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Looking for ways to keep the children entertained this half term? From spooky trails and Hallowe'en adventures to crafts, wildlife activities and family days out, there's plenty happening across the Stroud district over the school holidays. Many events are free or low cost, making it easy to enjoy a great half term without travelling far.

Families can follow trails, get creative with craft sessions, discover nature, enjoy themed Hallowe'en events and even take a ride on Stratford Park's miniature railway before it closes for the season. Highlights include free activities at Museum in the Park, family trails at Woodchester Park and Newark Park, Hallowe'en fun at Berkeley Castle, and a packed programme of activities at Brimscombe Mill and Active Lifestyles centres.

Throughout half term

The Bunnies of Hoppity Hill free I Spy Trail, Museum in the Park (Tuesday – Sunday)
A Spooky Search: free family explorer trail, Museum in the Park (Tuesday – Sunday)
Daily drop-in activities at Brimscombe Mill including crafts, scavenger hunts, games, food and play area (Monday – Saturday)
Kings Stanley Playgroup Hallowe'en Adventure Trail
Become an Apprentice Dragon Keeper free family trail, Dursley Library
Brilliant Bats trail, Woodchester Park

Spooky Cellars, Woodchester Mansion
Children's craft activities and dressing-up opportunities at Brimscombe Mill
Family trails at Newark Park
Big Bat Trail at Painswick Rococo Garden
Let’s Play Fun Days, Active Lifestyles Stroud (Monday-Friday)
Private swimming tuition, Active Lifestyles Stroud (Monday-Friday)
Junior Gym Sessions, Active Lifestyles Stroud
Hallowe'en at Berkeley Castle
SUPER Natural October Half Term, WWT Slimbridge
Cattle Country Pumpkin Patch
The Ghosts of Button House (PG), Wotton Cinema
Various films at Stroud Vue 

Daily activities:
25 October
Stratford Park Miniature Railway (last session of the year)
Green Hallowe'en: Pumpkins in the Park, Museum in the Park with Stroud Valleys Project
Film show: Room on the Broom, Museum in the Park
Stratford Park Miniature Railway's final running day of the year
Buzz Club in the Walled Garden, Museum in the Park

26 October
Play Gloucestershire Play Rangers at Synwell Playing Fields, Wotton-under-Edge
Bouncy Castle & Soft Play, Active Lifestyles Stroud
Outdoor Cookery Workshop for 11-18 year olds, Common Soil Community Farm
Rotary Five Valleys Fireworks (Ebley Fireworks)

27 October
Play Gloucestershire Play Rangers at Kingswood Playing Field
Multi activities and food by World Jungle, 10am – 12 noon Woodfields Play Area, Cam and 2 – 4pm Stratford Park, Stroud
Games and activities by Sportily, Minchinhampton Primary School
Storytelling and colouring for ages 2-5 years, Amberley Shop & Café
K-Pop Demon Hunters dance workshop, Active Lifestyles Dursley
Activity Day, Active Lifestyles Dursley
Kids Kitchen at the Long Table, Brimscombe Mill

28 October
Hallowe'en Family Roller Skating, Active Lifestyles Stroud
K-Pop Demon Hunters dance workshop, Active Lifestyles Stroud
Hands on Reptile Experience, Brimscombe Mill (advance booking required)
Bat Box Making, Woodchester Park
Clay Sculpture Animals, Newark Park
Garden Stories free creative drop-in activities, Museum in the Park

29 October
Play Gloucestershire Play Rangers at Victory Park, Cainscross
Play Gloucestershire Play Rangers at Highfields Play Area, Dursley
Half Term Woolly Morning with Stroudwater Textile Trust, Museum in the Park
Crafternoon: Learn to Crochet, Brimscombe Mill (booking required)
Fancy Dress Family Disco, Brimscombe Mill
Kids Kitchen at the Long Table, Brimscombe Mill
Garden Stories free creative drop-in activities, Museum in the Park

Something Wicked This Way Comes!, Woodchester Mansion
Family group sessions with crafts and games at Longfield
Activity Day, Active Lifestyles Dursley

30 October
Crafty Creatures family drop-in workshop, Museum in the Park
Silly Science Workshop, Active Lifestyles Stroud
Scare Fair with crafts, games, face painting and bouncy castle, Active Lifestyles Dursley
Hallowe'en Craft Session, APT Stonehouse
Hallowe'en Pumpkin Painting, Stroud Brewery
Swim Clinic, Active Lifestyles Dursley
Owl Pellet Exploration, Woodchester Park
Let's Create drop-in session, The Sanctuary, Brimscombe Mill
Children's Hallowe'en Disco, Chalford Sports & Social Club
CCT Hallowe’en Cruise from the Bowbridge Arms
Cotswold Canals Trust Hallowe'en boat trips

31 October
Spooky Songs & Folk Magic with Carnival of Cryptids, Museum in the Park
Spooky Stroll around Stratford Park, Active Lifestyles Stroud
Hallowe'en Hunt, Active Lifestyles Stroud
Hallowe'en Pool Party, Active Lifestyles Dursley
Let's Create drop-in crafts, Stroud Brewery
Hallowe'en Party, The Village Inn, Kings Stanley
Cotswold Canals Trust Hallowe'en boat trips
Dr Jenner’s House Hallowe’en Spooktacular
Frampton Fright Night and Fireworks

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (U), Wotton Cinema

1 November
Hallowe'en Pool Party, Active Lifestyles Stroud
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (U), Wotton Cinema
King’s Stanley Playgroup Hallowe’en Funday

For a full list of half term activities and event details, see VisitStroud.uk

Please visit organisers' websites before travelling, as arrangements may change.

