Stroud sits where five valleys meet, and the mills that made cloth here are strung along the water all the way up them. Nailsworth, Painswick, Minchinhampton and Stonehouse are the valley towns and villages around it. South of them the district opens into the Vale, where Dursley, Cam, Wotton-under-Edge and Berkeley face Bristol and Gloucester rather than Stroud.

Stroud Today reports what the record shows across the whole district. Stroud District Council decides planning, bins, car parks and licensing; Gloucestershire County Council runs the roads and the schools; and much of the district lies within the Cotswolds national landscape, which affects what can be built and where. We name the responsible body in every story and link to the document.

The useful bits

• News: the record, including planning applications in the valleys and the Vale.
• Local Info: bin collection days, parking and council tax bands.
• What’s On: what is happening in Stroud and the Five Valleys.

Every fact carries a link to the source it came from.