Cracking heads to solve town centre woes
Cheltenham Civic Society (CCS) warned Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) in 2022 that it was considering action against them under Section 56 of the Highways Act 1980 to bring our town centre streets back into repair. After years of obfuscation and further degradation of streets – see pages 6-9 inside – the CCS Trustees agreed to take that action in September this year.
GCC responded within two weeks to confirm that not only were the named sections of roads (the pedestrianised section of the Promenade, the John Lewis pavement, the Strand and Cambray Place) ‘highway’ and maintainable at public expense, but that the council admitted those sections were out of repair:
“We are aware of the issues on the sections of highway above and have
been working with our contractor to plan permanent repairs which are due to start in some areas of Cheltenham town centre next week,” they said. Not only that but, because of our specific reference to the failures to reinstate properly as required by the New Roads & Street Works Act 1991, GCC has gone further by redressing those reinstatements: “Any areas which have been reinstated by utilities following their work will be addressed by our Streetworks team.”
It is no coincidence that on 1 October, GCC quietly admitted its reinstatement management systems under the 1991 Act were not working and that ‘new measures’ under their Highways Transformation Programme would be implemented.
Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC), as
owners of the public realm, has been missing from the highways conversation and has remained almost silent on the matter, despite having contributed to the mess with their poor management of the John Lewis paving. Due to its faults, GCC has still not adopted that paving as highway.
For almost two years, CBC has been stalling on the creation of a Town Centre Forum (TCF) to oversee the town centre, despite it having been agreed after CBC’s Local Government Association peer review in February 2022.
We now call on both councils to stop playing political football with our town centre and form the TCF. And, as the champion of the town centre and the only body that has forced the issues to be addressed, Cheltenham Civic Society expects to be at the table. ●
The Newsletter of Cheltenham Civic Society Issue 36 ● Autumn 2024 YOUR REGULAR UPDATE ON HOW WE ARE WORKING TO KEEP CHELTENHAM A GREAT PLACE TO THRIVE What’s in OurTown this time
Fruition of a 6-year campaign
A new museum – believed to be the UK’s only dedicated museum housing Battlefield Crosses from the Great War (WWI) – was formally opened on Friday 13th September 2024 by the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Edward Gillespie.
Cheltenham Civic Society (CCS) Chair, Andrew Booton, said: “This new museum provides a permanent home for Cheltenham’s 23 Battlefield Crosses. While there are many Battlefield crosses still in existence in their ones, twos and threes in churches, cemeteries and museums across the UK, we understand that the 22 individual crosses and one other
cross we still have in Cheltenham form the most significant collection in the country.
“This new museum is a simple but
moving memorial which people can visit every day of the year. It represents one of the Civic Society’s most
outstanding achievements – having worked closely with Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC), Pittville School, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and many individual donors, companies and volunteers over the last six years to conserve the crosses and create a permanent exhibition.”
1,297 men and women from Cheltenham were killed in WWI. Following soldiers’ deaths on the battlefields, they were generally buried in shallow graves close to where they fell and these were often marked by their comrades fashioning crude wooden crosses
Freddie Gick at the new museum in Cheltenham’s Bouncers Lane cemetery. Freddie instigated the campaign in 2018 to conserve Cheltenham’s remaining Battlefield Crosses. The museum will be open 365 days a year from Friday 13th September.
The museum was opened by the Lord Lieutenant. The ribbon-cutting party included Neela Mann, Freddie Gick, the Mayor, our MP and Andrew Booton.
OurTown • Autumn 2024
made from whatever materials came to hand.
Following the war, the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission) exhumed the bodies and reburied them with new headstones marking each grave in some 2,400 cemeteries close to the battlefields of France and Belgium. The original wooden crosses were then sent home
to the soldiers’ next of kin. Many families were not sure what to do with the crosses. But in Cheltenham, the council created a corner of the Bouncers Lane cemetery to house them and, eventually, ‘Soldiers Corner’ became home to 230 crosses.
Out in the open for the next 100 years, the crosses took the brunt of the weather and most of them simply disintegrated as a result of long-term environmental, physical and biological damage.
In 2018, CCS member, Freddie Gick, became concerned by the poor state of the remaining Battlefield Crosses –22 individual crosses and one other cross that in total commemorate 31 soldiers. So he instigated a campaign to have the crosses conserved and then housed in a permanent exhibition.
In the name of CCS he sought funding and was granted £9,800 by The National Lottery . . . Cont./p4
The group of donors gathered around CCS member and fundraiser, Colin Smith (front row centre wearing a navy jacket and tie).
