And the well-known “health resort” of Rodborough Common.
Think of that as you make your way past river and canal,
With Stroud town on your left, Rodborough Common on your right,
And history all around your carriage window,
Waving at you on your way to London.