Gustav Holst

I haven't been well since returning from Cheltenham. A raging sore throat and a bit of a raised temperature with coughs and the occasional sneezes as side orders! I assume it's a viral infection so have just been taking paracetamol and lozenges to soothe my throat. I have an outstanding report to finish but am unable to concentrate for very long on it even when I have been awake enough to switch on the computer. So, I have had to dip into the Cheltenham blip bank to maintain my blipfoto presence. This picture is of the statue of Gustav Holst, the celebrated composer of The Planets Suite, in Imperial Gardens. I did not know that  Cheltenham was Holst's birthplace. The house in which he was born is now a museum devoted to him but also providing insight into the well-preserved interiors of a Victorian house. Unfortunately we didn't get to visit the museum, so that's on the list for the next time I visit the town. Holst was a great friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams whose own house at Leith Hill Place in the Surrey Hills is managed by the National Trust .Both composers took inspiration from age-old English folk songs and dance tunes, many of which they "collected". The extra shows the entry to the museum. My blip of 29 March shows RVW's statute outside the Dorking Halls concert hall.