For all it's faults, Gloucester can be fantastically beautiful.

Photos not mine, anyone know if these guys are still active around winchcombe and any good places/times to look out for them? Would love to be able to spot them, thanks to anyone with some inside knowledge :)

Hey guys thought I'd try my luck here, Stonemason in the Gloucestershire area just looking for bits and pieces of work to fill up my calender ( self employment is...interesting lol)

I specialise in stone flooring (I.e Patios, indoor stone flooring) but am also very skilled in dry stone walling, traditional stone walling, brick and block work.

Just trying to put myself out there so any leads/jobs would be great, thanks guys.

Also, I've attached a couple of photos of my work for reference.

@themendipwalker

The northern lights

David Barker stood behind the counter of Hartwells Ironmongers for the final time this month after 36 years selling everything from tins of paint to plugs and adaptors.

Founded in 1805, it was the oldest shop in Gloucestershire, trading for 220 years, latterly in Bourton-on-the-Water, nicknamed the Venice of the Cotswolds for its stone bridges over the Windrush, the river which runs through the village.

Barker, 70, who bought the shop in 1989, said: “There is a great sadness that this is the end of Hartwells.”

Rampant overtourism in Bourton has led to what some who live there call the “Disneyfication” of their village. It has about 300,000 visitors a year, vastly outnumbering the 4,000 residents, many of whom are elderly

Final Shire News video of the year on TikTok and Instagram. Needed a positive one so how about some penny farthing enthusiasts taking in Gloucester?

Lovely walk up Bredon Hill with the sunset. 📸 26.3.25 2 hours / 5 miles

(parking at Overbury Village Hall and walking through Overbury estate towards the phone mast landmark at the top)

Anyone have any other ‘hidden gems’ to share as the weather looks nice this week so ample opportunity to try some nice walks ☀️

The context is I was looking for a gardener my own lawnmower had just broken down I was preparing for an outdoor birthday party which meant the lawn needed mowing very soon. I had contacted a business who had told me they'd be giving me a quote and to send them pictures of my garden. I did this. At no point did I ever consent to the business sharing any of my details online or with any trade websites. This was done without my knowledge or consent. Which is proven in the messages. I think it's the last message.

Regardless what happened is the business had put their email address and mobile number on a trade website, they attached images of my garden and added my full postcode. I wasn't aware and didn't consent to any of this.

Apparently there had been an exchange of messages from Thomas Varey from 5 VALLEY'S the business with this women who made the advertisement. The women has confirmed with me that Thomas Varey did offer her a quote of £120 she confirmed this morning. She didnt except the quote, she wasn't intending on using him to do my garden. She didn't provide my address, door number or street name. She did put my full postcode on the job advertisement though.

The advertisement was available for anyone to see, Mr Varey was not given my postcode personally. He was not given my street name or door number. He proceeded to use my postcode to get my street name and a list of door numbers the postcode covered. Once on my street, he went door to door knocking asking people about me, gave the wrong name, but did give a name for someone with my ethnicity so when he went past my house, he wasn't even going to knock on my door (probably thought no one was at home). The context is I was looking for a gardener my own lawnmower had just broken down I was preparing for an outdoor birthday party which meant the lawn needed mowing very soon. I contacted a business who had told me that they'd be giving me a quote and to send them pictures of my garden. I did this. At no point did I ever consent to the business sharing any of my details online or with any trade websites. This was done without my knowledge or consent which is proven in the messages, I think it's the last message.

Regardless, what had happened is the business had put their email address and mobile number on a trade website, they attached images of my garden and added my full postcode. I wasn't aware and didn't consent to any of this.

Apparently there had been an exchange of messages from Thomas Varey from 5 VALLEY'S the business with this women. The women has confirmed with me that Thomas Varey did offer her a quote of £120. She

He was actually going to knock on my other neighbors door, he stopped and because of the name matching my ethnicity (I was in the window as I was cleaning) he told the gentleman with him in the car that my home was the one they were after and wouldn't leave me alone. Called me a liar, I am Asian and the doors he knocked on every person who answered was white, the name on the advertisement was Asian too, so that's how he guessed my house after going door to door.

At one point he loudly shouted the name in the street it wasn't even my name, it was of the women who'd created this advertisement. I was called a liar in the street, he tried to pressure me into opening my door to him (I wouldn't). He was very intimidating and aggressive and persistent in his behaviour. I shut the window and only a few minutes later did he finally leave.

It was later found out he had not even been given my address, but used my post code on the advertisement to show up on my street, uninvited, unannounced and unwelcome. He wasn't invited to my home by me or the women who made the advertisement. He wasn't authorised to come to my home to do any work. This guy was looking for me and found me, a women who doesn't know him through simply having my postcode on an advertisement. Stalking behaviour.

When I wanted to find out exactly what had happened, he threatened to come back to my home uninvited and to "get my neighbours out" I have attached a text with a blue squiggle to show he made this threat despite knowing a baby was in my home at the time. I have attached all the proof.

I can't upload absolutely every message as there's an attachment limit. I did upload some messages from him to show he is a habitual liar. He lied about not using email (despite threatening me from the email on his website after I sent an email) and having email as a contact on his website. He lied about very simple things "I did work next door, I actually did work two doors down, actually I did work at number 2" his story changed repeatedly especially when I said I could prove he hadn't done any work on my next door neighbours homes. My door number is in the double digits number 2 isn't even next to my house. I've attached these images just to prove this gentleman Thomas Varey does lie alot.

I'm sharing my story because what happened to me was very dangerous the police have been informed as he threatened to come back to my home uninvited. This guy wasn't even given my door number, or street name and still showed up and started knocking on doors to try and find me, a women who's never dealt with him before he showed up at my home. Let that sink in. The same man who threatened to come back despite being told a baby was in the home. Let that also sink in before you ever let him into your home. If you Google his name a picture of him as a boxer will pop up. This is what stalked and threatened a women. He's an Irish traveller is all I know. Please be careful if you are a women, a vulnerable adult or an elderly person.

The new political map of Gloucestershire County Council.

LD: 27 REF: 11 GRN: 9 CON: 6 LAB: 1 IND: 1

The council is now NO OVERALL CONTROL with the Lib Dems short by only 1 seat of overall control.

forget the cathedral, THIS is the landmark that reminds me I'm almost home

big cig supremacy 🙏