Cheltenham Harpury Malvern and Loughborough

I'm just back from a couple of days in Cheltenham visiting the daughter. Had a fabulous time at the Holst Birthplace Museum, and the Wilson Museum in Cheltenham itself, and then an equally great time looking at a church in Hartpury and walking up the hills around Little Malvern.

I am, however, a little irritated with myself for not checking the area out as much beforehand as I could have done, as I missed something really special! That said, I was so pleased to happen upon some interesting things that reminded me of Loughborough!

Inside Holst's birthplace there was some lace on display - reminded me of Heathcoat and Boden's lace manufactury on what is now Market Street, the recipient of a coveted Leicestershire County Counil green plaque award in 2017.

Then, in the Wilson Museum I was thrilled to see loads of examples of the work of Ernest Gimson and his friends and fellow arts and crafts artists the Barnselys as I'd forgotten that after having been born and brought up in Leicestershire, Ernest moved to the Cotswolds!

The town centre of Cheltenham also boasted a lovely small fountain, and a much larger, more extravagant one

The war memorials were quite poignant, and the area quite blooming.

Meanwhile, over in Hartpury, having walked around the church and churchyard, and seen the the beehive, we spotted some long-horned cattle

Longhorn calf

Travelling on to Malvern, it was a surprise to find some pink granite on the hills. 

It was a delight to happen upon the reservoir

And a real thrill to see, far in the distance, and obelisk!

What I didn't realise while I was there was that I was so close to the church where the Elgar family are buried. I do like to have a look around churchyards, just to how they differ around the country, but I didn't make it to this particular church. Edward Elgar, the composer who created a piece especially for the opening of our Carillon in 1923 is one of the Elgar's buried here. His music, Carillon Chimes is on display in the Charnwood Museum, having been found tucked away in a cupboard somewhere for many years.  

By the time we got to the little town of Great Malvern, all we had energy for was dinner. Best go back there some time and be a bit more prepared!

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Dyer, Lynne (2017). Bells, fountains and courtyards. Available from:  https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2017/08/cheltenham-harpury-malvern-and.html [Accessed 20 August 2017]

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Heritage Open days

So, this weekend (actually, from Thursday 8 September) is Heritage Open Day weekend! Although there seems to be lots of places to visit in Leicestershire, I haven't spotted much in Loughborough, nevertheless, I do hope you've all managed to get to see something. 

Yesterday I was in Cheltenham, helping daughter to settle in to a new house as she starts work in the town on Monday. Apart from doing the obligatory grocery shop, we also managed to get into the town centre itself, a place which I've never really been to before, apart from a 5 minute stop on the way to a job interview at the place that must remain nameless!

Anyway, I'd forgotten it was Heritage Open Day weekend, and accidentally happened upon the Parish church, actually, Cheltenham Minster St Mary's. It was a short stop that didn't do the church justice, and I missed some of the interesting talks that were being held in there, but I did pick up a leaflet which listed all the 27 buildings of interest in and around the town, which were open for the weekend. Impressive, but I suppose since Cheltenham is famous for being a Regency spa town, I suppose I should have expected such a wide variety of places to visit.

Loughborough, of course, does have some stunning and unusual buildings, and places to visit, which are normally open (for example, the Carillon, the Charnwood Museum, the Old Rectory Museum, the GCR etc.), but I'm sure there are more that could open their doors for this special weekend. 

So, in this respect, Cheltenham and Loughborough have little in common. However, whilst I was trying to locate my daughter's new house, something seemed a little spooky.

A while ago I wrote a blog post about the naming of the roads on the new estate that leads off Epinal Way, and along Allandale, and which is close to Beaumanor Hall, a Y station during WW2. Because of the location, many of the roads are named after people connected with Beaumanor, or Bletchley Park, so, for example, Alan Turing, Peter Laslett etc..  

Back in Cheltenham I became aware that the roads in the vicinity of my daughter's house seem to be named after spies, potential spies, or actors who have played 007! So, surely Coburn Gardens is so named in honour of James Coburn's 007-like character in "Our man Flint"? Niven Courtyard after David Niven from "Casino Royale"? Brosnan Drive after Pierce Brosnan (007 in "Golden Eye" etc.)? Lazenby Court after George Lazenby (007 in "On her Majesty's Secret Service")? And Caine Square after Michael Caine who was considered for the part of 007 in around 1967, but decided against it?

I'm sure there were other roads, with a Bond connection, but I think you get the idea!!

See you soon!