CYCLING is one way of reducing your carbon footprint, and riding in a wheelbarrow is another.

Children at Bambi's Nursery, in Brockworth, are gearing up for the Gloucester Carnival procession tomorrow.

They will be joining the procession through the streets dressed as characters from Disney films being pushed along in wheelbarrows.

Carla Roberts, from the nursery, said: "It is a green theme and we wanted to do something a little bit different.

"And this is a bit different!"

The procession returns to the city for its 77th year.

This year's event is based on a green theme with communities being encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle their way into the carnival, while being imaginative, too.

There will be a number of fun activities awaiting everyone at the end of the procession in Gloucester Park.

Admission is free.

HE is the baby King they gave the name George.

No, not Will and Kate's Prince of Cambridge and future King of England.

But George King of Cheltenham, who was barely six months old when the royals gave birth.

George made headlines earlier this year for being the biggest baby born in Gloucestershire.

The tot, who now lives with his parents in The Reddings, weighed 15lb 7oz when he was born on February 11.

Doctors advised he had regular check-ups to monitor his growth.

His mum, Jade Packer, 22, and dad, Ryan King, 21, have paid visits to see health experts at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children since his birth, who, thankfully, are pleased that George is growing well.

He now weighs around 18lbs 9oz – and has put on just over 3lbs since he was born.

His parents are looking forward to seeing him grow up into their own Prince Charming.

"Obviously, he is still putting on weight but he is levelling out to the weight he should be at his age," said Jade.

"I was at home with George when Will and Kate showed everyone their baby.

"We watched it together – it was very exciting to see them.

"George is quite a strong, English name and a name you can't really go wrong with."

OPINION, P8

STAFF at a charity shop in Cheltenham have been putting on some of their own retro clothing in an effort to boost their coffers.

Volunteers based at the British Red Cross shop in Bath Road began a three-day sale yesterday that specifically sold donated 'vintage' items.

Shop manager Fiona Hall said they have seen sales increase after shop staff dressed up for the occasion.

The 43-year-old said: "In the past few weeks, we've seen less people shopping because of the heatwave.

"But yesterday we were the busiest we have been for a Thursday.

"It's been fun and it has been nice to see the customers enjoy trying items on.

"Our volunteers have done very well."

GROUND staff at Whaddon Road are expecting one of the highest pre-season turnouts in recent years when Premier League new boys Cardiff City travel to Cheltenham tomorrow.

The Robins continue their preparations for the new League Two season against the Bluebirds, who gained promotion to the top tier of English football in May.

Around 800 visiting supporters are expected to travel from the Welsh capital on match day, offering one of the highest turnouts for a pre-season friendly at Whaddon Road.

Cheltenham Town media officer James Brown said: "It will be great to have a Premier League side in town.

"It is one of the world's top divisions and Cardiff have proved they can compete with some of the biggest clubs in the world.

"We fully expect they will put out a full Premier League side and that we will provide a good test for them.

"For the past decade, our club has grown into a sustainable business and, the fact we are able to attract clubs like Cardiff City – even for pre-season games – shows how well we've done."

Ticket prices will be reduced for tomorrow's match. Children aged 11 or under who are Junior Robins members won't have to pay at the turnstiles.

The fixture will also come as a welcome financial boost for local businesses.

Vas Stylianou, occupier at Whaddon Fish Shop, in Whaddon Road, believed there could be more customers than they usually get for pre-season fixtures.

He said: "It should be busy tomorrow for the game. We had a few through our doors on Tuesday evening.

"It is normally busy on match day during the season but, with more fans in town, we should get some extra business from the Cardiff fans."

Cardiff City beat Cheltenham 4-0 at Whaddon Road in a friendly last summer.

Topically, the Robins will launch their new sky blue third-choice strip against the Bluebirds tomorrow.

Cardiff will play in red, which has been the club's official colour since a controversial change in 2012 to attract commercial support in Asia.

Police will not be increasing numbers for the fixture but part of the car park will be cordoned off for officers.

PC Mark Smith, operations officer for match days in Cheltenham, said: "We played them last year in a pre-season friendly and, like last year, we're not expecting any problems tomorrow either.

"It's a not a competitive fixture and, whilst we will have staff to police the fixture, Cardiff City have just been promoted to the Premier League and will have all these exciting grounds to go to.

"I am sure they won't jeopardise their season so we're not expecting any problems. It's a local game for them as we're about an hour down the road. Hopefully it will be a good game."

CHARGES of assault have been denied by a Cheltenham man.

