Chelenham

Tiny Malta has its limitations and the tourist brochures with deserted beaches and the Blue Lagoon look appetizing without people and seacraft. But the reality is very different. There are crowds everywhere during the summer months. I have been utterly spoilt when it comes to beaches having lived perhaps for too long in the Indian Ocean where in both Mauritius and the Seychelles, often, the only footprints on the sand were my own. I certainly cannot consider Mellieha, Golden Bay, Paradise Bay and the Blue Lagoon enticing when hordes descend upon them in the hot summer months and all those sticky bodies and their coolers are but a few inches away from me. I was courageous enough last summer to go once so that I could watch my lovely grandchildren on the beach. But I haven’t summoned up that kind of courage since. A partly Maltese friend who has been here with his Maltese wife several times asked me: “What exactly does one come to Malta for?” I immediately said ‘Our culture of course.’ So, yes, but one longish visit would be more than enough. The light of Malta and colour of the sea are beautiful of course and I suppose to those living in northern climes who rarely see a blue sky and are not surrounded by the blue Mediterranean Malta may seem a kind of paradise.  And thank God for the Knights and those Maltese architects who left us such magnificent buildings. But little has been built in Malta for a good many years which is memorable. There are few ‘buildings with poetry,’ to quote Richard England. Do today’s architects have no pride at all I often ask myself? The ugliness of our buildings has become a way of life.

Apart from the crowds, the heat in our long hot summer is becoming more and more oppressive as well. Many of us try to escape, if only for a short time to cooler climes which, with global warming, is becoming more difficult. A couple of years ago I escaped to Vienna with one of my darlings, only to find that it was almost as hot as here and air conditioning not as ubiquitous.

I was telling an old friend how I could not bear the idea of four or five months of oppressive heat in an even more crowded Malta – with all those noisy and unruly students coming to learn English. He quickly offered me and a mutual friend with whom we were having dinner, his flat in Cheltenham as it was going to be free for a while. We immediately took up the generous offer and my eldest darling planned the trip with meticulous detail.

I loved this Regency Spa town famous for its fine architecture, tree-lined Promenade, speciality shops, parks and gardens and its internationally acclaimed festivals and events which occur throughout the year – though, alas, not while I was there. These include the National Hunt, Jazz, Music, Science, Cricket and Literature festivals.

Cheltenham became a fashionable place to visit in 1790 following the discovery of the Spa waters, and a subsequent visit from King George III. There are magnificent Regency buildings in Montpellier and Pittville. I have only seen more magnificent ones in Bath where of course there are the Crescents too.

There are hanging baskets of flowers everywhere. Cheltenham takes great pride in its beautiful parks and gardens and has won the prestigious accolade of ‘Britain in Bloom’ on several occasions. I took many a stroll around the Imperial and Sandford Parks to appreciate the floral splendour for myself. I loved the trees everywhere: the Yew, the different species of Oak, the Pencil Cedar, the Caucasian Wing Nut whose seeds hang down in strings, the Birch. The Pittville Park which is near where I was staying was opened in 1825 and is the largest ornamental park in Cheltenham. It features the Pump Room which is said to be magnificent and lakes.  I never made it inside as there was always some event going on whenever I tried to visit it. This park is given a Grade 2 listing under the English Heritage register of Historic Parks and Gardens with the Pump Room as a Grade I historic building. The British take these thing seriously.

The weather was extremely kind and it only rained once in the month I  was there. Friends messaged or called to say how sorry they were to hear that there was a heatwave according to reports in the media and that people were even dying. There was no heatwave or at least not what I consider to be a heatwave. Most of all there is no humidity, unlike here. I was most comfortable, slept under a light duvet and walked without feeling the heat. Above all there was plenty of time to lounge around and to be absorbed by the atmosphere.

To create beautiful Cheltenham in bloom each summer over 190,000 bedding plants are planted plus over 600 coronets, containers and hanging baskets. And of course, individual households and businesses make an effort and plant their own flowers and shrubs – it is truly a town in bloom.

The pedestrianised areas of the town lend themselves to a continental atmosphere in the summer months and the Promenade is an ideal setting for special markets that take place through the year. There were even French stall keepers selling the kind of cheese one would never find at a supermarket. There is no getting away from food – even in refined Cheltenham people enjoy their food.

Margot came up for a week and was excellent company. She teaches art and IT so we stopped to look at art galleries of which there are many in Cheltenham. Helen Tomkins, one of the Caruana Galizia sisters who founded Flimkien al ambient and is co writer with her sister Anne of the popular book on Maltese Food came up from Blackheath for two days. We found a great deal to say to each other especially one lunchtime over a jug of Pimms. A graduate of the London School of Economics Helen is still as militant as ever and still walks in protest marches and belongs to an endless amount of committees and organizations. I wish she could have stayed for longer.

Marlene and Edgar Huber took me out for a lovely pub lunch in Laurie Lee country, the famous author of Cider with Rosie. They are excellent company and have three successful sons: a surgeon, a lecturer and a musician with I believe the London Philharmonic. They went out of their way to show me round the lovely little villages around Cheltenham. We enjoyed a cream tea next to Painswick House where for a time the Marquis and Marchioness De Piro lived and which they opened to the public, just as they do their lovely Casa Rocca Piccola in Valletta. The Hubers told me that the property has now been sold to an Arab. It must be so peaceful living there and away from the Arab Spring which is little more than an inferno.

Mine host changed his meetings in London to come and meet me when I first arrived in Cheltenham and took me to visit delightful villages like Stroud, Chipping Campden and Tewkesbury. A far cry from Qawra, Bugibba, Gzira and Sliema in summer. I am lucky indeed. It was also blissful to be away from my possessions and the memories they bring with them. Thank you so much David!