Heritage Fund to have the crosses conserved by Artefacts Conservation Services. Working with local historians, principally Neela Mann, the Society involved the students of Pittville School in researching the lives of the soldiers that the individual crosses commemorated.
The research by the students of Pittville School brought the soldiers’ stories to life and provided much of the content of a booklet about the project that can be downloaded from the CCS website. This booklet also tells how the crosses were conserved by Artefacts Conservation Services.
In early 2023, CCS set about planning the exhibition and raising funds to repair the building and create the museum.
CCS member Colin Smith led the fundraising campaign and secured
and convert the building.
Work started in spring this year on damp proofing the brick-built hut, replacing the guttering, lining the roof, resurfacing the floor, converting the door (to a stable door) and redecoration. This work was followed by the installation of a solar PV panel and battery to provide lighting controlled by movement sensors – there being no electricity supply.
Following the research and conservation stages of the project, progress was brought to a halt in early 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic and the crosses were put into storage at the cemetery. After the pandemic, CBC identified a former gravediggers’ hut in the cemetery, which would be suitable for conversion into a small museum to permanently exhibit the crosses.
donations from a range of local organisations, companies and individuals – including £2,000 from Gloucestershire County Council’s Build Back Better Councillor Scheme (via Cllr Tim Harman) and £1,000 from the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire Charitable Trust. Donations from other individuals, companies and organisations varied from £50 to over £1,000, with the total amounting to more than £11,600. Many others gave their time to help restore
The crosses were then hung alongside explanatory information panels giving details of the individual soldiers, the students’ research and the conservation of the crosses. An enlarged copy of the original CCS booklet has also been provided on a small desk/shelf to enable visitors to read the full stories of the soldiers and how the crosses were conserved.
Following the formal opening ceremony, the unstaffed exhibition will be open to the public every day of the year during the normal cemetery opening hours.
The new Battlefield Crosses museum houses Cheltenham’s 23 remaining crosses. Information on each of the known soldiers is provided next to each soldier’s cross, along with information on the research undertaken and details of the conservation work.
The enlarged booklet containing each of the soldiers’ stories.
“Just being in the presence of these crosses is a deeply moving experience,” said CCS Chair, Andrew Booton. “They allow us to come within a heartbeat of the young soldiers they commemorate.
“We think the museum will attract many visitors in years to come, and younger generations will learn much from the experience. We’ve already seen floral tributes being laid outside the building on Armistice Day last year, so we would not be surprised if the museum becomes a regular focal point for such memorials.” ●
DONORS
The building for the permanent WWI Battlefield Crosses exhibition was provided by Cheltenham Borough Council. It was renovated and the exhibition was created in 2024 with generous support from the following:
Colin and Julia Smith
Rob and Caroline Tyler
The Chalkley Family
Nigel-James Durant and Duncan Bell
Chris and Sue Jenkins
Gloucestershire County Council’s Build Back Better fund – Councillor Tim Harman
Matthew Page – Spa Service
Brett Emms – B. E. Decorators Ltd
Scott & Luke Finch – Finch Flooring Ltd
Colin Watkins – Leckhampton Forge and Blacksmiths
Badham Pharmacy Ltd
T2 Alloys Limited
The Rifles/Glosters’ standard bearers.
The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire Charitable Trust
Fourgate (Cheltenham) Limited
The Local Answer
Cheltenham College
Perseverance Lodge
The Cheltenham & Gloucester Branch of the Western Front Association
The Gloucester Old Spot Pub
George Bence & Sons Ltd
The James and Deirdre Dyson Trust
Mark, Harry and Jason Pockett
Brewers Decorator Centres
CHELTENHAM CIVIC SOCIETY
The project was led by the following members and trustees:
Freddie Gick
Andrew Booton
Steve Bryson
Sarah Harvey Colin Smith Ryan Farrell
Mike Rigby
Chris Healy Maxine Melling
We would also like to thank the following for their support, guidance and advice:
Ben Jenkins –Cemetery Manager
Hannah Taylor –Teacher, Pittville School
Pittville School teaching and administrative staff
Angie Langley –Cemetery Assistant Manager
Neela Mann – Local Historian
Mike Bennett OBE DL
Joe Devereux – Local Historian
Jimmy James – Local Historian
Richard Gilpin –Headteacher, Pittville School
Students of Pittville School:
Jessica Jeffries, Jonas Whitfield, Jabir Rashid, Oscar Reeves, Kitty Regan, Chase Allen, Nathan Theyer, EllieMae Sawle, Penny Cleevely, Lilah Culliford, Austin Rose, Jake Leworthy, Sam Burge, Bonnie Hosey
The project was made possible by the support of:
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Cheltenham Borough Council
Ann Harding – Family of Private Regan
Members of the Wintle Family
Stephen Umpleby –Artefacts Conservation Services
Andrew Tibbots –Photographer
Friends of Pittville School
HCR Law (formerly Harrison Clark Rickerbys)
What does this say about our town?
