Not Disney

A lack of bus pass stopped me in my tracks, so I did not go to Cheltenham today. It had been my intention to blip the wrought-iron balconies of the Regency-facade houses, but I felt they could wait for a cooler day. The sudden change of plans at the bus station did not really throw me, because I had a couple of library books on me, so I chose to buy a picnic and eat it in Park Gardens, at the end of town I seldom visit.

At one point, in the 1990s, this was my nearest park, and I shared it mainly with dog walkers. Built on a slope, it overlooks a B-road, and is laid out in a muncipal style. In this Jubilympic year, the floral displays are, you guessed it, red, white and blue. I wasn't as much concerned with this as with the human activity, of which there was surprisingly little. A couple with a toddler came for a sit-down and a cuddle; an office worker enjoyed a picnic and a reading session; a few youths passed through with skateboards; and the obligatory West Highland terrier and German Shepherd dog sported and sparred among the shrubbery.

As for moi, I sat on a bench in the blinding heat for far too long, and read one of my library books in its entirety. It was The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler, whose novels are poignant and exquisitely observed. However, they always give me the giggles when the author refers to crochet or patchwork quilts/blankets as afghans! Believe me, there is an afghan in every single one of her novels - I have read them all! None are set in or anywhere near Afghanistan.

After this, I strolled off to blip the Victorian post box in Lansdown road. I stopped en route to snap this view of the Rococo building that I first knew as the art college, against the spire of St Laurence's church. The building in the middle that looks like a concrete bunker is in fact the library, built in the 1960s.

At present the former art college is knows as the Centre for Science and Arts, and is leased to some Rudolf Steiner organisations. Other groups, such as the Stroud Life Drawing group and Kendrick Street Gallery, can still rent out studio space for life drawing. This is A Good Thing, to quote Sellars and Yeatman, because the studios are large and purpose-built, with wonderful windows that let in the north-facing light. The studios in the present-day Stroud College , completed in 2007, have letter-box windows at approximately 7ft high, that cannot be opened, and cast little light on anything. Thank heavens it is already full to bursting, and some of the life drawing sessions have now returned to this older, more suitable building.