Glass Ceiling

Its a sad day at Cheltenham Daily Photo (or a thank-God-for-that day, depending on your point of view!) as I'm going to say this is my last post on the refurbishment of Cheltenham's Regent Arcade. As regular visitors will know, I have posted quite often (too much, some say) on the ongoing transformation of the shopping centre. The main area of change has been the roof, which has been completely replaced. The once arched 80's ceiling is now a modern slopped glass one, and I must say it does look quite good. If you click 'Regent Arcade' in the labels below you can see the progress that brought about the new look. Go on. You know you want to!

And to see the roof before click here. Its quite a difference.

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.

Parking Problems

Its a long time since I've had a randomly-spotted photo. But is it really random? I mean, where else would you park a bike other than on a garage roof?!

And the seat for the guard to sit in doesn't look that comfy!

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.

Ornate Echoings

So there I was on Saturday, sitting in the hairdressers having my hair cut, while nursing a hangover from hell, and through bleary eyes I spotted this view out of the window. Divine inspiration struck. A photo opportunity and I had my camera with me! Here is the result. The ornate iron work that surrounds the window balcony echoing the ornate roof of Costa Coffee. I love it when a plan comes together.

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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.

To join in with Sky Watch, or to see the sky from all around the world, head over to the Sky Watch Blog.

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Off With His Head!

The poor old duck on top of the Wishing Fish Clock has lost his head! As avid followers of this blog will know the Regent Arcade is undergoing a transformation and as part of this the roof has been replaced. While the work was being carried out there were posters around the shopping centre telling shoppers that the duck had gone off on his holidays (he was removed from the top of the clock) but now he is home and it looks like he forgot to bring something back with him!

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Up On The Roof

I'm not sure what amazed me more - the new glass roof of the Regent Arcade or the workman stood on it! He must have faith in his work, stood at least 40 feet above the shoppers below on the brand new glass roof! As you can see there is still a lot of work to do in the ongoing refurbishment of our main shopping centre but the roof is impressive. Its not exposed to the elements yet (hence the scaffolding and metal sheeting above it) but from what I can see it looks good. All the natural light that'll come flooding in will make a real difference below.

Talking about walking on glass high in the sky click here. Scary stuff!

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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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Regent Roof Update

Dedicated followers of Cheltenham DP will know that I have an ongoing obsession with the refurbishment of the Regent Arcade. For those not in the loop, the arcade is the main shopping centre in Cheltenham and for the past 18 months has been undergoing cosmetic surgery, the main procedure being the replacement of the arched poly-plastic roof with a flat glass one. For months now the place has been protected from the elements by plastic sheeting, wooden boards and scaffolding. I managed to sneak this photo and saw that work isn't really progressing.

In the UK we have several home makeover TV shows, the main ones being Grand Designs and Property Ladder. The story of Regent Arcade reminds me of these. The presenters turns up in the spring, the homeowners tell them of their plans. They are asked "how long will it take?" The answer - "we'll be in by Christmas." The presenters revisit at Christmas to find half a house, no roof, rain lashing down, water pouring in and, because the homeowners have no clue what they are doing, they've plastered the walls and put down wooden floors - which are now ruined!

I'll update you next when the glass arrives. Next Christmas!

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Raising The Roof

Now I know what you're all thinking. That I'm obsessed with the renovation of the Regent Arcade shopping centre. Well, its not so much obsession as overly interested! Anyway, those that have been following Cheltenham DP know that the Regent Arcade is undergoing a makeover and that the arched roof is being removed and is being replaced with a flat glass one. After weeks of scaffolding the old roof has started to vanish. This photo was taken on the top of the car park, through the safety fencing, and four storeys below those open arches is the Arcade! To stop the shoppers getting wet there is a temporary roof made from planks of wood and lots of plastic sheeting! To see the roof as it was go here.

I'll keep you posted with the work, whether you like it or not!

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The Seagull And The Sandwich

Another view from my front window. Cheltenham isn't known for its seagulls but one suddenly appeared and landed on the roof opposite. He was eyeing up half a sandwich that someone had dropped on the pavement but, while he was plotting his best course of action for getting hold of some lunch, a magpie came swooping down and had his fill! Better luck next time Mr Seagull.

I guess its true what they say - one magpie for sorrow!

On The Up

I showed you a model of the new look exterior of the Regent Arcade the other day, and work on that is yet to start, but the renovation to the interior is under way. Workmen have already removed a lot of the marble covering the pillars and walls, and they have rejuvenated the toilets. The next phase is to re-clad the wall high above the shopping area with wood. All this scaffolding signifies the start of that work, which seems to be done at night. I guess they don't want to squash the shoppers below with any falling debris! After this has been done the arched roof will be replaced with a flat glass one. This part of the project has been the most controversial, but it won't be long before they start, so no more complaining!

Sky Watch Friday

This is a view across the roof tops of Cheltenham. On the left of the photo is the spire of St Mary's Church, the Parish church of Cheltenham, and on the right is the tower of Cheltenham Library. As you can see from all the cloud we are still suffering from a Great British summer. Where has the sun gone?!

Head over to Wiggers World to find out who else is Sky Watching.

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!

Cathedral Shopping

The Regent Arcade in Cheltenham has, in the past, been described as "a Cathedral of shopping" because of its 600 foot high barrel roof. It was built between 1982 and 1984, opened in 1985 and cost £23 million. With 78 shops under cover it soon became the most popular shopping centre in town, although before its construction it had considerable opposition with a petition against it of over 20,000 signatures. More recently the building has been in the news, and a topic of much debate, due to the current owners redevelopment plans. The most controversial being the replacement of the roof. Plans have been passed by Cheltenham Borough Council for the removal of the present one and a flat glass roof to be put in its place. Its hard to imagine what the Regent Arcade will look like without its most impressive feature but its going to happen in 2008.