A photomontage of all the tarmac cowpats in 100 yards of the Prom outside Cavendish House – many being five or more years old.
OurTown • Autumn 2024
Enough is enough! A sorry tale of delays and indecision
Readers of OurTown, members of our WhatsApp group and followers of our social media will be well aware of our strong concerns for the appalling state of our town centre roads, notably the Promenade, sections of the High Street, the Strand and Cambray Place.
Our Successful Streets Group has had meeting after meeting with Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), – the Highway Authority – followed up with email after email, all pressing for actions and suggestions to bring the highways into a good state of repair.
Under the Highways Act 1980, we have now served a Section 56 notice on GCC, which demonstrates our intent to see repairs and reinstatements made to bring named sections of highway back into good repair.
blame game. As Max Wilkinson MP recently said, both councils need to come together to implement solutions.
Despite owning the public realm function, CBC has been noticeably absent from any meetings and thus any public commitment, although we know CBC has been keeping an eye on the debate from behind its net curtains. CBC has just kept pointing the finger at GCC saying it was a Highways matter, so nothing to do with them.
“We’re shocked that the Civic Society have chosen to take this dramatic action rather than to continue to work collaboratively with us," a spokesperson for GCC said in the Gloucestershire Live article that covered the matter.
CCS has been the driving force behind attempts to restore the Promenade to its rightful condition. We have given them ideas, options and even offers of funding. We have cajoled, persuaded, berated, campaigned and embarrassed them but still they have consistently failed to act.
Therefore, GCC has no right to be ‘shocked’, except by its own ineptitude.
We are sick of the lack of commitment and progress from GCC and Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC), and we are bored with their pat-a-cake
Councillors have failed to shoulder ultimate responsibility for the state of the highways and the public realm and have failed to take interest at the requisite level of detail to grip the situation.
Council officers have dragged their heels and hidden behind the ubiquitous and ever-ready excuse that there’s no money. In reality, this case is not about a lack of money but a lack of will to address the problems promptly and decisively.
This all adds up to a contest of political posturing where the aim is to achieve the least.
The timeline set out on this page and overleaf shows how patient and constructive CCS has been, and how we have been fobbed off at every level by both GCC and CBC.
That is why the Section 56 notice was served. That is why we are now prepared to take legal action.
The evidence is both damning and depressing. The two councils should hang their heads in shame. ●
Andrew Booton, CCS
Chair
THE PROMENADE TIMELINE
f Oct 18 – John Lewis pavement laid by contractor appointed and paid for by Cheltenham Borough Council against the advice of, amongst others, Alex Chalk MP. John Lewis opening fails to deliver the ripple effect, partly due to the poor termination of the paving as it meets the Strand. GCC refuses to adopt this paving as highway. (GCC has still not adopted it.)
f Apr 19 – Amey loses GCC’s principal highways contract to Ringway.
f 2020 – John Lewis paving begins to fail with delaminating flagstones.
f Feb 20 – Improving Cheltenham’s High Street report, building on CCS’ 2018 survey of the High Street.
f 12 Jul 21 – Andrew Booton contacts the Chief Executive of GCC to arrange a meeting to discuss Cheltenham’s highways, notably Cambray Place, the Strand and the Promenade. The Chief Exec then delegates to Director of Highways, who delegates to the Operations Manager who delegates to Cheltenham Area Manager, Sally Godwin.
f 11 Aug 21 – CCS finally meets on the Prom with Sally Godwin and Danny Taylor from GCC Highways. The meeting illustrated differences in understanding between CBC and GCC, highlighting their poor coordination and common understanding. We also provided a specific brief on actions needed, including GCC’s failures to hold statutory undertakers – utility companies – responsible for reinstatements, supervision of contractors to ensure work is completed to a . . . Cont./p8
THE PROMENADE TIMELINE …
satisfactory standard, duties relating to Conservation Areas and the network management duty for traffic management.
