In March of every year the Cheltenham racecourse hosts the Cheltenham Festival; the finale of the National Hunt Season.  The festival is a 26 race event held over four days, and hosts over 200,000 people, with prize money of over £3 million.

Cheltenham racecourse has long been associated with The Cheltenham Festival, and horse racing in general.  The first race meeting took place in 1818, but it was in 1819 that the first official three-day event occurred.  Initially there was some local opposition to the racecourse.  In 1829 the Rev Francis Close led protests against the racecourse on the basis that it encouraged gambling. And the race meeting in 1830 was disrupted when the grandstand was burnt down.

Racing didn’t resume until 1845, but it wasn’t until 1898, when a Mr Bingham bought the racecourse, that racing was properly re-established.  Bingham built a new grandstand, and erected rails around the course.

In 1924 the first Gold Cup Steeplechase was won by Red Splash with prize money of £685, and in 1927 the first Champion Hurdle was run over two miles.

Recently the facilities were significantly improved in the 1960’s & 1970’s; new stands were built in 1979.  In 2002 a multi-million redevelopment of the course commenced, which was completed in 2004 with the opening of the Centaur Centre. The centre accommodates up to 4,000 visitors, and also provides Cheltenham with an arena big enough to host pop concerts.

For more information go to the Cheltenham Racecourse site.

Cheltenham is a superb town with its own unique character.   It has great architecture, loads of shops, history, restaurants, street cafés, and many green spaces.  With its town houses, squares, and Promenade, it is the model Regency town; a great place to spend a day out.

If history is your thing you will be interested in the Cheltenham spas.   At the beginning of the Eighteenth Century the town was a small village, but in 1716 William Mason, a landowner, discovered a ‘healing spring’ on one of his fields.  Mason began to charge for the use of the water, but it was his son -in-law, Captain Henry Skillicorne, who really turned Cheltenham into a fashionable spa town.  He developed the natural spring; constructing a small assembly room, and landscaping the surrounding area.  He also planted the Well Walk; an avenue of elm trees.  In 1788 after ‘a pretty smart bilious attack’ George III visited the town on the advice of his physician.  The royal visit received a good deal of publicity in the newspapers, and Cheltenham’s popularity soared.  As well as George III other VIPs, such as the Duke of Wellington and Queen Victoria, have visited Cheltenham, and patronised the spas.

The original spa has long been replaced by Cheltenham Ladies College, and several other spas have also gone.  However, if you want to “take the waters” visit Pitville Pump room, which is located in Pitville Park.  Constructed by Joseph Pitt, the pump room houses a spa, and a concert venue.  The water is still pumped to the fountain in the main hall from a well 80ft deep; although some would argue that the water doesn’t taste that great!  Pitville Park itself is an attractive garden with trees and a lake.  Brass bands play in the summer, and boats can be hired to have a float if you so desire.

Anyone who appreciates culture will feel at home in Cheltenham.  There has long been a strong literary tradition; Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, and Lewis Carroll have all visited the area.  Today there continues to be a vibrant cultural scene, for example the Cheltenham Festivals; a set of cultural events that run through the year.  The Cheltenham Music festival, which occurs each July, is one of these occasions, and concerts are held in the Pitville Pump room. Cheltenham also has two museums; the Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, and the Gustav Holst Birthplace Museum.  The latter was spun off from the former making an independent museum in 2000.

For those who want to get out & about Cheltenham has plenty of green space.  As well as Pitville Park there are several other Cheltenham Gardens in the centre of town.  Montpellier Gardens has tennis courts and a play area for toddlers, and there is also the Imperial Gardens located near the Promenade shopping area.  The Imperial Gardens are post war, but are still a pleasant place to have a picnic in between the flower borders.  There is also an outdoors bar for those infrequent hot summer days.

And if all this is not enough Cheltenham has many architectural gems.  One highlight includes the Cheltenham Ladies College located alongside Bayshill Road.  It has a variety of buildings that can sometimes be viewed on ‘Heritage Open Days’ in September.  There is also the oldest building in town, St Mary’s Parish Church, which is one of many Cheltenham Churches.  It still shows traces of Norman work, and also has a memorial to Henry Skillicorne.  Another highlight is the Promenade, the main street in town, which contains the Municipal building; a prime example of Regency architecture.  At the south end of the Municipal building is the Neptune’s fountain.  This was modelled on the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and shows the Roman god of the sea.  And located at the North end of the Municipal building is a statue of Edward Wilson, the Antarctic explorer.

