Gloucester – musings while allatsea

Category: Gloucester

Gadding about in Gloucester

12/01/2018

Cemetery, Churches and Cathedrals, CWGC, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Memorials and Monuments, Personal, United Kingdom, War Grave, World War 1, World War 2

This “fine” Friday morning I took a days leave to attend to some business in Gloucester. It was a grey and overcast day and not really photography weather, but I always lug a camera along just in case I spot something of interest. My business took me to the Post Office in the city and it sits on the edge of a public square that is often used to hold a market in.

My business was done quite quickly which was a surprise considering that I read about these long queues and delays. Instead it was done professionally and courteously and there is no hope in hell that the post office in South Africa will ever be as “jacked” as the post offices I have encountered in the UK.

On my way out the door I discovered a War Memorial in the one corner and was given permission to photograph it. I have posted the memorials and name lists on allatsea.

The memorial is cared for by the Royal Mail and it is the second War Memorial that I have seen in a post office in the UK. There are 7 names from WW2 and 23 from WW1 on the plaques.

Having made my first discovery for the day I was really at leisure. I had no real hard and fast plans but did want to go to the Old Cemetery and photograph some of the CWGC graves in it. My last visit had been more of a reconnoitre than a serious gravehunting expedition and I have always hoped to get back to do a better job of photographing the graves. Unfortunately on my first expedition in 2015 had seen similar poor weather, so not much had changed. The area around the bus station was like a bombsite, as they are “improving” the existing facility (which isn’t all that much anyway, anything would be an a improvement). There is a bus that stops at the cemetery, but I had no idea where to catch it so decided to catch a taxi instead. The cemetery is roughly 2 km’s away depending on where you are coming from. Luckily I found a taxi by accident and was soon outside Gloucester Old Cemetery. The cemetery is on the Painswick Road in an area seemingly called Tredworth. It was opened in 1857, and now covers 35 acres.

It is divided into two halves by the road, All but a few of the 158 First World War graves are in the original ground, 81 of them in a war graves plot, known as ‘NG’ Ground. Of the 94 Second World War burials, 60 form a separate war graves plot known as ‘B’ ground. There are also 10 non World War service burials and 7 Foreign National burials here. (CWGC information on the cemetery)

The older part of the cemetery is where you will find the chapel. It is quite an attractive building but unfortunately it is fenced off. I do not know if it still in use as a chapel though. They seem to use it as a place to park the digger machinery.

This part of the cemetery is bisected by a stream/culvert,

And the World War 1 plot and Cross of Sacrifice can be seen on the left side. The chapel would be behind me on the right. The strange thing about this part of the cemetery is how few headstones there are. However, that does not mean that it is all empty space, it is very likely that there are graves under all that grass. I headed towards the furtherest part of the cemetery and worked my way to the opposite end of it, photographing as I went. On my last visit I had really just captured a few headstones, and never really intended to return as images of the graves were not needed. However, I have created a community on Lives of the First World War which is why I wanted the pics of the rest of the graves.

By the time I arrived at the Cross of Sacrifice my shoes were squelching, the grass was sodden with dew and it would have been fun to walk this area when frost had fallen overnight because it freezes the grass and it makes a nice crunching noise as you walk.

Once I had completed this half of the cemetery I crossed the stream/culvert into what is probably the oldest part of the cemetery and hunted down the graves in that area. There are not too many, but I am sure I missed some casualties that are on private memorials. There are a number of really beautiful headstones in this cemetery, and here are some…

What always amazes me is how the weathering does affect the gravestones, and that is a major problem with the white CWGC headstones that are often badly discoloured. The two CWGC plot headstones were reasonably clean, but some of the scattered graves were in an appalling condition.

Then it was time to hit the newer part of the cemetery, or I assume it is a newer part although there were some very old graves in it. It would be interesting to know how this cemetery developed, and I can’t help but think that at some point this was one big cemetery, although the area I was now heading to was laid out in a more ordered way and parts of it had a a lot of headstones. My guess is that this part of the cemetery may still be in limited regular use.

The majority of new burials and cremations probably all happen at Coney Hill Cemetery which is not too far away. I had visited it last time around too, and it did not really leave much of an impression on me.

The graves here are most WW2 graves although I did find a few WW1 graves up near the top of the cemetery. It is also where the other Cross of Sacrifice and associated WW2 graves are.

I photographed them all and wove my way through the cemetery and photographed those familiar white headstones (although some are a strange shade of green). Overall there were not too many CWGC graves here, so I covered large areas without seeing much, naturally there would be a grave at the furtherest far corner of each cemetery and I always end up making that trek across the cemetery to photograph it.

And then I was finished for the day and was ready to head back to town. It was 11H55 by the time I reached the bus stop outside the cemetery, and the next bus was scheduled for 12H06, so I decided to hoof it instead.

