DOUBLE GLOUCESTER

So after the main courses, what better way to end a Cotswolds festive feast than to indulge in a big helping of Double Gloucester!
This image may end up representing how some people will actually see Gloucester during Christmas if they have too may liqueurs of course, but in reality the picture was made using 2 separate photos.
One is an outdoor shot of Gloucester shops taken at Christmas time in the late 90's, and the other is an indoor shot of Christmas decorations in a Gloucester mall in the early 2000's.
And with this trippy looking spectacle, I'm going to depart for a festive break myself, so won't be doing any more posts now for a couple of weeks.
I will be back around mid January though, with another bundle of snaps to put on display.

TABLE BIRDS

On this years Christmas menu there is a choice between chicken, turkey and duck!
Joking aside, I doubt very much these particular birds in shot ended up on the table as a meal. The picture is a bit deceptive really because you automatically assume this was taken away out in the countryside at a farm somewhere, but the fact is, I took the photo in the late 90's at a city farm in the middle Gloucester and so it was a place that the public could visit, rather than a place for a farmer to do his slaughtering!

GARLANDS GALORE

No shortage of festive garlands on these shots anyway!
Two different towns involved and two different dates.
The first three were in Cheltenham shopping malls and were taken around the 2002/03 period.
The fourth picture was taken in a Gloucester shopping centre in the late 90's, and if you ignore all the Christmas related fun, you'll see C&A in the background!

CHRISTMAS CHARACTERS

These Christmas characters were out on display around the early 2000's in two different shopping malls.
The top one featuring a troupe in old fashioned costumes was in Cheltenham's Regent Arcade and the picture of Santa's little helpers was in Gloucester's Eastgate Shopping Centre.

THE EXOTIC GROTTO

Talk about climate change - Santa's Grotto seems to have been given a Bahamas setting this particular Christmas!
The real location wasn't some exotic island though, but was in fact a shopping mall in Cheltenham in the early 2000's.

BEARS AND PENGUINS

 

These creatures were out and about in two different shopping malls in Cheltenham at Christmas time back in the early 2000's.
The big teddy bears were on parade in the main aisle of one mall, whilst the penguins were floating about on chunks of ice on the stream that runs through the centre of the other mall.

TOYS AND THINGS

These two shots were both taken in Cheltenham in the early 2000's, but in two different shopping malls.
The top one was outside a shop I'm guessing was called Little Things, which judging by the photo sold small toys, novelties and cards.
The picture below it was part of the Christmas decor outside TK Maxx, and featured toy boxes that were loaded to the max!

RETRO CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

These two shops had a nice retro look to their Christmas window display, even for the 90's, which is the era I snapped them.
The top one with lots of tinned sweets and a huge sock, was in Gloucester.
The shop under it with lots of wine on offer, was in Cheltenham.

DOCKS WINTER DRAPES

These arty banners were hanging from the ceiling of a mall/cafe area at Gloucester Docks in 1998.
The writing on them was only on one side, which meant they were readable when you walked in through the main door but because I took the picture from the back of the mall, the wording shows up in reverse!
I think the banners may have been up the same time as the Winter Olympics were taking place in Japan - so that would make it February '98.

GATHERING WINTER FUEL

It seems like someone came up with the idea of gathering winter fuel, but then forgot to go collect it before winter arrived!
Both these shots were taken around the Port Ham area in the mid 90's.

A WINTRY WANDER

I needed my Gore-Tex boots on for this particular photo session around Port Ham one winters day back in the 90's.

COLD COLT

It was so cold on the day I took this picture, the horse had to wear a coat!
This was taken near Prinknash Abbey and is looking over towards Nuthill in the background.

COUNTRYSIDE CONTRAPTION

Not sure how long this rusty old piece of farming machinery had been sitting in the field but it made a nice focal point for this snap I took on a wintry evening in Walham.

FRESH FROZEN VEG

Whoever was living in this pink house in the late 90's had a nice fresh supply of frozen vegetables at hand!
This frosty scene was snapped in Upper Framilode - and that's River Frome at the bottom of the garden.

FEEDING NEAR FRETHERNE

I was quite amused by this scene in a frosty field near Fretherne.
The position of the cattle around the edge of the grass made it look as if the cows were systematically chewing their way out from the area where the ground is bare!

VIEW FROM NUTHILL

This clump of firs reminded me of Stone Pines, the type you see around the warmer areas of the continent - but it being a chilly December day in the Cotswolds when I took the picture, I suspect they are more likely to be something like Scots Pines.
The view is from Nuthill, looking over towards Coopers Hill woods in the misty background.

DISAPPEARING TRACKS

These muddy tracks had obviously been gouged out before the frosty weather had arrived but as you can see by the icy puddle, the chilly conditions afterwards then preserved them.
The location was a hillside around the Portway area.

