CHELTENHAM GERMAN CLUB DIE DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR SPRACHE UND KULTUR CHELTENHAM

from Perspectives issue Summer 2023

CHELTENHAM CHILDREN’S CHOIR SINGING IN SPRING

The Cheltenham German Club holds monthly talks at The New Club, 2 Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham, GL50 1UD, to which both members and guests are most cordially invited. The talks cover such topics as history, politics, literature, regional studies, art and music. Most lectures are in German with a focus on Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The aim is to create a relaxed atmosphere affording members the opportunity to make new contacts in German or English over a glass of wine, or even an evening meal. We are a hospitable group of people, always welcoming to new guests who are interested in our topics and would enjoy meeting like-minded members irrespective of their own skill in the language. We do aim to speak largely in German at our meetings; some members speak German as their first language, some are very fluent, and some of us struggle. No one should feel intimidated, and newcomers will find a very friendly, supportive atmosphere. As well as these slightly more formal gatherings, we organise social conversation evenings for interested members once or twice a month in a local pub.

In addition to promoting the German language, the Club further aims to promote interest in the culture of German-speaking countries. With the enormous appeal of Germany, Austria and Switzerland as study, work or travel destinations many of our members have joined to learn more about the countries they have already visited and love.

The Club as we now know it was founded in 1949 and its purpose then was to promote interest in German language and culture. Today, more than 70 years on, our Club is still about promoting interest in the language and culture of German-speaking countries. Although we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Cheltenham German Club in 2019, it seems there was a German Club in the town much earlier. The first reference appears in 1935, with a further reference in 1939. A much fuller history may be found on our website.

Richard Woolley

A full list of the Club’s talks and activities for the current season can be found on our website at www.cheltgesell.uk

Gloucestershire Gardens And Landscape Trust

Come Into Our Historic Parks And Gardens

During the 19th century, Cheltenham developed as a very fashionable spa town, and much of its imposing architecture and infrastructure dates from this period. Over the past few years, Covid has reminded us of the importance of beautiful green spaces within our cities, and Pittville Park, as well as other public gardens within the town, have come into their own.

Have you ever stopped to consider how they came about and how different our lives would be if they no longer existed or were spoiled by development? They are precious places enjoyed by generations of visitors, all forming part of our collective memories.

In Gloucestershire, and indeed in every county in England, there are small charitable organisations called County Gardens Trusts (CGTs), who work incredibly hard to protect historic gardens and to learn as much as possible about these special designed landscapes, both large and small. They are affiliated to the Gardens Trust (GT) (formerly the Garden History Society) and CGT members can participate in GT events such as lectures and training related to garden history, on a countrywide basis. The work CGTs do is entirely voluntary, but incredibly varied and fascinating. Whether you enjoy encouraging youngsters to get into garden history, or like delving around in old papers and books to winkle out nuggets of information hidden for decades, or just enjoy visiting wonderful gardens, often not generally accessible to the public, then the Gloucestershire Gardens & Landscape Trust (GGLT) is an organisation you should consider joining.

Free Entry To Venues

No matter what your interest in gardens, GGLT has something for everyone: garden visits in summer, fascinating talks held at St Luke’s Church Hall in Cheltenham, and via zoom during the winter months, regular e-newsletters and an annual journal, plus an array of other activities you can get involved in all year round. If all this has piqued your interest, further details about membership and activities are available on our website at www.gglt. org. Whilst complementing your own gardening skills with greater historical insights, you might even be the very person to discover unknown details about a special garden somewhere in Gloucestershire, which will add to our knowledge of the garden’s history, promote wider interest in it, and therefore protect one of the sites we hold dear against the possible threat of development. It should be added that, as a total bonus, most of the garden visits we organise come with truly memorable teas!

Margie Hoffnung

Gotherington Singers

Friendly Female Voices With A Focus On Technique

Gotherington Singers is a small female voice choir who meet on Monday evenings at Gotherington Village Hall. We enjoy singing a varied repertoire which we perform at informal events for family and friends. At Christmas 2022, we served mulled wine and mince pies and sang Christmas songs and carols old and new – a similar event is planned for 2023. At present, we are preparing for a summer event with songs by Simon and Garfunkel, Franck and Chilcott amongst others.

