THE SHUTTER INN

With a name like The Shutter Inn - it was just asking to be photographed!
This pub is in Gotherington and is still in biz today, although this picture I took of it dates back to the late 90's.

THE WHITE HART

A nice flowery welcome awaits those who fancy a drink at The White Hart in Maisemore.
This image of it was captured around the late 90's.

THE QUEENS ARMS

In the village of Ashleworth, you can still stop off here at The Queens Arms for refreshments today, although this snap I took of it dates back to 1996.
You can't really miss it because those clipped trees certainly catch your eye when passing by.

CANNING ARMS

Canning Arms is an example of a country pub that is no longer on the go.
This photo of it was taken around the late 90's, but just a few years later in the early 2000's it closed down, with no pub there at all now.
It was located on the outskirts of Hartpury.

GARDENERS ARMS

This picturesque thatched pub called the Gardeners Arms was in the village of Alderton - and in fact, it still is.

THE APPLE TREE

I'll be indulging in a bit of a pub crawl over the next few days, with some of the examples still in business today and a couple that are no longer on the go.
This one here, The Apple Tree, is a survivor and is to be found on the way to Minsterworth.
Mind you, that lamp in the foreground has since disappeared!

OVER FARM MARKET

I thought this place looked nice and quaint - Over Farm Market - Over being the name of the location of course.
However, I didn't have time to go in and do any shopping myself so I didn't find out if their produce was over priced!

COTTAGE CAT

I stopped off to take a snapshot of this stone cottage on my way to Syde, when up jumped this cat onto the garden gate, adding a bit of life to the scene.

SQUIRREL SILHOUETTE

Caught this image of a squirrel in silhouette just as it scurried down the trunk of a tree and stopped - it then spotted me and scarpered back up!
This split second scene took place in a Gloucester park.

SHEEP STAMPEDE

 

When I was cycling past this field located between Taynton and Glasshouse, I spotted a flock of sheep taking shelter in the shadows of the trees at the back, trying to keep cool in the scorching heat.

So I decided to stop off and take a snapshot of the scene.

However, in the short space of time it took for me to whip my camera out, the sheep came rushing over towards me and I ended up with this image instead!

You can see that the grass was too parched for them to feed on, so I suppose they must have thought I came over to supply them with some fresh grub.

Unfortunately, I only had a packet of mints on me, and I decided to hog them all to myself, so had to leave them all feeling rather disappointed.





PRINKNASH DEER

The grass is far too short for this Prinknash deer to graze on so it has decided to settle down for a while and wait for it to grow back!

HIGHNAM COW

A nice relaxing summer scene with a cow resting in a field of buttercups in Highnam.

SEVERN SWANS

Although this looks almost like some kind of exotic oasis, the location is in fact quite close to Gloucester docks.
It was taken from around the Castle Meads area - and the streaky shadows you can see on the Severn are from a disused bridge just off of shot to the right.

PRINKNASH PHEASANTS

Here are a couple of photos showing the kind of exotic birds that were adding a dash of colour to Prinknash bird gardens as they freely explored their surroundings.

The ones on the ground are Golden Pheasants, and the one hiding in the trees is a Lady Amherst Pheasant.

CRANES IN THE COTSWOLDS

This water feature is another pond area that is part of the Prinknash bird gardens, and as you can see, there were a couple of African cranes strolling around its edge when I snapped this in the mid 90's.

PRINKNASH BIRD GARDENS

This picturesque pond is part of the layout of the bird gardens near Prinknash Abbey.
The birds aren't kept in aviary's, they wander around the place freely, including many exotic species.
Cartoonist, Phil Meigh, was the chap who created this parkland.

CITY CENTRE SOAP SUDS!

Here's what happened one day when someone was passing Gloucester's Kings Square fountains and dropped their packet of Persil!

GLOUCESTER'S WATER SPOUTS

Here's a reminder of the Gloucester water spouts that used to be in Kings Square.
The top image is looking over towards Debenhams with the upper section of the water feature to the right.
The 2nd picture showing a different spout formation, is taken from the opposite side with Debenhams behind me and looking across at MVC record store.

GLOUCESTER'S WATER FEATURE

Gloucester once had more than just a fountain as a focal point, almost it's entire city square was used as a water feature.
It was on 2 levels, the upper section had water spouts pouring into it and this spilt over creating a lower sunken pool area.
The photo here is taken from behind the upper section looking over towards the Post Office building.
You can see at the base of the steps there were benches for folk to enjoy a rest by the water and also a set of round flat stepping stones for kids to play on.
The water spouts are out of shot but would be to the left.
This whole area no longer exists as it is in the picture - the water was turned off, the willow removed, the area was then filled in and transformed into an extremely uninteresting empty area of blandscape!

