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!