Acknowledging that Ringway understandably refused to take responsibility for correcting Amey’s poor work, CCS offered cash to bring the Prom up to spec. That offer was based upon Cheltenham Borough Council and GCC picking up the other thirds, up to a value of £8,000 (GCC’s estimate), and guarantees from both councils to prevent recurrence and being completed within a certain timeframe. CCS Trustees felt that was a reasonable investment if it meant the Prom could properly be brought up to standard and to break the impasse over correcting Amey’s work. Needless to say, nothing came of the opportunity!
f Aug 21 – Gloucestershire Live picks up on the ‘tarmac cowpats’ phrase and follows up with an article.
f Feb 22 – CCS emails GCC with continued concerns over the state of the Prom with more tarmac cowpats and more reinstatements that have already broken up. We raise again the poor installation of slabs on inadequate foundations and without pointing to prevent lateral movement.
f Mar 22 – Lack of cooperation between GCC and CBC escalated to MP in the hope of bringing them together.
f Mar 22 – CBC reports it hopes to conclude John Lewis paving issue ‘in the coming months.’ CCS pressed for more specific dates but CBC remained silent.
f Apr 22 – ‘Cheltenham is a Dump’ campaign launched that highlighted, among other problems, the state of the Strand and the public realm. “We are tired of excuses for letting the streets fall into such disrepair, for failing to make utility companies reinstate pavements properly, for failing to
Continued
act against landlords who do not keep their buildings in good repair, and failing to stamp out the antisocial behaviour that blights the town centre,” said CCS Chair Andrew Booton.
f May 22 – CCS launches its first Town Centre Manifesto.
f Oct 22 – CBC places John Lewis paving case in hands of one of its directors to resolve. Technical samples taken (CBC warns CCS that there will be new tarmac cowpats outside John Lewis and CCS agrees to manage members’ expectations while surveys take place) with a view to taking legal action against the contractor. The contractor had already gone bust at this point!
f Nov 22 – CCS again raises concerns with GCC over the Prom’s paving and is told bollards are to be reinstated after Christmas market. CCS considers s56 action and an email to that effect is sent to GCC.
f Nov 22 – CCS learns that Tracey Birkinshaw (Director Community & Economic Development at CBC) and Jason Munn (Director of Transport and Highways at GCC) have been tasked by their respective authorities to assess Cheltenham's town centre and formulate a plan to address its shortcomings.
f 5 Dec 22 – CCS writes to Cllr Dom Morris, GCC Cabinet Member for Highways, raising concerns for the Prom’s paving, failures of reinstatements and bollards plan. Cllr Morris acknowledged it and would seek officers’ advice.
f 16 Jan 23 – Cllr Morris chased for a reply 6 weeks after original email.
f 23 Jan 23 – Cllr Morris chased for a reply 7 weeks after original email. He apologises and promises reply by the end of the week.
f 24 Jan 23 – GCC officer replies on behalf of Cllr Morris, disclosing
bollard reinstatement proposal but with no mention of tarmac strip down the middle.
f 26 Jan 23 – CCS produces a detailed study with 19 photographs of all stone reinstatement failures and tarmac cowpats on the Prom.
f 27 Jan 23 – CCS replies to GCC, enclosing map and photographic study, and challenging GCC’s assertions that vehicles passing over reinstated York stone is to blame for the cracks. CCS asserts that poor workmanship is to blame and gives more details. GCC requested to liaise with Cllr Morris, on whose behalf the email was sent, to answer 6 specific concerns, and inviting them to meet us on site to assess the situation.
f 30 Jan 23 – CCS and BID discuss Promenade concerns.
f 31 Jan 23 – Cllr Morris emails “I have asked the team to arrange a round table with GCC, CBC and yourselves to walk through the issues raised below and agree a roadmap forward.”
f 15 Feb 23 – CCS, BID and Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce meet to discuss shared concerns over state of town centre pavements.
f 17 Feb 23 – Sally Godwin (GCC) invites Kathryn Haworth (GCC), Danny Taylor (GCC), Tracey Birkinshaw (CBC), Andrew Booton (CCS) and David Hicks (GCC) to meeting to discuss options for the Promenade at Shire Hall on 29 Mar 23. Invitation cancelled on 22 Feb.
f 28 Feb 23 – CCS chased GCC for new meeting date.
f 28 Feb 23 – Gloucestershire Live reports Cllr Paul Baker tells GCC to ‘pull its finger out’ and ‘fix the disgraceful state of the roads and streets in Cheltenham’. “It’s been a disgrace for years and years and years. It’s not this council’s problem. It is the county council's. Our roads
THE PROMENADE TIMELINE … Yet more!
are a disgrace. We really need to get the county council to pull its finger out and deliver for Cheltenham.”
