NICE CLOUD - NASTY CLOUD

I  went out cycling in most weather conditions, whether it was a July heatwave or an icy January, but one element I did always try to avoid was the rain. Not because of me, but because rain wasn't particularly good for my camera to be exposed to, and the wet also played havoc with my bike brakes!!
It has to be said though that in all the years I went out on country photo shoots, I only got caught out a couple of times when I was miles away and couldn't do anything about.
So if I was intending on going away on a day's trip and saw the top cloud before setting off, that wouldn't bother me, I'd be on my way as planned. However, if I saw the lower cloud before commencing, then I would just say "No, not to day" and keep the bike in the bike shed!
It's pretty irrelevant where the 2 pictures were taken, but for the record, the white wispy one was above Churcham, and the dark bruiser was hanging over Gloucester - you can just make out the top of Robins Wood Hill at the foot of the shot.

CYPRESS CAMOUFLAGE

This shot was taken on the outskirts of Gloucester and although you can't see anything of the city for the trees, you can make out the cathedral trying to disguise itself as a Cypress tree!

CYPRESS HILL

These Cypress trees in the background do give the landscape a continental kind of look but this field of haystacks was in fact located between Deerhurst and Tewkesbury.
The mound of trees at the back is a small area called Salters Hill.

COBERLEY COUNTRYSIDE

This view of a couple of haystacks in a bare field was taken on the edge of Coberley in 1996.

HUNTLEY HAYSTACKS

A nice timeless kind of landscape - a view that was taken from the road between Huntley and Taynton.

STRIPED SPOT

This striated swathe really lept out visually when I was cycling passed so I stopped and took this snapshot.
You should be able to make out that they didn't cut the running track area where the horse jumps are situated.
The location of this field was just outside Caudle Green.

ALONGSIDE SYDE

This spacious piece of farmland with two clumps of trees sitting in it, caught my eye as I was passing. It looked like 2 giant caterpillars racing each other!
The location was near Harcombe Farm, which is next to the village of Syde.
The thin line of trees in the background on the right are the Gloucester Beeches.

SPOUT LANE

On the other side of Welshbury Wood (as seen in yesterday's photo) you'll find this place here called Spout Lane. This length of track cuts through a farmstead on the other side that you can just catch a glimpse of, but if you kept on going over the wooded hills in the background, you would end up in Cinderford.

FLAXLEY ROAD

Quite often I'd end up in a location that I'd get all to myself, this area here being a good example of such a place.
I cycled the entire length of the road, cutting through the woods away in the distance, and there was nobody about but me - no traffic, no farmers, no locals, just an occasional glimpse of wildlife.
So this is Flaxley Road, a route that eventually reaches Shapridge behind the trees.
Flaxley Woods is on the right and Welshbury Wood is on the left.

VIEW OF THE SEVERN

Here's a good view of a twisty section of the Severn as seen from Littledean.
On this side of the river you can see the edge of Newnham (middle left) - and in the distance where the peninsula bit is, that's where Awre is located.
On the other side of the river, across the water from Awre is where Slimbridge is, and on the far left opposite Newnham is the Arlingham area.
Incidentally, the black blobs massed together on the hillside nearest to where I was standing, are cattle grazing.

SUMMER COTTAGE

A nice quaint little cottage that I snapped in the passing in 1996, somewhere around the Longford area.

BLUE ABODES

More homes with old beams here, this time given a blue hue.
Top one is in Elmore.
The middle one is near Moreton Valence.
The last one, which is dark and mysterious, will have to remain a bit of a mystery for now as I can't remember where I took the picture! If I track it down, I'll put the info in later.

COUNTRY TINTS

Well I'm back out in the countryside again after a couple of weeks at the funfair, but all the colour of the carnival has inspired me to do something arty with this set.
So these 3 old beamed homes were at the following locations...
RED - Apperley
AMBER - White End
GREEN - Colethrop

THE CARNIVAL IS OVER

All good things must come to an end, or in Gloucester park's case, just for a year - and so time for the fairground amusements to pack up and go.
The above shots were taken around the mid/late 90's and are of various galleries & stalls fully boarded up ready to set off elsewhere, albeit still looking nice & colourful!

