What do you all reckon to Stroud, Gloucestershire?

We're going to move out of London and head over that way, and it looks like Stroud could be a nice town to go to. Anyone have any opinions or experiences they'd care to share?

We're thinking about going there for a weekend stay soon, maybe taking bikes to try local trails, then have a wander around and a meal and stay in a B&B. Any recommendations of places to stay? rides? places to eat?

Dave

TBH, I don't know if I'd want to live in Stroud itself (it always feels a bit 'grubby' and cramped to me), but I know people who live in Minchinhampton and Box on the hills to the south of Stroud and that is very pretty indeed.

EDIT: Friend of mine rented this place (or one of the others in the same terrace) for the w/e when she got married in Stroud, which had a lot of character – but would be a 10/15 min drive out of Stroud itself.

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/stroud/112620

MY bro lives in stroud

Not sure about trails, although if you get an OS map of the area and find a bridleway heading out North or N.E ish I'd bet you'd find something out that way. Alternatively could ask at Noahs Ark, bike shop a couple of miles out along the Cirencester road.

Plenty of nice pubs, fairly hippy/guardian reading kinda place (one of UKs first Fairtrade towns, Woodruffs in the high street was UKs first all Organic cafe I think)even has it's own local currency that you can use in some independant places (the Stroud pound)

Plenty of good cafes to eat during the day (Star Annice, Mills, Woodruffs) but not so much in the evening that I can think of, but there's the usual chinese / indian / kebabs.

Great farmers Market every saturday.

Should still be a few old school B&Bs in the town – torist info office is in the subscription rooms (which anyone will be able to direct you to.)

It's pretty cool

there are trails riding distance of town. i used to work there, it was slightly grubby compared to other towns in the cotswolds, and traffic was a bugger, but i liked it. if i was living there i'd try nailsworth and bike into stroud

I'd go Nailsworth rather than Stroud.

Interesting… can anyone clarify what you mean by 'grubby'? (oh, and bear in mind I live in Croydon at the moment!)

Not sure I want to be that much further south… I'll probably be working up in Gloucester/Chelt, and Stroud appealed because it is a nice rideable distance (I ride 15 miles each way at the moment), but also had a train line I could use as backup.

Dave

nice hilly commute to cheltenham 😯

if you live in croydon, stroud will be unimaginable bliss

nice hilly commute to cheltenham

Indeed.

can anyone clarify what you mean by 'grubby'?

Dunno really, it always looks to me like it has the layer of grime of an inner city where you might be expecting Cotswold 'chocolate box' views. Also, as it nestles in the valley, all the industrial bits seem to be in plain view on the roads in and out of town. Might be that I only ever seem to go when it raining/winter and have missed the nice bits 😉

Stroud seems a little run down, could be worse it could be gloucester i guess. And it may only be 15miles to Cheltenham and Glos but as a daily commute, you may find the hills an issue depending on fitness.

Lived in stroud for a while, lovely place, good trains to London and Gloucester and Cheltenham, also South Wales by changing at Gloucester.

Randwick is nice, as is Painswick, Dursley, Ebley,Cainscross, and Stonehouse,its quite a pull to Cheltenham out and back, but rideable,Gloucester is easier along the bottom road through Stonehouse, i used to do the stroud Gloucester almost every night.
Noahs arc Cycle shop just outside Stroud on the Nailsworth Road.

Stroud town is dirty and looks uncared for,dust and dirty paint,on the shops, a few big supermarkets, and a lot of small family shops,it also used to be a training area for the Police, so they where quite keen to check people out.

Very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter, the natives dont speak much,but are usually white and english.

I did the same thing 10 years ago. I moved from Finchley to Stroud 10 years ago. I understand what people mean about "grubby" Don't read that to mean dirty, just very"green" The toen itself is actually very nice if you take time to look around but has been over run by pound stores and cafes selling lentil and oatmeal lolipops and the like.
To be fair, I live in North Woodchester which is just outside the main town, quieter and less crammed in than the town.
It has the big 3 supermarkets in the town and all the shops you could ever wish for in a small town. It has a nice canal which is being developed over the next 5 years or so and is surrounded by common land giving acres and acres of land to explore. The air is noticeably cleaner than London, the people nicer and willing to talk (don't all jump on me if your from London, it's my personal view!!) and is generaly a lovely place to live.
Cribbs causeway is a huge, london sized shopping development and is 1/2 an hour away, Bristol, Bath (stunning), Gloucester (not so much), Cheltenham and other smaller towns and villages are all half and hour or so in any direction.
more than enough riding for a lifetime and of course a fantastic uplift service at the Forest of Dean which is 40 mins away (shameless Plug)

Hope that helps? f you need any more help, just ask.

