Day 82 - Cheltenham: The Cultural Centre of the Cotswolds

Off to the town of Cheltenham on this fine Sunday...well more formally, Regency Cheltenham Spa. Phil was to meet up with a potential PhD student looking for some info on what academic life might be like at Ryerson.

That was excuse enough for us to take a trip. We've wanted to get to the town as it is at the end of the bus line that travels from Moreton in Marsh through Stow on the Wold and Bourton on the Water, and then onto Cheltenham (about 1.5 hours through gorgeous countryside). But being Sunday, no buses were running, so we opted for the train. This took us back to Worcester (see last Sunday's blog) where we would catch a second train on to Cheltenham. And also being Sunday, we had to put up with a few train "issues." We arrived in Worcester to find that we had about an hour to kill. So we walked back into town to admire the old buildings and pick up another delicious hot chocolate from Hotel Chocolat (this week's variations: hazelnut for Phil and salted caramel and clementine for me....yum). Well, there was a chill in the air, after all!

Back at Worcester Shrub Hill station, we were standing on the platform admiring the beautiful design and tiling of the station's Victorian waiting room, when it was announced that the train to Cheltenham (and beyond) had been cancelled due to "not leaving the depot on time." We supposed it hadn't left the depot at all, probably because a driver was still suffering from one too many at the pub last night.

Phil pulls an Incredible Hulk
move on learning that a second
train he has travelled on this
weekend has been cancelled.

We went to the ticket counter to get a refund, only to be advised that a replacement bus had been called and we basically had two minutes to get to where it was loading. Somehow, we had missed the announcement to that effect (because there hadn't been any).

The journey was pleasant enough (well, despite the five ladies seated across the back row behind us all of whom seemed to be suffering from some form of cough or cold...thus the reason I never travel without a light scarf, a.k.a. urban surgical mask). As we travelled we could see off in the distance the beautiful Malvern Hills (perhaps a future hike for Phil and our son Alex as it seemed from my vantage point to be very much an uphill walk).

Cheltenham Spa rail station is about a 20-minute walk from the town centre, and we enjoyed a lovely stroll to the pub where we would be meeting Phil's lunch guest, Andy.

But first a quick historical look at Cheltenham. About 300 years ago, mineral springs were discovered here, and a health and holiday spa soon developed. George III came for a visit in 1788, and Cheltenham Spa become the fashionista place to be. The town is considered to be the most complete Regency town in England, and the architecture really is something to behold, very different from the towns and village of Cotswold stone which surround it.

Source: thebeehivemontpellier.com

Lunch was at a lovely traditional pub called The Beehive which is located in a very fashionable part of the city called Montpellier. Andy had booked us a table in the restaurant located on the second floor. It was a gorgeous and completely unexpected space. Our waiter was a wonderful gentleman named Johnny whose girlfriend had gone to school in Montreal (another Canadian connection). And for those of you still following along with our Sunday Roast Lunch adventures, I had the pork today, and it was fabulous. I only wish I had saved room for dessert as sticky toffee pudding was on the menu. In one of his blogs, I'm sure Phil will share with you the humorous name of one of the ales on tap! Highly recommend this pub if you ever find yourself in Cheltenham. It's not far off the town centre, and is worth going a bit off the beaten path for.

Dining room at The Beehive Pub. We sat at the table near the chalkboard.
Source: thebeehivemontpellier.com

After our enjoyable lunch and conversation with Andy, Phil and I took a walk about the area, before heading back to the train station. We crossed our fingers hoping that there actually would be a train this time instead of a bus (although Andy told us we were now officially British travellers as we had experienced replacement bus travel). Luck was on our side and we enjoyed a quiet trip back, ignoring the leg pains from yesterday's 20km walk.

We plan on to visit to Cheltenham again when we will get a chance to provide you with a more fulsome description of the town...as soon as our legs stop throbbing.