Remembering Rodborough began as a Heritage Lottery funded project in 2009. Part of the brief was the audio recording of memories. A very precious archive was acquired then and has been added to and we are delighted to be gradually passing this material to the Stroud Voices website who will publish, edit and reference it so that searches of place and subject are possible.
For a bit of nostalgia on a wintery day, take a look at http://stroudvoices.co.uk/find/#rodborough
We have been given permission to use these family photos by the Facebook page Stroud Valleys Photographs.
The post reads:
“This is a Stroud Family called Cooke of Mum, Dad and 9 children and was taken around 1907/8.
They lived at one time in Lower Street, Stroud and then by1911 Spillmans Road, Rodborough. The children’s names were: Florence (1891), Julia (1893), Charlie (1894), Ivy (1895), Myrtle (1896), Alma (1899), Zina (1902), Martha (1904), Leah (1907).
Some of the girls later emigrated to America and married out there… The remainder stayed around Rodborough with the girls working at the Strachans Cloth Mill at the bottom of the hill.
Myrtle and Zina became famous in 1947 when they were photographed make the cloth for The Duke of Edinburgh’s suit for his wedding to the Queen.
… Hope you enjoy the story and history. Oh I love the dolls as well, can you spot them.”
Charlie Cooke pictured in the family photo was remembered in an interview recorded for Remembering Rodborough. He was a chimney sweep and the interviewee as a small boy had set off in his pedal car down Walkley Hill to meet his father. He was ‘rescued’ and brought back in the sweep’s cart by Charlie.
Today Rodborough’s vicar Peter Francis has been speaking on Radio Gloucestershire about the special stained glass windows in Rodborough Church. We are honoured to give home to the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ window. Rev Awdry spent his retirement years in Rodborough from 1965. His wife Margaret was well-loved in the community and ran the infant welfare clinic at The Endowed School. After her death in 1989 Rev. Awdry commissioned the window in tribute to her. He died in 1997 before it was installed.
Equally special is the window in the Lady Chapel. This commemorates 2nd Lieutenant Norman Steel who was killed, aged 20, at Passchendaele in 1917 and all those Rodborough men lost in WW1. The window was installed in 1939 after the outbreak of the Second World War. The dove perhaps a hope for peace. The window by Mr Henry Payne of Amberley was the gift of the executors of the late Mrs Steel.
Huge thanks to Rodborough Scouts who have again tidied the Commonwealth War Graves and those family graves commemorating soldiers who died in the First World War. A map and list appears here
Thanks to all the lovely people who came to see us at Rodborough Community Hall. We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for our local history project. We had those wonderful ‘Antiques Roadshow’ moments when people brought things along, we introduced folks to others with a shared interest, we talked over tea and cakes and at times you were all as quietly absorbed as mice in a reading room! 
Eighteen months ago, Butterrow Book Group approached Rodborough Parish Council in the hope that the iconic red telephone kiosk on Rodborough Lane could be preserved for the benefit of local residents. This quintessentially British treasure was due to be removed by BT, a fate which has befallen thousands of kiosks in recent years – nearly half of the phone boxes in the UK have been removed. This telephone kiosk is an older (1935-1952) K6 model bearing the Tudor crown instead of the more recent St Edward’s crown models which were manufactured after the Queen’s coronation. Butterrow Book Group’s intention was to repaint it and convert it into a community book share. Indeed, 4000 communities UK wide have joined this scheme.
Happily, RPC agreed to adopt it in a very straightforward process which simply involved the payment of £1. Butterrow Book Group has lovingly restored it to its former glory and given it a new lease of life. Many Butterrow households took part in the restoration, making it a hugely successful community project which has drawn many encouraging and supportive comments. Thank you to everyone in the area who has spurred them on by expressing their interest, joining in, donating books and by simply expressing their good wishes and telling them how lovely the kiosk looks!
Despite the pouring rain, we had a great turn out at the Coffee Pot yesterday. We are always thrilled at the little gems of information gleaned. It feels like adding extra pieces to the jigsaw of Rodborough.
Who knew that this milestone sits on Dudbridge Road? I, for one, have never noticed it.
We are very grateful to Rodborough Parish Council for a generous donation that has enabled us to set up this website.
The grant awards evening was an uplifting experience; Rodborough has so many active community groups, among them the Butterrow Book Group, who have adopted the redundant phone box on Rodborough Lane (It has been bought by the Parish Council) and will be converted to a book share kiosk. It dates from somewhere between 1936 and 1952. Does anyone know?
It’s interesting to reflect that photographing what we think of as ordinary may have huge historical value.
Also spotted and both in use, were two phone boxes in Dudbridge
The March edition of Rodborough Tabernacle News includes an article on Hungarian refugees at Rodborough Fort in 1956, noting their gratitude for kindness received.
Do you have any memories of this time?