Or should I say squelch it instead? This is Tredworth Road and I intended following it to back to town. That bridge in the image is the line to Bristol and quite a lot of trains hurtled over it. Naturally none would do that while I was watching.

The area was mostly residential, with row houses on either side of the street. It is always interesting to see this style of housing because housing in the parts of South Africa where I grew up were totally different, and many of these older houses predate the founding of the city of Johannesburg!

In the image below Stroud Road feeds into Tredworth Road from the left,

and I was now in Stroud Road. My first discovery was one of those beautiful Anglican Churches.

This the Church of St Paul and St Stephen, and it was consecrated by the Bishop of Gloucester, on 11th October 1883. It is in a beautiful condition and I was fortunate enough to be able to go inside, after I had photographed the War Memorial outside.

I could not get an image down the aisle as there were people talking in the centre, but the stained glass window behind the Altar is magnificent.

The War Memorial inside the church really comprised of two elements. A large plaque (as per the image) and a smaller wooden cross with the lists of names on either side. I really think the cross really detracted from the beauty of the plaque.

When I left the church I made one critical blunder, instead of turning right at the church I decided to go straight which took me towards the docks instead of the bus station where I wanted to be. However, it wasn’t too much of a problem because there were still areas of Gloucester that I have not seen.

And then I started to recognise a few places and knew where I was and could find the bus station (assuming it hadn’t moved since this morning). But, as I arrived at the turning my bus drove past me and I would have an hour to wait till the next one. The local Wetherspoons is close by so I headed across to it for lunch. This particular one is called “The Regal” and it is housed in what I assume to be an old movie house or theatre.

While the food is good and the toilets are clean I always find ordering food a hit or miss affair. If it gets too busy at the bar you can end up starving. However, I persevered and after lunch I caught the bus home and by the time I hit Tewkesbury I was bushed. Fortunately I had left my bike in town so did not have to face another long walk home, but when I finally got into the flat I realised how tired I really was. These extended outings are not a good idea, I am not able to handle them as well as before.

I had achieved my goals, but the crappy weather really did not make for good photography, but I did remember that the likelihood of me returning to the old cemetery was small. And the same is true for Gloucester. Bristol is back in my sights again, but that will have to wait till the weather improves.

The following blog posts from the past link to other visits that I made to Gloucester:

More random images (some from 2015)

HM Prison Gloucester

04/06/2017

Collections and Museums, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Personal, United Kingdom

It was time to go to jail; although in this case I am innocent I tell you! I was framed! call my lawyer!

HM Prison Gloucester had recently unlocked it’s doors to the public and was accepting visitors to the disused facility. It was then added to my bucket list and it was one of the reasons I was in Gloucester yesterday.

The prison lies on the east bank of the Severn and was built on the site of a 12th century castle. The keep was demolished in 1787 and a prison was built in it’s place in 1879 while a debtors prison was added in 1826. A new wing was added in 1884 and the governors house was built 1850’s, although it is outside the walls.

Once past the front door of the prison there was a labyrinth of passages to navigate, fortunately one of them led to the toilet! The first area I explored was where “closed visits” were conducted. There were 3 cubicles where the prisoner was able to talk to his visitor without having physical access to them.

This is a holding cell, and it would be where arriving prisoners could be kept while they were booked in or until such time as they were allocated a cell, or if there was a shortage of space. It is a temporary solution though, and ideally overcrowding in this space would be avoided as much as possible.

Once I had cleared the admin block I entered into what was known as a “sterile area” which was really a fenced in area behind the block with gates leading to an exercise yard.

Make no mistake, you will not be able to scale that fence easily because it may look flimsy but it is not. I expect the sterile area is used to cordon off the gate house from the rest of the the prison. There is a vehicle entrance in this sterile area and I suspect it was from here that prisoners were removed from vehicles for processing.

For some reason prisoners always walked in an anti-clockwise direction in the exercise yards. There were three yards in total and this one leads into B wing. However I did not go into B wing immediately but went to the debtors prison instead. This was originally built to house people who could not pay their bills although this area has changed a lot since the Georgian era when it was built. In fact there was not all that much to see.

Entrance to the Debtors Prison

It was now in use as the healthcare centre, so was in a reasonable condition and the only real way you would know it was part of a prison would be the many lockable doors and barred windows.

Opposite the old debtors prison was the A&B wing which is probably the most spectacular part of the prison. Photography in there was difficult because of the varying light conditions and small cells, but I have to admit some of the images I took were stunning. Let us go inside before the screws find us….

To the left is the “A” Wing, and to the right is “B” wing.

“A” Wing.

“A” Wing is probably where the general population were housed. The cells that I went into had a double bunk and a washbasin and toilet in them. These facilities were only installed into the cells in 1995/96. Prior to this prisoners would have to “slop out” at the start of the day.

