Tuesday 25 March 2008

Courtyard Shopping

Cheltenham is well known for its speciality shops and The Courtyard is brimming with such shops, as well as cafes and restaurants. The sunken piazza is on Montpellier Street and is quite different to the surrounding Regency buildings. It was built in 1985 and the famous architect Sir Hugh Casson was a consultant for the design. The Courtyard suffers from the same problem as the rest of the Montpellier shopping area - it is just outside of the town centre and isn't visited by the number of shoppers it deserves. Its a great place to pick up an unusual gift or stop for a coffee and soak up the cosmopolitan feel at an outdoor table. Next time you're in Cheltenham pay The Courtyard a visit, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

No. I'm not working for Visit Cheltenham. Perhaps I should be!

5 comments:

brian stout said...

you sold me! a nice out of the way place! i love the way the blue stands out in this photo..

FĂ©nix - Bostonscapes said...

That photo brought to mind a shopping center in San Francisco (I think it's called Embarcadero), very similar layout (terraces and a sunken piazza). Lovely place, so much nicer than the lame indoor shopping centers we have here...

Anonymous said...

These kinds of problems happen everywhere. People want to go to the newest, the largest, the most frequented and the last place on earth you'd expect to see me...

I like to see progress but not like what happens here. We just recently tore down a shopping mall that, when new, used to attract 5,000 people during the week days. Now it is gone. People lost interest. Kids took over and mugged adults with children. Things like that.

I like this photo. It is in need of shoppers.

Abraham Lincoln in Brookville, Ohio

Chuck Pefley said...

An age old dilemma, how to attract business. I like the look of this shopping area, though.

Neva said...

It is an outdoor shopping area? this is lovely. I would shop there if ever I got to Cheltenham!

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