THE GRAND FINALE

The carnivals in Gloucester park always go out with a bang when it's time for the amusements and entertainment to depart, and the examples above date from around the late 90's.
The structure that looks like a lighthouse was one of the props brought in by the "Walk The Plank" firework display team, a crew who have since gone on to become rather well known.
So basically, the top picture is the prop during the day before the fireworks commenced, and the photo under it is the structure ablaze at night with the pyrotechnics in full flow.
Lastly, one of the many side acts performing around the park was the one I captured in the bottom picture, a local (I think) Brazilian drumming outfit who were supplying some hot batucada action on the night!

STOP!

As the traffic grinds to a halt in the kiddies ride, Circuit 2000, so does Gloucester's funfair in the park.
And making sure that everything has officially stopped, PC Plod has been called in to bring it to an end!

NO MORE FUN

Time to bring all the park fun to an end shortly, and in Snow White's case, the amusement has already ceased.
I thought the castle at the top was a Fun House kind of place at first, but it describes itself as "A Show For All Ages", so I'm not too sure what was inside. Perhaps it was a puppet show or something but anyway, the castle had shut when I took the picture around the mid 90's and along with its inflatable roof which had the air taken out of it, it also has a sign up on the front that reads "Closed - Gone Jousting".
Underneath it IS a Fun House, and its wobbly stairs lead to a weird trip around Treasure Island.

COLOURFUL TRIO

Another 3 fairground rides from the mid/late 90's in Gloucester park.
The top one, Wild Mouse, was quite a large structure considering it was just a temporary travelling funfair. It was no doubt based on the one in Blackpool judging by the tight twisty course which looks kinda similar.
The middle picture is of the Super Bowl, a dish that spun around moving from a horizontal position to an angled one, with the added extra pleasure of spinning around in waltzer style carriages.
The third image is Musik Express in action, which was a speedy spin around an undulating circuit.

TOP GUN & HELLRAISER

2 fairground rides named after movies that were in Gloucester park around the mid 90's.
The top one is Top Gun and the second one is Hellraiser.
Not only were they in the same park but they were right beside each other as you can see in the 3rd photo featuring both of them in full flow.

BY JIMINY!

I thought that it was a frog in the top hat at first, then I realised after a double-take that it was the old Disney character, Jiminy Cricket!
Not sure what the actual ride was called mind you but as you can see in the lower picture it was one of those octopus arms jobs, albeit this example having 14 in total!
In the background you can make out the Miami Trip ride lit up.

MIAMI TRIO

These are 3 different versions of Miami Trip captured in 3 different years, all of which were in Gloucester park between the mid 90's and early 2000's.

BIG WHEELS

Now for some action shots from Gloucester park taken at various carnivals around the mid 90's to early 2000's period.
Starting with these 2 big wheel based thrills.
The top one not only spun around as normal, but the individual carriages also tumbled round & round.
The one under it called Enterprise went at a fair speed as it changed from horizontal to vertical positions.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

I was still having a wander around the fairground in Gloucester park when all the owners were fast asleep in their trailers, and so managed to snap a few of the rides while there was nobody about.
So in the late 90's there was the Sizzler at the top, the middle one shows the Chaos signs, the last image also has Chaos alongside the Midnight Express ride and a good old fashioned carousel.

BEFORE THE FUN STARTS

I remember taking these pictures early in the morning before the fairground rides were switched on, so all was still as they awaited the action starting up later in the day!
This trio featuring dodgems, speedway and waltzers date from the mid/late 90's period, and were in the main park in Gloucester.

PARK DISPLAY

These structures scattered around an area of Gloucester park in the late 90's looked like something out of Mad Max, but they were actually part of the fireworks display later that evening.

TRUCKS IN THE PARK

I couldn't help notice that when the funfair trucks in the top image, arrived for their summer stint, the vehicles had the same colour scheme as the flowers they parked alongside and blended in quite nicely!
The Bandit monster truck, however, was waiting to have its rear wheels attached before going on to wreck everything in its path for its stunt show!
Both these shots were taken in Gloucester park sometime around the late 90's.