Things To Do In Cheltenham

Cheltenham is nestled in the Cotswold hills, 100 miles West of London started off as a small Saxon settlement, in approx 1086, with a population of less than 200. The area was site to a monastery before it became a village and the name of the settlement is thought to come from Celtenhomme – 'the town under the hill'. Most of the population of the settlement earned their livelihood through agriculture and farming, but the village attracted new residents and visitors in 1226 when King Henry III gave permission for a weekly market and an annual fair. By the 17th century the village had grown to become a small town and by 1578 had a population of 1,500, it's own malt and leather industries, as well as its own grammar school.

Cheltenham became a spa town in the 18th century when, according to legend, people discovered that pigeons were pecking at salt deposits by a spring south of town, on the site of what is now the Ladies College. People began to drink the water and believed it healed illnesses. The owner of the spring recognised that there was money to be made from this gift of nature and turned into it a well, and books were written about it, all of which lead to more visitors to Cheltenham.

Cheltenham received royal patronage in 1788 when King George III came to drink the waters, which led the town to be a fashionable spa, of which the heritage can be seen today in the town's Regency architecture. You can still go and taste the mineral waters today, but it is very salty! Many more famous visitors heightened the towns allure – the Duke of Wellington, Princess Victoria (who went on to become Queen Victoria), Lord Byron, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to name but a few.

Today Cheltenham although no longer known as a spa town still continues to flourish and continues to attract a lot of tourists, and by 1971 had a population of 74,000. Industries such as light engineering, food processing and pharmaceuticals came to Cheltenham, and is one of the few towns in England where traditional and contemporary architecture complement each other perfectly – there are Neo-Gothic styled Victorian school buildings of Cheltenham College and the Cheltenham Ladies College, both of which are very popular with tourists.

Nowadays Cheltenham is a thriving shopping centre, with the Regent Arcade officially having opened in 1985. Other popular shopping centres are The Suffolks, La Provence, Montpelier and the Beechwood Shopping Centre.

Today the population of Cheltenham is 110,000, and the town maintains strong links with communities in the rest of the world and is twinned with Annecy in France, Goettingen in Germany, Cheltenham in Pennsylvania and Sochi in Russia.

Cheltenham is probably most renowned these days for the Cheltenham races. Racing highlights include The Open, from 13th to 15th November 2009, and The Festival, from 16th to 19th March 2010.

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