The very name Cheltenham conjures up images of turf being thrown up by thundering hooves to a backdrop of shouts and cheers. This elegant spa town in Gloucestershire in the heart of England is one of the country's most prominent horse racing venues, and each year in March the town's racecourse hosts a festival widely regarded as the "Oscars" of the horse-racing world. The festival is commonly referred to as the Cheltenham Gold Cup, although strictly speaking it is the Cheltenham Festival, and the Gold Cup is the most important of a number of events that take place during the Festival, along with other events such as the Champion Hurdle and the Queen Mother Champion Chase (the late lamented Queen Mother was one of the Festival's most enthusiastic supporters). Cheltenham held its first racing event as far back as 1815, when a flat race was held on Nottingham Hill near the present racecourse, but the race in its present form started in 1924. The event has been held yearly ever since, apart from 1931 when it was cancelled due to frost, in 1937 due to flooding, in 1943 and 1944 due to World War II and in 2001 due to foot and mouth disease. It used to be a three-day event, but in 2005 this was increased to four days.
Sheer elegance: the Municipal Buildings on the Promenade
The festival attracts visitors from far and wide, including a fair number of the rich and famous, but the biggest contingent of all hails from Ireland. So many Irish racegoers arrive in Cheltenham for the Gold Cup that the town's pubs go out of their way to cater for them by getting in extra barrels of Guinness and putting on live Irish music in the evenings. On the day of the Gold Cup race itself, which always takes place on the Thursday, the fun and games start in late morning, when the racegoers flock to the town's pubs to get themselves into the party spirit, often taking up the entire pavement outside each pub. Then, after the races have finished, the whole town becomes party central as wins are celebrated and sorrows drowned over losses. Often, St Patrick's Day falls within the Festival, giving the Irish visitors an extra excuse to let their hair down.
Getting ready for the Irish invasion
There have been many notable stories arising from Gold Cup week over the years. There was the Welsh punter who managed to turn a £2 bet into a £700,000 win on a six-horse bet. Or the Irishman who won enough to pay off his mortgage on one horse in the Champion Hurdle, then promptly lost his house on the Gold Cup. But my personal favourite is the story of a would-be racegoer who was driving towards Cheltenham and saw a series of signs with the letters HR on them. Thinking the letters stood for "horse racing", he followed the signs, only to find himself miles away from Cheltenham - the letters actually stood for "holiday route".
The Queen's Hotel, where the partying goes on until the wee small hours
The jollity and mayhem associated with the Gold Cup takes place against the backdrop of what is generally considered to be one of England's most beautiful towns. The town grew from its humble beginnings during the early part of the 18th century, following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716. Towards the end of the 18th century what was by now a popular spa town received the Royal seal of approval when King George III visited, and the town took on a fashionable aura, as can still be seen today by the number of elegant buildings gracing the streets. One of the town's most attractive quarters is Montpellier, named for the French spa town and established during the 19th century. Along with its French name there are many continental nuances to the architecture, most notably the caryatids placed at intervals along its main shopping street. The neighbouring Tivoli also has a continental air about it, while the majestic Promenade in the town centre has a fountain modelled on the Trevi Fountain in Rome. As well as being an attractive town in its own right, Cheltenham makes an ideal centre for touring the Cotswolds, one of England's most picturesque regions. So the town is well worth including on any itinerary of a holiday in Britain, whether or not there is horse-racing going on.
A touch of Ancient Greece in the heart of Cheltenham
Cheltenham's answer to the Trevi Fountain
The nearest international airports to Cheltenham are Bristol and Birmingham. There are regular train and coach connections from central London. This year's Cheltenham Festival is from 12th to 15th March.
Comments