A Walk Around Barnwood Part 1

[@billyruss]

Hi Richard - I've just been posting in the Barnwood School Facebook page, and seeing your name there reminded me that I've been meaning to leave a comment here, too! As a pupil at Barnwood school in 1973, I took part in a poetry competition judged by the Reverend Seacombe, and won third prize. As part of the prize, we were invited to a tea party at the vicarage (scones and jam etc), followed by a tour of house, including the cellars - I remember a skeleton painted on the wall and a room labelled "Computer Room - beware adders"! I also remember, as a teen, tracing that alleyway all the way from Barnwood church to the city centre, part of a project at the time to map every alleyway in Gloucester 🙂

[@xlithoplatemaker]

Very interesting, thanks!

[@richardauckland4191]

Glad you liked it!

[@nicky_nike]

Why did Wotton Pitch become 'unsavoury'?

[@richardauckland4191]

As far as I can tell, the only bit of Wotton Pitch that became unsavoury was the lane that ran down the Hill, behind the houses, from Horton Road to Armscroft Gardens. The council made a closure order, maybe around 1960, though I am not with my records at present, so I cannot confirm the date. If I recall correctly, this overgrown part of the lane that runs from Barnwood to the centre of Gloucester, which at that point is known today as Royal Well Lane, may well have peen where undesirable activities took place. There is a file about this in the Gloucester Records Office

[@nicky_nike]

@@richardauckland4191 Many thanks. My old stomping ground. I was dragged-up in Grosvenor Road (the posh bit, born 1950) and had a schoolfriend whose house backed onto Royal Well Lane. Used to go to the ice cream factory along that lane. Oh well, this was later than the 'unsavoury' period, so missed out again :o)