Girls Face

Today some more details from the red brick former school that is now apartments. I still haven't found out the name of the school. Sorry! What I do know is that they don't make school buildings like this anymore.

Sky Watch Friday

Red And Blue.

Enough of the green (see previous posts if you have no idea what I'm talking about!) Now its red and blue, well for today. I love the detail of the architecture of this former school building that is now converted to apartments. I can't actually remember the name of the school, need to check that out, and, as I have a few other good photos of this building to post, I will do some research! In the mean time just enjoy SWF!

To join in with, or to check out other skies, head over to the Sky Watch Friday Blog.

Posters

The Brewery complex in town has been open for about three years and several of the units are still empty. In a bid to try and integrate them with the surrounding restaurants and shops the management are hosting an art competition for local school children to brighten up the boarded facades with posters. Nice idea, in fact its...

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'.

_

Primary Colours

Here is the Primary Colours Day Nursery in Montpellier. It is one of the many nursery schools in and around Cheltenham that occupy former residential buildings. This one is a four story dwelling over looking Montpellier Gardens. I really like the coloured (primary coloured) shutters and front door. The shutters are closed as I took this photo on a Saturday, they don't tend to keep the children shut in the dark!
_

When Will I Be Famous

Fancy a new suit? Want to be treated like an extra from Are You Being Served? Then The Famous is the place for you. Well known for being the best specialist menswear shop in Gloucestershire, they boast knowledgeable and experienced staff. The Famous was established in 1886 and its still in its original premises on the High Street, still being run by the same family. They also do formal hire and school uniforms. I remember my mum taking me here to get my first school blazer, ready to start senior school. As you'd expect the blazer was too big but I was told "you'll grow into it!"

"Always look after the man who wants to buy a collar stud; he may want a shirt some day"

Mr. A.N. Cole (founder)

_

Bridging The Gap

You don't often see this sort of thing between buildings around here, a corridor in the air. And a grand walkway at that. This links two of the buildings that make up the Ladies College. The college site is made up of lots of different buildings that are all linked together, making a courtyard garden in the middle. A few years ago it was remodeled and reopened by the Queen, although its not open to the public.

Sorry for all the short posts of late, all on the same theme, normal service will resume tomorrow.

_

Chetenham College

This is the view from the balconies in yesterdays post. It is the world famous Cheltenham Boys College. Well, it allows girls now but locally it is known as the Boys College. The college dates from 1841 and has been on this site, in these Gothic Revival buildings since 1843. It was opened as Cheltenham Proprietary College and was founded to educate the sons of gentlemen. The college took in day and boarding students, and still does, with many surrounding streets having halls of residence. The college was originally split into Classical and Military schools but this ended in the middle of the last century. The college is one of several independent fee paying schools in Cheltenham, educating students between 13 and 18 years old. The college grounds are very large with many buildings and the huge chapel (on the left of the photo) was built in 1893-96 for the college's 50th Jubilee celebrations! The college also hosts the Cheltenham Cricket Festival, which started yesterday, and has been held there since 1872.

So, what do you think about the modern Century Court (see yesterdays post) being built opposite the classic Cheltenham College? Now you can see what all the fuss was about at the time!

_

Spoilsport

Talk about a party pooper! The schools haven't even broken up for the summer holidays yet and the High Street shops are already spoiling the kids fun. I know its all about money, but just think how all those children feel. One minute the excitement of six weeks of summer away from school and the next its snatched away by the big stores, selling school uniforms and pencil cases! Back to school. At once!

Last week D.C Confidential gave me an Arte y Pico Award. Thank you very much.

I said I would use the weekend to ponder about who to pass it on to. Here are my choices:

Murphy Jay at Petaling Jaya (Malaysia) Daily Photo
Jackie at Glasgow Daily Photo
Mo at A Glimpse Of London
Lori at Miss B In NYC
Brian at Terrell Texas Daily Photo

I know that not everyone will wish to pass this award on. That's OK by me. If you do, here are the rules:

1. You have to pick five blogs that you consider 'deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material and which contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language they are in.'
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given him/her the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize has to show the Arte y Pico blog so that everyone will know the origin of the award.
5. Each award winner has to post these rules.

Just copy and paste the rules above. Copy, save, and paste the Arte y Pico award on the right and pick your deserving five!

Planning Mistake

To me, this building is a result of one of the worst planning decisions ever made by Cheltenham Borough Council. This awful looking development in the Lower High Street is not suited to the Regency style of the town and just brings down the whole of the lower end of town, which suffers enough from a negative image. In 1967 all of the buildings on the North side of the High Street, between Henrietta Street and Bennington Street, were demolished. Those that were destroyed included the Fleece Hotel, the original arched entrance to the Brewery and, worst of all, the Richard Pates Boys Grammar School. The school had stood on the site since the 1500's and the more recent Tudor Gothic style building, dating from 1889, was lost forever. The schools frontage featured castellated roof lines, gargoyles, stone carved windows and steep gables. All of this history and fine architecture was replaced with a white, style-less block (now grey, stained and outdated). Efforts have been made to try to improve this section of town, like the limiting of traffic to buses only and the widening of pavements, but I think the best bet would be to send this structure the same way as the Grammar School et al and start all over again.