Changing View - The End

Here at Cheltenham DP the second day of the month means Changing View. Today marks a full year of taking a photo from the same place once a month to record the scene as it changes. To finish this series off today I show all the past photos starting with September 2008 and finishing with September 2009. Enjoy having a look back.

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

Chairs And Tables 4

Seating outside the HA! HA! Bar in Montpellier. I like the colour of the wood and the finishing touch of the potted plant. Nice.

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Changing View - August

The second of the month means Changing View here at Cheltenham DP and this months photo is the 12th image of the same scene. Last month I said it was hot, well that soon ended! July was the wettest month since last September (when I started this series) and last Wednesday was the wettest day since last September. August looks like its set to be the same. So much for summer! On the second day of next month I'll show all the photos together, to really show the change (nothing like dragging it out!)

To see how the view has changed click on 'changing view' in the labels below.
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Chairs And Tables 3

This could also have been titled 'Shades Of Brown'!

This set of table and chairs were just begging to be photographed for the series started by Virginia at Birmingham, Alabama DP. They were just tucked off of the Prom, outside the recently opened Costa Coffee. Normally the tables are covered in empty cups and plates but someone was actually doing their job and cleared them off! As you can see Cheltenham is not as litter free as people think - look on the floor. Standards are slipping!

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Changing View - July

The second day of the month means Changing view here at Cheltenham DP. Its July. Its hot. Very hot. If you click on the photo you can see people laid out on the grass of the Long Garden enjoying the sun and shade lovers sitting on the benches watching the world go by. Looking back to June you can see that the scene hasn't changed that much, no bloke leaning against the bollard. But that would just be odd if he were still there!

To see how the view has changed click on 'changing view' in the labels below.

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Changing View - June

The second day of the month can mean only one thing at Cheltenham DP - Changing View! This photo is the tenth in a series that record the changes that take place in exactly the same spot every month. And this month I can finally show you green leaves and sun! Summer has at last arrived. Notice the bloke leaning against the bollard. He obviously wanted to get in on the act!

To see how the view has changed click on 'changing view' in the labels below.

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Tables And Chairs 2

A few other DP bloggers are taking part in this series and not being one to come up with anything original myself I jumped on the bandwagon! These wet tables and chairs were outside a small cafe in Regent Street. Not surprisingly nobody was choosing to eat al fresco on that day!

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Changing View - May & 500th

Its the second of the month and that means only one thing at Cheltenham DP - Changing View! At long last the wintry branches have regenerated into spring abundance. Its been a long time coming but spring has finally sprung and the Prom is covered in an umbrella of green. To see how the view has changed click on 'changing view' in the labels below.

Today also marks my 500th post! I can't believe where the time has gone. Who would have thought that back in October 2007 I'd still be here?! Thanks to all the visitors, followers and commenters - you make it all worth while.
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Chairs And Tables

Today's post is in honour of Virginia at Birmingham, Alabama Daily Photo and her fantastic photos in her rapidly growing Table/Chair series. Having often been inspired by her style of photography I thought I'd go a step further today and go for an outright copy! (Hope you don't mind V!)

Over the past few years nearly all of Cheltenham's restaurants and bars have added outdoor seating areas - some a few chairs, others a whole dining room. As the weather here has been summer-like already the al fresco eating areas have emerged early, but the day I got out, camera in hand, the heavens opened and diners were forced back indoors. But what to do with all those chairs? Tip them up and hope for the best!

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Changing View - April

The second of the month marks the next installment of the 'Changing View' series here at Cheltenham Daily Photo. This photo is the eighth of the same scene. Last month I promised green trees in the view but unfortunately Mother Nature isn't playing, so you get a hint of green on brown branches. Next month I'm sure it'll be different! One bonus this month though - you can just make out the pink and blue primroses in the Long Garden, in front of the Municipal Offices.

To see how the scene has changed over the months click on 'changing view' in the labels below.
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Cheltenham Nightspots - 6

O'Neill's is one of the only Irish pubs in Cheltenham and is a fantastic place to go for a few pints on St Patrick's Day. It was the other choice for my post that day but I settled on a Guinness Toucan instead! The pub is on Montpellier Walk and takes advantage of the wide pavement for extra tables, on warm summer evenings the place has a huge crowd outside. O'Neill's is part of a chain of pubs named after the number one Irish jockey Jon Jo O'Neill. He is now a racing horse trainer and I should imagine he gets a good renumeration package for the use of his name!