Yesterday at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court, Aaron Joseph Cawley, 22, of Blenheim Square pleaded not guilty to two charges of the offence, against women, allegedly committed on June 2. The trial will be at the same court on November 27.

CHARLTON Kings Cricket club has won its fight to save its grounds.

A ruling was made by the High Court in London yesterday that the club owned the land it currently plays on.

The Echo stepped in to help launch a campaign to save the club earlier this year. It had been locked in a legal battle with Cheltenham widow Jacki Mitchell for more than two years.

She had insisted the land in Ryeworth fields, Greenway, belonged to her family and she wanted to claim it back.

Members of the club had started using the land many years ago, after it was gifted to them by Arthur Mitchell.

But in 2011, Mrs Mitchell, Arthur's daughter-in-law, laid claim to the land.

Ryeworth Fields forms a fifth of the club's grounds.

The club, which was founded in 1885, faced the risk of closure, after facing legal costs of more than £240,000.

With more than 170 young cricketers on their books, aged between six and 17 years old, the club has been appealing for financial help with their legal battle.

Geoff White, cricket development officer at the club, said the club was incredibly relieved at the court's decision, and could now start planning for the future.

He added: "We are all delighted with the result.

"It's has taken a long time - two years and one month.

"Everyone connected to this club is just immensely relieved by the decision, really.

"We were always hopeful, but very worried about the result, as we didn't know who were going to win. We had no idea about it.

"We have just been flabbergasted by the enormous amount support we've had since the case started.

"It's simply fantastic from everyone across the county, and a huge thank you to them."

Kevan Blackadder, editor of the Echo, said he was pleased with the result.

He added: "We launched our campaign because a whole community was in danger of losing an important part of what makes it tick.

"We are delighted that the court has made its ruling as such and we were able to play our part."

A statement from the CKCC committee said it would now look in detail at the judgement delivered by the court.

It said: "It is with great delight and relief that the club committee has just been informed that the High Court has found in CKCC's favour and confirmed that the land in dispute, including the nets, does belong to the club. The entire court judgment is being reviewed by our lawyers at the moment and the committee will be reviewing further advice in due course regarding the possibility that Mrs Mitchell will appeal the decision of the High Court to the Court of Appeal and the further judgment of the Court to award costs, which means who pays the considerable lawyers' fees.

"The club committee will remain focused on dealing with the aftermath of this decision and in particular liaising with our lawyers on the possibility of an appeal and the costs.

"However, perhaps now, with this great result that will hopefully secure all that has been achieved at our club so far, we can start to plan to take the club forward and improve the facilities for the benefit of the entire community who wish to be involved in cricket."

Opinion, p8; Cricket club optimistic, P37

SHOWERS are expected to return over Gloucestershire tomorrow.

The downpours which broke the stifling heat on Tuesday and Wednesday nights are expected to arrive at around mid-afternoon on Saturday.

Today, conditions should be fresher than the early part of the week with temperatures likely to hit a relatively modest high of 23C at around 3pm, dropping to 15C in the small hours of Friday morning.

Saturday's rain is expected to last until around 4am on Sunday, then return from around 1pm to 7pm.

Monday is also expected to be hit by showers, with rain forecasted to fall between 10am and 7pm.

DRUG addict Aaron David Huntley asked magistrates to send him to jail after he was hauled into court yesterday.

The 30-year-old, of Winsley Road, Matson, skipped bail and was arrested while sleeping rough in Weston-super-Mare on Wednesday after a reader of The Citizen recognised his face from a wanted appeal by police.

At Cheltenham Magistrates' Court, Huntley admitted his part in a break-in at the Language Immersion Centre in Commercial Road, Gloucester, on June 12 and 13.

Nick Cooper, defending, said his client wanted to go to jail. The bench obliged, sending Huntley down for 10 weeks.

He was on licence for other offences and was recalled to prison when he was found after skipping bail. The defendant invites you to consider a custodial sentence for this matter," said Mr Cooper.

"At the time of the offence he was very desperate. He was released from prison last year and, since then, has had a number of offences to his name."

Mr Cooper said Huntley had been waiting several months for an appointment with a psychiatrist. He broke into the centre while on the drug MCat, Mr Coooper said.

Sharon Jomaa, prosecuting, said after the burglary Huntley rode off along Southgate Street on a bike and was apprehended by police at the cricket pavilion at the Spa. "In interview, he denied involvement then said he had taken MCat so was not able to account for his movements," she said.

Mr Cooper said his client should have answered bail at a police station on July 17. When Huntley failed to turn up, officers appealed for information about his whereabouts.