The cells are small, even with such a narrow bed frame in it. The toilet is out of frame but is on the other side of the washbasin in the left hand photograph. Imagine being locked in here for a long time, staring at the same walls day after day.

The wing has 3 levels to it and there is access to “C” block via an overhead walkway on the 2nd floor of this wing. The 3rd level was roped off so I could not investigate it.

There is one curiosity that is not immediately obvious and I did not take too much notice of it at the time. Outside each cell is a coiled serpent and they represent evil. Above them are lion claws which represent justice bearing down on evil. It seems to be just the sort of symbolism that the Victorians would have used.

Returning to the central entrance I went into “B” Wing/Segregation. Two levels of this wing housed remand prisoners, and one housed “VP” prisoners and the segregation unit.

Unfortunately I could not go into the chapel as the access to it was closed off. Instead I crossed over into “C” Wing and explored there for awhile. It was built in the 1970’s, and in the 1990’s was a “young offenders” unit until it was closed in 2013. It does not have the heaviness that I felt in the other block, although I am sure it must have been a rough place when occupied.

Having had a look at the interiors it was time to look at the exteriors. The only view you have of the outside is the sky; a very high wall surrounds the prison and there was no getting over it too easily.

It kind of reminded me of the garden walls in South Africa.

The execution shed is long gone, but it was built at the end of “A” Wing, the Governor able to watch it from the luxury of his home. The last hanging in this prison took place in 1939. It is thought that there are over 100 prisoners buried in unmarked graves under the prison.

And then it was time to leave. I have to admit the prison is an interesting place to visit, and they offer guided tours too. Personally I prefer doing my own thing and having a post mortem afterwards.

Make no mistake, this place is not a holiday camp, it is a grim cold building that must have been noisy, crowded and violent. It is the nature of the inmates that they tend to be amongst the worst of the human race.

I have visited two other prisons: the first is the “Women’s Jail” as well as the old “Number 4” Jail in Johannesburg, but it appears as if I never did blogposts for them (since retrospectively rectified).

Random Images.

¢ DRW 2017-2018. Created 04/07/2017. Repaired missing attachment marker. 28/12/2017

Gloucester Harbour

04/06/2017

Bridges and Rivers, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Ships, Transportation, United Kingdom

It is strange to find a harbour so far from the sea, but then you really need to remember that the Severn is not a small river. Gloucester harbour is not a deep water port as I know it, but was built more as a harbour for barge and small vessel traffic. Unfortunately, like so many of these places the need for it became superfluous as the truck and better roads brought about a whole new way of moving goods from one place to another. Even the railways were not immune to this new way, and Gloucester, like Tewkesbury and Cheltenham were all in the firing line of the Beeching axe.

Today the harbour is a small boat and pleasure craft harbour, with a lot of narrow boats and yachts and small pleasure craft (aka floating gin palaces). However, the buildings remain, being converted into yuppie pads and trendy working areas or shops for those that are attracted to them.

Use the image above to get an idea of what this area looks like and realistically the easiest way to see the harbour is to use our fictional vessel: “Diverse Alarums” and start from where the River Severn splits and the left fork is the entrance to the locks that will enable us to enter the “Main Basin”

Do not be tempted to go to starboard because there be dragons. Seriously though, that part of the river may not be very navigable, as I saw trees drifting downstream along it.

The lock also has a lifting vehicle bridge over it, as well as an associated control cabin. The road would take you to the back of the warehouses on the right bank of the Main Basin. I did not really explore that area too well though.

Assuming we were successful, the Diverse Alarums would exit into the “Main Basin” which has a number of interesting things in it. The image of the basin below is looking towards the lock which would be in the top left hand corner.

Sailing down the basin, roughly midway there is a cut that is the entrance to the Victoria Dock. It is really just pleasure craft that are berthed there and is of no real interest to somebody like me who prefers working vessels.

Going full astern to escape the the throng of very expensive craft we are safely back in the main basin. On the right hand side of the basin are two drydocks, and these are really fascinating places for somebody like me. I did a blog post about drydocks many moons ago and these two feature in that post. Today both docks were in use.

Ambulent

Just past the drydocks is what is known as the “Barge Arm”. It is occupied by a bucket dredger with the rather quaint name “SND no 4”

The building in the shot is home to the National Waterways Museum. I visited it in 2015 but I was not impressed. It seemed more geared towards young visitors instead of jaded oldies like myself.

If we go astern again and turn back into the basin we will be presented by the Llanthony Bridge which is a lifting bridge. It is the third bridge at this site and was built in 1972.

Exiting from this bridge the quay to our Starboard side is known as the Llanthony Quay and it was built in the early 1850s by the Gloucester & Dean Forest Railway Co., soon taken over by the GWR, to provide a means of supplying coal from the Forest of Dean as an export cargo.

