The old convent stairwell

I had arranged to meet my good friend Jonathan N., so that he could apply his osteopathic skills on my rather neglected frame. I like to regularly have a tweak but I've left it far too long this time.

I haven't seen him since last autumn, although we did have a rather synchronistic moment near Christmastime. I had been in our local library looking at old Tithe maps and trying to find the unique one which had been hand-painted to demarcate the ownership of the large field and estates. I took some photos of the area we live in, and then suddenly decided to take a couple more of where Jonathan lives near the village of Slad, about two miles up the Slad valley. I had remembered he was having some disputes with a local farmer about rights of way to his wooden house in the woods halfway up the hillside accessible only by tracks.

Thinking he might like to see these unique maps, I emailed him a few photos of the area around his house and thought no more of it. He emailed me back to say he was astounded. He had been into the library about an hour before me, found this exact map and wondered how he could get a copy of it, taking the name of the man who had prepared the map, to try and buy it. Next thing he knows is that the exact area of the map he wanted flies into his In Box as if by magic. 'Ask and thou shalt receive'?

Coincidentally, this morning I had brought with me an Ordnance Survey map of Gloucester, Cheltenham and the five valleys of Stroud, which I put down on the table in his room. I have been looking at it to check places for me to go to find good views and possible blips. Jonathan picked it up and noticed that on the cover of the map was a photo taken from the opposite side of the valley of exactly the area of land next to his house and land that is the centre of the dispute!

The old convent building has been converted into rentable studios and therapy rooms on several floors. On my way out from my session with him, after an entertaining and delightful easing of my back and neck, I walked a few paces to the stairwell, to walk down to the cloister-like corridor on the ground floor, where I would use the exit into town. This round stairwell is rather chilly, but I liked the form of the curving round tower, which is attached to the outside of the building, constructed of local stone. With a little more time I might have done the gloomy interior more justice.

I hope Jonathan receives justice next week, when he attends the High Court in Bristol next week, when his access issues will be adjudicated by a High Court judge.