Affordable Art

These bright glass sculptures are in the window of Cheltenham Art Gallery And Museum. They are part of a display advertising Affordable Art in the Museum shop. The Everlasting Flowers are handmade by Gooey Glass, based in Lechlade-on-Thames in the Cotswolds, and are yours for £150 for the large one and £120 for the small one. I need art to be a bit more affordable than that!

Check out Steve Callender's work at Gooey Glass.

This Old House

Its weird to think that these ruins on top of Leckhampton Hill were once home to someone. It must have been deserted many many years ago but the main features of the cottage are still there to see - the fire place and chimney breast, the space where doors once stood and the remnants of dividing walls. The stone floors are now just rubble covered with a carpet of weeds and there are twisted trees growing out of what is left of the roof. It was a sad sight.

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Which Way?

On Bank Holiday Monday the weather was beautiful so we took full advantage and headed off to Leckhampton Hill for a walk. The hill top has everything - great views, woodland, grassland, wildlife and farms, perfect for blowing away the cobwebs and getting back to nature. Across the top of Leckhampton Hill you'll also find part of the Cotswold Way, a trail which runs from the market town of Chipping Campden in the north to the city of Bath in the south. The Trail is 102 miles (164 km) long, and runs for most of its length on the Cotswold escarpment (hence the name!) It passes through some wonderfully picturesque villages and has some magnificent views across Gloucestershire and neighbouring Counties. One day (when I feel really motivated!) it would be good to walk part of it, even just a stretch between a couple of country pubs!

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Sky Watch Friday

I did it! I remembered to join in with Sky Watch Friday! Normally I see other peoples blogs on a Friday and remember I forgot!

This is a wheat field, just outside of Cheltenham, with a storm brewing above. In the distance you can see the Cotswolds. Check out all the other Sky Watch participants here.

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!