Baker’s Quay would be on the port side and was constructed in the late 1830s by a group of local businessmen led by Samuel Baker at a time when the Canal Co. was heavily in debt and could not finance much needed additional quay-space.

(http://www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk/gloucester/docks.htm)

The red vessel in the distance is the former Spurn Head lightship that used to be moored at the mouth of the Humber Estuary. She was decommissioned in 1985, she has served as the headquarters of a yacht club and as a tourist attraction in various locations. She was extensively restored and converted into a treatment centre for alternative medicine under the name “Sula” and at the moment she is up for sale. If only I had vast amounts of money….

The area opposite her on Baker’s Quay is not accessible and recently a warehouse burnt down there. There is some serious foliage on the one building,

I did walk into this area but there was not much to see except for the sort of space that would make any urbex buff smile knowingly.

If we had continued along past the Sula and the old warehouse buildings we would be facing the High Orchard Bridge. I have not gone much further than the lightship though. Maybe another day? I did see a sign for a Telford Bridge so need to do some investigating of that.

It is bascule bridge but I have not seen it raised yet. Beyond that I have no idea. At one point I will go on a boat trip downriver and see how far it gets us. There is quite a lot of interesting stuff down river but at this point we will disembark from our well found tub because our tour around the harbour is complete. The Gloucesterdocks website covers most of this in much better detail than I can and is well worth the visit.

Ships and small craft.

There are not too many vessels that catch my eye here, but some are worth showing.

This beauty is called Johanna Lucretia, she is a topsail schooner and was built in 1945 in Belgium.

Johanna Lucretia

Severn Progress is a tug and was built in 1931 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd, Bristol. Her low profile is necessary to sail under low bridges.

Severn Progress

Sabrina 5

FY86 White Heather

Halcyon

Random Images

Pigging it in Gloucester

03/06/2017

Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Photo Essay, United Kingdom

On my walkies around Gloucester today I could not help but fall over the large customised pigs in various parts of the city. I enjoy these odd public artworks because they are so colourful. The one I really followed the most was in Southampton when a whole wodge of brightly hued Rhino invaded the city.

I have also caught parts of a Paddington Bear campaign, a rugby ball themed campaign for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and part of a Shaun The Sheep Campaign in Bristol.

The problem with the piggies is that there is no information on any of the pigs, so what they are about is beyond me. After a quick look I now know the following:

“The Citizen, Gloucester, and its companion website Gloucestershire Live are supporting “The Henson Trail”, which will see 20 pig statues placed across Gloucester and a further 20 will be placed across the rest of Gloucestershire. The trail itself is named after Joe Henson MBE, who championed the Old Spot breed at Cotswold Farm Park when it opened in 1971.”

Anyway, here are the ones I photographed:

As the say in the classics…

Galloping around Gloucester

03/06/2017

Churches and Cathedrals, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Hobbies and Interests, Memorials and Monuments, Personal, Photowalks, Retrospective, United Kingdom

Looking at my handy index page for 2015, I was last in Gloucester in August and September of 2015, and in those visits I took in the Cathedral, the Jet Age Museum and I saw lots of dudes with odd shaped balls.. I had really intended to return one day but it has taken me over a year to do that.

Actually I had two reasons to be there. The first was to go look at a hobby shop, the second was to take a look at the recently opened HM Prison Gloucester as well as take a closer look at the harbour/docks. This particular post does not deal with that aspect of my visit, it will have a post all of it’s own once I have completed this post and added images to some of my other posts. Realistically I am going to amalgamate some of the images I took way back in 2015 with this one.

The weather was a deciding factor for this trip, I was not really in the mood for an expedition, but the sun was shining and it wasn’t too cold so I grabbed my camera and headed for the City of Gloucester. For a change I did not go via Cheltenham but took the 71 bus straight from Tewkesbury. (£6.50 return). My planning for the trip really was based around finding the prison and shop, but as I was there early I decided to hit the harbour first. I will be honest though, I am not too much of fan of the city, but then I haven’t done too much exploring. The map on the left pretty much sums it up. The bus station is out of the picture but would be in the top right of the map had.

On one of my previous visits I did go to the local cemetery and looked around the harbour, but it was a grey day so not too much came of those visits. From what I can see the city really is formed around a cross of streets and spread outwards from there. As usual there is a mixed bag of old and new and all manner in between.

The hobby shop I was after is much further along and on the left hand side. I visited it on my way back. At the point where I am standing now I turned 180 degrees and headed in the general direction of the harbour.

Amongst the odd things I spotted were large customised statues of pigs. Unfortunately there was no mention of what the campaign was about, or who was responsible for the customisation. Ah well they did make for interesting oddments to photograph and the images of the ones I saw are on the relevant page.

This is not the only street art in the city, there is this interesting depiction called “Spirit of Aviation” by Simon Stringer from 1999.

And oddly enough, a Roman on a horse!

