SWEET HOME CHELTENHAMSPA: A Brief History Of Music

April 19, 2009 > Featured

Cheltenham Spa, often vaunted as ‘The Centre Of The Cotswolds’, could also quite reasonably claim to be ‘The Centre Of The Universe’. There are, of course, a couple of conditions to this claim. Your geographical parameters would extend only as far as the shores of Great Britain, and your entire knowledge and understanding of life would consist of the history of bandstands. Next time you are parading through Montpellier Gardens please salute the cast iron balustrades of that funky little hut, for it is the oldest surviving bandstand in the country. Built in 1864, it was the 19th century Pyramid Stage for the well-to-do, a kind of Victorian CBGB’s for well-heeled dandies, down the front checking out the hottest new coronet player in town. Ladies in their finest frocks would have loitered sidestage, hoping to catch the eye of the delightful chap with the big bassoon. This was parklife at it’s most authentic.

To read the article in full pick up issue 1 of nham music magazine from mid-May