Cheers and good luck with the move.

I wrote this very quickly so sorry about the numerous grammatical errors.

Live in nailsworth nr stroud, grew up in painswick and have lived all over this area. Moved back here from abroad when we had kids. Great for families. Mail in profile if you need to know anything re the area/places to avoid. Great riding also!

Cheers guys… bit of a mixed bag of opinions there 🙂

I'm not totally put off though, and like I said, I'm planning to come down for a weekend to test drive the area.

Any suggestions of mtb routes from Stroud?

Also, what about places to stay? The Clothier's Arms gets reasonable reviews on tripadvisor – anyone been there?

Dave

if youve got a bit more to spend try the old lodge on minchinhampton common, i put lots of people up there when they stay and they love it. get to the farmers market on saturday to get a feel of the community vibe. mills cafe or star anise cafe for lunch. woolpack at slad or butchers arms in sheepscombe for a lovely pub meal in a beautiful cotswold location. lots of great areas of the town, dont be put off its actually a nice place. do check nailsworth as imo its a nicer smaller town and still only 3/4 miles from stroud. drop me a line nearer the time re riding.

Cheers tang. The farmers market was one of the things that attracted me to Stroud in the first place, so we'll definitely check that out.

Any more opinions from the weekend crowd?

Dave

Lived in Stroud for somewhere between four and five years. Looking back, I wonder how the **** I wasted so much time living there.

If you're looking to get away from the urban sprawl that is Croydon, prepare for a bit of a slowdown if you move to Stroud. Generally, the locals are a bit on the unfriendly side. The odious Roger Knapman was the MP when I lived there. Went Labour with David (I think) Drew in '97 but recently went back to Tory which is what the huntin' lovin' landowners like around there.

I occasionally go back there for work or to pop in and see old friends. Now that I'm a bit older, I can see the benefits – beautiful countryside (it's at the confluence of five valleys – there are certain points around there where you can see all of them meeting) – chocolate box houses (not you won't be paying for the privilege of course), nice country pubs, etc etc.

Would I move back there? Not a chance in hell. It was boring, boring, boring. The town centre promises much but underdelivers spectacularly and manages to be quite rough on a Friday or Saturday night (no uniquemess there though). I moved south to Bristol after a few years and wondered why I hadn't done so much earlier tbh.

If I was moving out of London, I'd consider Cheltenham or Bristol….Stroud might just be a bit much of a deceleration.

…have a look at Cirencester too, nicer than Stroud 🙂 bike commute to Gloucester and Cheltenham still very doable, although maybe only a couple of times a week 'cos of the nice hills…

As for routes it's always best to hook up with local riders, ahh here are some: 😉

Bigfoot Mountain Bike Club

You're welcome to come out with us if we're doing a Stroud ride, if not then have a peek at this GPS trace that one of our guys did on a recent Stroud ride for inspiration:

Stroud Ride

this is my friends place: http://www.stmichaelsrestaurant.co.uk/

its in Painswick, oh and Noah's Ark (Stroud) is an excellent bike shop I can't recommend them enough!!

If you are going to be working in Gloucester/Cheltenham area I'd go for Cheltenham or somewhere very near. As someone has already mentioned Cirencester is a nice small town with all the necessary shops and amenities.

Again already mentioned is Bristol a city I'm liking more and more with every visit.

yeah Cirencester (aka "the village of the damned") is pretty good, check out "Made by Bob" for some great food (and Barnsley House/the Village Pub)

Have a friend who lives in Sheepskin near Stroud, he loves it. Tiny wee village. Much better than Stroud itself.

Charles and Anne Windsor also live near Stroud, in large houses subsided by the state.

Stroud is more 'crusty' then grubby…

It has better off-road riding than Cirencester (from the doorstep) and cheaper house prices. As per above, I'd live in one of the outlying villages rather than Stroud itself.

Riding to Gloucester every day up the A38? Stuff that, anything you save on house prices you'll pay out on life insurance…

Cirencester is in the middle of nowhere, expensive compared to Stroud/ the valleys due to it's closeness to the M4/Reading etc. Plenty of small villages etc in the Stroud valleys. Cheltenham is massively overpriced and overated, Gloucester is still a bit rundown but again there are plenty of villages on the outskirts which are nice (and close to the trails). Tangs your man for Stroud info, I can introduce you to plenty of trails around this neck of the woods. All the best.