Kathryn Haworth, of GCC said: “We will continue to work closely with CBC regarding these proposals and what contribution they are willing to make to help ensure that the scheme is consistent with the wider public realm within the town. This will include ways that the borough council can manage the access of their vehicles, including bin lorries, to reduce the risk of further damage to the paving or any new scheme.”
f 10 Mar 23 – GCC issues new invitation for meeting on 11 May (4 months after Cllr Morris’ promise to call a meeting) to Danny Taylor (GCC, Jackie Jobes (CBC) and Andrew Booton (CCS).
f 9 May 23 – Two days before planned meeting, Sally Godwin emails to cancel meeting and proposes she, CCS and BID meet. Confirmed only she will attend from GCC, and CBC will not attend!
f 11 May 23 – Sally Godwin (GCC), Heath Gunter (BID), Andrew Booton (CCS) and Hugh Curran (CCS) meet at John Lewis. Discuss John Lewis paving (no change to previous position) before moving to Promenade. CBC was supposed to be represented but failed to show, according to GCC.
f 14 Jul 23 – Since GCC had not sent a summary after our meeting, Andrew Booton again emailed Cllr Morris to state CCS’s concerns about tarmacking a strip down the Promenade and replacing bollards. He requested: a. GCC puts on hold any plans for work on the Promenade’s pedestrianised section until proper consultation has been conducted, and publishes an assurance to that effect; b. he meet us on site in Cheltenham to see for himself the factors and impacts of GCC’s proposals; c. that
GCC works more closely with CCS and other stakeholders to get the best value for money for taxpayers and the best outcome for Cheltenham on the matter of the Promenade.
f 19 Jul 23 – Cllr Morris replies, acknowledging CCS’s remaining concerns. “I reached out to my team earlier this week for an update which they will share with you in due course including a road map ahead at their earliest convenience.” We have not heard from him since.
f 27 Jul 23 – Chris Pollington (GCC) emails on behalf of Cllr Morris stating that the issue of the Promenade’s paving was taken to the “GCC Resolutions Panel where key Management Team Members were asked to make a decision on the way forward with the Promenade.” It decided that there would be a 3-phase solution:
Phase 1 – Additional bollards will be installed on the footway alongside Imperial Circus with the aim of preventing vehicles from accessing the Promenade from the north i.e. The High street and Pittville Street. We are hoping that the first Phase will be completed by the end of August.
Phase 2 – The bollards that were removed for the finish of the Tour of Britain in 2019 will be replaced.
Phase 3 – The damaged York stone will be relayed/replaced and the area will be monitored for 3 months after completion to see if this option has had the desired effect on reducing the number of safety defects picked up on a monthly basis.
f 27 Jul 23 – CCS replied to Cllr Morris asking for clarification on 9 points of detail. No answer was received.
f Jul 23 – Cambray Place is resurfaced and slabs reinstated either side.
f 1 Aug 23 – Danny Taylor (GCC) invites CCS to meet to discuss the Promenade.
f 10 Aug 23 – Danny Taylor (GCC), Heath Gunter (BID), Andrew Booton (CCS) and Hugh Curran (CCS) meet on the Prom to discuss options.
CCS sent a summary email detailing the points discussed. We did not have any further contact with GCC Highways until after the s56 notice was served.
f Aug 23 – Tracey Birkenshaw (CBC) requests an update from GCC on the Promenade proposals. GCC replies with the revised schedule.
f 30 Aug 23 – Andrew Booton (CCS) and Hugh Curran (CCS) meet Cllr Tim Harman (County Cllr) to discuss Promenade proposals.
f Sep 23 – ST Water installs new cowpats on newly resurfaced Cambray Place. They are still there and the surface has still not been reinstated.
f Sep 23 – Autumn edition of OurTown includes summary of latest Promenade proposals.
f 5 Mar 24 – CBC Corporate Peer Challenge – Progress Review. CBC is universally slated by participants for overpromising and underdelivering on almost everything, especially public realm issues.
f Apr 24 – CCS issues Town Centre Manifesto 2.
f 13 Jun 24 – CCS meet BID’s Chair and new Chief Exec. BID changes its stance on Promenade and, after discussions with CBC, is now content with a tarmac strip down the middle!
f 19 Jun 24 – CCS emails BID to restate the previously-agreed BID and CCS position on the Promenade. Enough already! I hope you’ve got the point that this may well go on for ever! – Ed. ●
Heritage Open Days a big success
2024’s Heritage Open Days festival in Cheltenham was once again a resounding success.
