Sky Watch Friday

Across The Roof Tops

A view across the South of Cheltenham, taking in St Andrews Church steeple and the dome and roof of the Ladies College, under an ominous sky.

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Sky Watch Friday

Union Jack

I just liked the different elements in this scene - the grey/blue sky, the flag, the roof tops, the green splash of colour from the tree and the little pigeon (can you spot him?)

Flags are difficult to photograph, aren't they? I took about five different shots of this scene and this was the best flag one. I really wanted a photo with a fully flying flag. Better luck next time.

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Three More

Yes, more chimneys! As I said yesterday - short and sweet posts this weekend. To answer some questions - No, I haven't been scrambling about on the roof tops of Cheltenham! All the chimney photos were taken from the roof top car park of the Regent Arcade. The car park looks down on to all the smaller surrounding buildings.

Enjoy your Sunday.
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Three's A Crowd

Not another chimney photo?! I'm afraid so. I've got a busy weekend so I'm going for quick and easy.

Have a guess at what tomorrows photo will be...
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Curved Chimneys

Unusual chimney pots as viewed from the Regent Arcade car park. I don't think I've ever seen any that look like this before. That's it today, enjoy your weekend.

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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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Refit Required

There aren't many buildings in Cheltenham that have their original advertising boards but this ramshackled relic is one. This former shopfitters, on St Georges Place, must date back to the beginning of the last century and the building is really showing its age. Around the top half of the building you can make out wire mesh and bolts that I presume are there to stop it collapsing onto the street below. And the roof isn't in a very good condition, what with plants growing up there. At first I thought that the red brick wall had a doorway in it, but now I realise its a fireplace in a chimney breast, that must have belonged to a long since demolished neighbouring property. It really is in a sorry state. Not a very good advert for shopfitters.

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The Devil's Chimney (a Halloween tale)

As its Halloween I thought I'd share a tale of local folklore with you. This rocky pile is known locally as the Devil's Chimney and it sits on the side of Leckhampton Hill, over looking Cheltenham.

The story goes that these stones form the Devil's chimney, on top of the Devil's dwelling deep beneath the ground. Supposedly the Devil, angered by the many churches in the area, would sit on top of Leckhampton Hill and hurl stones at Sunday worshippers. However the stones were thrown back at him, driving him beneath the ground and trapping him there so he could not further harass the villagers. Now he uses the mass of stones as his chimney to let free the smokes of hell.

That's the tale, now some other facts. In the past visitors to the Devil's Chimney would climb up and leave a coin on top of the rock as payment to the Devil in exchange for his staying in his underground home and not leaving to create mischief and spread evil in the local area. People would often climb to the top, thirteen is the largest number of people known to have been there in one go! In August 1926 the Devil's Chimney was left with several large cracks following an earthquake. In 1985 the Chimney was fenced off to stop erosion and also for safety (it is quite a drop below!)

Other theories surrounding the mysterious rocks include it being a "rude creation of some fanciful shepherd", a practical joke dreamt up by bored quarry workers in the 18th Century looking for a way to immortalise their work, and "differential erosion over many years which has left a column of harder rock free-standing as the softer rock has been worn away around it." (Boring!)

Hope you've enjoyed this Halloween tale. Have a spooky day!

Sky Watch Friday

Here we are again, another Sky Watch Friday and another week gone by. These are the chimney tops of Boddington Manor, on the outskirts of Cheltenham. The large Manor house is now the headquarters of Robert Hitchins (a house builder) and they must be feeling patriotic, what with the English flag flying. And the sky above is promising another storm (surprise, surprise!)

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Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Chim-Chimney

All these chimney pots sit on the roofs of the old back-to-back houses that are on one side of the Portland Street car park. The large car park used to have these sort of houses all over it but they were all demolished in the late 60's. One house escaped the compulsory purchase order (giving the right to developers to buy land, and whatever is on it, and then being able to knock it down) and stood alone in the vast sea of tarmac, until it was eventually demolished in 1980. A public toilet now stands on the site of the former number 14.

I don't imagine that many of the houses with these chimneys have open fires now-a-days, but in the past the smoke must have been billowing. Was that the start of global warming? Its all Mary Poppins' fault!

Red Chimneys

All those chimneys and that striking architecture really caught my eye while I was out and about last week. This large and impressive red brick building looks Victorian to me but I'm not sure. All I know is its big! I don't know what its used for or by who, I don't even know what its called. What I do know is that its in Malvern Road and it may be part of the Ladies College, as its near some of their sports facilities, but I don't really know! My standards are slipping. Sorry!

Just have fun counting the chimneys...