// Gardening
describe every pupil to leave the premises but green clad in our uniforms was definitely an apt description of our attire. (In recent years I see that blue has also been added to the colour scheme as a more modern, yet still classic approach to dressing has been adopted).
An amphitheatre has popped up (or has rather been dug down) in the Quad since my days of reading Romeo & Juliet for Theatre Studies A-Level, a perfect performance space and welcome addition to the grounds.
Another part of the garden sees a giant London Plane greet those exiting the Princess Hall – site of all major college gatherings and sitting on top of the original well where Cheltenham’s famous spring waters were first discovered.
In fact trees have long been associated with knowledge: old, wise and reliable. Silver birches glow in the reflective light of those A star students while the colossal Copper Beech still stands solid and serene, a meeting point for many and a constant in an ever changing world where this year’s Lower College 1s will be sixth formers in the blink of an eye. Box is also evident throughout, evergreen, neat and hard-working but in need of guidance in order to perform at its best, rather like the pupils who pass by every day in pursuit of a happy and rewarding life ahead.
The outdoors seems to have played an ever increasing part in the education of the Cheltenham Ladies with Wellbeing sessions frequently taught in the grounds and an inter-house competition held in the summer to design, plant and care for bumblebee gardens. This was linked with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, which was one of the charities that College chose to support, proving their commitment not only to the academic world but also the environment. I do remember botany playing a small part in my Biology lessons but quite frankly at the time was more excited about Mrs Sutton allowing me to bring my baby rabbit into the lesson to show my fellow pupils. (Thankfully, for Thumper and myself, a day when dissection wasn’t on the syllabus).
Inside, horticulture has its place too from the stained glass daisies and lilies to the depictions of rose, leek, thistle and shamrock in stone above the marble corridor’s grand staircase. Other botanical carvings and paintings exist too on many a turn – how extraordinary that so few of these I noticed during my school years – there must be something about age that teaches you to slow down, observe and smell the roses.
In fact there is much to take in across the many acres of land that the College holds from boarding houses to the playing fields and in the words of ‘Jerusalem’ – sung by pupils for generations at the end of term – this really is a prime example of “England’s green and pleasant land”.
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