Longer days give us hope that light is at end of a dark tunnel
» THE first signs of spring are visible with some glorious warm days this week, last weekend the clocks sprung forward and the days are beginning to be lighter and longer.
Best of all is that there is light at the end of a dark tunnel after a year of lockdowns and living through the pandemic.
Life has been on hold for the past year and here at The Cheltenham Trust there’s a spring in our step as we begin to re-open our venues after a long year of closures and partial reopenings.
Since Monday six people can now meet outside and this week’s warm sunny days couldn’t have come at a better time. The winter awnings have come down at the Heritage Café at Pittville Pump Room where tables and chairs will return from April 12.
The new outdoor fitness marquee at Leisure at Cheltenham opens today (Thursday) with almost 50 different exercise classes, probably the best leisure offer in Gloucestershire. The classes available to members and pay as you go have been booking fast.
Alongside the marquee, at the rear of the centre, is the new outdoor pop-up Fitstop café creating the ideal environment for the community to enjoy a well-earned coffee and cake after a workout or just a walk through the park.
The next welcome step towards a return to a more normal life will be the re-opening of the inside of Leisure at Cheltenham from April 12 when the government’s roadmap allows swimming, the gym and wet and dry side courses and classes to resume with limited capacities.
The Garden Bar and Skillicorne Garden, alongside Cheltenham Town Hall, will also re-open with an exciting new programme of free live music and entertainment in the marquee.
Spring is a time of renewal and beginnings and after a long winter of closure and restrictions, we are all ready for brighter and a more positive future.
We all know that exercise and socialising is good for us and, after this past year of living through history, now’s the time to spring forward and look ahead to better times and the shift towards post-covid living.