New visitor centre

A LEASE has been signed for the new Visitor Centre and Trust Head Office at Wallbridge Lock, in the centre of Stroud, for the Cotswold Canals Trust.

This is a significant  location in that Wallbridge is the meeting point of the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames & Severn Canal, with the new  Visitor Centre being based in the old Bell Hotel, now known as Bell House.

From Left to right, in the photograph by Jill Field, are Sarah Magalotti, Luciano Magalotti (the owners of the Bell Hotel), Elizabeth Payne (Chairman Cotswold Canals Trust) holding the lease, Sue Creswick representing Stroud Town Council and David Marshall representing Stroud District Council, with the new premises in the background.

Easy access

This will allow the people of Stroud to have easy access to up-to-date information on the ongoing restoration scheme. Visitors to the Cotswolds and Stroud in particular, will be able to familiarise themselves with the area's rich history and industrial heritage. When the opportunity arose to rent part of the old Bell Hotel it was eagerly grasped.

The new premises will provide a Visitor Information Centre, Trust administration office and retail area. This lockside facility, staffed by volunteers from the Cotswold Canals Trust, will also be a base for a trip boat operation, a centre for guided walks, a lockside picnic area and a stop off point for refreshments.

Grant aid

Chairman Elizabeth Payne tells us:

"This momentous step has been enabled with grant aid from Stroud Town Council, Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire County Council and the Inland Waterways Association.

"The premises are currently undergoing a refit by both professionals and our own volunteers, if everything goes to plan the centre should be open at the beginning of July."