by John Elliott. First published in Cheltenham Local History Society Journal in 2013. I had always believed and, indeed, have quoted in talks I have given that the first screening of a talkie in Cheltenham was that of Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond at the Theatre and Opera House. The Gloucestershire Echo of October 1,… [continues]

The composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was profoundly catholic, in the true sense of the word: he was a universalist, broad in his spiritual and musical understanding, sympathies and interests. But he was also deeply connected with the rituals and personalities of 19th and 20th century Anglo-Catholicism, a strain in English religion that has not always… [continues]