Tag: Cheltenham

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Walking for talk’s sake…

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There’s more too it than you think and less than you might sometimes expect. That’s the sort of nonsense I talk after a good walk, that’s ended at a pub. Anyhow, my chum Robin, chose to chauffeur me out to a place I’ve never been before, the Cheltenham Canal. Apart from the pleasure of the drive in his spectacular vehicle with buttons for everything, we had a brilliant sunny day and a good walk to look forward to. Robinus Burtonicus in it’s natural habitat.   It’s a fact that if one earns one’s living in a career where most of … Continue reading Walking for talk’s sake…

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The importance of washing up.

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Dishwashers have been around for years now but there are good reasons for dispensing with them. First of all they use some pretty toxic chemicals to get the burnt on cinders off your beautifully crafted dishes. They can’t really be used to clean anything delicate or fine, and certainly shouldn’t be used to clean the silver cutlery. Did you hear that Jeeves? But the most important reason they should be considered superfluous is that they are desperately unsociable. Fascinating little memorial just up the road from me here in Cheltenham at Cheltenham College, a very expensive public school with the … Continue reading The importance of washing up.

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What’s the betting you don’t win?

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Cheltenham Race Week starts tomorrow, I think. I live down the road from the course but I’ve never been there. I’m sure it’s a wonderful event and the town will be filled with a heady mix of racegoers looking for the full English Breakfast or even the full Irish, as many of them are from Ireland. The bookies have a heyday and the streets start to fill with young women dressed as jockeys in a rather unseemly attempt at attracting business. Some of them have obviously never been near a horse and the horse would probably be thankful for that. … Continue reading What’s the betting you don’t win?

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Bibury, how the Japanese avoid it.

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Bibury The walk of a tourist who does not undertsand what he/she should be doing, or seeing, or indeed why they are where they are at all. Involves walking slowly in one direction and then in another random direction, even the person doing the walking does not understand exactly why or in which direction they might be going. The presence of vehicles makes this a dangerous activity and can result in a split bibury which is where the group is bisected by traffic and can induce panic amongst the assembly.  It’s all a sorry sight. Pity them. Common in the … Continue reading Bibury, how the Japanese avoid it.

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Glossary : A Collection of Gloucestershire Place Names

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More true meanings of Gloucestershire place names, glossary meaning a collection of Gloucestershire place names, as you well know. I’m planning a small book, illustrated of course, with the whole truth and nothing but the truthity truth. I’ll tell you when it’s done. Frampton Mansell The outfit worn by a large huntsman. Rather too tight across the backside and gut as the owner has generally owned it and worn it from when he was at least three trouser sizes thinner. Puts the horse under exceptional strain. See also Hartbury as someone displaying a Frampton will generally respond to to an … Continue reading Glossary : A Collection of Gloucestershire Place Names

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Guiting power, the unknown force.

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Guiting Power The uncanny way that a vicar is able to pedal a very heavy bicycle at a constant speed no matter what the gradient of the slope or the load carried in the front basket. There is always a front basket. Continuing my series on possible meaning of Gloucestershire names, this place is in the Cotswolds and probably does not see a lot of these gentlemen these days. Continue reading Guiting power, the unknown force.

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Bishop’s Cleeve, well it could be.

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Bishop’s Cleeve The word cleeve is generally thought to relate to the way a valley is formed, so it’s a geographical term. So a Cleeve is a wooded valley. How it relates to a Bishop is unknown, could be a favourite walk of the Bishop or possibly a parade through the area by religious people. Can also mean the dark area between a barmaids full bosom, but this is conjecture. Another place name meaning, I like the idea that a Bishop would go walking in full regalia through a wooded valley. As you can see from the map here it’s … Continue reading Bishop’s Cleeve, well it could be.

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More about the true meaning of Gloucestershire names

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Hucclecote One of those parkas your dad or granddad used to own in the seventies that you never bothered to throw away. The undefined fur on the collar is somewhat perished and moth eaten. It has no waterproofing qualities at all and never did, and if mistakenly worn in wet conditions will act like blotting paper. May have the slight smell of patchouli oil, the rennants of a visit to a music festival but more likely to give off the odour of cow manure. Here’s another of my recent drawings for my little book of Gloucestershire names and their true … Continue reading More about the true meaning of Gloucestershire names

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Just a walk away…

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So you might have expected a couple of Siberian Border guards but the weather today has been so good that they have melted away. They’ll be back soon. Off for a walk through the town and came across this gem of a house, and yes it is a house, here in Cheltenham. Then up to Pitville to meet my walking companion for the afternoon stroll. Pitville is a super park area that was at one time only available to the residents that surrounded it, but is now thankfully open to all. Here we came across a wild planting area that … Continue reading Just a walk away…

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Blame the writers.

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The next few blogs were inspired, if that’s the right word, by my evening with the Montpellier Writers Group. The theme was to do with senses for the evening and was testing, so I opted out in a way by just hoovering up little writer’s gems from the evening. The one above is my own view of probably what I’m like with these sort of things. Thanks to all those who made more sense of it than I did and apologies for recycling and here and there revamping any of your ideas. Continue reading Blame the writers.