Sunset Steeple

The steeple of St Gregory's church as the sun was going down on another day.

I hope you all had a good Christmas. Mine was great, but it is what you make it. Here in the UK its Boxing Day today, basically a bit more of Christmas Day! The sales start and today is being called Super Saturday, as its the first time in 11 years that Boxing Day has fallen on a Saturday. Retailers are hoping that sales today will be beat those of Christmas Eve, when 1 million pounds was being spent every minute! Recession? What recession?!

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.

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

Sky Watch Friday

All Saints Roof

Another All Saints Church photo. I liked the pattern of the roof tiles and the contrast between the red and blue sky. And the white bird is a bonus!

To join in with Sky Watch head over to the Sky Watch Blog.

All Saints Church

As I mentioned yesterday, today it is more of All Saints Church. The Catholic church on All Saints Road has some wonderful carved details and lots of interesting pitched roofs. Instead of trying to choose one photo today I thought I'd treat you to four! The first photo is of the stone detail above what was once the main door to the church, it is now sectioned of with railings, I guess to preserve it.

All Saints was established in 1868 by a group of local people keen to create a style of worship not generally found in Cheltenham, that followed the 19th century Oxford Movement.

The church itself was designed by John Middleton. Middleton's original design included a tower with a large spire, but although building and decoration of the interior continued for many years, the gable roof to the bell-tower was not completed until 1992, but without the spire the architect designed over 100 years earlier.

And finally the Crucifix in full that I showed you part of yesterday. Impressive.

Jesus Christ

This imposing carved statue of Jesus Christ stands on the corner of All Saints Church. This is just a taster of the amazing stone work on and around the building. More tomorrow. But for now...

A follow up to yesterdays post...

Its amazing what you can find out if you ask a question. Yesterdays mystery musical instruments are an Indonesian Gamelan, as many of you said. Knowing this, I found out the following from the Cheltenham Festivals website.

"A gamelan (translated as ‘hit with a hammer’) is an ensemble of percussion instruments on which the traditional music of Java and Bali is played. It usually consists of metallophones (xylophones) and gongs, the best ones made of bronze, and mounted on beautifully carved and painted wooden frames. It has a distinctive and melodic sound and accompanies dances and all-night shadow-puppet plays in Indonesia.

The Cheltenham Gamelan was made in the foundries outside the Royal City of Surakarta (Solo) in central Java, Indonesia. The lovely white roses carved on the wooden frames were designed specifically to complement the Pittville Pump Room, although one of the wood carvers was apparently somewhat baffled as to why anyone would want what he took to be cabbages on their gamelan!

Many aspects of playing the gamelan match targets within the music curriculum, the most obvious being playing by ear and from memory, learning about pitch, dynamics and tempo, and taking part in group performances. As a result the Cheltenham Gamelan is becoming an increasingly popular resource for all key stages in schools.

As well as a thriving schedule of schools’ workshops, the community gamelan players meet regularly to develop their interest in this beautiful music. It enhances other skills such as listening to others and working as a team, and is therefore ideal for corporate functions, team-building exercises and parties. With no previous experience participants can, within a short time, play a real Javanese composition and have a lot of fun along the way."

So now we all know!

Underneath The Arches

This is St Mary and Corpus Christi Church in Down Hatherley, a little village somewhere between Cheltenham and Gloucester. The site of the church dates from around the 15th century but the main church building is from 1859.

That is it really, just look at the pretty little church!

Punching The Sky

Today is a 'let the photo do the talking' day. This is St Lukes church steeple with Leckhampton Hill in the background.

_

Theme Day - Night

Its the first of the month and its Theme Day across the CDPB community. This months theme is 'Night' and this is my offering. It shows Christ Church lit up at night. Its an impressive building and can be seen from all around Cheltenham, especially at night.

To see all the other many interpretations for this Theme head here.

_

Encouraging All

"Encouraging all people to become fully committed followers of Jesus Christ" is the slogan of Cambray Baptist Church. Best of luck with that one! Can you tell I'm not religious?! I'm not against people believing in whatever they want or finding strength and comfort in a higher being, but its a tall order trying to convert all people. I bet lots of people are happy not to be encouraged.

Whatever you think about religion and the people there-in they know/knew how to build impressive churches. This one is a bit plainer than the normal heavy stone and spire-topped ones that are common right across the UK, but it is none-the-less a fantastic building. It looms large and stands proud on Cambray Place, right next to the High Street. The building dates back to 1855, although the first Cheltenham Baptists were formed in 1690 and used to worship in a disused malt house. The congregation that became Cambray Baptist Church was formed in 1843 and the then churchgoers raised the money to build this building.

What are your thoughts on religion and church buildings?
_

Hoarding Art

As I mentioned yesterday the hoardings surrounding the construction site that is Hotel Kandinsky have been brightened up with art. The paintings have been created by local school children and some, like this one, are really good. I like how they've been 'framed'.

_

St Paul's Church

What can I tell you about the unusual looking St Paul's church? Well, its in one of Cheltenham's most deprived areas - St Paul's, its Cheltenham's only Greek Revival style building, it was designed by John Forbes and dates back to 1831, and was the towns first 'free' church. I think that covers the basics.