Another man accused of the being involved in the same break-in is due before Cheltenham magistrates on August 19.

WHAT! Stores in Gloucester has received an emergency delivery of 350 swimming pools.

As the county sweltered in the longest heatwave for years, paddling pools were virtually impossible to get hold of.

The 600 pools in stock at What! Stores in Eastern Avenue sold out within a few days and last weekend more than 30 people queued outside the shop before it opened.

Marketing director Martin Hughes said: "It's been unbelievable.

"I understand that we were the last place anywhere around here where you could buy a pool. It's been crazy."

Steven Hayes, assistant manager at Toys R Us in St Ann Way, Gloucester, said: "We only have the small paddling pools left and people seem to not want them.

"We are doing everything we can for deliveries but it's hard to get them due to this heatwave and supplies are short."

'ANIMALISTIC' people who spit on the streets might want to think twice about their unsavoury habit.

Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has backed a London council's plans to introduce an £80 fine for anyone caught spitting on the street.

People on the streets of Cheltenham and Gloucester yesterday said they were in favour of a fine here in Gloucestershire.

A fine is due to be introduced by Enfield Council in September, where bosses have described spitting as "filthy, disgusting and abhorrent".

Council bosses will even resort to using CCTV to catch people out while police officers will be eagle-eyed on the ground.

The £80 fine is something of a throwback to the days before 1990, when hurling phlegm across the street would incur a £5 fine, but that was later scrapped.

Other local authorities are expected to follow suit with the idea of a new fine.

Joggers sometimes have to spit because of the amount of air they inhale – and it is not yet clear whether they would be exempt from the new rule.

Spitting into a tissue or handkerchief would not be considered an offence.

Anyone who refuses to pay the fixed penalty notice could face prosecution and up to a £5,000 fine.

Barbara Exley, head of public protection at Cheltenham Borough Council, said: "We don't fine people for spitting in the street and, currently, there are no plans to introduce any legislation along those lines."

A Gloucester City Council spokesman said: "We have no plans to seek additional powers for the council to take action but the council would be fully supportive of enforcement action being taken against this form of anti-social behaviour."

But other councils will undoubtedly also by eyeing up how much money they could make from a spitting fine.

Councils across Britain already raise around £5.5million a year handing out more than 73,500 litter fines.

In the Middle Ages, spitting was much more socially acceptable.

At all levels of society it was thought ill-mannered to suck back saliva to avoid spitting.

In Greece it is still customary to 'spit' three times after making a compliment to someone – to protect from the 'evil eye'.

....In your dreams.

1 - The subsidy and payment system for wind energy is about to be changed…upwards !!

The new Energy Bill proposes to replace the ROC system with what amounts to a guaranteed price called a 'Strike Price'.

Upto 3x higher than the current wholesale price for electricity, which is around £47 per MWh.

The proposal is for

£100 per MWh for on land wind,

£125 per MWh for solar

£155 per MWh for offshore wind.

The cost to the consumer will be about £4.3 billion in 2015/16, Rising to £7.6 billion in 2020/21.

 see- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-energy-infrastructure-investment-to-fuel-recovery

The prices have been set deliberately high to encourage investors to build more wind farms, this could lead to the doubling of the price paid to windfarmers, ('renewables' milked us of £ billions last yr; see details on this site- http://www.variablepitch.co.uk/finance/ ).

2 - After years of telling us that little or no backup was required for 'renewables', the latest government wind scam, is that of using dirty diesel as backup, with all the environmental & pollution implications.

A new industry has now developed, where an entrepreneur buys large container based Gensets, puts them in a field, connect them to the grid & picks up a fat cheque, just for being available…. & another if they generate.

It is expected to cost us £1 billion a year by 2015, adding five per cent to energy bills !!

There are advanced proposals to set up a system offering to pay up to 12 x the current wholesale price for electricity from standby generators owned by supermarkets, hospitals, data centers, in fact anyone who has one.

This standby generation is required because of the intermittency of wind  & solar. Read more here:-  http://tinyurl.com/k2vvasm

Over the last month the average production from wind has been less than 6 % of its stated capacity.

As I write this, the UKs 5,000 wind turbines are producing a mere 1 % of demand, (sewage & landfill gas is giving 2x as much).

see- http://www.ukpowergeneration.info/site/realtime& http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

So much for the 'abundant free clean green energy' we were promised !!

3 - Now is the perfect time to write to the Rt. Hon Michael Fallon MP, the Energy Minister, about wind energy prices.

