Camping It Up

There is a saying about camping and pink tents but I think I'll leave that one alone! What to say? This pink tent was pitched outside Millets on the High Street. Millets provide all the essentials for those who like the great outdoors, even pink tents. There is a lot in the local media at the moment about businesses putting 'A' boards up in the street and the Council not liking it. This is one way around it while still getting the message out there!

I think we've all had a bad camping experience. Mine was a very wet week in Woolacombe, so wet we came home after three nights! The only dry day was when we put the tent up. We sat outside into the small hours drinking and talking and drinking (in fact drinking all the adult pop we'd brought with us!) From then on it was downhill. It rained none stop. The only dry place left were the cars, we ended up napping in them, and the only place to get warm was the shower block! Needless to say on the third day of getting soaked we had had more than enough! What's your worst camping tale?

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Deco Design

Just down from Cambray Baptist Church, standing solidly at the end of Cambray Place, is Cambray Court. The building is from the 1920's and, although not screamingly so, is Art Deco in design. The building is still split into the original apartments as it was nearly 100 years ago and is a very popular residence in the heart of town. I'd like to get beyond those gates sometime and see if its a bit more Art Deco inside.

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Christmas Past

In case you can't make out what it is - its a Christmas tree! Old and very dead, lying next to a wheelie bin in someones front garden. If its still there in five months time the owner could spray it with green paint and take it back inside! (That's what you call tree-cycling!)

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Heads Up!

Last Tuesday I posted on the missing head of the duck that sits on top of The Wishing Fish clock, well, as you can see, its back! I like to keep you all updated with the exciting breaking news in Cheltenham!
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Encouraging All

"Encouraging all people to become fully committed followers of Jesus Christ" is the slogan of Cambray Baptist Church. Best of luck with that one! Can you tell I'm not religious?! I'm not against people believing in whatever they want or finding strength and comfort in a higher being, but its a tall order trying to convert all people. I bet lots of people are happy not to be encouraged.

Whatever you think about religion and the people there-in they know/knew how to build impressive churches. This one is a bit plainer than the normal heavy stone and spire-topped ones that are common right across the UK, but it is none-the-less a fantastic building. It looms large and stands proud on Cambray Place, right next to the High Street. The building dates back to 1855, although the first Cheltenham Baptists were formed in 1690 and used to worship in a disused malt house. The congregation that became Cambray Baptist Church was formed in 1843 and the then churchgoers raised the money to build this building.

What are your thoughts on religion and church buildings?
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Two Things Challenge - Yellow / Brick

The Two Things Challenge is back up and running. Here is my interpretation of the challenge Yellow / Brick.

That's the 'Yellow' part covered. Where is the 'Brick' part I here you cry. Look at the photo below and at what the Harley is parked on.

Job done.

To join in with the Two Things Challenge head here.

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Long Garden

A quick one today, with hangover! Needless to say the beer festival last night was great!

This is the Long Garden in front of the Municipal Offices planted up for summer and bursting with colour. The image of the Council building and the planted beds is one of the most popular postcards in town, it sums Cheltenham up really.

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Henny Penny

I'll end the week with a real bird - a chicken at Pitville Park. I used to have a couple of chickens called Jennifer and Clarissa, named after the Two Fat Ladies (two women that had a cooking series on TV.) We used to get a dozen eggs a week off of them but they met an untimely end. They lived in a greenhouse, with the glass removed, and at night they got shut into an old rabbit hutch. One night I'd been out on the town and didn't shut them away. Next morning I went down the garden to feed them and they were gone. All that was left were a few white feathers and half a wing. A fox had his fill that night. Poor Jennifer and Clarissa.

On a lighter note, I'm off to the Cotswold Beer Festival tonight. Hangover tomorrow!

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Big Bird

Continuing in the same vein as my previous posts here is another bird! This bird is made from wicker and is large, about ten feet wide. It is attached to the wall, next to the escalators, in the Regent Arcade. The point of it? To advertise the newly opened ByLocal shop, of course! It worked as well, I headed upwards to see what it was all about and found a shop selling paintings, pottery and all things arty created by local artists and crafts people. I hope the big bird does its job and leads shoppers up there too.

