Cheltenham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Borough of Cheltenham
	Shown within Gloucestershire
Geography
Status:	Borough
Region:	South West England
Admin. County:	Gloucestershire
Area: - Total	Ranked 304th 46.61 km²
Admin. HQ:	Cheltenham
Grid reference:	SO 9422
ONS code:	23UB
Demographics
Population: - Total (2006 est.) - Density	Ranked 190th 111,500 2392 / km²
Ethnicity:	94.9% White 2.0% S.Asian 1.1% Mixed Race 0.7% Black 1.3% Chinese or other^[1]
Politics
Cheltenham Borough Council www.cheltenham.gov.uk
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Conservative (council NOC)
MPs:	Martin Horwood
Coat of arms

For other places with the same name, see Cheltenham (disambiguation).

Cheltenham (or Cheltenham Spa) is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, England. The town has a population of 110,013 (2001 census) and the people of the town are known as "Cheltonians". Its motto is: Salubritas et Eruditio ("Health and Education").

Cheltenham is located on the edge of the Cotswolds and has an image of being respectable and wealthy. Cheltenham has been a health and holiday spa town resort since the discovery of mineral springs there in 1716. The town is famous for its Regency architecture and is said to be "the most complete regency town in England".^{[citation needed]} The small River Chelt flows under and through the town and is subject to regular floods.^[2]

Cheltenham is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horseracing. The town hosts several festivals of culture.

On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the borough of Cheltenham was merged with Charlton Kings urban district to form the modern non-metropolitan district of Cheltenham. Four parishes - Swindon Village, Up Hatherley, Leckhampton and Prestbury - were added to the borough of Cheltenham from the borough of Tewkesbury in 1991.^[3]

1 Education
2 Festivals
3 Sport and leisure
4 Shopping and nightlife
5 Major employers
6 Railway
7 Churches
8 Twin Towns
9 Areas of Cheltenham
- 9.1 Lansdown Crescent
10 Notable residents
11 References
12 See also
13 External links

[edit] Education

In accordance with the "Eruditio" (Education) part of its motto, Cheltenham is a centre for education, including; Cheltenham College, Cheltenham Ladies' College and a campus of each of the University of Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire College.

[edit] Festivals

Every year, Cheltenham Festivals organises music, jazz, folk, literary and science festivals in the town. Events take place at venues including the Town Hall, the Everyman Theatre, The Playhouse Theatre and the Pittville Pump Room.

Additionally, Greenbelt, a Christian arts and music festival, is held at Cheltenham Racecourse.

The centre of Cheltenham. The statue is of Edward Adrian Wilson, the Antarctic explorer. The municipal offices are in the background

[edit] Sport and leisure

Cheltenham is known for its horse racing. Cheltenham Racecourse, located in the suburb of Prestbury, is the home of National Hunt, or jumps, racing in the UK. Meetings are hosted from October to April. The highlight of the season is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is normally held in the middle of March, during the Cheltenham Festival. This co-incidence with Saint Patrick's Day ensures that the town swells with an influx of Irish horse racing devotees.

The Racecourse, seen from Cleeve Hill

The local football teams are Cheltenham Town F.C., who have recently enjoyed success in The Football League, gaining promotion to League One and Cheltenham Saracens F.C. who are members of the Hellenic League Division One West.

Amateur rugby union clubs include Cheltenham Saracens RFC, Cheltenham North RFC, Old Patesians R.F.C., and Cheltenham Civil Service RFC.

The Cheltenham Rugby Festival is a rugby league nines event held in May.

The town features three golf courses, at Cleeve Hill, Cotswold Hills and Lilley Brook.

Sandford Parks Lido is one of the largest outdoor pools in England. There is a 50 m (164 ft) main pool as well as a children's pool and paddling pool, both of which are set in landscaped gardens.

The mechanical clock in the Regent Shopping Arcade, designed by Kit Williams. The distance from the duck to the fish is 45 feet.

[edit] Shopping and nightlife

Cheltenham is a regional shopping centre, home to department stores such as Cavendish House, part of the House of Fraser chain, and centres including the Regent Arcade and the Beechwood Shopping Centre. It has a Michelin two star restaurant, 'Le Champignon Sauvage'. The old Flowers brewery site has been converted into a leisure quarter, "The Brewery", with gym, multiplex cinema, bingo, restaurants, pubs and bars. The town serves as a regional nightlife centre, attracting up to 30,000 people at the weekends (council figures). When the new licensing laws were introduced, The Times ran an article that stated Cheltenham had more late licensed venues per capita than anywhere else in the country.

