No dark satanic mills in Stroud

I met Maggie at 9am at her house for coffee and our discussion about creating her website. It's always a delight to be with her and she seemed happy with what we've decided to do. She lives in an idyllic Cotswold setting, in the grounds of a 16th century manor house, where I have worked several times before, when making videos and attending client sessions. Outside in the long drive I spotted a host of snowdrops lining the base of a beech woodbank, overlooking the small lake, or was it a big pond?

Then I went off to Stroud District Council's headquarters at Ebley Mill, where I was attending the regular Canal Forum, looking at potential development possibilities which may result from the huge canal regeneration project which is halfway to completion; well, nearly! Hosted by our new MP, it has about 20 people representing various local councils, the Planning Department, developers and specialist interest groups, such as SAG, who today aired their proposals for a new gyratory system on the A46 bridge over the canal at Wallbridge.

Then I went on again into town, to meet an architectural artist who might be employed by a Town Council working group to visualise a possible improvement scheme near the station. It was all go, but interesting and informative.

When I left Ebley Mill, I took advantage of the sun in the clear sky to photograph the old building which was converted about 25 years ago into the main District Council building. I think it was done sympathetically and I always enjoy wandering about it's interior, and discovering more of the original intact features of this important textile production centre, which Stroud has a very good supply of. Outside, I ventured round the back of the mill to see the river flowing over the weir, where the old mill race once was. I expect I will show these features of mills as time goes by, or more likely when I get desperate for a blip.

This is the very first picture I took this afternoon. This is only about one-third of the whole building. The metal railings at the bottom left of the picture are beside the canal, which is waiting for its upgrade. I particularly like the way the sunlight is illuminating the right hand side of the stonework, with that lovely yellowy colour of our local limestone. A few minutes later, I looked again and noticed someone seemed to have lit the fire, as white smoke started wisping from the chimney. Gradually the whole sky started to cloud over.