Cheltenham Nightspots - 5

This post is especially for Glenn of http://torundailyphoto.blogspot.com/ who mentioned this bar in his comment last week. I should imagine it has changed a bit since he last went but the same crowd go there and the music is the same. I used to go there often with friends for the Saturday night Pop and Chart music on the ground floor. The rest of the time the 2 Pigs is known for Rock and Indie music. The people that dance the night away there are a mixed bunch but the atmosphere is always friendly and relaxed. And at only a couple of quid to get in, you can't go wrong!

Cheltenham Nightspots - 4

Continuing the series of the towns bars, clubs and pubs here is The Night Owl. This club, on the High Street, is not the sort of place that plays my kind of music, so I've never been inside but I wanted to tell you something about it. Not knowing anything about it I checked out their website http://www.nightowlclub.co.uk/ and I was so suprised by the history of the club behind the door that the info below is taken from their website :-

"Going back to the early 60s when it all started as a milk bar frequented by the mods on their scooters. Egg & Bacon was the local hang out for the young and restless of Cheltenham. For a while it was a dancehall under the name SPA Lounge. In the late 60s it changed incarnation again. This time the venue was called Blue Moon. It became the premiere circuit venue for the Gloucestershire area. Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Mott The Hoople, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart to name but a few, played up the stairs in the corner stage. The Four Tops played their very first UK show at the Blue Moon, which it remained to be during most of the 70s.
Then in the early 80s the club changed management yet again and turned in to The Night Owl. What started with the scooters and the mods back in the early years, now turned in to a dedicated bikers and rock venue.
Another name change to Mistys didn’t mean it changed genre. Still a rock club up until 1996 when it turned in to The Attic which is when Stuart “Stu” Challoner got involved. Still focusing on rock music, with up and coming bands playing live, The Attic featured artists such as Stereophonics and Feeder."

Now the club, once again The Night Owl, is undergoing a refurbishment and has a promising future. Who knows whether todays unknown rock bands featured here will become as famous as some of those that played The Night Owl in the past? Lets hope so.

Cheltenham Nightspots - 3

This nightclub will always be "Time" to me. Thats what it was called until a couple of years ago, when it changed to Moda, and its where I normally ended up on a Friday night. Friday night was the best night - it was Cheese Night (70's, 80's & 90's disco and cheesey songs!) - and I had many a good, and drunken, time with my friends. It used to be held in the ground floor bar and you had to wait upstairs until they opened the doors at 11pm to the downstairs area (oh, the anticipation!). The Cheese Night is now held on the middle floor and just isn't quite the same, I haven't been for a while now as everybody seemed to be getting younger (it could be me getting older I suppose!) and I missed the sticky floor! Since the make over its Cheltenhams largest club, spread over three floors, but its not exactly huge. The owners of Moda are in the planning stage of accquirring the former Odeon Cinema to transform it into the new largest club in town, though the police have objected, so we'll see what happens. I bet this even newer venue won't have sticky floors!

Cheltenham Nightspots - 2

Continuing my series of bars, pubs and clubs in Cheltenham, this is the 21 Club in Regent Street. As you can see its in the basement, the basement of a wedding dress shop! I am pretty sure the two are not related. I've never been in this club but I guess its quite small inside and, as the sign on the gate says, serves cocktails. I think I'll have to do some research and pay the club a visit. And try some cocktails (for research purposes only).

Cheltenham Nightspots - 1

Cheltenham has a relatively small town centre with one of the countries highest number of bars, pubs and clubs in a square mile town centre. This picture starts a series of photos of Cheltenhams nightspots.
The entrance to Boogie Lounge is just a small door tucked in amongst the regency buildings opposite the Town Hall but opens into a large room with a bar and dance floor. Like many of the towns nightspots the name is new but the venue the same. Boogie Lounge has been known as Bohemia and the Fish and Fiddle, that's the last time I went (quite awhile ago), when they used to have an open mic night. The music was always varied and the singing talent different!