Slightly out of Stroud is the Tetbury Goods Shed arts centre. It’s easily walked to from Tetbury town centre if you don’t mind a short steep hill but it has a free car park beside it.
Cafe opening Hours: 10am till 4pm Wednesday to Sunday.
As the name suggests, it’s the old railway goods shed on the now closed Tetbury to Kemble railway line. There’s a lot of information about the old railway in the goods shed along with old photos and track plans etc.
The arts centre hosts talks, shows films, has afternoon piano recitals and exhibits the work from local artists. Some evenings bands (rock) are playing. There’s also a cafe called The Whistle Stop Cafe that has a huge range of cakes and drinks.
On Saturdays there’s usually a small fruit and veg market outside the building.
There’s plenty of outdoor seating, some under cover. There’s also seating in the actual goods shed subject to there being no paid events taking place. You can also sit in the old Finnish 5ft gauge railway carriage.
Slightly nearer the town was the railway platform which has long gone as the last train ran in April 1964. This would have been a diesel railcar as the last actual steam train ran in 1959. The line like many others was closed by Dr Beeching.
As a note of interest the old LMS railway line to Nailsworth from Stroud was intended to carry on to Tetbury. That would have been an interesting climb out of the valley!
A recent acquisition is the original signal box that found its way back to the site after spending many years in a railway enthusiasts garden somewhere in Cornwall (I think).
This is being put back together as of November 2021.
The railway had a halt that served the Trouble House pub, probably the only pub with its own dedicated railway halt. The tracks are no longer, but the route forms part of a number of good circular walks of different lengths with sign boards suggesting where to go. It’s also part of a longer cycle route.
Typically you can walk the old track bed (the Tetbury Trail) and make your way back along Herd Lane, which passes a large number of allotments. It’s 1.5 miles and takes about 30 minutes. If it’s wet wear you wellies as Herd Lane takes you to a track across fields.
Take your dog if you have one, you can then talk to other dog walkers about its age and other such dog stuff that dog owners talk about. Personally I find taking my pet giraffe is a great conversation starter, especially when I tell people it’s a rescue.
Back to the walk, there’s some old anti tank defenses along the Tetbury Trail and on a nearby road is an old pill box.
At start of the walk there are a number of timber exercise stations with instructions on how to use them. The goods shed is a five minute walk from Tetbury town centre where you can experience the joys of a small supermarket, hotels and lots of antique shops along with a Saturday market under the old market house.