Cheltenham Town is in a league of it’s own during the summer. Festivals everywhere, a beautiful bustling town and a local mood that rivals the energy level of Anthony the Blue Wiggle. I loved my stay there.

Montpellier

View out of one of the houses

St Mary’s Church

Pub

High Street

We started by arriving at a B&B, greeted by a lovely couple Peter and Anne who had run the place for 17 years. He was very open for discussion at every breakfast on the topics of the town and quirky points of the local area. After settling in Dan and I met Ellie and Lucy in town for lunch and a wander around. We saw St Mary’s Church, nestled right in the middle of town but surrounded on all sides by a rear walls of other buildings. It made it a quiet little sanctuary in the midst of a busy lunchtime period. We wandered inside to be greeted by some lovely people who described the Victorian era stained glass and the history of the 12^th century worship site. There was still work to do by the girls with a big performance in the evening for their students called an ‘Extravaganza’ and it was absolutely incredible to watch the talent of some of the kids Ellie and Lucy look after.

The garden at our B&B

Cricket Pitch at DCPS

The section of the school E+L work in

Playground

E wanting me to help clean up

For those that don’t know, my sisters are working at the same school in the same role (just the girls house instead) from my year abroad. From all reports they are killing it! It was sweet to see that all the other house staff get along really well and look out for each other.

We all met again for dinner in the park, not realising it was nearly 9PM since the sun was still high! Jet lag awaited us that night, and eventually we got a few hours sleep before waking up just as early as the sun for a run and the final day of work for Ellie and Lucy.

The Dean Close Prep Speech Day was a strange experience. As it’s been a few years I didn’t really know many of the kids but I had an odd familiarity walking through the buildings and rooms. Wandering through and meeting the staff again was a great part, as many of them had been through some very exciting parts of life since I left, particularly having babies seemed a common theme of the common room. The afternoon contained a hog roast and a bit of a staff karaoke party, again just catching up with people and meeting the current gappers.

Classic

Poseidon’s Fountain

St Mary’s Church

An old favourite

The rest of our time in town was spent catching up with old friends, wandering through Op-Shops, hanging in parks and a day trip to Gloucester which will have it’s own post. We are just about to start two weeks on a bus through Great Britain and Ireland. But until then…

As Grandma’s friend Laurie always says

“Love all around”