WESTBURY COURT GARDEN

This 17th century Dutch water garden is at Westbury Court.

I'm not too keen on this regimental style of gardening so I just ended up taking a couple of snaps from the roadside rather than go in and wander around the place.

COWLEY MANOR FOUNTAIN



 

 

 

 

When I was roaming around the grounds of Cowley Manor sometime around 1996 or so, I couldn't help notice this fountain feature. Although it must have looked rather grand in its heyday, as you can see in the photos I took of it when I was there, it was crumbling away and in need of some repair work.
Having said that, I actually liked it in this decayed condition, it appeared quite eerie and I could almost imagine it being used as a video backdrop by some Goth rock band!
The manor itself belonged to the milky drinks family, the Horlick's.
Lewis Carroll once visited the place too - so it would be amusing to think that perhaps the idea of Alice falling asleep and dreaming of Wonderland was inspired by one of Horlick's "drink me" nightcaps!
Then to emphasise it, a big pot of Horlicks at the tea party keeping the dormouse drowsy!
I think the manor might have been sitting empty when I visited but nowadays it's been turned into a popular hotel, and so I assume the fountain has since been given a makeover too.

INTO COWLEY

Back outdoors again and this time on the road entering Cowley.
You can see from this shot that it is a typical Cotswold stone village, similar to the many that are scattered around the nearby area, however, this little place had a feature hidden away that I didn't know about until I encountered it on this visit - and I'll have more on that tomorrow!

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL EXHIBITION

I've only ever set foot inside Gloucester Cathedral once, and it was for the above art exhibition.
It was mostly abstract sculptures that were on display but there were one or two more figurative pieces in there too.
I reckoned the modern art fitted in very well with the ancient backdrop.
Unfortunately, I can't recall the exact year this took place, but I think it was around the early 2000's.
I also didn't take note of the artist's names or the titles of the pieces, so you'll just have to view them without any information.
One little detail I liked is noticeable on the very last picture, where you can see that the door at the back has been kept open, so gives the impression that a draft has blown in along the corridor and created the movement in the females skirt & hair.
Whether it was intentional - well, you'd need to ask the exhibition organisers!

HIGHNAM CHARCOAL

Tucked away in a corner of Highnam arboretum was this rusty metal container you can see at the back.
The surrounding chopped logs give a clue as to what it was used for.
It's a burner for making charcoal.

COTSWOLD ECLIPSE

In August 1999, I went on another visit to Highnam arboretum, this time to take pictures of the eclipse of the sun.
You may recall the event was broadcast live on TV from Lands End or somewhere like that, where they had a total eclipse occur.
Up where I was, it was more an almost very nearly total eclipse that took place!
I rattled off about ten shots in the space of 15 minutes, but what with it being Britain, the clouds were trying to hog the show and most of the pictures didn't show very much.
The best one in the batch was this one above which was the very last one I took.
When the sky was at its darkest, a little gap opened up in the clouds and revealed what was going on behind them - and there it was, the moon hovering in front of the sun.
I also remember, because it was very dusky looking, the birds started chirping away like they do when it's time to roost!
Shortly after, daylight returned and everything was back to normal.

TO THE PINETUM

Although I was well acquainted with what an arboretum was, this was the first time I had seen the word "Pinetum". Although it's rather self explanatory what it is, I did still find myself looking up my dictionary when I got home to see what the official definition was - only to discover pinetum wasn't in my dictionary!
Anyway, the sign, along with the log cabin, was in Highnam.

LEAVING CAUDLE GREEN

My bike is resting against a wall that is part of the route downhill from Caudle Green that leads to a junction at the bottom.
If you turned right at the junction it would take you to Winstone. If you went straight ahead you'd end up in Syde, and if you took a left turn you'd be on the road you can see in the background, which is the way to Brimpsfield.

LEY ROAD CROSSING

Just as I was cycling up to this rail crossing, the barriers swung into position, so thought I'd be as well to take a snap of the scene while waiting.
This was at a place called Ley Road which is way out on its own in the countryside - the nearest place to it probably being Minsterworth.
I did a Google Street View comparison to see if that wooden keeper's cottage is still there, and it is, although you could hardly see it because the surrounding trees have since grown over it quite wildly.
In fact I also spotted on the internet that Network Rail had the cottage up for sale last year, but I don't know what the outcome was.

THE THREE BRIDGES

This scene featuring 3 bridges crossing the river Severn at the same spot was taken around the Pool Meadow area, although you need to look at the reflection to see all three separately.

OXFORD PUNTS

This is about as touristy as my pictures get - a collection of punts on a river in Oxford.
It may be a rather cliched image but the scene did have a certain timeless charm about it - hence the vignette treatment I have given it.