Gloucester was founded in AD 97 by the Romans under Emperor Nerva (that’s him on the horse) as Colonia Glevum Nervensis, and was granted its first charter in 1155 by King Henry II. Parts of the Roman walls can be traced, and a number of remains and coins have been found, though inscriptions are scarce. In Historia Brittonum, a fabled account of the early rulers of Britain, Vortigern‘s grandfather, Gloiu (or Gloyw Wallt Hir: “Gloiu Long-hair”), is given as the founder of Gloucester. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloucester In Brunswick Place there are two bronze reliefs set against the wall, and one shows the Romans doing what Romans did well.

Continuing on my stroll I encountered “St Michael’s Tower” which was once used as a tourist information centre. The tower was built in 1465 on the site of the nave of the previous church of St Michael the Archangel. In the 1840s the old church was demolished, apart from the tower, and a new St Michael’s Church was constructed in 1851, it too closed in 1940, The main part of the church was demolished in 1956, but the tower was spared.

This area is also known as “The Cross” because it is the intersection of Northgate, Southgate, Eastgate and Westgate Streets.

There are a number of church spires poking out above the rooftops, and one I returned to was St Mary de Crypt in Southgate Street. it was first recorded in 1140 as “The Church of the Blessed Mary within Southgate”.

It still has it’s churchyard attached and that is a destination all on its own.

One really stunning item I saw was this wonderful scene set up against the wall of a “practical watchmaker”. I am not too sure what happens where the time comes for them to chime but you can bet it is awesome.

By now I was within smelling distance of the harbour, and I have dealt with it in better detail on it’s own blogpost.

And, I dealt with the Prison on it’s own page too.

My walk along the Severn took me to the site of the ruins of Llanthony Secunda Priory. Realistically it is a shell of a building and there was not much to see.

A bit further on is the old Victorian farmhouse that is under conservation. It is a very pretty building and was part of what was then Llanthony Abbey Farm.

Within the harbour you will find “Mariner’s Chapel”.

I visited it in 2015, and it was really typical of a chapel that you would expect to find in a harbour.

It is a simple building but you can feel the call of the open water within it’s walls.

On my bucket list from 2015 was the War Memorial, and I visited that in 2015.

Then it was time to find out where the Prison was and I asked a passing policeman who had worked in the prison, and he said it was a very grim place. He also solved the one question that had been bugging me since I first photographed it in 2015. “What is this in aid of?”

It turns out that is not a drinking fountain but a urinal! That could explain the lack of a tap. It is marked “Gloucester Board of Health 1862” on the base, and I suspect it was walled when it was in use.

Crossing out of the harbour area I passed the locks that would have led into the Main Basin of the harbour with it’s gates and bridge.

I found my hobby shop without too much looking, although it did not have what I wanted.

and that wrapped up my trip and it was time to head for the bus station and home. Gloucester was “in the bag”, but I suspect I will return one day, I really need to revisit the cemetery and of course take a look at the museum, but that may never happen.

Random Images 2017

Random Images from 2015

Walking to Winchcombe.

29/05/2016

Cemetery, Churches and Cathedrals, Gloucester, Heritage, Heritage Rail, Hobbies and Interests, Personal, Photowalks, War Grave, War Memorial

On all of my trips with the GWR we have always stopped at Winchcombe, but I had never been to have a look at the town. One of my workmates said it was an interesting place to see so I filed that info away for future reference, hoping that one day I would make a plan. Yesterday, when I arrived that the station I decided to take the opportunity seeing as “I was in the area”. You can read about that trip at the relevant blogpost

Actually the area was about a mile away from the town, but that’s not an impossible walk, although getting back to the station would need good timing or I could end up hanging around there for awhile waiting for the next train.

It is one of those typical English roads that has very little to see on either side, and with Spring in the air it can be a riot of colour and flowers. I was not quite sure about the route though and eventually I reached the dead centre of town: the local cemetery.

The chapel building is a nice one, and I quickly walked the graves, photographing all the visible CWGC graves that I saw. There are 12 military commemorations in the cemetery, and I managed to snag 10, so the walk was worth it.

The town is a bit further on, with a handy sign pointing in the right direction. According to the map below, I had come in on Greet Road. Turning left at North Street I then walked up to High Street and then turned right.

North Street

High Street changes names a number of times, and it is narrow and the traffic is terrible with cars having to wait for each other to pass and no real sense of who has priority. I do not want to even contemplate driving in a place like this at rush hour… or rush minute. The buildings are mostly the same colour and I could not help but think that it reminded me a lot of Bath. I had seen a spire behind some buildings so headed roughly in that direction, taking the odd pic as I went.

I found the map that I posted a few pics up very close to this point so now had a better idea of how the town came together and where the church was. I was also on the lookout for the war memorial which was close by.

One side of the street is walled, and at this point it was called Abbey Terrace and I think this is where the Abbey may be or was. Either way the gates said “Private” so I steered away from them. St Peter’s Church was also on this walled area and it is a real beaut.

