There wasn’t too much information about this photo; only that it became a postcard and that it was taken in Golden Valley, Charfold in Edwardian times. This valley stretches from Stroud to Sapperton in Gloucestershire.

This area has a lot of history. The name ‘Golden Valley’ is said to have come from Queen Victoria. She was said to have remarked that the valley looked golden when she came through the Sapperton Tunnel. There were also barrows found in and around the area as well as the remains of a Roman Villa. Lots of place names are Anglo-Saxon in origin.

In the 17th and 18th centuries. displaced Flemish weavers came to the area. They brought quality silk and woollen cloth manufacturing to the valley. Golden Valley is narrow and deep so many weavers' cottages were built clinging to the sides of the hills, giving the village an Alpine air. It is sometimes still referred to as the 'Alpine village'. As the paths on the hillsides were too narrow for more conventional forms of transport donkeys were used to carry groceries and other goods to houses, this tradition continuing until as recently as the 1950‘s.

So back to the photo- is it the foliage that is making the shape of a male figure? It could very well be but if you look at the hands, the one on the right appears to have 5 digits, which are quite clear. The left does have 5 digits but they are not as clear. In a newspaper report, it states that the photographer was alone when taking this photo. It is an odd looking figure but what it is. I don’t know. Could it be something elemental?

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Close up of strange figure