We enjoy socialising and each rehearsal has a coffee break, but we are also keen to improve our vocal technique, recently holding a workshop with Aidan Smith from Cheltenham Vocal Academy, with another planned for June.

New members are always welcome.

Catherine Newbury Chairman, Gotherington Singers

More information is available from www. gotheringtonsingers.co.uk or from Sally Newbury, Secretary, telephone 01242 317276, or email sall.newbury@gmail.com.

"for an evening of popular hits from across the decades"

Saturday 17th June, 7.30pm

Bishops Cleeve Tithe Barn

Tickets £10

Advance sales from George Lewis Footware or call Julie on 07401 225 689

LISTINGS: EVENTS DIRECTORY JUNE - SEPTEMBER 2023

Visual Arts

Cheltenham Open Studios: COS23, Sat 10 - Sun 18 June. See the work of over 200 artists on an open-door-todoor trail of 82 venues, around town and the surrounding area. Meet the artists, view their work, learn about their practice. To download a guide: cheltenhamopenstudios.org.uk

Culture Fest, Sat 10 Jun, all day, Pittville Park, see livesofcolour.co.uk

Art in the Park, Sat 17 JuneSun 16 Jul, daily exhibitions 10am-7.30pm, Imperial Gardens, different artists every week, cheltenham-art.com

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Sat 29- Sun 30 Jul, bringing high-quality artwork from leading national and international street artists to the town centre, cheltenhampaintfestival.co.uk

Anthony Davie, Wed 21 – Tue 27 Jun

Caroline Hill and Abi

Waddel, Wed 28 Jun – Tue 4 Jul

Junction 12, Wed 5 – Tue 11 Jul

Martin Fry, Wed 12 – Tue 18 Jul

Andrew Dawes: Spaces and Faces, Wed 19 – Tue 25 Jul

Katie Engelke, Wed 26 Jul – Tue 1 Aug

Music

Cheltenham Choral Society Rehearsals, Wednesdays, 7.30-9.30pm, St Andrew’s Church, Montpellier, a friendly, amateur choir with a long-standing reputation for providing a top-quality experience for both audiences and singers. Further details on the choir and its activities: cheltchoral.org.uk

Cleeve Harmony

A Cappella Chorus Rehearsals, Wednesdays, 7.30-10pm, Bishop’s Cleeve Tithe Barn, new members welcome! See cleeveharmony.org.uk or enquiries to md@cleeve-harmony. org.uk

AT THE

Gardens

GALLERY, MONTPELLIER GARDENS:, core hours 10am – 5pm,

Cheltenham Open Studios: COS23, Wed 7 – Tue 20 Jun

Angela Scrivin, Wed 2 – Tue 8 Aug

Tom Meredith, Wed 9 – Tue 15 Aug

Gerald Crittle, Wed 16 – Tue 22 Aug

Anthony Davie, Wed 23 – Tue 29 Aug

Ruth End, Wed 30 Aug – Tue 5 Sep

Jane Few, Wed 6 – Tue 12 Sep

Wendy Golding, Wed 13 – Tue 19 Sep

Jonathan Oakes, Wed 20 – Tue 26 Sep

Musica Vera rehearsals, Wednesdays, 7.30-9.30pm, St Mary’s Prestbury, we have vacancies in all voice parts. Please contact the secretary, Lesley Nicholls, 01242 222853 or email nicholls186@yahoo.com. See musicavera.org

Cheltenham Choral Society, Sat 3 Jun, 1.15pm, free, with retiring collection, Gloucester Cathedral, Vivaldi Gloria and well-known anthems by Sumsion, Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Wood, Ireland, Haydn and Harris, cheltchoral.org.uk

An evening of Brazilian music, Tue 13 Jun, 7.30pm, £20, Playhouse, João Menezes (Guitar), Marcinho Pereira (Drums) and Matheus Nova (Bass) bring you an evening of Bossa Nova, Samba, Partido Alto, Baião and Choro

Cleeve Harmony: A Cappella at The Barn, Sat 17 Jun, 7.30pm, Bishop’s Cleeve Tithe Barn, an evening of popular hits from across the decades with two award-winning choirs, Cleeve Harmony and Great Western Chorus, plus guests. Call 07401225689 for ticket details