Organised by Cheltenham Civic Society and supported by Cheltenham Borough Council, this year’s festival-goers enjoyed the biggest-ever programme of 73 events during ten days in early September.
This year the programme also incorporated walks and talks by the South Cheltenham History Festival.
With everything free to visit or join, more than 2,300 people took the opportunity to participate, with nearly all of the walks and talks being fully booked. Between them, they visited and explored the 25 open buildings, listened to the 17 talks, joined the 25 guided walks, and attended exhibitions and other events.
One of Heritage Open Days venues was, of course, the new WWI Battlefield Crosses museum in Cheltenham’s Bouncers Lane
festival is organised by the National Trust and they have received some very positive endorsements of events in Cheltenham, including:
Open Building: Bridge Club
cemetery – see pages 2-5 – the opening of which attracted huge attention with a host of local, regional and national media attention.
HIGH STREET PANORAMAS
Nationally, the Heritage Open Days
Cheltenham Hindu Temple: “Opening up these sites gives people the opportunity to learn, broaden the mind, ask questions and be curious.”
St Philip and St James Church: “An excellent talk about two nineteenth century spinster sisters and their complicated but fascinating ancestry, family and contemporaries.”
Cheltenham Bridge Club: “I often pass by this building, and have always been intrigued about the building and to see the interior and the event. I was greeted very warmly, taken around and encouraged to join in the event if I wanted to. I was amazed how big and well kept the place was. A lovely afternoon, well spent.” ●
Having retrieved the 1961 panoramas of the lower High Street from storage earlier this summer, we found that both had been badly damaged. After more than three days of scanning and painstaking photo-retouching, we’re now pleased to report that the south side is back in good repair. The slightly less damaged north side comes next! ●
Open Building: Everyman Theatre Walk: People’s Park & Wildlife Corridor
Open Building: Hindu Temple
Around Town : STREET ART
Key contacts
Andrew Booton Chairman chair@cheltcivicsoc.org
Hugh Curran Membership Secretary membership@cheltcivicsoc.org
Steve Bryson Editor of OurTown comms@cheltcivicsoc.org
Enquiries
enquiries@cheltcivicsoc.org
Cheltenham Civic Society
https://cheltcivicsoc.org
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @cheltcivicsoc and on Facebook.com/cheltenhamcivicsociety
Registered charity No. 1166580
https://cheltcivicsoc.org
NB: Individual points of view expressed by correspondents in OurTown should not be taken as being representative of Cheltenham Civic Society CIO.
Photo and image credits
PAGE
1: Prom paving – Editor
2-5: Battlefield Crosses museum opening – Editor
6: Prom paving montage – Editor
7: John Lewis paving cowpat – Editor
10: Heritage Open Days – Participants
11: AroundTown–Editor
12: Circumspice16–MikeRigby
Artwork and layout by the Editor Printing arranged byArtWorks Design
The controversial street art on the side of The Famous. It was intended to deter tagging but was itself tagged within weeks.
Parmoor update
Parmoor has been stripped out, revealing more of its grizzly secrets. Damp had been seeping from the gutter down the front wall between the ashlar and the brick structural wall, feeding a large growth of dry rot, a fungal decay that has eaten away joist ends and parts of windows. That has now dried out and the rot has receded but it will be chemically treated to kill it off for good. The joist ends will then be replaced along with the box guttering and the porch roof. Minor roof repairs are also being made to weatherproof the building. Meanwhile, inflation has taken its bite of the budget, so we’re reworking specifications and build phases to allow the refit to start with the top floor flats and CCS’s public spaces. ●
Help the charity you love – nominate Cheltenham Civic Society for £1,000 today
The Gloucester-based insurers, Ecclesiastical – part of the Benefact Group – will be donating £1,000 to charity later this year. To nominate CCS, simply scan the adjacent QR code or go online to the address on the right before the closing date of 19 December 2024. ●
movementforgood.com/ ecclesiastical
A fine example of polychromatic brickwork from the 1870s which has been carefully restored and maintained. Where is this and how is the building connected to the American War of Independence. It is, of course, the Revolutionary War if you are American! Rig
The answers to this mini quiz* can be found on the Society’s website: cheltcivicsoc.org/category/news *Unfortunately there are no prizes!
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