Rivers Of Rubbish

The magnificent (not) river that is the River Chelt is hardly the widest deepest torrent of water in the world so you'd think the Council could manage to keep it clean. Apparently not. In the past I've shown you a trolley and a bike dumped in the water, today its a bed and a trailer. How delightful.

Cheltenham In Bloom

Being past winners of the national 'In Bloom' competition, Cheltenham has a lot to live up to. In the past the town has won the award for best small town several times and the Council always make an effort with its displays of summer blooms. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago the different areas of town have different colours of flowers. These photos are from the top end, Montpellier, where the colour theme is yellow and orange.

Hope these brighten your day.

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Long Garden

A quick one today, with hangover! Needless to say the beer festival last night was great!

This is the Long Garden in front of the Municipal Offices planted up for summer and bursting with colour. The image of the Council building and the planted beds is one of the most popular postcards in town, it sums Cheltenham up really.

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Making Tracks

One last snowy photo. These tyre tracks were made by the lorries and vans removing the temporary Christmas ice skating rink in Montpellier Gardens. The rink was inside a giant marquee and didn't attract as many skaters as neighbouring Gloucester's outdoor rink did. The main thing that put the visitors off was the fact that it wasn't real ice - it was plastic! Cheltenham Borough Council really need to get their act together for next Christmas!

The white stuff has all but melted, it is still freezing cold and frosty but the forecast is for milder weather next week. Who knows if we'll see more snow this winter.

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O Christmas Tree

You may remember I said about the lack of Christmas lights in Cheltenham, well the Council have at least got it right at the Municipal Offices. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it being the councillors work place! Anyway, it does look good. The Municipal Offices has had Christmas trees on its balcony at this time of year for as long as I can remember. It brings back childhood memories of going to see the lights being switched on and the times that we couldn't go my mum would take us in the car for a drive round town to see all the twinkling lights. What are your childhood Christmas memories?

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Changing View - December

Its the second of the month and its time for the fourth installment of my Changing View series. Today you get the excitement of two photos for the price of one! I was hoping to have a lovely night shot showing the Prom all lit up with Christmas lights, but the Council being the Council haven't bothered to get them all working. The end result is that a third of Cheltenham's Christmas lights aren't lit. Talk about getting into the festive spirit and encouraging shoppers to the town during these difficult times!

The second photo show the familiar scene yesterday afternoon. As you can see all of the leaves have fallen from the trees and winter has taken hold.

To see how the scene has changed click on 'changing view' in the labels below.
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Autumn Clean Up

The Borough Council horticulturalists are hard at work, clearing and tidying the parks and gardens ready for the winter months. This was the scene in Imperial Gardens, behind the Town Hall. The gardeners were just out of the photo, hard at it. I'm not sure if that truck is big enough for all the fallen leaves though, as the area is surrounded by trees. One strong gust of wind and the place will be covered again!

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Rubbish River

This is Cheltenhams latest bike parking facility. Well, it made me laugh! I saw this bicycle dumped in the River Chelt the other week. I presume it was dumped, I suppose someone could have lost control while out for a ride, ended up in the water and then got swept away by the current! Well, as the River Chelt is like a stream I doubt that very much. I don't know why people do things like this. I also don't know why the Council don't clean up this area more often. I suppose they've got better things to do with our taxes.

Anyway, on a jollier note, the result of the birthday quiz! The winner is...(drum roll)...Denton! He got all the answers right apart from one, which he got right later. Well done Denton, a Cheltenham postcard is on its way to you!

Here are Denton's answers -

(1) the name of the fountain - Neptune's Fountain on the Promenade

(2) the story that goes with this photo - Sweet Injustice, security asked that you to stop taking photos

(3) the name of the building - Town Hall which it sits on Cheltenham's One-way system

(4) the type of Coat of Arms - The Cowardly Lion ... belongs to one of Britain's former Kings

(5) the significance of these birds - Cheltenham's spa water was discovered in 1716 because local people noticed pigeons pecking at the salty deposits

(6) the name of the building the eagle sits at the bottom of - Eagle Tower

(7) what Cheltenham is famous for - the Gold Cup

(8) what this building is being turned into - The Dobells pub ... a proper pub

(9) my first 'blank' - first attempt at the City Daily Photo Blog theme day

(10) my first 'blank' - first photo posted

(11) the name of the building - The Municipal Offices stand on the Promenade

(12) the name of the flower - sunflowers representing children at the Deerhurst Flower Festival

The answer to photo 8 is actually that the Dobells pub is being turned into a Costa Coffee (which Denton got later.)