Sign up for Stroud District Council email updates at https://stroud.gov.uk/emailalerts to receive future events and news direct to your inbox.

Stroud's historic Old Town Hall is set for an exciting new chapter after Stroud District Council's Strategy and Resources Committee approved plans to transfer the landmark building to Stroud Valleys Artspace (SVA) for a nominal sum.

The decision paves the way for SVA and Stroudwater Textile Trust (STT) to develop a Centre for Textile Arts in the heart of Stroud, creating a permanent home for the Trust and a major new cultural destination celebrating the district's rich textile heritage.

Bringing together two organisations with a strong track record of managing historic buildings and delivering community-focused arts and cultural projects, the partnership aims to create "an artist-led creative space where contemporary textile and creative practice can flourish alongside displays and activities amplifying the story of the region's textile heritage".

The Old Town Hall is one of Stroud's most recognisable buildings. Located in the historic Shambles in the centre of town, the Grade II* listed property includes elements dating back to 1596 and has played an important role in the town’s history for more than four centuries.

The Centre for Textile Arts would help secure a sustainable future for the building while opening it up for wider community use. It would create a vibrant centre for arts, culture and learning, celebrating the textile heritage of Stroud's famous woollen mills, while drawing visitors into the heart of the town.

Cllr Chloe Turner, Leader of Stroud District Council, said:

"The Old Town Hall is one of Stroud's most treasured historic buildings, and we are delighted to have found a proposal that both protects its future and strengthens its role within the community.

"This project supports one of the key priorities in our Cultural Strategy and Action Plan by helping to break down barriers to culture and provide more equitable access to arts, heritage and creative opportunities across the district.

"The vision put forward by Stroud Valleys Artspace and Stroudwater Textile Trust will preserve an important heritage asset while creating new opportunities for learning, creativity, participation and economic activity. We look forward to seeing the building brought to life in new ways for residents and visitors alike."

Trevor Ford, Chair of Stroudwater Textile Trust, said:

"Laurie Lee, author and poet, said of Stroud’s Five Valleys, ‘There’s nowhere else like it on earth’. Stroud’s fame was international, its fine woollen cloth exported and traded across the world. Our scarlet cloth was prized throughout Europe, North America and Scandinavia, and even in India and China, where the Chinese Emperor was proud to be robed in Stroud cloth.

We are enormously grateful to Stroud District Council for giving us a home where we shall be able to celebrate Stroud’s amazing textile history."

David Elford, Stroud Valleys Artspace Trustee and Project Manager, said:

“Stroud District Council’s support for this exciting venture highlights the enduring significance of textiles to Stroud and the surrounding valleys. Textiles constitute a universal and creative language, with the power to engage and inspire people of all ages. In partnership with the Stroudwater Textile Trust, Stroud Valleys Artspace looks forward to establishing a venue of regional significance - one that champions the work of textile designers and makers, brings their practice to a wider audience, and offers an exciting and inclusive programme for the whole community.”

For Stroudwater Textile Trust, the transfer represents the culmination of a long-standing ambition to establish a permanent base for its collections and activities. The organisation has been seeking a suitable home for around 20 years.                                                              

Both partners bring considerable experience to the project. STT has successfully developed and managed projects at Dunkirk Mill Museum and the Gigg Mill Weaving Shed, while SVA has established thriving creative communities at its John Street and Goods Shed venues through a model that combines artists' studios with community activities and events.

The council recently supported SVA's acquisition of the freehold of the listed Goods Shed in Stroud, helping to secure the building for community and creative use while strengthening the organisation's ability to attract external funding.

As part of the agreed arrangements, the meeting room at the Old Town Hall will continue to be available for hire and will remain an important source of income for the building. The council will also retain storage space for market equipment used in the operation of the Shambles Market.

To support the building's long-term sustainability, the council will fund the replacement of the existing central heating system.

The transfer supports the council's ambitions to protect important heritage assets, encourage community-led development and increase access to arts and culture across the district.

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"Have you visited Woodchester Mansion recently? This incredible, unfinished Gothic Revival mansion, complete with rare bat roost, had fallen into disrepair when it was brought into public ownership by the Council in the 1980s.

Last week, councillors agreed to provide up to £245,000 to help secure its long-term future. This will help the Woodchester Mansion Trust, which manages and cares for this special building, prepare a major funding application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Another reminder this Fly Tipping Fortnight that we all have a legal Duty of Care over our waste. This means that if fly-tipped rubbish is traced back to you, you could be held responsible, even if you paid someone else to take it away. To avoid being caught out: ask to see a waste carrier registration number; check it on the Environment Agency's public register; request a receipt, and keep records. Taking these simple steps helps ensure your waste is disposed of legally and responsibly.

(Yet more) new planning changes come in this month. The Government will now specify which planning applications will come to the Council’s Development Control Committee, and which will be decided by officers alone. In particular, applications for less than ten dwellings (of particular significance in our villages and rural areas), will no longer come to committee. Although the opportunity to air these applications in public has gone, members of the public can still comment as usual, and Parish & Town Councils continue to be statutory consultees. 

Wonderful that the Cotswold Canals Connected partnership has been awarded the prestigious Building with Nature Full Award, recognising the way the careful construction of the canal and its landscaping benefit both people and wildlife. Huge congratulations to the team at SDC, Cotswold Canals Trust, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Stroud Valleys Project and all our other partners.

Finally, don't forget to sign up for SDC email updates at www.stroud.gov.uk/emailalerts"

Cllr Chloe Turner, Leader of Stroud District Council