It has some really interesting architectural features - some that are familiar to Cheltenham, others that are unique.

These days the church promotes itself for the work it does within the community - offering help to struggling families, youth clubs for young people and workshops for locals. St Paul's really is at the heart of its community.
_

Steeple

Not a lot to say today. I can't even remember the name of this church (standards are slipping!), although I do know its in Montpellier Street, opposite the Ladies College. I just like the way it points straight up to that blue sky. If I can think of the name I'll update you all, as a taster its more than likely called St 'somebodys' Church!

UPDATE....

Thanks to Tash at Palos Verdes DP for doing the job for me! She found the name of the Church, its St Andrew's. And the spire was built in 1885. I told you my standards were slipping! Thanks Tash.
_

Theme Day - Paths And Passages

Yes, its the first of the month again and that means its Theme Day across the CDP Blog community. This is one of the paths off of the Lower High Street leading to St Marys Church, which is the parish church of Cheltenham. If you want to know more about the church scroll down to my squirrel post the other day and follow the link. There isn't much more to say other than I liked the light and shadows in this photo. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Make sure you come back tomorrow to see the next installment in my Changing View series.

_

Have You Seen My Nuts?

I couldn't resist today's title! Anyway, I was cutting through the churchyard of St Marys Church, in the heart of Cheltenham, when I spotted this little chap busy hunting for his buried treasure. I hope he found what he was looking for.

If you want to know more about St Marys Church then check out my past post 'There's Something About Mary' It is my only post that didn't receive any comments and I really like the photo. So be kind and make a Cheltonian happy!

_

A Pizza Church

Last night Phoebe and I went to one of our favourite restaurants for something to eat, to celebrate the start of our week off of work (Yay!) This is Zizzi's, an Italian restaurant now taking up residence in a former church, which the new owners restored the interior of, keeping nearly all of the original features of this fantastic Gothic Revival style building. The top photo shows the open kitchen, with pizza oven, in the area that was once the altar. As you can see, the place is beautifully lit at night which enhances all of the stone work. The photo below shows the balcony, which is where you'll find the bar. Last night there was someone playing the piano, you can see the lid of the grand piano in the bottom of the photo. Hopefully you'll be able to make out the wooden ceiling with its carved features. If you want to see the outside of the building then check out a previous post here.

Both of these photos were taken with my camera phone, hence the quality.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Deerhurst Flower Festival - Day Three

Today is the last day of my photos of the flower festival. I had so many to choose from it was a job to decide what to post. The first photo is part of a display called 'God Save The Queen', all about our national anthem. All the red, white and blue flowers fitted in well with the patriotic feeling about at the moment due to Team GB's success in the Olympics.


I wasn't quite sure what to expect at a flower show being held in a church. I was imagining lots of chrysanthemums and carnations, and those sort of old fashioned flowers. But I was really surprised. There were loads of unusual blooms and tropical flowers, like the orchids above. They added to some really interesting displays.

And the last photo is the one I promised you yesterday that I'd post. It shows the bells made of leaves, with the bell ringing ropes included, and is part of the display entitled Resounding Bells Of Time. I hope you all enjoyed seeing these floral creations.

Happy Birthday Phoebe x

Deerhurst Flower Festival - Day Two

More of the beautiful flowers at Deerhurst Flower Festival. As I mentioned yesterday this years theme was Sounds Of Song And Praise. The photo above shows the flowers that represent the Gates Of Jerusalem Hosanna. The end of the pews were decorated with red gladioli and bright yellow sunflowers, creating a colourful walk way down the aisle. The photo below is part of the display entitled Resounding Bells Of Time. I'll show the bells tomorrow.

Deerhurst Flower Festival

Every other year the village of Deerhurst, on the outskirts of Tewkesbury, holds a flower festival over the summer bank holiday weekend in their church. This time the theme was Sounds Of Songs And Praise and there were 28 different arrangements, some small and some very grand. This one was in the entrance to the churchyard and was entitled Dancing Around The Maypole. It was one of the more imaginative creations, with sunflowers representing children, and was a lovely arrangement to welcome visitors to the festival.

I took loads of photos, so over the next few days I'll show you some of the other floral masterpieces. To see the flowers of 2006, and to read about the festivals history, go to Deerhurst Flower Festival.

Bethesda Choir

One thing that photos can't capture is sound. And this photo doesn't convey the lovely sound coming through the open doors. As I walked up Great Norwood Street I could here singing and as I got near to Bethesda Methodist Church I discovered the source - choir practise. I stopped for a bit and had a listen, pretending to fiddle with my camera, and the singers were really good. I'm sure if I had been brave enough to go in they wouldn't have minded, it wouldn't have been very religious if they'd said no! If you click to enlarge the photo you can just see the singers in full swing and also get a better look at the carving round the door.

Stars At Night

"The stars shine joyfully to the Lord"

The words above are on the bottom of this poster, which is on the noticeboard of St Philip & St James' Church in the Leckhampton area of Cheltenham. The inspiration for the poster has come from stained glass. I'm not religious but this really caught my eye. The colours are so vivid and the more you look at it the more you see. Can you see the stars, a crescent moon, the sun setting and the sea? Or do you see something different to me?