Sky Watch Friday

Pastel Sky

As I said a few weeks ago the winter months seem to have some of the best coloured skies, from bright oranges to delicate violets. This is a view across the fields towards Chosen Hill, you can just make out St Bartholomews Church on top of the hill.

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I hope you have a great weekend!

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Spooky Monument

This monument marks the grave of a little girl who died many, many years ago. It's in the graveyard on top of Chosen Hill and, like many of these sort of memorials, it has a something bit of a spooky about it. I know its supposed to be an Angel but it doesn't give me any comfort!

Non-Famous Skyline

If I were to show you a photo of the New York skyline you'd know instantly where it was. The same goes for London, Sydney and many other world famous cities. Unfortunately Cheltenham doesn't have such a skyline. The only reason that you'd guess this is my home-town's skyline is because its on a Cheltenham daily photo blog! This photo was taken from the top of Chosen Hill and as you can see Cheltenham is surrounded by hills, mainly the Cotswolds. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you'll get a better view, and an idea of the geography. Our only skyscraper is Eagle Tower, which you can see on the right of the picture. Just past the tower, slightly up the hill, is GCHQ's Oakley site. The Government use this as one of their information gathering (spying) headquarters, the other one is shaped like a big doughnut and is on the opposite side of town. In the photo I've managed to fit in about half of Cheltenham, the majority shows the town centre and surrounding suburbs. If you imagine the same again to the left of the photo, then you get an idea of how big Cheltenham is.

Not so much the Big Apple, but more the Medium Grape!

Hill Top Church

On top of Chosen Hill (the one with the bluebells I showed yesterday) sits St Bartholomew's Church. This is the original Parish church of Churchdown and dates from the Norman era, thought to have been built in 1175. It's believed that the origins of the site date back much earlier than this, with the hill top site being used as a military camp in the Bronze Age. Recently the area around the church has undergone some transformation, with a new retaining wall built to stop the church slipping down the steep side of the hill and the over grown Fir trees removed to reveal the church to the villages below. The church has a cross on top of it that is lit at night and can be seen for miles around. Although a new Parish church (St Andrew's) was built in the village in the early 1900's (due to St Bart's not being easily accessible) the ancient building is still used for Sunday services, weddings, funerals and bell ringing! The church is a Grade 1 listed building and must hold open days throughout the year. When the next one comes I'm going to take a visit to check out the inside of this lovely little church.

Bluebell Wood

These beautiful bluebells are in the woods on Chosen Hill. The hill is in the village of Churchdown, situated between Cheltenham and Gloucester. At this time of year the whole of the woodland floor is a carpet of blue, and looks amazing. The scent is intoxicating. These photos really don't do the impressive scene justice, but I hope you get a sense of the natural beauty.