THE OLD VICARAGE GATE

Another white fence conjuring up the image of a pleasant pastoral England.
I could almost imagine Dawn French on the other side...but this photo wasn't taken in Dibley, it was near Stroud.

BODDINGTON COTTAGE

I have quite a few photos of old Tudor beamed cottages in my collection but what I thought made this one in Boddington look pretty quaint was the little white fence surrounding it. A cute touch making it even more picturesque than it already was.

VELTHOUSE LANDSCAPE

Not much left standing of the rickety old shed in the foreground but the landscape beyond it is in decent shape.
This was taken from around the Velthouse area, so the trees in the distance would be Hope Wood.

SPRING IN SANDHURST

For some reason this tree still managed to look quite creepy even when it was in full bloom!
Anyway, the horse didn't seem to be spooked by it - and this little springtime scene was caught in Sandhurst.

LAMBS AT REST

These bundles of wool in the making were gathered around the shade of a tree trunk in Slad.
It seems the white fleeced one is the odd sheep of the family this time out!

LAMBS AT PLAY

Here were some lambs messing around in the shade using an old rotten tree trunk as a play thing.
This sunny spring evening's fun was captured in a corner of a field in the Port Ham area.

BARE TREES AND DANDYLIONS

Unlike yesterdays park photo, the splash of colour here at Compton Green wasn't provided by a Park Department, but by mother nature.

PARK COLOUR

Not much in the way of leaves on trees yet when this photo was taken, but at least Gloucester Park's Dept made an effort to add a dash of colour to the area- albeit in an old dried-up fountain!

WHAT'S YELLOW AND DANGEROUS?

Well the laburnum tree may be poisonous but when it's in full bloom it sure can treat your eyes to a blast of visual stimulation!
The display on this one here has become accentuated to an even greater extent up against the black & white design of the building, which was on the outskirts of Gloucester.

BIG BLOOMER

This tree seemed larger than usual for a cherry blossom specimen and it didn't skimp on the bloom either.
The photo was taken outside a block of flats in Gloucester.

SPRING WITH STYLE

A burst of spring colour outside this stylish old building in Gloucester.
Mind you, it looks like you might need to use a machete to make your way through the main entrance area!

BLOSSOM AND BACKDROPS

These are two of my favourite tree blossom photos I've taken - which is mostly down to the backdrops they have, giving the pictures a kind of arty semi-abstract look, although the trees are putting on a fine display too.
Both were snapped in Gloucester - the top image being at the side of Longford Inn and the other in a corner area of a park.

CHURCHAM DETAIL

I liked this Tudor beam design that was part of a building in Churcham.
In fact, it reminded me of a Bridget Riley exhibition at the Tate I went to a few years ago!

PATH PLANTS

Well the spring plants are on display ok at the end of this garden path in Upleadon, but the path itself didn't lead up to the garden gate where I was standing - it stopped a few feet short!

BLOOM AND BIKE

This is my bike resting under the unmistakable yellow bloom of a laburnum tree, which was somewhere around Boddington.

BLOSSOM AND BRICKWORK

Here's a couple of examples of trees displaying pretty impressive deep pink bloom up against walls in Gloucester.
The top one was in front of an RAF Association building, hence the blue paintwork.
The other one was taken around the back of Longford Inn.

OLD FARM AND NEW GROWTH

A line of daffodils lead up to this nice old stony farmstead near Stroud.

THE CANDY FLOSS BUSH

This large fluffy pink bush caught my eye as I was cycling through Apperley.
Up close, it looked as if it was made of candy floss!
At the time I had no idea what it was but I have since been told that it's called a Smoke Tree.

SPRINGTIME IN STONEHOUSE

I gave this picture a Lomo look as it seemed to help merge the placard in front of the pub with the plants in the foreground a bit better.
This scene was captured in Stonehouse around 15 years ago.

BLOSSOMING IN THE PARK

Trees that produce cherry blossom usually come in displays of either white or pink - but this one in a park in Gloucester exhibited both! It first started out white, as in the top picture, then after a short while it turned into this pink parade.
This one also reminds me of a Victorian parasol!

COTTAGE CHERRY TREE

The present blossom blitz on Cotswolds Cascade will be going on for a few more days as I have loads of colourful trees to display yet, so bear with me - it's just a Spring thing!
This luscious pink one above was taken in Wallsworth.

MINSTERWORTH IN BLOSSOM

Not sure what kind of tree this is but I thought it looked like the kind you'd see in a Japanese garden.
Looks equally as nice in a quaint English garden too mind you, especially in full blossom - and this one here was in Minsterworth.

SIGNS OF SPRING

This old thatched cottage is half hidden behind the trees at a fork junction in Sandhurst.
If you chose the left road it would take you to Sandhurst church - if you went right, it was 11 miles to Tewkesbury.

SWING BRIDGE IN RYEFORD

This little springtime scene was tucked away in Ryeford.
The swing bridge in shot goes over the Stroudwater canal.

SPRINGTIME IN SLAD

The daffodils are out and the trees are starting to blossom - yes it's springtime in Slad.

LIBRARY TREES

Here are a line of trees enhancing the look of Gloucester Library during 2 different seasons.
The top one is in their Spring cherry blossom display and the other is when in full Autumnal foliage.
Both are very pleasant visually I reckon, however, for some reason the powers that be have since decided to chop the whole lot down!!
They've not been replaced with anything, so perhaps there was something life threatening hiding in amongst the trees that lead to this drastic action??!!

GARDEN TREE HOUSE

It seems like some lucky kid had this impressive tree house built for them to play in.
I could almost imagine Bart and Milhouse up there planning out their next exploits!
However, the picture wasn't taken in Springfield but closer to home in a garden somewhere around the Cranham area.

MECCA RUBBISH IN GLOUCESTER

So now we know where they get their awesome prizes from!

CHELTENHAM PHONE BOXES

These telephone boxes were quite eye catching clustered together like this I thought - in fact I was half expecting to see David Mach appear from behind them ready to make one of his works of art!
Cheltenham Promenade was the location.

NEWENT NOSH

A visit to Newent 15 years ago had these two food based establishments next door to each other.
On the left is Soutters Restaurant and on the right is The Tudor Fish & Chip Shop.
Bearing in mind that the concept of fish & chips didn't start up until around the mid 19th century, it is only the building that is dated 1465, not the shop!
The chippy is still there today indeed, but Soutters later went on to become a cafe called the Buttery Tea Rooms.