A new project backed by Gloucester City Council and Gloucester BID is set to turn local shop windows into an open air gallery.

The Gate Streets Gallery, which launches on Friday, August 6, will feature work by Gloucester artist Russell Haines, who discovered painting after art therapy helped him through a period of ill health.

 

Russell who started painting after suffering a brain stem stroke at the age of 44 was commissioned to create the artworks for the project organised by Gloucester City Council.

 

The artworks will decorate the windows of ten empty shops on Gloucester’s gate streets and in the East Gate Shopping Centre, and will depict people who have played a part in the life of the city.

 

The project is also supported by the Cathedral Quarter High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) with Historic England, and the European Regional Development Fund.

 

It’s aimed at helping to revitalise the high street following the difficulties retailers suffered during the pandemic and to encourage more people into the city through cultural activities.

 

It hoped that it will encourage people to explore Gloucester and show how walkable the city is as well as supporting local retailers.

After a one-year hiatus, the vintage car, fashion, and music festival will return this summer. One of the highlights of the city’s vibrant festival calendar, Gloucester Goes Retro organised by the city council, features over 500 classic vehicles filling the historic Gate Streets and Gloucester Docks.  

 

The four gate streets will once again be transported back in time: Westgate to 1900 -1949, Northgate to the 1950s, Eastgate, the 1960s and Southgate representing 1970 to modern-day times. 

 

The streets will be lined with historic and classic cars, and vehicles from all over the country, and themed with memories of times past, with music, fashion, food, businesses, banks, shops and re-enactors all playing their part. 

 

Star Wars characters, army Personnel, Tank and Military Vehicles, Superhero Cosplayers, buses, motorbikes, ladies and gents in fashion, Hippies, Rock and Rollers, TV Personalities, representatives of the council and other VIPs will all be in attendance.

 

Visitors will find famous car brands from yesteryear including Aston Martin, Jensen, Bentley, Triumph, Morris, and Alvis to name just a few. 

 

There are time-honoured vehicles from the turn of the last century through to the roaring twenties, from the war years to the gleaming chrome of the fifties, along with the iconic designs of the swinging sixties, and classic sports cars from the eighties. 

 

For music and dance enthusiasts, the Gloucester Goes Retro stage sees vintage acts, and you can even and join in with swing dancing. 

 

Shops, attractions, restaurants and pubs will all join in the fun by creating a retro feel, with shopfront displays and staff dressed in costume, the event brings the whole city together in celebration of our retro past.

Many of us had sort-outs during the various lockdowns, and charity shops can be the beneficiary of these.

There are lots of clothing and shoe banks dotted around the city – often in supermarket car parks so you can drop off your bags of clothes when you do your shopping. There are different banks for different charities so you can even decide which one to support – or just take to your nearest.

You can also donate textiles such as old sheets or towels. It really helps the charity workers if you can bag the clothes (even a bin bag will do) before putting them in the clothes banks.

This week culture has been on my mind, as I’ve been at the Three Choirs Festival in my work as a singer and Gloucester Cathedral lay clerk. I was very taken by the music, of course, as I always am, but also was impressed by the elephant trail in the city of Worcester.

I also had a briefing with the city council’s Director of Culture, in my role as cultural spokesperson for the Lib Dem group. I heard about some of the challenges and opportunities for the city as we emerge from the pandemic.

We need to build on and celebrate our history but also look to the new and innovative. Music would be a must, but other things like dance, theatre and literature have a part to play. But these are my thoughts – what are yours?

I’d like to know what residents think, about what more could be done for culture in Gloucester. You can send me your views by email to seb4podsmead@gmail.com, or via any of the other channels on my website.

I was pleased to see this week that the damaged street sign at St Albans Road that I reported has now been fixed.

I will continue to take action to ensure that street signs in Podsmead are kept in good repair, clean and legible.

Please contact me if you see any signs that need attention.

Some residents in Tuffley Avenue contacted me concerned about trees being cut down at the rear of their property.

I contacted Matthew Homes about this and also asked for an update on the play areas.

