Rusty Post

This rusty old metal gate post looked like it was about to collapse. It is all that's left of what must have once been an ornate wrought iron gate. The building at the end of the drive is a typical Cheltenham Regency one that is being renovated, probably into apartments. Although it won't fit in with the new look I hope they keep this post from the past.

There was no outright winner of Saturdays guessing game. The stuffed bird was in the window of a Barbers Shop. I've no idea why! So I'll give a link to Babooshka for her answer - a car dealership! It was as strange as the real answer!

Big Bird

I've got a guessing game for you this Saturday, to help pass the time. This stuffed bird was in a glass case in the window of a (your answer here). I'll give you a clue. It has nothing to do with the place or the service they provide. The person who gets it right wins a free link in tomorrows post! Ooooo! What more could you want?!

Sky Watch Friday

The sun from behind a summer cloud. I'm making the most of the sun's presence, as we are due a very wet weekend. That'll make a change then! Hope you have a good weekend.

To join in with Sky Watch, and to see all of the other Sky Watchers offerings, head to the new Sky Watch Friday blog.

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?

Sparks Will Fly

I'm not sure what this drainpipe had done wrong, but this chap was certainly teaching it a lesson it would never forget! He was creating a lot of noise with his angle grinder and the sparks were flying everywhere. I had to dodge them as I walked by. Luckily I wasn't wearing my 80's shell suit or I would have gone up in a ball of flames! For more on shell suits, and a guaranteed laugh, go here. Have a good look around the site, it is so funny!

I'm not adverse to a bit of DIY, as long as my extensive tool kit (two screwdrivers and a hammer) are up to the job!

Giant Crusher

I spotted this bike flouting the rules outside The Jolly Brewmaster pub. I guess the landlord is a Triumph owner. Although, while looking for some info on Triumph motors, I discovered that Triumph started out making bicycles in 1885, so whoever the bike belongs to is well within their rights to park it there!

Some of you may have picked up that I've been lacking inspiration over the last few days. I got myself out onto the mean streets of Cheltenham yesterday evening to try to recapture my enthusiasm. While walking I decided that I'm going to write less and post photos that interest me more. I'll still show you Cheltenham's fine Regency buildings and share with you some of my towns history but from now on Cheltenham Daily Photo is going to be more about the photos. I hope you all still enjoy visiting!

Blue Window

Sometimes you just want to post a photo because you like it, not because you have something to say. These blue windows are part of an office block in town. Not very interesting. I just like the colour.

Sunday Reflection

You may need to look twice at this one, but there in the puddle is the spire of St Gregory's Church. I was quite pleased with this photo, even though a tree is slightly obscuring the full effect. Have a peaceful and reflective Sunday.

Out Of Africa

Now, not that I'm short of photos or anything, but this is a tropical flower from an African inspired bunch, bought at my local supermarket along with the weekly shop. The flower is known as a Pincushion flower (Leucospermum cordifolium) Impressed with my knowledge, aren't you?! Don't let it be said that you don't learn anything here at Cheltenham daily photo! I did put some effort into today's post though. I doctored the photo a bit, just to highlight the flower.

Thanks to everyone for visiting yesterday. I achieved my highest number of comments to date. Its really good to know people like what they see. Enjoy your Saturday.

Theme Day - Metal and Sky Watch Friday!

It's Theme Day time again and its also the ever popular Sky Watch Friday today. I wasn't feeling inspired about this months theme but I wanted to try to post a photo that would cover both events. Up until 11pm last night I had a metal themed photo but it meant I couldn't join in with Sky Watch. I was talking over my useless ability to be organised with Phoebe, she said it would have been good if I had a weather vane to show. A little light bulb went on in my mind! I had one! And here it is.

This is the weather vane on top of Cheltenham Ladies College. It is made from cast iron and lead (I think!) and the sky in the background really was that grey, its not a black and white photo!

If you want to join in with Sky Watch Friday, and to see the other Sky Watchers offerings, head over to the Sky Watch Friday blog.

And click here to view thumbnails for all participants of this months City Daily Photo Theme Day. There are 182 blogs taking part, so take some time to pay them a visit.

Seeing all of those metal and/or sky photos should help pass the time on a Friday afternoon! Have a good weekend everybody and thanks for the inspiration Phoebe!

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!

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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...

Loud Accordion

This guy was entertaining passers by on the High Street. Well, he was trying to entertain. He was putting on a good performance; moving around, playing well, talking to the passing shoppers, but nobody seemed very interested. It was probably due to the fact that it was so hot yesterday or that the music was so loud. The sound from the accordion was being pumped out of that large speaker and you could hear it all the way down the street. When I passed by a bit later he had gone. More than likely the surrounding shops had something to do with it! I guess Cheltenham wasn't quite ready for a little accordion music!