Thanks to everyone who took part and left me such kind blogiversary comments. Enjoy your weekend!

Model Arcade

No, I haven't been flying over Cheltenham in a helicopter. This is the model on display to show how the revamped Regent Arcade will look. The work to exterior is a long way from being started but the interior make over is under way. I'll show you that another day. As you can see from the two photos, the change isn't amazing. Basically a closed in arched front. The architects wanted to replace the area at the front with a large glass canopy, but Cheltenham Borough Council were having none of it! It seems a shame that the opportunity to create a stylish facade has been wasted. But that's the way it goes.

If you want to see my other posts on the Regent Arcade, including its history, then click on 'regent arcade' in the labels below.

Into The New Century

This is the controversial Century Court. It was built at the start of 2000 and was completed in 2001. It replaced some old office buildings and was hailed as an impressive brownfield redevelopment, but it wasn't without its critics due to the design. At the time it was quite a departure from the usual style of buildings being put up and the Borough Council actively sort out a contemporary design. Century Court was designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley architects and cost around £12 million. The complex has 87 apartments, 9 townhouses, inner courtyard gardens created by a Chelsea award winning designer, a gym and underground car parking. And just to stop any unwanted visitors it has gated access.

This view is from Bath Road but the view from the courtyard is much more interesting. At each end are two drum shaped buildings with apartments within, but I couldn't show them to you due to the gates! The main feature of the homes in the photo is the view from the balconies. They overlook one of Cheltenham's most famous institutions, and this makes these homes some of the towns most expensive (£500,000 for 2 bedrooms!)

Come back tomorrow to see what they see...

Go West

I've mentioned before about how Cheltenham's Lower High Street has been rebranded High Street West End, and here is the proof. This 'modern' sign can be found on the High Street at the point where it starts to become less attractive. That end of our town has somewhat of a reputation for being a bit dodgy, with independent shops, poor housing, and unemployment. The real problem is the Council. If they put as much money into this part of Cheltenham as they do with the more upmarket areas there wouldn't be such a perceived problem. The lower High Street isn't really that bad, although poverty in that part of town is very real. It will take more than a few signs to bring about meaningful improvement.

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?

On Yer Bike

These green and yellow bikes are the latest initiative from Cheltenham Borough Council to help cut traffic. The bike hire scheme was launched yesterday after a successful trial by Gloucestershire University earlier in the year. Basically you pre-register using your mobile phone, pay a £10 deposit and when you want to hire a bike a a code is sent to your phone. You then enter the code at the docking station and the bike is released for you to ride. The first half an hour of use is free, and then you are charged a couple of quid every half hour after that. There are seven docking stations around town, including one at the train station (which is just out of Cheltenham town centre), with 30 bikes available for hire. It seems like a really good idea, although I haven't seen anyone riding one yet!

For more information visit the company behind the scheme,
On Yer Bike

Theme Day - 'No...' Signs

Yet again its Theme Day (the months are flying by!) I found it hard to get inspired for this theme. I wanted to show a sign that would be a bit unusual, but couldn't find one. In the end I settled for a standard sort of sign and added some effects to the photo, hopefully making it a bit different from the rest. With regard to the litter dropping aspect, if the Council enforced the very steep fine then there wouldn't be a litter problem. But they don't, so there is!

There are 171 other CDPB taking part in this Theme Day, take some time to pay them a visit.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Axiom

This derelict building used to be the hub of Cheltenhams music and arts scene. The Axiom Centre, in Winchcombe street, was the place to go to see new bands, unusual art exhibitions and share a drink with friends while chilling out in relaxed surroundings.

Unfortunately the centre shut in 2000 after the Council were worried by the way it was being run and the loss of money it was suffering. After several failed attempts to revive the place it closed for good in 2002. The Borough Council has since sold the building for over £500,000 and have promised to use the money towards the Art Gallery and Museum redevelopment. I don't know how many years the Axiom was used for before its demise but I spent several 'entertaining' nights there. Once listening to a friends first gig. Sadly his band was one of the worst that night, but that was the joy of the Axiom - you never knew what you'd get! I also watched another friends rather bizarre play in the upstairs theatre area. But the best times were spent on warm evenings sitting outside on the benches chatting with the lively mix of people that were drawn to the Axiom.