I received the following response:

‘We can confirm that we have cleared to the fenceline/boundary to our plots 76 to 85 and that the approved landscaping shows that we will be replanting 1 betula tree per plot in each of the rear gardens

We have the insurance in place now for the play areas and are still waiting for the signage as detailed in the safety audit to be delivered and erected prior to opening – nearly there!’

I will keep pressing Matthew Homes to get the play areas open as soon as they can.

Finally, a resident let me know that a bollard has been knocked over. I’ve sent this to Matthew Homes to make them aware.

If you spot any issues around Podsmead that need my help please let me know.

Visit Gloucester is running a summer activity, for residents and visitors alike, called My Gloucester Passport. 

It’s sponsored by Gloucester Bid, Gloucester Quays, the Aspire Trust and a number of other local businesses and attractions.

The citywide event launching on August 1 and running until September 5, is aimed at children to encourage them to explore the amazing city of Gloucester. 

Visitors can pick up one of the 1,000 passports at the Tourist Information Centre in the Museum of Gloucester.

Affixed to a Lanyard, sponsored by Gloucester Bid, ‘My Gloucester Passport’ is a loyalty style card, which sees participants collect a sticker from eight of the 18 sticker destinations to complete their passports. 

Once they have eight different stickers, they take their passport to Customer Services at Gloucester Quays, to get their passport stamped and receive a fabulous aluminum drinks bottle, sponsored by Gloucester Quays. 

Everyone who completes their passport can then enter the Grand Prize Draw backed by the Aspire Trust who are offering a six month Aspire Academy membership. 

The activity is free of charge, so everyone is encouraged to get involved and enjoy discovering places in the city they may never have been before, as well as visiting old favourites!

For more information including a map showing the locations of the sticker destinations can be found at visitgloucester.co.uk/mygloucesterpassport

Road will be closed once more on Monday 26th July 9pm-7am.

Below is an update from Gloucestershire Highways:

?UPDATE A430 Bristol Road/Cole Avenue #Gloucester ?- we will require one more shift of closure on Monday 26th July from 9pm to 7am to complete the resurfacing works.
The good news is that we will be able to keep the majority of the junction open. Only A430 Secunda Way and Bristol Road will remain closed as per the attached plan (blue section).
Additionally there will be lane closures in place between 27th and 29th July from 8pm to 7am. Please expect some delays. Thank you for your patience.
Please don’t forget that closures are still in place this weekend!

I am grateful to residents for alerting me to some trip hazards in Podsmead.

These have all been reported to the councils but do take care outside Poet’s Pantry, on the play area at Scott Avenue, or on Podsmead Road at the Crypt School end.

If you know of any other issues like this please do let me know.

The sinkhole is the second to appear in recent weeks so I have asked the council if this is indicative of a deeper problem after recent contractor works in Podsmead by several agencies.

A traffic calming scheme is being proposed for Tuffley Avenue.

In a briefing from Highways I and other stakeholders received this week, I was told that:

‘This scheme is being proposed as a result of the review of Gloucestershire County Council’s 2015-17 road safety collision data which showed four personal injury collisions along the route including three of which caused serious injury and one involving a slight injury. There have been another four personal injury collisions (all slight) since that data was reviewed.

Early this year in January 2021 there was also a serious personal injury collision involving a pedestrian. When the review was undertaken analysis of the data showed that loss of control was a possible factor and therefore the scheme was developed with the aim of reducing traffic speeds along the route. The scheme includes priority give way build outs and speed cushions to slow vehicles along the route.

Whilst developing the scheme, the local community requested that a facility be provided to help pedestrians cross the road near to the access to the local community social club as the local primary schools on Calton Road want to promote this as a ‘park and stride’ site to encourage more children to walk to school. The request was assessed in line with the overall aim of the scheme of slowing down vehicles and therefore a full width road hump with informal crossing point is proposed.’

Any comments should be submitted to David Wilson by Friday 13th of August 2021. david.wilson@gloucestershire.gov.uk