[edit] Major employers

Cheltenham, looking north west from Leckhampton Hill

Cheltenham has light industry employers, including food processing, aerospace, electronics and tourism businesses. The British government's electronic surveillance operation Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), renowned for its "doughnut-shape" building, is located in Cheltenham. GE-Aviation, Dowty Rotol, Chelsea Building Society, Endsleigh Insurance, UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service), Kohler Mira, Zurich Financial Services, Spirax Sarco and Kraft Foods' UK headquarters all have sites in and around Cheltenham.

[edit] Railway

Cheltenham Spa railway station is located on the main Bristol-Birmingham line, giving connections to Gloucester, Bristol, Swindon, London Paddington, Cardiff Central, Plymouth and the South West, Birmingham, Derby, the North West, the North East and Scotland.

The Cheltenham Spa Express, once known as the "Cheltenham Flyer", is a named passenger train, connecting Cheltenham with London.

In addition, a restored station at Cheltenham Racecourse is the south terminus for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway heritage railway.

[edit] Churches

The Town Hall, erected in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra

Sandford Parks Lido

Anglican Churches (Diocese of Gloucester) (not a complete list)
- St Mary's Church - the original church of the town and the only surviving medieval building.
- St Matthew's Church (evangelical) - a 19th century foundation, now a combined parish with St Mary's.
- St Philip and St James Church, Leckhampton (liberal) - part of the South Cheltenham mission area.
- St Barnabas - Part of the West Cheltenham Team Ministry
- St Mark [1] (evangelical) - part of the West Cheltenham Team Ministry [2]
- All Saints' Church (Anglo-catholic) - Gustav Holst was a chorister at All Saints, his father, Adolph von Holst, being organist and Master of the Choristers.
- Christ Church (evangelical)
- St Paul's Church (evangelical)
- St Luke's Church
- Trinity Church (evangelical) - one of the largest Anglican congregations outside London.^{[citation needed]}

Non-Anglican Churches
- St. Gregory's - the principal Roman Catholic church.
- Bethesda Methodist Church
- Cambray Baptist Church
- Christian City Church - located at Rowanfield Primary School
- Elim Christian Centre of the Elim Pentecostal Church
- URC in Cheltenham - United Reformed Church (including St Andrew's Montpellier).
- Cheltenham Evangelical Free Church

The town features two notable rings of bells hung for change ringing. The first is at St Christopher's (Warden Hill), these being the lightest ring of bells of church bells in the world.^[4] The bells of St Mark's [3] are renowned for their tonal excellence and ease of "handling". The product of John Taylor's Bell Foundry they were cast in 1885 and 2007 and have just undergone a major refurbishment. There is also a ring of 12 bells dating mainly from the 19th century, hung in St Mary's church. These are to be the venue in 2008 for the eliminators of the National 12 Bell Striking contest in which teams of Campanologists from around the world compete to win the Taylor Trophy.

[edit] Twin Towns

The twinning emblems for Cheltenham, Gottingen and Toruń

Cheltenham is twinned^[5] with:

The town also has 'Friendship' status with:

- Stampersgat, Netherlands
- Kisumu, Kenya

The Minotaur and the Hare” bronze on the Promenade sculpted by Sophie Ryder in 1995

[edit] Areas of Cheltenham

Cheltenham in 1933

The districts of Cheltenham include Arle, Benhall, Charlton Kings, Fairview, Fiddlers Green, Hesters Way, Leckhampton, Montpellier, Pittville, Prestbury, The Reddings, Rowanfield, St Marks, St Paul's, St Peter's, Springbank, Spingfields, Swindon Village, Up Hatherley, Whaddon and Wyman's Brook.

[edit] Lansdown Crescent

Lansdown Crescent is a Regency terrace, designed by John Buonarotti Papworth for R.W. and C. Jearrad and constructed in the 1830s. The terrace is convex, and opposite the north-eastern part stands Lansdown Court, an Italianate villa possibly designed by Papworth but more probably by the Jearrads and built about 1830.

[edit] Notable residents

The 30,000 capacity mainstage at Greenbelt 2007

See List of Cheltonians

[edit] References

David Verey, Gloucestershire: the Vale and the Forest of Dean, The Buildings of England edited by Nikolaus Pevsner, 2nd ed (1976) ISBN 0-14-071041-8