One Year Ago

On the 20th July 2007 the heavens opened across much of the UK and it rained for almost 24 hours. As many of you will remember Gloucestershire was one of the worst effected areas, with flooding in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury. On that day, one year ago, thousands of people were trapped in buildings and stranded in cars due to flash flooding. The motorway through the County was closed due to the amount of traffic that had become gridlocked. We lost our water supply for nearly two weeks (remember the bowsers?), 100's and 100's of homes and business were flooded and 500,000 people were nearly without electricity. The Walham Power Station came within an inch of being swamped, but thanks to the round the clock efforts of the emergency services and army the station was saved. If it had of flooded there were plans in place to evacuate 500,000 Gloucestershire residents to surrounding counties. That would have been scary to say the least!

The photo shows the River Chelt as it flows through Sandford Park. It then carries on under the towns streets. As you can see it's more like a stream than a river, its only about a foot deep here, but last year it was a different story. Click here to see for yourself. (In the video you can see the Weathered Man from the other day.)

They say it was a once in a hundred year flood. Lets hope so!

Grow Your Own

That's the buzz phrase at the moment, what with the rising food prices. This is Cheltenham Borough Councils attempt to encourage people to grow veggies at home, showing that you don't need much space. Normally the beds and borders of Cheltenham's parks and gardens are filled with summer flowers but this one, in Sandford Park, stands out from the crowd. It has (starting at the front) parsley, chives, beetroot, bronze fennel and sweet corn growing in it. The bed is edged with purple violas and yellow calendula for some colour, and the green feathery leafed plant on each end is dill. I think this new planting scheme is a great idea, I just hope the produce is harvested and used. It just goes to show what can be done to help save some money.

So, do you grow your own food?

The Weathered Man

Have you ever seen a drain cover like this before?! Well, it is a big drain! This huge underground pipe is topped off with this large concrete cap and, to make it look less ugly, it has some art on the top. This is The Weathered Man by artist James Gould. The installation was commissioned by the Environment Agency. It has been in Sandford Park for as long as I can remember, although I can't find anything about it or the artist on the web. This part of the park is a large open space and backs onto Cheltenham General Hospital and the Lido open air swimming pool. In the photo you can just see the formal park on the other side of the road. This part of the park has fountains, flower beds and another piece of art. In last summers floods this area of Cheltenham was flooded quite badly. You would have thought this drain would have swallowed up all that water!

Gone Fishing

These little cherubs taking a ride on the backs of fish caught my eye as I walked through Sandford Park. They can be found on Unwins Fountain. The fountain is quite impressive and is the first thing you come across as you enter the park through the east entrance, off of College Road. I'm planning to take another photo of the whole of the fountain in summer, when it is surrounded by colourful flowers and looks at its best. In past posts I've written about the park, so won't go over old ground, but still can't seem to find out much about this old fountain. Anymore information would be appreciated.

Friendship Circle

This cast iron rhomboid forms part of a public art feature in Sandford Park. The Friendship Circle was one of the first Council funded art installations in Cheltenham, installed in 1993, by South African born artist Neville Gabie to represent the twinning of the town with other towns around the world like Anncey, France and Cheltenham, America. The work contains a flat plan, made of iron laid in the concrete, of one of the rhomboids and then has three rhomboids in different stages of completion. The four main paths in the park cross through the Friendship Circle. Its great to be able to get up close and touch or climb on this really interesting piece of art.

Italian Tranquility

This is the Italian Garden in Sandford Park. I stood on the top of the steps, that lead down to this wonderful sunken pool, to take this picture and right behind me was the constant flow of traffic on Bath Road. The contrasts of Cheltenham just feet apart. The pool has a line of 5 fountains down the middle and, as you can see, is lined by 4 clipped Yew trees on either side. The Italian Garden forms part of a park that is split in two by College Road. This formal part, on the west side, has other pools and fountains, and is used by office workers for lunchtime peace. On the east side of College Road is a larger, open space, adjacent to Cheltenham General Hospital, used for dog walking, sports and the landing site of the air ambulance. The park also has the River Chelt running through it, but more on that another time.