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P...P...Pick Up A Penguin

Can you spot a mini-series unfolding? Yes, more birds today! I spotted this Sky satellite installation van in my street and was drawn to the unusual paint job, not because it is covered in penguins but because Sky vans are normally adorned with The Simpsons!

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Off With His Head!

The poor old duck on top of the Wishing Fish Clock has lost his head! As avid followers of this blog will know the Regent Arcade is undergoing a transformation and as part of this the roof has been replaced. While the work was being carried out there were posters around the shopping centre telling shoppers that the duck had gone off on his holidays (he was removed from the top of the clock) but now he is home and it looks like he forgot to bring something back with him!

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Chairs And Tables 3

This could also have been titled 'Shades Of Brown'!

This set of table and chairs were just begging to be photographed for the series started by Virginia at Birmingham, Alabama DP. They were just tucked off of the Prom, outside the recently opened Costa Coffee. Normally the tables are covered in empty cups and plates but someone was actually doing their job and cleared them off! As you can see Cheltenham is not as litter free as people think - look on the floor. Standards are slipping!

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Big & Blousy!

What a sweet and heavenly scent these wonderful roses had. Pure and clean, just like the petals.
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Gold Ring

Just a quickie for Saturday. A little something that caught my eye - a gold ring. Sort of! I actually wanted a pun filled title but couldn't think of one. Any ideas?

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Sky Watch Friday

Blue sky, orange plane.

This sky watch photo is a bit of a cheat really, its not of Cheltenham but from my holiday to Pefkos, Rhodes last month. I just really like the colour contrast and wanted to share it with all you sky watchers.

To join in with Sky Watch Friday, or to see the sky from around the world, head over to the Sky Watch Friday Blog.

Enjoy your weekend.

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Mellow Yellow

Vinyl Vault and Browsers is something of a hidden retro gem in Cheltenham. Those in the know rate it highly and those that don't know about it soon realise they do when you tell them "its that place in that basement that smells a bit musty and sells old music and clothes"! Situated in the basement of a Regency town house that is now offices, it is crammed floor to ceiling with records (remember them?!), tapes and vintage clothes. I've been there in the past on the hunt for flares to wear to a 70's party. They had dozens of pairs, and the best bit is you can buy them, take them back and they buy them back from you. Talk about recycling!

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Trusting

If I was an unscrupulous character I could now be posting from a new laptop, but I'm honest as the day is long so I'm not! I know that Cheltenham is seen as a safe place to live with little crime but crime is everywhere and this was the perfect opportunity for an opportunist thief. The owner of the car, laptop and box was a couple of car lengths up the Prom paying for his parking ticket but he obviously wasn't worried that someone might make off with his stuff! I should have taken it to teach him a lesson!

How long could you leave a laptop on the street where you live before it grew legs and walked?
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The Under Glass

Today's post has been inspired by Petrea at Pasadena Daily Photo. Actually I just copied here but imitation is the highest form of flattery, or something like that! Anyway, when I saw her photos I remembered we had the same glass skylights in the pavement in Cheltenham too, and thought they were worth sharing with you. Basically they let some natural light into the basements below. These examples are on the Prom by the HSBC bank. Most of them have been filled in with tarmac but two still survive. I think they are a really ingenious design feature.

Town Hall Detail

This photo may look familiar to some of you. Its a close up of this photo from last Tuesday. The Town hall is covered in carved detail like this, but its not until you look for it that you really see it. As you can see the photo is in black and white (nothing like pointing out the blatantly obvious!) but I took it using the dreaded manual settings! I'm getting there slowly! Anyway, that's it. Got to get some more photos today, I have nothing to show you tomorrow. Nothing!

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Newly Hatched

Some of you may remember the post I did last spring about my bosses ducklings Huey, Dewey & Louie or the post I did last July with them enjoying the summer weather, well now its time for an update. Huey, Dewey & Louie turned out to be girls and are now called Puddle, Daisy and Louise! They were joined by a drake named Alan, and he has been thoroughly enjoying his hareem! The result - Daisy has been sitting on five eggs, one of which hatched on Friday night. But Daisy didn't want to be a mummy and cast him out into the night (wipe the tears from your eyes.) Here he is though, fighting fit and being raised by hand. What a cutie!
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Water Tree

A tree reaching for the lake in Pitville Park.
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Sky Watch Friday

Pink Road

Not the best photo in the world but this was the view out of my front window on Tuesday night. There had just been a heavy downpour and then the sky suddenly cleared to this beautiful shade as the sun went down, turning the grey road pink. Gorgeous.