Unfortunately there is no way to get a proper pic of it from any angle, and that includes from the extensive churchyard. It has an amazing collection of grotesques along its walls, and these seem to be mentioned wherever the church is mentioned too.

The churchyard was large but I did not really spend too much time in it, the legibility of the headstones is not all that good, although there were some really beautiful carvings on some of them.

I left St Peter’s feeling quite smug, so far I had picked up enough to have made my walk worthwhile, and was now about ready to head back to the station. I will definitely make a plan for a return visit next time I am on the GWR.

I was really looking for something to eat, but gave up after being stuck behind a queue of two women who seemingly had bought the whole shop, and deliberately chosen the items that had no prices on them. I had a train to catch and still had a long walk back to the station.

I headed back the way I had come, by the looks of my timetable I had enough time to catch the 14.15 train with about 15 minutes to spare. That was do-able and off I went, photographing this beaut as I got closer to the station.

But as I was taking this pic I could hear the sounds of steam whistles at the station. That meant that there was a train there already, or one leaving, or even two leaving. I was not prepared to run to the station, any trains there would have left as I arrived anyway, so I just continued at my normal pace, arriving as a Cheltenham bound train arrived. This was a train that had been delayed somewhere in the system, and it was in a hurry to leave, so I quickly boarded and grabbed a seat and we pulled away almost immediately. Had I waited to have my items rung up at the supermarket I would have arrived at an empty station so leaving my stuff behind had been the right choice.

Winchombe is a pretty town, and it is steeped in history. You can feel the weight of ages in it, although the many cars do tend to ruin the ambience. It is however well worth returning to.

The Jet Age Museum in Gloucester

05/09/2015

Aircraft, Collections and Museums, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Personal, Retrospective, United Kingdom, World War 1, World War 2

I had heard about this little museum when I visited the Mini Steam Fair in Tewkesbury in June and it has sat at the back of my mind for awhile. Although it is not too far from where I stay it is not exactly easy to reach because I have to get to Gloucester via Cheltenham first. Fortunately the 94 Bus goes past the museum and I tentatively planned my visit for today as the weather was not really photography friendly enough for me to do much more than recce a graveyard and get my shoes soaked. The Jet Age Museum is situated in Meteor Business Park, Cheltenham Road, Gloucester, and it butts onto Gloucester Airport. Given that the majority of exhibits are from the Gloster stable of aircraft you can bet that this small airport has seen a lot of historic aircraft flying out of it.

To start my day there was a nice display of vintage Riley cars outside the museum, and that was enough to make me drool at the seams.

After some drooling I entered the museum. It is not a large space, but then even a large one can fill very quickly when there are aircraft on display. And, the first aircraft (or should I say replica) is the Gloster E28/39

This aircraft is the granddaddy of British Jet Aircraft (only this is a replica of the granddaddy). The jet engine in it was designed by Frank Whittle and it was an aircraft that changed history. This replica comes from a set of glass fibre mouldings made by the Sir Frank Whittle Commemorative Group. It is a small unassuming aircraft from which great things came.

The only Allied jet aircraft built during the war was the twin engined Gloster Meteor, which served in a number of theatres during and after the war and which served as a testbed for a number of developments in aviation. There are quite a few survivors and the museum has a number of variations of the aircraft.

Pride of place goes to the Gloster Meteor F8 (WH3644)

There is also a two seater version T7 (WF784)

and a night fighter version which was built by Armstrong-Whitworth and designated the NF14 (WS807)

There are two other examples which are not part of the display but i cannot identify them yet.

Actually outside the museum hall there are really only these aircraft on display, as well as the cockpits for Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident 3B G-AWZU, which I did not get to see inside. and another aircraft which I will get back to at the end of the blog.
Back inside the museum, there is also a Gloster Javelin on display. This large delta winged fighter is quite an impressive machine.

This particular example is a FAW9 (XH903). It is a substantial aircraft, and was really the precursor to the famous English Electric Lightning.

There is one more Javelin at the airport, and it is quite far from the museum and missing its wings and tailfins and is FAW4 (XA634). I grabbed this image from the bus last week.

The other aircraft at the museum is a Gloster Gamecock reproduction.

as well as a Hawker Hurricane reproduction which was built out of plywood to star in the movie “The Battle of Britain”.

Real Hurricanes are rare beasties, and a replica is better than nothing at all.

There are a number of other exhibits of engines and models and cockpits at the museum, but they all pale into insignificance when facing up to the main exhibit outside.

Unfortunately the rest of the aircraft is not behind the wall, and this is only the cockpit of the most famous of the V Bombers. The Avro Vulcan. This particular cockpit is from a B2 version XM569.

