King's Stanley
King's Stanley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, situated southwest of the town of Stroud. The village is part of what is known locally as 'The Stanleys', along with it's neighbours Leonard Stanley and Stanley Downtown. The local park, which was donated to the village by local magnates The Marlings - who also helped found Marling School in Stroud - is overlooked by Selsley common, and is now in the care of the Marling trust.
Preamble
The church in Kings Stanley dates back to the 12th century. It is rumoured that the village itself is infact built upon the belly of a believed-to-be-active volcano. The inhabitants are very welcoming; It is said that the volcano god controls the weather around this small village, and that the weather refects his changeful moods. If the volcano god is upset, the weather is bad; but if it is good then the weather is calm. They also claim that every full moon a ritual sacrifice must take place, and the villagers say that if this does not take place then they will have a vengeful god, more than willing to take his anger out on the village populace by forcing the co-op to shut half an hour early.
King's Stanley has a stable youth population which has seen an increase in recent years. Among some of the places of interest in kings stanley for today's youths are the park benches, of which there are four, the bus shelter, which provides shelter and wind protection for those cold winter nights. There are also a variety of kerbs that may be used for skateboarding and rollerblading.
Places of Interest
For a village of fairly small size, it is very well stocked with local amenities.
The King's Head
The focal point of King's Stanley is the village pub, like many other small English villages. The King's Head is owned by Dave, and is a very friendly and welcoming place. It is split into two sections - a main bar, and a lounge area - and there are rooms available to rent for visitors, subject to availability. There is also a jukebox, a pool table, and a skittle ally. The locals are friendly, and the pub competes in local leagues with both a pool and darts team. It is also occasionally host to excellent karaoke nights.
Holly's
Hollies is a very old shop in the classic English village style, selling a wide variety of goods, from ham (the prices of which are listed in the window) to rugs. If you are lucky you may see the mechanical till that completes the shop's historical look.
The Co-op
Providing direct competition, in some areas at least, is a small Co-op outlet. It sells most of the everyday necessities which the local populace need, including fresh bread, milk and butter as well as a variety of snakcks, drinks, cooking ingredients and frozen goods. It is open until 9 on thursdays and fridays.
Yew Tree Stores
The small local newsagents sells all major local and national newspapers as well as a selection of magazines, while titles not stocked can be ordered in. It also sells a selection of cigarettes and sweets, including a pick and mix section.
Established Locations
These are the places of interest in kings stanley that have no real significace other than their value as places in their own right. It is at all these places that the youth of kings stanley have gathered at some point in time, and provide for them an area of great significance.
The Bus Shleter
Many nights have been spent sitting in the bus shelter by the local youth population. It is largely of stone construction with wooden beams and a roof. Having three walls and a roof it provides anyone within it with protection from both rain and wind. Although mostly visited by the youth in the winter, it is also used in the rainy season, and when you want to catch busses.
The Bottom of the Park
The bottom of the park has always been a gathering point for youths of all ages, primarily as a flat area on which they could practice skateboarding and rollerblading. However each successive generation that passes grows they eventually find that the carpark is a great meeting place for those with motor vehicles. Bands of motorcyclists\scooterists of numbers in excess of 6 or 7 can be seen during the summer months.
The bottom of the park is also well known for its skateboarding, having seen talented skateboarders such as C. Bermingham, S. Maybank and S. Macnameegay. It was also the site for a moped accident involving the lesser spotted Norton
The Top of the Park
The top of the park has a childrens enclosure with a slide and an assortment of wooden huts that can also provide shelter much like the bus shelter. The top of the park also has three sets of swings, and a large slide. There are four benches around the top of the park which are useful but not frequented by the youth populace as much as the other benches which warrant their own section (see below).
The top of the park was the place in which residants of kings stanley first played shoe-flicker, a game played on swings where two foes competed to flick their shoes further than the other. The top of the park was a location featured in the 2005 parkour videos 'one day in easter' and 'spasspringen: legend of the chavkour', and also features the farthest entrace to the bank (see below)
While King's Stanley is mostly a very tranquil place, there are a few things visitors should watch out for:
>Norton. The lesser spotted norton can often be found lurking in the dark by a park bench.
>The 'King's Stanley Death Squad'
One of the few major events it has seen is a fire that started in the video rental store. Other recent local news includes a sighting of the lesser spotted Norton, hobbling along on a pair of crutches. Apparently he came off worse in a fight with a immovable object.
One former resident of King's Stanley, Mr Christopher Knight, was recently arrested for exposing himself to an OAP.