THE MINI FARM

Unfortunately, I didn't keep a note of where in the Cotswolds this snap was taken.
I'm also not too sure what the place was.
There is a sign up on the wall that has "MM" as part of it's logo along with a chequered racing flag design, however, because it's a bit on the blurry side I can't make out if it says "Mini Museum", "Mini Mechanics", "Mini Motors" or whatever, so I can't pass any details on about it.

THE CORRUGATED CHURCH

I'm not one for stepping inside churches but I do sometimes take photos of them from outside, especially when they have something visually quirky about them, and in the case of the one above located in Birdwood, I did rather like the shanty town corrugated iron look!

THE CORRUGATED CRAFT

I must admit I was rather amused when I clapped eyes on this boat in Gloucester docks.
Not too sure what it was supposed to be but with it having what looked like an improvised corrugated roof as part of its general ram-shackled appearance, did make it pretty comical.
I was half expecting Robinson Crusoe to step out with some refugees!
Just hope it's an example of a local before restoration job rather than after one!!

WALL AND PEACE

These planes were on some of the walls around the back of Gloucester museum.
I've no idea if they had any significance being where they were or if they were just there to brighten up a rather dull corner area.

AIRPORT RUNWAY AT STAVERTON

This is the airport runway at Staverton.
It's not exactly Heathrow but the lo-tech "light on a stick" basic look of the place is what I liked about it!

SUNSET SILHOUETTE

What attracted my attention to this scene was the line of trees running along the horizon that looked like the tips of a broken comb, but it wasn't until I saw the photo that I noticed that the light behind the clouds appeared more like an explosion had taken place rather than it just being the sun setting!
Perhaps I stumbled across the energy field portal that yesterdays tractors disappeared into..!!
Anyway, the shot was taken from near Brookthorpe, looking over towards the Hardwicke area.

THE VANISHING TRACTORS!

 

These tracks make it look like the tractors have driven into some kind of time portal and disappeared!
"Back To The Future" Cotswolds style!!

MAKING TRACKS

I'm not sure where these tracks lead to because I'm not 100% sure where the picture was taken now.
The photo was in amongst a set that featured Wainlode and Forthampton on them so I'll have to assume the location was somewhere between the two.

WILD FIELD

If it wasn't for the buttercups, you may mistake this for a frosty field in winter!
The white carpet is dandelion seed heads of course and the location was out in the wilds of Staverton.

LANDSCAPE AT SANDHURST HILL

The hilly part in the picture reminds me of my striped pyjamas I wore when I was a kid!
The entire area however, rape field included, was high up on Sandhurst Hill.

CHURCHDOWN HILL

The hint of a haze on this shot gives it a kind of dreamy look I reckon.
This is looking over towards the Churchdown Hill area.

COTSWOLDS COLOURS

These small wild plants in the foreground make a nice counterbalance to the large agricultural mass going on in the background.
This shot was taken from near Brimpsfield.

YELLOW COUNTRYSIDE

Two rape fields across from each other - the one closest is near Churcham and the one in the background is beside Highnam Woods.

IVY HOUSE #4

This ivy covered house was in the middle of the main street in Newnham and, well, you couldn't really miss it!

IVY HOUSE #3

The ivy on this house has a kind of bedraggled stage curtain appearance that I like - it makes it look like it's growing from the roof gutter down rather than from the ground up!
The location of this one is Arlingham.

IVY HOUSE #2

This ivy covered house is in Frampton On Severn.
A very attractive image I reckon - and a nice reminder of pleasant summer days.

IVY HOUSE #1

I've mentioned before that I am rather fond of buildings that are covered in ivy, so over the next few days I'll be displaying some more examples.
Starting with this lavish spectacle on a house next door to the Red Lion pub in Arlingham.

THE GREYHOUND INN

An old mid 90's shot of the Greyhound Inn in Lime Street - a small dwelling area sandwiched between Eldersfield and Corse Lawn.
Since this photo was taken, the Greyhound has been put down and has reincarnated into a gastro pub called The Butchers Arms.

SSSSAMUEL SSSSMITH

These old style s-shaped tie bars on the wall where the pub is make it look like an arty advert for Samuel Smith!

BUTLERS OF GLOUCESTER

Following on from yesterdays post, this is the same location but a few years later after the Steamrock Cafe had shut and became transformed into Butlers Of Gloucester.

The top image is the front entrance area and the photo underneath is a snap of the back of the building.