There were three V Bombers in service: The Valiant, Victor and the Vulcan, and the last has become a legend in its own right, having participated in the the famous “Black Buck” bombing raids on the Falkland Islands; which, at almost 12,600 km and 16 hours for the return journey, were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at that time.

The cockpit is open for visits and I was fortunate enough to sit in the right hand seat as well as one of the rear facing seat (electronics warfare officer?).

The cockpit seats 5 and the seating/operating area is small and crowded and I have no idea how it must have felt to sit in that small space wearing all that gear for so long. Comfort does not come into the equation.

I will be honest, the Vulcan was such a great find, the only other one I have seen was at RAF Cosford although I had hoped that I would get to see one in flight, but the chances are very small as the only remaining flying one will stop flying in October.

The museum also has a Canberra, Vampire and a Gladiator under restoration somewhere. Fortunately I have seen the first two before, but the Gladiator is also a rare beastie.

That was the Jet Age Museum, and it was great. A small museum with a big heart and a great collection. Entrance is free and it is better to check their website for opening times and dates.

Mariner’s Chapel, Gloucester

allatsea

29/08/2015

Churches and Cathedrals, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Photo Essay, Ships, Transportation, United Kingdom, War Memorial

One of the many churches I have seen in my travels is the Mariner’s Chapel in Gloucester. The connection between Mariner’s and Gloucester does seem tenuous, however, Gloucester used to have a thriving harbour, although now it is more about floating gin palaces and narrow boats.

The chapel is a very uncomplicated building and is seemingly lost amongst the former warehouses that surround it. Admittedly there is much less traffic around now, but that could also mean that much of the former congregation is also gone.

The building inside is almost spartan compared to some of the churches I have visited, but it is this simpleness that makes it special.

The history of the church is told on their website, and it is still an active parish church and on both occasions when I was there the door was wide open.

The building was designed John Jaques and it has a nave and a bell tower with the chancel at the west end instead of the normal east. It was built by a local builder; William Wingate and work began in 1848 and was completed a year later. The opening ceremony occurring on the 11th of February 1849 and Rev James Hollins was appointed the first chaplain.

It is a grade II listed building and in a very good condition, even the pulpit has a nautical theme!

There is a small War Memorial, but I have not looked into the context of the names on it yet. obviously there is a connection to Gloucester, but what is the connection to the chapel?

Technically the church is what is known as a “proprietary chapel”, ie. a chapel that originally belonged to a private person.

The High Altar is very simple, and if you did not know otherwise you would think it was a writing desk. There are three stained glass windows above it.

And that is the church in a nutshell. It is worth looking in if ever you are in the area, it is not a cathedral but I am sure the congregation from the docks were more welcome here than they would have been at Gloucester Cathedral.

DRW 2017-2018, Retrospectively created 04/11/2017

Gloucester Cathedral

29/08/2015

Churches and Cathedrals, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Heritage, Memorials and Monuments, Personal, United Kingdom

I visited Gloucester this morning, and the primary goal was the cathedral, because they are really a big drawcard in any city. If you don’t have a cathedral you better have something equally grand instead! Tewkesbury is in the middle of 3 cities, (Worcester, Gloucester and Cheltenham) and 3 out of the four have a church that dominates the landscape. I believe they are also all 1 days travel away from Tewkesbury, although that was not by bus! My trip entailed a bus to Cheltenham and another to Gloucester. I am not covering the city in this blogpost though, that will come at a later date after I have been back. (These posts are to be found in 2017). This post only deals with the cathedral.

The Cathedral is well signposted, although I did end up being distracted by the vintage fair that was going on around me and which ruined my plans for the balance of the day. But that is another story. Like so many of these buildings it is now hemmed in by its surroundings, and finding a spot to photograph the complete building is difficult. But I am happy to say I found one that comes close enough.

And, like the other cathedrals I have seen this one is beautiful, the level of detail in it is amazing and it has a really nice collection of Gargoyles too.

It has occupied this space for many centuries, the foundation stone being laid in 1089. Once again I am not here to write about the history of the building, It is better to read about it on Wikipedia.

Once inside I was a bit disappointed as the nave seemed almost sparse compared to the other buildings I had been in. It was not as light either, but the lighting was really to do with the time of day, and once past the screen and into the quire it was a different ballgame altogether.

Unfortunately there were heaps of chairs being moved around the nave and this really ruined the effect of the organ that was playing in the background during my visit. The organ however was magnificent, it just fits a building like this so well, and I was able to tune out the floor scraping and tune in the pipes instead.

There were a fair amount of wall memorials and a lot of effigies too, although the real treasures were still to come. I did not find a major war memorial inside the cathedral, although there is a chapel dedicated to the Gloucester Regiments. The War Memorial is outside the building on a grassed area I believe used to be the churchyard.

My small camera is unable to do justice to what I see in these churches, but then I think if I had to photograph every highlight I would probably be there a long time and need a lot of spare battery power.

