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Marlborough Place, Princes Street, CHELTENHAM, GL52 6BW

A 19th century residential street. At the far end, at no.22, there used to be a pub called "The Prince's Plume". Probably the street was named after the pub, or the pub after the street. The pub which operated for at least one hundred years, and closed around the 1970's, was at one point tied to the long gone Nailsworth Brewery. For many years the building has been in residential use and externally there is nothing to indicate it was once a pub. There were a lot of them in these streets in Victorian times, and later.

Duke Street is one of the older streets of Cheltenham, having been built in stages by different builders and in different styles. Most date from the 1820's, but there are three or four earlier houses, and some from the 1830's and later. In its early years, it was very much a place where people who were poorly off lived. It would have been a fairly rough area, with three public houses in this street alone, to cater for the residents. The last of these did not close until 1984. Today the street, like most similar streets in central Cheltenham, has been "gentrified". There are unlikely to be any agricultural labourers or laundry women living here today. The houses look very attractive, with their many shades of mainly pastel colours. Image

There is a blue plaque hidden by the shrub. Frederick Handley Page, 1885 - 1962, was an aviation pioneer who founded the famous Handley Page company.

The Queen Victoria postboxes in Cheltenham get a lot of attention, but this one from the brief reign of King Edward VII (1901-1910), is of much interest too. It's a pity it is in such a shoddy state. In fact at first glance one might think it is out of use, as there is no last collection time display and the next collection indicator is missing. However, as the posting slot has not been sealed, it would appear to be still in use, despite its physical neglect by Royal Mail. Without the collection plate, it can't be 100% identified, but it is very likely that this one is number GL52 134, with post code of GL52 6EE. That seems to fit, the box being in Sydenham Road North, immediately around the corner from Prince's Street.

Duke Street has gone up in the world in recent years. Much of it was built in the 1820's, as homes for manual labourers. It wouldn't have looked as pretty as it does now. There used to be three pubs in the street. The Marlborough Arms was a mid-Victorian beerhouse, on the corner of Duke Street and Prince's Street, and closed around the 1930's, to become a private house. Another beerhouse was the Duke's Head at No. 77 (formerly numbered 66), which dates from the 1830's and closed around the beginning of the Second World War. It is now a private house. Finally there was the Talbot Inn at no. 14 (probably 28 under the previous numbering). This was in business by mid-Victorian times, and managed to hang on until closure in 1984. It is now three dwellings (14, 14a & 14b). Fortunately there is still a pub around the corner in Hewlett Road (The Fiery Angel). Image