Further details + diy letter format here- http://tinyurl.com/nxjzzs6

Wind turbines-

Do they cost us money -YES
Are the subsidies a scam – YES

Are they a good investment for the developer – YES

Do they cut CO2 – NO

Do they give reliable energy - NO

Do they give energy security - NO

Are they fit for purpose - NO

Should we build more – NO

They are the wrong technology for the job, chosen by ill-informed politicians, not by engineers.

John Davies

PS; I'm not a NIMBY…

But, I am proud to be a NIABY (not in anyone's backyard).

FRESH food, a great atmosphere and brilliant live music have earned an awards nomination for a bar in the heart of Gloucester.

Cafe Rene, in Southgate Street, has been put forward for a Believe in Gloucester award in the best bar category.

Laura Woodbury-Smith, who regularly enjoys dining out there, said: "It has a great atmosphere for people of all ages. The food is fresh, well cooked and always enjoyable, not to mention the fact they host great events including the Renegade Festival and Gloucester Rhythm and Blues Festival. Cafe Rene is the place to be in Gloucester."

The cafe, which opened 10 years ago, is renowned for its live music.

General manager Chris Atine said: "The whole of management team are absolutely honoured. When we opened we did not just want to serve drinks but also to interlink this with food and create a hub, and it has worked.

"Gloucester does not have anything of this kind, so it would be great to see other new similar businesses coming into the area. Many people think that Cheltenham is better, but if you have a close look Gloucester is great with its countryside and great choices of schools. We have only been put forward because of the dedication and hard work of the whole staff and owner Paul Soden."

The Citizen's Believe in Gloucester awards are being made possible by Gloucester Quays, Gloucester City Council and Marketing Gloucester.

Each day, The Citizen is revealing more nominees for each of the 14 categories, but there is still time to get your nominations in.

To nominate a person, business or group for any of the categories, visit our website at www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/ believe.

Cheltenham! Hurry our last store trading day is Saturday in the old unit @regentarcade ! Grab a bargain whilst our #sale is still on!

— River Island Chelt (@RI_Chelt) July 23, 2013

@regentarcade lots going on and lots up our sleeves for the opening! #topsecret! But definitely exciting!!

— River Island Chelt (@RI_Chelt) July 23, 2013

How amazing does the new @river_island look from the outside?! WAIT til you see the inside! The #countdown is on guys! #cheltenham

— River Island Chelt (@RI_Chelt) July 25, 2013

Looking forward to @RI_Chelt opening in their bigger, better new store, near the front of @regentarcade. #fashion#Cheltenham

— Regent Arcade (@regentarcade) July 23, 2013

WITH the recent heatwave we've been having I'm sure a lot of us have been dreaming of being beside the sea, listening to the waves lapping onto the sand.

We'd be forgiven for thinking we were already there with the constant sound of seagulls in the town screeching overhead.

When trips to the British seaside first became popular in the 1800s, people would travel by horse-drawn coach.

But it was the coming of the railways, which were faster and cheaper, that made such trips accessible to people.

The introduction of official Bank Holidays in 1871 meant that even more people could enjoy a day out by the sea – particularly so for the country's working classes.

Wealthier people might choose to go for a week, staying in the increasing number of hotels and guest houses.

Despite vast changes in our modern-day life and the popularity of holidays abroad, many aspects of a traditional summer holiday by the sea haven't changed.

Looking at the painting shown here, Seascape, Figures on a Beach by artist V Chavigny, we see a group of women and children enjoying their time on a beach.

All the activities shown, such as sailing, making sand castles, playing ball games, looking out to sea, a walk on the sand and just sitting and chilling out are things we all still enjoy today.

One big change though is what was worn at the seaside. In Victorian times people would wear their best clothes on the beach and ladies would carry parasols to keep the sun off their face as it was unfashionable to have a sun tan.

In the painting, we see the elaborate fashions of the 1880s.

Apart from the two little children playing in the sand, the others wear long dresses with long sleeves and high collars, worn over various layers of underclothes, including corsets, thick stockings worn with lace-up boots and of course the obligatory hats or bonnets.

At this time, men and women would have bathed separately at different parts of the beach.

Men wore striped bathing costumes with long legs and sleeves; women wore tunic type dresses with trousers underneath, showing very little flesh.

A far cry from the beachwear fashions – bathing suits, bikinis and trunks of today.

Bathing machines gave women even more privacy.

These were little wooden huts on wheels.

They were pulled into the sea so the occupant could enter the sea without being seen.

If the over-dressed ladies in this painting could be transported to a present day beach on a hot summer day they would probably be very shocked indeed.

Faye Little, museum education and outreach officer