I headed up the aisle for some odd reason, intending to cover the area of the aisle and the transepts before moving into the body of the church. The aisles are usually where the best wall memorials are found and there are a lot of really beautiful and ornate ones inside.

There a number of historically important memorials in the cathedral, and one in particular would probably be the salvation of the cathedral when the dissolution of the abbey happened in 1540.

The are two kings buried here. The first being Edward II of England (left) the other being Osric, King of the Hwicce, (right) .

I had intended returning to the tombs on my second round, but it skipped my mind and I will have to make a second trip here anyway. Continuing around the body of the church I kept on being taken aback by the sheer opulence of the fittings. What sort of impression did this leave on the average peasant in the 1700’s who saw this church in all its glory?

The Gloucesters lost a lot of men during their many military campaigns around the world and I would see a lot of references to them in the town and in the whole area of Gloucester.

This rather jaunty lady is Elizabeth Williams who died in childbirth in 1622.

It was time to cross into the main body of the church. And here my camera let me down because I have very few images from this area, and none are really very good. This is the view looking towards the nave from just in front of the quire.

while this view is 180 degrees and looking towards the High Altar.

I returned to the aisles once again and came to the Chapel of Saint Andrew which was interesting because it was here the they advertised the crypt tours. The chapel was stunning, made even more interesting by the buttress that seemingly crosses the doorway.

I really liked this chapel a lot, its walls were more fresco than anything else, but it made for a very attractive space. Unfortunately it was a very small space so photography was difficult.

The Crypt tour was of interest, but it was an hour later and I decided to head outside and do more sight seeing and return at 11H30 for the crypt tour. The tower tour was also up, but my ankle was not strong enough to get me up 240+ stairs and back down again. However, I first needed the loo and there was one in the cloisters. It is really a fairy tale space, and I believe parts of a Harry Potter movie were shot somewhere in the cloisters.

The central garden is a wonderful haven of peace and as much as I wanted to grab a bench and sit down I did not have that luxury.
I circumnavigated the cathedral as best I was able, pausing to view any interesting bit through the long distance eye of my camera. The level of close up detail is astounding though, and the stone masons who built this building were master craftsmen indeed.

I headed off into the city to pass time till 11H30 when I would go on the crypt tour,

Instead we shall wind forward to 11H30 and the red door that is the entrance to the crypt.

I have not been into the crypt of any of the churches I have been in, and they seem to limit the amount of people to around 20 at a time. I was probably the first arrival, although when I looked again there were 19 others standing waiting too.

The crypt is really a duplication of the church above, and it has chapels just like the church above it, although these are much less ornate than the area above. I believe this was the domain of the monks, and at some point it became a charnel house and later a storage area during World War Two. It is a strange space, full of interesting shapes and columns, with vaulted ceilings and a feeling of great weight above you. Who knows what it must have looked like some many centuries before?

It is slightly damp inside and well lit, although I would not like to be here when the lights go out. Unfortunately there was not much to see, it was all about history really. The bones that existed in the charnel house are long gone, and if they had been here we would have not been allowed down here anyway.

Then it was time to go up again and I headed off to the cloisters once again in search of the loo.

And then I was out the door, leaving the cathedral behind. It is definitely a place I will visit again. Having seen it I now know what I want to see and hopefully a tower tour will be on the list.

Random Images.

And that was Gloucester Cathedral. I would love to do the tower tour one day, but realistically there is not too much to see in the city, there are other places that rate much higher in my priority list. But, I do tend to change my mind often.

Odd shaped balls

29/08/2015

Collections and Museums, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Personal

During my visit to Gloucester I could not help noticing the ball shaped mascots that were to be found in various places to celebrate the Rugby world cup.

Scrumpy Scrumpty. By Elaine Carr

The Tailor. By Deven Bhurke

Eggburt Trumpty. By Mik Richardson

Freeze a jolly good fellow. By Jenny Leonard

Nerva. By Bryony Ball

Steampunkty. By Mik Richardson

Old Brags. By Simon McCouaig

Hard Boiled. Artist not known.

Name not visible

Colour the World by Swarez

I 2018 while on a visit in Gloucester I spotted another of them, although whether it was part of the original promotion I cannot say.

Thanks to my high school I have no interest in rugby or I probably would have pursued the balance of the eggs, I did have limited time on my day in the city though so realistically there was no priority in finding them, these pics I took when I saw them. Now that the world cup is over I have no idea what happened to them all, I don’t even know who won anyway!

musings while allatsea

Musings of a curious individual

Category: Gloucester

Gadding about in Gloucester

HM Prison Gloucester

Gloucester Harbour

Pigging it in Gloucester

Galloping around Gloucester

Walking to Winchcombe.

The Jet Age Museum in Gloucester

Mariner’s Chapel, Gloucester

Gloucester Cathedral

Odd shaped balls

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