The comforts of Cheltenham

Thursday dawned wet. It usually rains when Dave and I arrange to meet in Cheltenham. However, by the time I got off the bus, the weather was drying out. I poppped into various shops, before realising I had not heard from Dave. A quick search of my hanbag revealed the reason: no phone! A quick search of the Promenade revealed no phone boxes either. Ah well.... after ten minutes of hanging out in front of Lakeland, just in case, I moseyed down to the bus stop I'd alighted at, an hour earlier. Dave was standing there, turned to stone from boredom...

We went to a second-hand bookshop, one which is a kind of heaven-in-a-basement. The selection of vintage children's books is particularly fine. I was tempted by a Philippa Pearce, but remained restrained and only spent £3.00.

After lunch (Pizza Express, because they serve g-f pizzas and I had a voucher) Dave and I headed to the Everyman theatre to see the matinee of A Winter's Tale. This was adapted and performed by Northern Broadsides. It's not a play I know, and I'd made the mistake of not reading up on the plot beforehand. All of this meant that I was fairly confused by the first half of the play, but enjoyed the second half more. This was altogether lighter, packed with music, singing, capering, and even a character styled on a canny Scouser who did a side-splitting impersonation of a busker singing and playing the harmonica in the manner of Bob Dylan.

The chandelier is from the domed ceiling of the auditorium, which was extensively renovated in 2011, restoring it to its former Victorian glory. It's a Frank Matcham-designed interior, the oldest still in use as a functioning theatre.