CHRISTMAS BREAK

Not too sure which location these seasonal hot air balloons were supposed to be flying over - if it was Santa's Grotto, that would indicate the North Pole - if it was a crib, that would be the Middle East - but the large penguin would make it the South Pole!
Never mind, most of these details are hidden behind the Christmas tree anyway, and as for the tree itself, well I do know for certain its location was the Eastgate Shopping Centre in Gloucester.
So on that note, I'm gonna stop cascading for a while and take a festive break.
However, I will be back in January with another years worth of images from around the Cotswolds.

SANTA GOES SHOPPING

So this is where Santa gets all those toys from - the Beechwood Shopping Centre in Cheltenham!
The creators did a really good job of this flying sleigh I reckon.

THE BALL IN THE MALL

These bears were having a bit of a Christmas rave up in this shopping centre in Gloucester.
Meanwhile, next door to the bears, Cinderella's carriage had not yet reached the pumpkin transformation stage - although there was a guy from a nearby fruit & veg stall at the ready!

ALICE IN CHELTENHAM

Sometime around the early 2000's, the Regent Arcade in Cheltenham had an "Alice In Wonderland" theme throughout the mall for their Christmas display.
Some of the toy props on show were quite surreal and similarly they also had a tree you could walk through.
The trail eventually lead you to Santa's Grotto of course!

LOCK HOUSE GARLAND

A very ordinary looking scene but made to look a bit Christmassy because of the garland on the door and the sprinkling of snow.
This is the Lock House at Gloucester docks.
The footprints in front of the house just seem to disappear into thin air.
Wonder if they went for a dip?!

CHELTENHAM CHESTNUTS

This was the Hot Chestnuts seller doing a bit of business underneath the giant baubles in the centre of Cheltenham back in 2002.

XMAS DOX

Maybe I should have waited until it was darker to catch the lights on, but anyway, this is one of the Christmas trees they had on display at Gloucester docks back in the 90's.

CHRISTMAS COURTYARD

A parade of Christmas firs in amongst the exotic trees at The Courtyard in Cheltenham.
And if you fancy doing a bit of shopping here, you will find a mix of designer stores, art galleries and a very smart Bang & Olufsen shop.

THE GOLDEN CROSS

This was how Gloucester's Golden Cross pub used to look before its renovation and change of name.
Here they were reminding the locals to book early if planning to visit for a Christmas meal.

FARMERS MARKET IN CHELTENHAM

I took this picture of the Farmer's Market stalls in Cheltenham in December 2002.
Not only was there fresh food available, but they also had 2003 Farmers Market calendars for sale.

EMF AT THE GUILDHALL

Back in 1990, word got out around Gloucester at short notice that the band, EMF, were to be filming a promo video for their chart single "Unbelievable" at a gig in the Guildhall - so I popped along to catch a piece of the action.
Action is quite an apt description because the band were very hyperactive on stage and they kept this energy level flowing for the full show.
True enough, a camera crew was there and were interacting on stage as well as mingling in amongst the crowd.
EMF performed "Unbelievable" twice on the night.
I've had the promo video on VHS cassette since the 90's but only recently got round to converting it to digital format.
So here below is the finished footage of the event - and after all these years, I still haven't been able to spot myself in the crowd!