Cheltenham Daily Photo

Chairs And Tables 2

2009-07-20T00:03:00.000+01:00

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!

Big & Blousy!

2009-07-19T00:46:00.004+01:00

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

Gold Ring

2009-07-18T01:33:00.003+01:00

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?

Sky Watch Friday

2009-07-17T00:03:00.000+01:00

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.

Mellow Yellow

2009-07-16T00:03:00.002+01:00

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!

Trusting

2009-07-15T00:03:00.001+01:00

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?
_

The Under Glass

2009-07-14T00:03:00.001+01:00

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

2009-07-13T00:03:00.000+01:00

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!

Newly Hatched

2009-07-12T00:03:00.002+01:00

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!
_

Water Tree

2009-07-11T00:09:00.004+01:00

A tree reaching for the lake in Pitville Park.
_

Sky Watch Friday

2009-07-10T00:00:00.000+01:00

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.
_

Alvin, Simon Or Theodore?

2009-07-09T00:03:00.001+01:00

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.

Up On The Roof

2009-07-08T00:54:00.004+01:00

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!

Blooming Lovely

2009-07-07T00:00:00.000+01:00

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!

What's Up Doc?

2009-07-06T00:03:00.002+01:00

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!

Colourful Stairs

2009-07-05T00:17:00.002+01:00

Colour is everywhere, all around us, even in the simple and boring. Even in a staircase.
_

Little House On The Park

2009-07-04T00:00:00.000+01:00

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.
_

Sky Watch Friday

2009-07-03T00:04:00.004+01:00

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.

Changing View - July

2009-07-02T00:03:00.002+01:00

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.

Theme Day - Empty

2009-07-01T00:04:00.003+01:00

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.

Grand Scrolls

2009-06-30T00:03:00.001+01:00

Want a word for the day? How about 'volute'. For those that don't know what it means (and I didn't) its the posh name given to the scrolls at the top of Ionic columns, like the ones shown. These grand pillars are helping to hold up the roof of one of the Regency houses that surround Pitville Park. I also like the tiles with the fancy details, I've not seen these before in Cheltenham. I wonder if they are original?

Don't forget its Theme Day tomorrow across the CDPB community and the theme for July is 'Empty.' There's no need to sign up any more, just copy and paste the code and you're in!

Twit Twoo

2009-06-29T00:14:00.004+01:00

These magnificent birds were on show in the High Street, helping raise money for The Barn Owl Centre. The charity, based on the edge of Gloucester, has the following aim - "To advance public education in Owl & Raptor welfare & husbandry."

The first owl is a Long Eared Owl, the second photo shows a Little Owl (original!) and the last owl is the most common in the UK, the Barn Owl.

The owl is a magnificently handsome bird of prey. Below are some interesting Owl Facts to impressive your friends and family with -

Owls belong to the Order Strigiformes, which contains over 200 different species.
Owls are nocturnal and hunt small mammals, small birds and some hunt fish.
Their eyes are fixed in the sockets. They rotate their head 270 degrees to see back over there shoulders.
Many breeds have special flight feathers for silent flying.
They are long sighted and use feathers similar to whiskers to sense the prey in their beaks.
The largest owl has a wing span of 2 meters.
The Twit Twoo sound they make is actually Ke-wick Hoo-hoo-oooo.

Marley In Rhodes

2009-06-28T00:00:00.003+01:00

Last day of photos from our Rhodes holiday, back to Cheltenham photos tomorrow.

Old blue doors and shutters.

The obligatory cocktails! No photos of the free shots, they didn't last long enough!

One of the amazing floors in Lindos. These floors are made out of pebbles and stones and are used to create the steps and streets as well as doorsteps and shop floors. It must take a great deal of skill and patience to create them.

End of the day.

Back to business tomorrow.
_

Marley In Rhodes

2009-06-27T00:00:00.001+01:00

I'm back! First things first - once again many thanks to my fellow CDP bloggers who lent photos to appear here in my absence, and thanks to those who continued to visit and comment while I was away. Now, on to the holiday snaps!

We had a fantastic week in Rhodes, staying in the village of Pefkos. Lots of lazing by the pool, eating and, of course, drinking! Today and tomorrow I'll share with you a few photos.

The view from our balcony of the bay towards Lardos.

Colourful beach balls and buckets.

Night time view of Enigma restaurant. We ate here a couple of times and sat on the open roof terraces. Lovely.

Bell tower in the neighbouring village of Lindos.

The Greek sense of humour shines through everywhere, like on this sign outside a bar. Who could resist an offer like this?!

More snaps tomorrow.
_

While Marley's Away...

2009-06-26T00:03:00.002+01:00

The final photo in the guest photographers series comes from Mo at Fresh Eyes On London. She took this photo the other Saturday at Trooping The Colour and, as you can see, it shows The Queen and Prince Phillip. At last the Royal Seal Of Approval!

Thanks to all my fellow CDP bloggers who kindly lent photos to appear here over the last fortnight, its very much appreciated. Over the weekend I'll show you some of my holiday snaps from our trip to Rhodes, then its back to Cheltenham photos on Monday.

Enjoy your weekend.