Cheltenham Municipal Building Entrance

In case you need a rest from all this culture the north end of the Promenade is adjacent to some of the best shops in town.  Although this town does contain many shops in many areas!

Further diversions can be found at the Cheltenham Racecourse; home to the famous Cheltenham Festival.  The festival has been on the calendar since the 1819, and now hosts over 200,000 people.

So whatever you want to do with your time, Cheltenham is a ‘moveable feast’ with much to offer; enjoy Cheltenham Spa…

Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum

The Cheltenham Art Galley & Museum contains a wide range of materials, including: history, archaeology, paintings, and arts & crafts.  There is also a section on Edward Wilson, Cheltenham’s Antarctic explorer who died alongside Scott.  Many of the paintings featured in the gallery are donated by the people of Cheltenham.

The art gallery was opened in 1899 when the third Baron de Ferrieres, a former Mayor & MP for Cheltenham, gave 43 paintings to the town.  In 1905 the museum proper was opened when the Schools of Art and Science vacated the rooms next to the gallery.

In 1989 the HRH Princess Royal opened an extension to the Art Gallery & Museum, which is where the present entrance is located.

For more information visit the Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum website.

The Gustav Holst Birthplace Museum

The Gustav Holst Birthplace museum is located in the Regency terraced house where Holst was born in 1874.  The museum tells the story of the man who composed ‘The Planets’, and has a display of his belongings.

Visitors can also experience Regency, Victorian, and Edwardian style rooms.

For more information visit the Holst museum website.

Cheltenham Festivals is a registered charity set up in 2006.  The charity brings together the Jazz, Science, Music, and Literature festivals under one banner.

The Music festival has been ongoing from 1945, and the Literature Festival from 1949.  The two events have already associated Cheltenham with the British cultural scene.   With the addition of the Jazz Festival (added 1996) and the Science Festival (added 2002) Cheltenham has garnered a reputation for encouraging up-and-coming, and serious, cultural work.

The festivals are held throughout the calendar year as follows:-

April-May: Cheltenham Jazz Festival

June: The Times Cheltenham Science Festival

July: Cheltenham Music Festival

October: The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival

For more information visit the Cheltenham Festivals website.

The First Spa

In the early 18^th Century local residents noticed pigeons pecking at salt deposits by a spring south of the town.  People started drinking the water in the belief it would heal various health issues.  By 1742 Henry Skillicorne had deepened the spring, and turned it into a well.  He built assembly rooms, and started charging for the use of the water.   He also landscaped the area.

The idea of “taking the water” really developed from 1788 when George III visited the town on the advice of his physician.  Skillicorne’s original well became known as the Royal Well after the king’s visit, and by 1800 it had approximately 2000 visitors a year.

Ironically the original spring is no longer in existence as the area was eventually developed into the Cheltenham Ladies College.

Competing Spas

To meet the demand for ‘health treatments’ new spas were opened.  In 1801 Henry Thompson, a wealthy Londoner, bought a large estate, and shortly afterwards the Montpellier Spa was opened.  Originally the spa was housed in a wooden structure, but respected architect John Papworth created a stone building with a copper rotunda.  Today this building still remains as Lloyds bank, which can be seen at the corner of the Montpellier Gardens on the Montpellier Walk.

Montpellier Rotunda Cheltenham

Next the Sherbourne Spa was opened on the site that is now the Queens Hotel near the Imperial Gardens.  The Sherbourne Promenade that led to the spa was eventually renamed the ‘Promenade’.

A number of other spas followed, but of these the best know is Pitville Pump Room in Pitville Park.  The pump room is located in the north end of the park, and is a fantastic example of Regency architecture.  With colonnades, and a Grande dome it overlooks ornamental lakes.  Architect John Fobes intended the structure be both a spa, and a social venue.  The building combines elements of both Greek and Roman architecture; the dome is probably modelled on the Panthenon in Rome.

Today the pump room is actively used as a concert venue that can seat 400 people; the excellent acoustics mean it is Cheltenham’s premier venue.  The spa is still available in the oval pump room should visitors want to ‘take the water’.