MUDDY FIELDS

It's wasn't always picturesque scenery I encountered on my country jaunts.
Here's a couple of stop-offs at muddy fields.
Not sure why mind you, must have seemed like a good idea at the time - but I obviously didn't consider them important enough to take note of their locations as I haven't a clue where they are!

INTO THE VALLEY

This old stone mansion had a rather nice tree lined driveway leading up to it.
Its location was in an isolated spot in Slad Valley.

HALF HIDDEN HOUSE

This is another house that was tucked away all on its own - and the location was near Wainlode Hill.

CUTE COTTAGE

I liked this dinky little thatched cottage tucked away all on its own - but I'm afraid I have no record or memory as to where I took the picture.
Oh well, can't win them all!

BARE TREE LANDSCAPE #3

Tree number three was at a location looking over in the direction of Maidenhall in the background.

BARE TREE LANDSCAPE #2

This 2nd bare tree and landscape was to be found beside a village area called Oakle Street.

BARE TREE LANDSCAPE #1

I have 3 similar kind of shots that feature a bare tree in the foreground and a distant hilly background - but are in 3 different locations, so I thought I'd put all 3 up back to back as part of a themed sequence - starting with this one here which was taken in the mid 90's around the Upton St Leonard's area.

OLD RAILWAY LINE

Taking this picture wasn't as dangerous as it looks for the simple reason that this stretch of railway had been closed down for many years, hence the bramble branches taking over!
The location was on the outskirts of Gloucester.

PYRAMID PAIR

This shot is kinda similar to yesterday's one, with the plant/wall/building forming a semi abstract image.
No office in the background this time, but 2 pyramid roofs, octagonal pyramids to be precise.
Not 100% sure what the buildings are, but I have a feeling they may be homes for the elderly, anyway, I do know that they were situated in Gloucester.

OFFICE ABSTRACT

I liked this little detail - it made quite an interesting semi abstract image I reckoned.
It is of course, plants in front of a wall, and the wall in front of an office block, but it's turned into a rather arty shot when viewed flat.
The place was in Gloucester.

LOGGING OFF

I should have stepped a bit further back to capture more of this display but you get the gist of it from the snap.
While I was on the topic of logs, I thought I'd add this one to the bundle as I reckoned it was quite an unusual way for a modern business to present itself, this being situated at its main entrance area.
The carved logs, looking a bit like a detail of a fortress in a western movie, belonged to the Global Group & Global Multi Media in Gloucester.
I took the picture around 1995/96 but I don't think the business remained there much longer after that, possibly gone by the late 90's.

LOGGING AREAS

This is a couple of logging areas I stopped off at when cycling around the area.
The top one was somewhere in Blaisdon Wood, and the lower shot was taken in Newent Woods around the May Hill area.

LOG PILES

Not sure what the locals were planning on doing with these 2 piles of logs - it certainly wasn't anywhere near Guy Fawkes night when I took the pictures.
The top image was taken around the Tirley area and I thought at first that the logs may have been stacked at the base of the tree to keep them dry, but then it occurred to me there weren't any leaves on the tree!
The other bundle of logs were snapped at the side of a road close to Cheltenham.
Both photos date from the late 90's.

LOG NESS MONSTER

Yesterday's tree may have been quite monstrous looking, but at least it was created naturally - this one here however, was quite clearly conjured up deliberately by some prankster!
I got the impression that because it was positioned in a field all on its own and in such a way that was quite close to the road running alongside, that it may have placed there intentionally to catch motorists by surprise, just as a bit of fun kind of thing. It certainly made me do a double-take anyway when I cycled past it.
It was located near Tirley, a village that has no Loch as far as I know!!

THE MONSTER TREE

Sometimes, when a tree gets blown down in a gale, and depending on the conditions, it can re-root and start the growing process all over again at the area where the upper trunk has hit the ground.
This specimen here, however, has me a bit baffled!
It appears to have 3 separate root base areas, 2 at either end and one in the middle, so gives the impression that it has been blown down not once but twice, and just kept on growing!!
I just can't make out which end would have been it's original tree trunk base, and how it ended up taking a dip in the middle.
I've encountered this tree a few times on my jaunts and when the field is flooded it does take on the appearance of something resembling the Loch Ness monster with those two humps above the surface.
Anyway, its location was at the side of some rugby pitches on the outskirts of Gloucester, but I'm fairly sure it has since been removed.
This photo sequence above dates back to the late 90's.