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.

Summer Sun

Just a stock photo today. Although the sun is shining the threat of rain is never far away, well this is Britain! When I took this photo the bright marigolds were being beaten to within an inch of their lives by the heavy downpours but now they are flagging due to the lack of water. You just can't win!

The beer festival on Friday night was very good (from what I can remember) and I took the tasting very seriously. I tried many different beers and the outcome I reached was - beer is good!

Sky Watch Friday

A gorgeous sunset sky taken on Monday night from my front window. (I did have to lean out a bit!) Although I couldn't actually see the sun going down it lit up the wispy clouds beautifully.

To join in with Sky Watch, and to see all the other sky watchers weekly offerings, click here. Happy Sky Watch one and all!

Sorry about the lack of comments from me over the last few days, I'll be playing catch up on Saturday - hangover permitting. I'm going to a beer festival tonight! Yay!

Bowled Out

You don't have to be retired to plays bowls, although it seems to help! This is one of two bowling greens in Cheltenham belonging to Cheltenham Bowling Club. This one is at the end of the High Street at St Georges Square, the other is in Suffolk Square. The bowling club was founded in 1883 with this green opened in 1924 for the use of ex-servicemen. The reason I decided to post on bowls was that I had seen a report on the local news about the imminent demise of this past time due to the lack of young blood, but after looking into it I found that the Cheltenham club has 150 members and is bucking this trend. So much for local news!

Yesterday I asked if anyone could see what the children on the panel are making. The eagle eyed Dusty Lens got the right answer - they are building bicycles. If you look at the panel again you can see (from the right) a wheel, a chain guard, handle bars and two bike frames. Although I still don't know why they are building bikes!

Child Labour

One of the things I like about blogging is that I am always looking at things in a new way. This relief panel is on the corner of a small row of houses, on a brick wall, behind some gardens. Its not far from where I live and I pass it all the time but I've never looked at it, until now. It shows some angelic styled children hard at work. I won't tell you what they are creating, I'll let you work it out (you might need to enlarge the photo for a better look). I just wonder why is it there and what is it all about? I've looked on the Internet, but nothing. Its just one of those blogging mysteries.

Nun Of It

At the end of yesterdays post I asked for any insect jokes. The response was non existent (sorry Babooshka, yours was so bad it didn't count!) Although Ming made a tempting offer. He said he didn't have an insect joke but he had a good nun joke, and that he'd tell it if I posted a nun photo. Well, I like a challenge, so off I went in search of a nun. Now I don't think I've ever seen a nun in Cheltenham so I didn't really know where to look. I wandered around, did a bit of shopping, but no nuns. I was just about to head home, feeling annoyed at the lack of nuns, when who should walk round the corner? Yes, two nuns! By the time I got my camera out they were off down the High Street, but using my zoom (paparazzi style) I got a photo! Ming, over to you...

Here is my nun joke to get the ball rolling.

Three nuns arrive at the pearly gates and are met by St Peter. He says they all have to answer one question before they can get into heaven. The first nun is asked, "Who was the first man on earth." She replies, ''Oh that's easy, Adam!'' "Correct," says St Peter and the pearly gates open. The second nun is asked, ''Who was the first woman on earth?'' she says, ''That's easy, Eve!'' "Correct," says St Peter and the pearly gates open. St Peter then asks the third nun, ''What was the first thing Eve said to Adam?'' The nun is puzzled and thinks for a while before saying, ''That's a hard one.'' "Correct!"

Its Just Not Cricket

Well actually it is, but it was the only title I could come up with! I wasn't sure of the difference between a cricket and a grasshopper but its apparently that crickets are brown and grasshoppers are green. Crickets make their chirping sound by rubbing their forewings together, while grasshoppers make theirs by rubbing their hind legs against their wings. Also crickets are nocturnal (active at night) and grasshoppers are diurnal (active in the day.) Someone should have told that to this cricket, as he was hopping around in the middle of the day.

I'm playing around taking macro photos at the moment. Sometimes they come out really well and other times they are just a blur (more practise needed!) I just love the detail that you can capture (click on the photo to see what I mean), especially with things that you don't normally notice.

And finally, one more difference between crickets and grasshoppers. A grasshopper can play cricket, but a cricket can't play grasshopper! No, I didn't laugh either. Anyone got a better insect joke?