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What’s the best thing about Christmas in Cheltenham? Not the lights, not the shops. For me it’s this:
The Promenade on Christmas Day, blissfully deserted right the way up to the Queen’s Hotel.
It’s not just because I’m a reclusive curmudgeon that I like Cheltenham best when it’s deserted. It’s actually a very magical experience to hear the natural sounds of the town which are normally drowned out by traffic and bustle. Stand by a manhole cover in the Promenade in the empty stillness and hear the muffled rushing of the River Chelt passing unseen beneath the pavement.
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The municipal offices, or rather the terrace of 1822-3 known as Harward’s Buildings, photographed on Christmas Day and almost unrecognisable in the absence of parked cars!
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The High Street with not a soul in sight.
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Deflated Santa, Lower High Street
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Balls. Imperial Square
Cheltonia 