DISAPPEARING ROAD

This remnant of road on the outskirts of Gloucester had almost totally disappeared in amongst the wild growth.
There was nothing at either side of the road, this was all there was in an area of dense wilderness, so I've no idea what place it was connected with.

DISAPPEARING HEDGE

This autumnal hedge suddenly disappeared not too far from where I took the picture.
You can tell that it runs alongside a hill with a very steep dip and so it reminded me of the infamous cheese-rolling spot, Cooper Hill.
This one wasn't too far from Coopers Hill, it being located somewhere nearer the Upton Hill area.

AUTUMN MARSH

It's not only trees that change colour in Autumn, some grasses too go through the same process.
This area in Sud Meadow displayed tufts of grass that had changed colour in Autumn.
Although it was flooded when I took the picture, the area throughout the rest of the year always remains marshy even when there are no floods. You've got to tread carefully around this part of Sud Meadow as your feet sink way under!

AUTUMN TRACK

These trees couldn't have been here very long judging by how young they looked, but they still managed to display a nice splash of colour in Autumn.
The picture was taken on a country track around the Port Ham area in the late 90's, so if the trees are still there now, they will probably be twice the size they are in this shot.

AUTUMN BRONZE

Earlier in Spring this year I put up a photo of this very tree displaying its white cherry blossom.
So a few months later, here it is again but in its Autumn foliage.
Both images were taken in the 90's and the location was a park in Gloucester.

ORDERLY TREE

I can remember that I took this picture on the outskirts of Gloucester in the mid 90's but I can't recall if it was in spring or autumn so I'm not sure if the upright growths on the tree branches are leaf buds or seed pods, but I thought it was quite unusual to see them all lined up in such an orderly manner looking like soldiers on parade!

TWIN TRUNKS

A couple of examples of twin trunk trees I've spotted on my jaunts.
The top one was in Highnam and the one under it was in Port Ham.

AMBER AMBLE

Both of these shots were taken in the 90's in Gloucester - the top one showing a bush that had turned yellow, highlighted even more so because of the blue backdrop.
The second one was me underneath a weeping birch canopy with its autumnal colours lit up by the morning sunshine.

FIRE AND FEATHERS

To say this tree in its autumn foliage stood out from its surroundings, is a bit of an understatement - it reminded me of a ball of fire, as if a comet had just landed!
This garden area with the feathery pampas grass was located in Stoke Orchard.

AUTUMN LAMP

I thought this street lamp had been left on during the day as I passed it, then I realised it was the way the sunlight was hitting it that created the illusion of the glow.
This autumnal scene was caught in Gloucester, late 90's.

DYING TREE NEAR HARESFIELD

This tree in a field near Haresfield church had nearly reached the end of its life. It only had a tiny amount of growth on a lower branch and that was it, while all the other trees in the background still had their full summer foliage.

AUTUMN IN HIGHNAM

The autumn weather made the tree in the foreground stand out and the dramatic cloudy sky made the church spire in the background stand out.
And I was standing out in those lousy conditions in Highnam!

OLD STONES

This is an even older wall than the one in yesterdays post!
It's one of the ancient ruins in Gloucester - with the cathedral popping up in the background.

BRIMPSFIELD COTTAGE

This dinky little cottage had a rather nice old stone wall around its garden area, quite typical for that neck of the woods in fact.
The scene was captured in Brimpsfield, with the village church visible in the background.

FRAMPTON COURTYARD

Here's a very nice Cotswolds scene - it's the courtyard area of a Tudor manor in Frampton On Severn.

FRANCE IN GLOUCESTER

This house looks as if it had been photographed somewhere in rural France - but I took the picture in the late 90's in the centre of Gloucester!

BLAKENEY BUILDING

I thought this building had a rather eccentric touch to it. Well it made me stop to take a snap of it anyway.
It almost looks as if it had once been part of a large mansion, but all that remains now is this gable end.
The location of it was somewhere around the Blakeney area.

GROWING IN THE GARDEN

This has got to be the biggest mushroom I've ever seen!
Apperley was the location of this garden growth.

STUMP AND TOADSTOOLS

Couldn't help spot this batch of toadstools at the base of a stump as I was wandering around Highnam Arboretum.
I was tempted to use the stump as a seat and use the toadstools as a footrest...but it was a bit on the damp side!

SMOTHERED STUMP

Don't know how long this old stump had been lying here undisturbed in Highnam Woods, but it was covered in dozens of these strange small white rimmed plate fungi.
Saucer fungi??!!

POPPY LINE

This field somewhere around Sandhurst was completely free of poppies apart from this long line of them running along the side of the hedge.

POPPY CLUSTER

This cluster of poppies were located behind a building next to a park in Gloucester.
Not sure if it was supposed to be a wild garden or if they had just taken over a spare bit of ground.