Cheltenham Philharmonic Orchestra: Verdi Requiem, Sun 25 Jun, 3pm, £20/18/14, students £10, U-18s free, Town Hall, Cond: Stephen Belinfante, Leader: Sue Belinfante, with the CPO Chorus, Churchdown Choral Society, Philomusica, Cantate Domino and soloists: Ellie Neate, Lauren Young, Andrew Morris, Alaric Green, cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk 01242 528764

Teatime with Hank Wangford and Brad Breath, Sun 25 Jun, 4pm, £16, Playhouse, Country music at its glorious best. Box office 01242 522852

Cheltenham Bach Choir, with the Dom Franks Jazz Quintet, Sun 25 Jun, 6pm, St Philip and St James Church, Misa Criolla: Ariel Ramirez, Mass in Blue: Will Todd, dir. David Crown Cleeve Chorale Summer Concert, Sat 1 Jul, 3pm, £10, inc. cream tea and cake, Bishop’s Cleeve Tithe Barn, a variety of classical and non-classical music, followed by an Auction of Promises to raise funds for the choir, see cleevechorale. co.uk

Musica Vera: A Musical Voyage around Ireland, Sat 1 Jul, 7.30pm, St Mary’s Prestbury, beginning a new series of geographically themed concerts, music will be Irish composers such as Stanford, Charles Wood and E.J. Moeran, folksongs and even some choral limericks! Info: musicavera. org, Twitter: @musicavera, Facebook: musicaveracc

Robin A Smith and Friends

Summer Concert, Wed 12 Jul, 7.30pm, Playhouse, musician friends from the Chapel Arts days gather for a summer concert, details TBC

Royal Scottish Country Dance Society

Cheltenham: Come and Try Open Evening, Mon 11 Sep, 7.30-9.30pm, St Luke’s Church Hall, rscdscheltenham.org

Cheltenham Chamber Orchestra, Sat 23 Sep, 7.30pm, Pittville Pump Room, music by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, cond. James Ross

Cleeve Harmony: Autumn Show, Sat 23 Sep, 7.30pm, Pate’s Grammar School, Cleeve Harmony joins with Go Vocal, from Bristol and Cheltenham, and guests, for an evening of entertainment performing popular songs. Call

07401225689 for ticket details

STAGE & STAGE STAGE & STAGE & DANCE

Promenade Productions: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Wed 19- Sun 23 Jul, 7pm, matinees on Sat and Sun at 2pm, £20/£18, Playhouse, lyrics Tim Rice, music Andrew Lloyd Webber, box office 01242 522852 or cheltplayhouse.org.uk

Royal Scottish Country Dance Society

Cheltenham: Come and Try Open Evening, Mon 11 Sep, 7.30-9.30pm, St Luke’s Church Hall, rscdscheltenham.org

LECTURES & MEETINGS co.uk

Cercle Français: Dîner annuel, Junedate à préciser, cheltenhamfrenchcircle.

The Arts Society, Cheltenham: Stone on Stone: the men who built cathedrals, Tue 13 Jun, 7.15pm, members free, visitors £7, The Pavilion, Hatherley Lane, with Imogen Corrigan, see theartssocietycheltenham. org.uk or email info.chelt enham@theartssociety.org

Leckhampton Local History Society: South Town walk through history, Tue 27 Jun, with Stuart Manton. See leckhamptonlhs.weebly.com for details

The Arts Society

Cheltenham: The Culture of Ukraine, Tue 12 Sep, 7.15pm, members free, visitors £8, The Pavilion, Hatherley Lane, Ukraine’s story told through the shared culture which binds its proud people together, with lecturer Rosamund Bartlett. See theartssocietycheltenham. org.uk or email info.chelt enham@theartssociety.org

Cercle Français, Mon 18 Sep, 7.15 for 7.30pm, St Luke’s Church Hall, first meeting of the new season, details tbc, see chelt enhamfrenchcircle.co.uk

Cheltenham Local History Society: The Gloucestershire Traveller, Wed 20 Sep, 7.30pm, St Luke’s Hall, roads and their uses through history, with Dr John Chandler, see cheltlocalhistory.org.uk