To join in with Sky Watch, or to see the sky all over the world, head to the Sky Watch Friday Blog.
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Alvin, Simon Or Theodore?

As promised the other day here is one of the chipmunks at Pitville Park. I'm also showing this photo to annoy Virginia at Birmingham, Alabama Daily Photo who is over run with them in her garden!

That's it for today. Enjoy your day.

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Up On The Roof

I'm not sure what amazed me more - the new glass roof of the Regent Arcade or the workman stood on it! He must have faith in his work, stood at least 40 feet above the shoppers below on the brand new glass roof! As you can see there is still a lot of work to do in the ongoing refurbishment of our main shopping centre but the roof is impressive. Its not exposed to the elements yet (hence the scaffolding and metal sheeting above it) but from what I can see it looks good. All the natural light that'll come flooding in will make a real difference below.

Talking about walking on glass high in the sky click here. Scary stuff!

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Blooming Lovely

The Town Hall (at a funky angle) in full bloom. Yet again the gardeners behind Cheltenham's parks and gardens have pulled off a fantastic summer display, with yellow flowers at the top end of town, pink and blue a bit further in, and red, white and blue in the town centre. As the summer progresses I'll show you more of the flowers.

The Town Hall looks great at the moment, just in time for the Music Festival, which is lucky as it is one of the main venues for the fortnight long musical extravaganza. We went last Friday night to see one of the first performances, and it was brilliant. We saw The John Wilson Orchestra performing Hollywood Rhapsody, a celebration of film music. The 70 strong orchestra were breathtakingly good, with such a rich sound. They played music from all sorts of films - MGM studio productions, Star Wars, Gone With The Wind and Harry Potter, to name but a few. And the best part was that this was a preview before the orchestra heads to The Proms in London!

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What's Up Doc?

What's up? Its hot! Well, it was when I took this photo last week. This brown bugs bunny was sheltering from the sun in a drainpipe at Pitville Park, one of several shady spots in his enclosure. He was sharing his run with some other rabbits and a couple of chickens. Some of the other cages are home to an array of birds, a pair of peacocks and a host of chipmunks (they'll be making an appearance soon.) Time for a carrot ice lolly!

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Colourful Stairs

Colour is everywhere, all around us, even in the simple and boring. Even in a staircase.
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Little House On The Park

How about a house with one of Cheltenhams largest open spaces as a front garden? Not enough for you? How about a garden pond that just happens to be a boating lake? Still not enough? OK, how about an 18 hole golf course in your front garden? No? What's wrong with you?!

This little Victorian red brick house has all three. It faces on to Pitville Park, the boating lake and, just beyond that, the golf course! This house stands out from the crowd too. All the other surrounding houses are made up of row upon row of terraced housing, that all face away from the park. Talk about bad planning.

I'm glad to see the owners have got chairs under the front porch to take full advantage of their extra special front garden.
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Sky Watch Friday

Orange sunset.

Just look at those colours and that dark cloud and the Malvern hills in silhouette. Wonderful. The sun sets on another week. Enjoy the weekend.

To join in with Sky Watch Friday, or to see skies the world over, head to the Sky Watch blog.

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Changing View - July

The second day of the month means Changing view here at Cheltenham DP. Its July. Its hot. Very hot. If you click on the photo you can see people laid out on the grass of the Long Garden enjoying the sun and shade lovers sitting on the benches watching the world go by. Looking back to June you can see that the scene hasn't changed that much, no bloke leaning against the bollard. But that would just be odd if he were still there!

To see how the view has changed click on 'changing view' in the labels below.

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Theme Day - Empty

The first day of the month brings about Theme Day across the CDPB community and the theme for July is Empty.

Today I'm showing the Farmers Market, or rather, whats left of the Farmers Market. The local produce market takes place on the first and last Friday of each month in front of the Municipal Offices and runs until 3pm. I took this photo at 3.10pm, they don't hang about! In the distance you can make out the green frames of the stalls as a team of guys remove them until the next time.

To see what others have come up with for the theme click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

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