{"id":13361,"date":"2013-09-26T11:00:45","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T10:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/?p=13361"},"modified":"2013-09-26T12:02:52","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T11:02:52","slug":"cheltenham-town-centre-england-twenty-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/cheltenham-town-centre-england-twenty-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheltenham town centre, England: twenty photos, including a newsagent full of plastic guns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-02.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Last weekend, I visited the Cotswolds town of Cheltenham for the first time. I was there for a wedding and took time out to wander around the centre of town.<\/p>\n<p>The main drag was well maintained but soulless, being a long parade of upmarket fashion stores, tourist-luring cafes and shops selling pointless, pricey nick-nacks.<\/p>\n<p>However, a short walk away was the old High Street, which was far more interesting. Here&#8217;s some photos from my perambulations.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-01.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can make out the old decorative &#8216;Cigars&#8217; signage at Cobblers Corner.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-03.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Above F Hinds jewellers can be seen the &#8216;Centre Stone&#8217;, which was once deemed to be the central point in the town, and thus served as the reference from which distances could be measured and cab fares calculated.<br \/>\n[<a href=\"http:\/\/cheltonia.wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cheltonia<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-04.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You adventure starts here.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We are closed.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Closed shop on the High Steet.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-05.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Happy Garden Chinese restaurant and some run down buildings at the corner of St Paul&#8217;s Street South and the High Street.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-06.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Faded Victorian mirrored shop signs.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-07.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a &#8216;walk round store.&#8217; That&#8217;s good to know, then.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-08.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Old shop front.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-09.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Wilks Ironmonger&#8217; masonry detail at first floor level, 343 High Street. That brickwork look a bit tatty too.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-10.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Ace Bingo clings on to life.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-11.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>How lovely. A convenience store stuffed full of plastic guns.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-12.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Close up detail of the shop window armoury.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-13.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Bloke graffiti.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-14.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The splendid red brick Victorian Gothic building at\u00a0Gloucester Road.<\/p>\n<p>Formerly used by the\u00a0Cheltenham Gas Company, the building is Grade II listed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-15.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The slightly less than impressive edifice of &#8216;Burton Towers.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-16.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Message for the postman.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-17.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Old TV repair shop.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-18.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Inside could be seen a collection of old and new radios and record players, some TVs and, err, a load of fishing rods.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-20.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Walking back into the centre of town, I passed this curious old building.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photographs taken around Cheltenham town centre, Gloucestershire, England on the edge of the Cotswolds\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/images\/cheltenham-photos-19.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A bloke was handing out branded balloons advertising a letting company in the main shopping area.<\/p>\n<p>I watched as some kids took a handful off him and then amused themselves inhaling the helium to make their voices go amusingly high pitched. He didn&#8217;t look too happy about that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cheltenham in music\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"735\" height=\"414\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lMfPIsmRCOM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Cheltenham may well be known as the birthplace of the famous composer\u00a0Gustav Theodore Holst, but it&#8217;s my old band The Monochrome Set who spring to mind when I think of Cheltenham &#8211; and that&#8217;s because the town features in their pithy and witty critique of the privileged classes, &#8216;The Ruling Class&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s some of the lyrics:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>My old man&#8217;s an earl now<br \/>\nAnd he wears an ermine gown<br \/>\nHe sends me an allowance<br \/>\nTo spend in Eton town<\/p>\n<p>He drives a yellow Bentley<br \/>\nAnd he beats me with his wrench<br \/>\nHe hires me private tutors<br \/>\nTo help me in my French<\/p>\n<p>He was my man and he done me wrong<br \/>\nHe was my man and he done me wrong<\/p>\n<p>My old girl&#8217;s a duchess<br \/>\nAnd she wears a Hartnell frock<br \/>\nShe&#8217;s picked me out a Cheltenham girl<br \/>\nOf Suffolk breeding stock<\/p>\n<p>My young fag&#8217;s an MP&#8217;s son<br \/>\nAnd he warms my toilet seat<br \/>\nI thrash him with a whip<br \/>\nTo make his character complete<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last weekend, I visited the Cotswolds town of Cheltenham for the first time. I was there for a wedding and took time out to wander around the centre of town. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,193],"tags":[698,624,440],"class_list":["post-13361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photos","category-places","tag-cheltenham","tag-england","tag-gloucestershire"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/cheltenham-photos-19.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pQI7P-3tv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13361"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13376,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13361\/revisions\/13376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}