Salubritas et Eruditio

This is the Coat of Arms and Insignia of Cheltenham. This one is above the main entrance to the Municipal Offices but there are others around town.

So what does it all mean? Well, starting at the top and working down, the pigeon at the very top is sitting on a blue stripped sphere and this represents the discovery of the fountain of spa water by a pigeon that made Cheltenham famous. This is sitting on top of a wreath of Oak leaves. The two open books, either side of the silver cross, on the blue band represent education, particularly Pates Grammar School and Cheltenham College. The silver cross shows religion. The two pigeons represent the flock that gathered at the spa water spring. The Oak tree at the bottom is there to represent the tree lined Promenade and streets that Cheltenham is also known for. And finally the towns motto - Salubritas et Eruditio means "Health and Education".

And so ends today's lesson! Does your town or city have a motto?

Planning Mistake

To me, this building is a result of one of the worst planning decisions ever made by Cheltenham Borough Council. This awful looking development in the Lower High Street is not suited to the Regency style of the town and just brings down the whole of the lower end of town, which suffers enough from a negative image. In 1967 all of the buildings on the North side of the High Street, between Henrietta Street and Bennington Street, were demolished. Those that were destroyed included the Fleece Hotel, the original arched entrance to the Brewery and, worst of all, the Richard Pates Boys Grammar School. The school had stood on the site since the 1500's and the more recent Tudor Gothic style building, dating from 1889, was lost forever. The schools frontage featured castellated roof lines, gargoyles, stone carved windows and steep gables. All of this history and fine architecture was replaced with a white, style-less block (now grey, stained and outdated). Efforts have been made to try to improve this section of town, like the limiting of traffic to buses only and the widening of pavements, but I think the best bet would be to send this structure the same way as the Grammar School et al and start all over again.