Since these photos were taken (mid/late 90's) the pub has yet again changed - in recent years it ditched the town tag in its name and was renamed Butlers Venue Bar.

You'll see that the Crown & Thistle pub next door was still there when I took these shots, but that too has now disappeared with it later changing into a place called Zest.

BYGONE BOOZERS

It isn't one of my better pictures but it is one of the oldest ones I have.
This snap goes back to around 1990, give or take a year.
The 2 Gloucester pubs next door to each other are the Steamrock Café and the Crown & Thistle.
The pair were quite different inside - the Crown & Thistle being a place where you could go to have a nice quiet chat and the Steamrock was a pub that had a DJ blasting out the latest dance grooves.
Sometime around the mid 90's the Steamrock closed and became known as Butlers Of Gloucester.

STATION TO STATION

When I took this shot I was standing in the car park area of the rail station in Gloucester, looking across at the bus station area on the left.
Two contrasting buildings at both, with a 60's style office block over at the bus station and an older traditional kind of building where the Wellington Hotel was at the rail station.
The Wellington Hotel is yet another Gloucester pub of the past. In the early 2000's it was given a lick of yellow paint and renamed The Station Hotel.

BRISTOL IN GLOUCESTER

This is the Bristol Hotel in Gloucester - a building I liked the looked of.
I think its visual appeal for me was all the curvy bits - that strange squashed turret thing on the roof, the balcony area, and the big arched entrance. The colour scheme was quite eye catching too.
It used to be a popular pub, putting on live music as well as showing sports events on a big screen. In fact, on the window at the bottom left it has "Rugby World Cup" painted on it which is what would have been on the big screen at the time of the photos, so that would date these images to either 1999 or 2003.
Then on the opposite window is none other than Desperate Dan helping advertise Bristol's Bangers!
There is also a reminder of the pub sign on the other snap.
This is another pub that has since shut down because a couple of years ago there was a takeover and a makeover and it was transformed into the Shanghai Restaurant.

GLOUCESTER IN OXFORD

I took this picture of The Gloucester Arms in Oxford in 2002.
You should be able to see that it had a fair amount of Celtic styled decoration as part of its exterior design. In fact they're the sort of patterns you might see on old rock music album covers or even as tattoos on bikers. So it's not too much of a surprise to know that the pub was indeed a hangout for rockers at the time.
I'm talking about it in the past tense because the place closed down a couple of years ago and is now a drinking den called The White Rabbit and so all the Celtic symbolism has disappeared.
Not sure if the rockers have disappeared too mind you because those of you who know your rock music history will know that 60's band Jefferson Airplane released a record called "White Rabbit" which has since gone on to become a famous anthem amongst rockers. So you never know, perhaps it's the same owners - but they're just being a bit more subtle!!

CHINESE DRAGONS IN GLOUCESTER

These Chinese dragon boats make a nice change from the usual barges that visit Gloucester docks.
I took these pictures sometime around the mid-late 1990's but I don't recall who won this particular battle!!

CANADA GEESE IN COBERLEY

This pond area in Coberley had visitors from Canada enjoying the Cotswold scenery.

SWANS IN SLIME

This pond at the foot of Sandhurst Hill was covered with what I thought at first was thick algae, but I came to consider that it might have been bulrush fluff that had been blown onto the surface.
Either way, algae or fluff, you can see that the swans paddling through it left a noticeable trail behind them.
Not a very pleasant way to begin aquatic life for the newly born cygnets!

HOW NOW BROWN COW

It's not as if my bicycle made a noise on these trips out in the country and yet some of the cows in this field were still aware of my presence even when I was quietly passing by on the other side of the hedge.
The location was near Blaisdon.

COW AND CALF

Mother cow prefers grazing on the lush grass while baby calf has opted to pose amongst the flowers!
This little scene was captured in a field near Upton St Leonards.

NEWTOWN FARM SIGN

This old wrought iron sign caught my eye as I was cycling past.
It belonged to Newtown Farm which is near Newent.
The field no longer has this wide open space look about it as it is now almost entirely covered with a mass of greenhouses.

FARM FENCE FEATURE

Behind this white fence was the most dense laburnum tree I think I've seen. You can see on the lower right of the photo that the tree's branches were actually touching the ground, making it look like the quantity of yellow flower clusters were weighing it down!
The rusty old sign says Bengrove Farm, which is in Sandhurst.