Stroud

Stroud is a market town in Gloucestershire, set in the steep, wooded valleys at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in England. Its position where fast streams such as the River Frome descend the hills powered a thriving woollen industry, and the town still shows its industrial past in converted mill buildings and the remnants of the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames and Severn Canal.

Nowadays Stroud is celebrated for a lively independent scene - a long‑running farmers’ market, craft shops, galleries, music and festivals - and a creative, environmentally minded community. The surrounding countryside draws walkers and smallholding farmers, so the town combines a strong local economy of makers and traders with easy access to rural recreation.