I think Cheltenham is worse off for the loss of the Axiom. There really isn't the same kind of venue in town for up and coming creative minds to express themselves.

Every Vote Counts

Yesterday Cheltonians got their chance to cast their vote for the election of Councillors for the Borough Council. Its not as exciting as a General Election but its still an important poll. I went to my local Primary School to vote. Cheltenhams constituency is divided into Wards (areas) and each is represented by two Councillors. Half of the 40 seats are up for re-election, that's one councillor for each Ward. In two years time the other seats will be up for re-election. In my Ward the election is between a Liberal Democrat and a Conservative candidate, the fight for control of the Borough Council is also between these two parties, as no party has overall control (the Labour party have little impact in Cheltenham). Cheltenham wasn't the only Council holding voting, there were 159 Councils in England with around 4,000 seats up for grabs. Also there were elections taking place in Britain's Capital for London Mayor and in Wales for all of the Welsh Unitary Authorities. This election is the first test of Gordon Browns government, the results will be interesting to say the least!

At the time of posting, the results weren't in but when they are I'll post an update. You lucky things! Yes, I'm a politics nerd!!

UPDATE....

....The results are in and the Council remains with no overall control! Lib Dem gained 3 seats, Conservative gained 1 and Labour lost their 1 and they now have no representation on Cheltenham Borough Council. Now its up to the Councillors to decide who will lead the Council. If they can't decide then the Mayor makes the decision, and he just happens to be a Lib Dem! Over the country as a whole the Labour government have had their worst election result in 40 years with only 24% of the popular vote. Lib Dems have a 26% share, and the Conservatives are up to 44% share. Interesting political times ahead...

Council House

The Municipal Offices stand on the Promenade, in front of the Long Garden, and are the headquarters of Cheltenham Borough Council. The building is one of Cheltenhams finest examples of a 19th century terrace. The impressive building was designed by George Underwood and was built as private houses between 1823 and 1835, originally called Harward's Building after one of the towns developers. In 1915 the five central houses became the Municipal Offices and by 1958 13 of the 19 houses were occupied by the Council. For some years now the Council has talked about moving to a new purpose built building, that will also house the Courts and other local services, and sell the Municipal Offices to fund this, allowing restaurants, shops, bars and an hotel to move into the building. Only last month this plan was once again reported in the local newspaper. It seems to me more and more likely that this will happen, it's such a shame that the the best Council House in town will be no more.

The End Result

Last October I posted on the planting of the Long Garden, in front of the Municipal building. Back then the Council gardeners were busy planting pansies, wallflowers and tulip bulbs and now the weather has started to warm up, and the evenings are getting lighter, the fruits of their labours can be seen by all. The plants make a fantastic splash of long awaited colour.

See the 'before' post here - http://cheltenhamdailyphoto-marley.blogspot.com/2007/10/out-with-old-in-with-new_25.html

Demolition

This is the beginning of the end for the the St Pauls area of Cheltenham. However, it is only temporary, as new houses are going to replace parts of the 1930's estate. The estate is on the West side of town, close to the centre, and for decades has had a bad reputation, as the area is rife with vandalism, drugs and crime, although it is only the minority that give the estate this reputation. Unfortunatly mud sticks. In April 2005 the Council decided to demolish all 312 house but after protests from residents this number was reduced to 72. The streets facing demolition are parts of Hudson and Manser Street and all of Crabtree Place, and at the end of January this year the work started to reduce them to rubble. Many residents will move back into the new development and some say that the problems faced in the past will return too. I tend to agree with them. The problem isn't necessarily the buildings themselves, but some of the people in them.

Don't Let The Band Stand

As promised last week, in my post on Snowdrops, here is another photo from Pitville Park. Until I went walking round the park I never knew it had a bandstand and I was suprised at how nice it looked. Last year some areas of the park under went a makeover and I guess the bandstand got a lick of paint. The Borough Council are in the process of applying for a larger grant from the Lottery Heritage Commision so that a bigger revamp can take place in the Grade II listed park to help restore it to its former glory. I don't know if you'll agree with me, but I think the bandstand has the style of a Chinese Pagoda....fitting as today is the start of the Chinese New Year!