TREETOP NESTS

It wasn't just the regimental line of trees that caught my eye when taking this shot, it was noticing that there were quite a lot of crows nests scattered along the tops of them.

Not so sure of the exact location of this one - but I think it may have been somewhere around the Chaceley area.

HILLTOP HOUSE

This house on a hilltop had the entire area all to itself.
It was located near the arboretum in Highnam Woods, so I guess that the folk who lived there were probably the people who ran the arboretum.

OLD TUDOR HOUSE

This old Tudor house near Newent was having a bit of renovation work done to it when I snapped this shot in the mid 90's.

ASYMMETRIC ABODE

The asymmetric front of this house caught my eye as I was cycling passed it.
I thought it was quite jaunty looking, what with the windows cutting diagonally across it from bottom left to top right, and the oddments of roof shapes.
I liked it a lot, but can't now recall the exact location of it other than it was somewhere between Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.

STEADY AMBER

This old style lantern lamp looked as if it was switched on in the daylight but its glow was just because of the way the sun was hitting it.
You'll be able to notice too that the painted beam design on the wall, resembles the Y-shape of the lamp!
The building was somewhere around the Sandhurst area.

FASHION MOSAIC

There is an art mural in the city centre of Gloucester which was done in half relief & half mosaic.
Most of it portrays the history of Gloucester consisting of medieval images, the Cathedral, the docks and so on - but this panel above was one that had a more contemporary look to it. It appears to depict the fashion that was around at the time the mural was put in place, and judging by the long collars, quilted anorak, polo neck jersey and kipper tie, I'd guess the artwork dates from the late 1960's/early 70's.
The photo itself I do know is dated 1997.

FLYING BANNERS

You may recall I put a picture up in December last year featuring similar ceiling banners to these only they had a winter theme - well here's another set from around the same late 90's period, but this time displaying an Autumn theme.
A mall at Gloucester docks was where they were hanging.

FLYING CHAIRS

Well it's not quite a junk shop, and it's not really an antique shop, but I suppose it's kinda somewhere in-between the two.
I took this shot in the mid 90's but my memory of its whereabouts now is pretty blank, other than, it was definitely in Gloucester or Cheltenham!
If anyone recognises the strange interior, feel free to drop the info into the comments.

CARWARDINE'S

This is another cafe/snack bar place that I'm not too sure if it's still on the go - Carwardine's, located at Gloucester docks.
The photo of their window does have a fair bit of reflection on it, hence the double image of interior and sky - but it was taken around the 1996/97 period.

PEWIES & GREEN'S

Here's another example of a name change for the same premises.

The top image is when it was called Pewies Parlour, and underneath it is when it was called Green's Diner.

I'm a bit vague on a couple of aspects - which one it was first, did Pewies change to Greens or was it vice versa?

I also don't have the date order of the photos which would have solved the question - but they were definitely taken sometime around the late 90's and early 2000's.

Also, I've no idea if either of the 2 are still there or if the premises has changed yet again?

What I do know is, the location was up a small side street in Gloucester!

CHEQUERED CAREERS

These 2 premises used a chequered pattern as part of their doorway display.
The top one is the Cheltenham Kitchener, a shop which sold cooking/kitchen items - and the one underneath it is a pub in Oxford called The Chequers.
Both photos were taken in the early 2000's.

INNER COURT & GREYFRIARS

Here's a couple of Gloucester pubs that are no longer on the go.
The top picture is one I took in the late 80's and is of The Inner Court Wine Bar & Bistro.
The other 2 images are of Greyfriars Inn which I snapped around the mid 90's.
What they have in common is that they were both located in the same premises, with the Inner Court changing to Greyfriars at some stage.
Although both pubs no longer exist, the building itself is still there and the last time I was along that way it was called Cafe Rene.

DR FOSTER'S

This was Dr Foster's pub & restaurant in the mid 90's, after a sprinkling of snow had fallen.
The surrounding docks area in Gloucester has changed quite a lot since then but Dr Foster's is still there today.