Inside The Pump Room

Just a quick, and rather late, post today. I've been busy getting into the festive spirit. Basically eating and drinking and visiting!

As the title says, this is a shot from inside Pitville Pump Room.

Normal service resumes tomorrow!

Sky Watch Friday

A Room With A View

A Sky Watch of sorts this week. This is the view from the top floor of Pitville Pump Room, looking out across Pitville Park. The Statue is one of three on the front of the building. This photo was taken back in October, hence the Autumn leaves on the trees.

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

Have a great weekend.

Looking Down

A view from the balcony of Pitville Pump looking down onto the dance floor.

Instrumental

While I was having a sneaky peak around Pitville Pump Room last week I snuck into a side room off of the balcony. The room was full of these oriental-looking musical instruments, not what I was expecting to find in the Pump Room. Does anyone have any idea what country they might originate from? I have no clue.

New Discovery

Having lived in Cheltenham all my life (exciting, I know!) and having featured the Pitville Pump Room here several times before, I realised I'd never actually been inside! So yesterday I took a little photo trip. Its fantastic inside, though a little eerie as there were no staff to be seen (I think they were all having their lunch!) The primary purpose of the Pump Room is as a venue for music performances, parties, conferences and weddings. The main room is surrounded by a balcony and topped by a fantastic dome. There are so many wonderful features to photograph and the afternoon light showed the place at its best. It was a real treat. Here are two of my favourite photos, but there will be more to come.

Columns

These are the columns around the Pitville Pump Room, which over looks the park of the same name. The winter sun lit the building beautifully the other day. That's it for today, I think the photos say it all.

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Pigeon Spa

Cheltenham owes it Spa town status to the humble Pigeon. According to tradition, Cheltenham's spa water was discovered in 1716 because local people noticed pigeons pecking at the salty deposits left around a spring in a field on the south of the town.

William Mason, the owner of the field, started to charge for the medicinal water and created the towns first Spa. In 1739 Masons son-in-law, Henry Skillicorne, created a deeper well on the site, installed a pump and built a brick canopy to shelter the drinkers of the water. As the site developed he constructed a Spa building and linked the well to the town with a walk way of trees, later known as Well Walk. The popularity of the Spa grew and the water was bottled and sold in Cities around the country. In 1788 King George and his family visited the Spa and this secured Cheltenhams popularity and its Spa status.

After the regal visit the Spa became known as the Royal Well (now the area occupied by the Ladies College). By the turn of the 1800's the Royal Well was supplying water to about two thousand visitors a year, and this success lead to nearly a dozen other Spas opening in and around Cheltenham by the 1850's. As the century moved on the water tasting and bathing continued but in the early 1900's the Spas began to close and the buildings were used for other businesses. Today you can still try the spa water at the Town Hall and the Pitville Pump Room, having tried it myself I can tell you it is salty and not very pleasant!

Without the pigeon, the bird that some people call 'rats with wings', who knows how different Cheltenham's history might have been.

Pump Room

This is my last photo of Pitville Park, and it shows the magnificent looking Pitville Pump Room. The building stands at the northern end of the park and looks over the lake and gardens. The Pump Room is one of the towns finest examples of Regency architecture, with its main feature being the Ionic columns that front onto the large lawn.

Building work started in 1825 and took 5 years to complete, with a grand opening and ball being held on the 20th July 1830. The building was the idea of wealthy banker Joseph Pitt and was designed by architect John Forbes, who had a hand in the design of many other Cheltenham buildings. It cost £40,000 to complete, but the Pump Room soon ran into difficulties and it was sold to the Borough Council for just £5,400 in 1890! Throughout the second world war the Pump Room was used as a base by the American Army and, during this time of deprivation ,the building was greatly neglected, infact it is said that the dry rot was so bad that the plaster was all that was stopping the dome from collapsing! After public subscription and government grants the total of £43,200 was raised in 1960 to help restore the building.

Inside the Pump Room today you can still sample the Spa water (pumped from an 80 foot deep well), while marvelling at the grand dome and sweeping staircase. The Pump Room is now Cheltenhams most popular wedding venue and at other times of the year is used for concerts, shows and exhibitions. Infact you could hire it for your next party, just make sure I'm on the guest list!