Opening the doors and welcoming visitors again

» THIS week, as a nation, we moved one step further out of the pandemic and towards a new normal, as restrictions were eased from Monday allowing more social interaction and bringing people back inside venues and facilities, albeit with limited capacities and social distancing still in place.

This week The Cheltenham Trust opened the doors at Pittville Pump Room and welcomed visitors back inside the main hall for the first time since the pandemic struck last March.

The inside of the Grade I listed building may have been put off limits for over a year by the Covid19 restrictions but the elegant exterior colonnades has been at the heart of the community, housing the Heritage Café which has provided a lifeline for so many at a time when so much of daily life was restricted and our mental health and wellbeing were challenged like never before.

The Heritage Café has become a significant go to destination and now work is progressing to develop a heritage trail, inside and outside, to showcase the Grade I listed building and take its fascinating story to a wider audience.

The trail will launch for the national heritage open days in September and will include the memories of the local community and their happy times at the pump room.

Thank you to your readers who have shared their memories with us, and we welcome more photos, stories and experiences of visiting and enjoying the pump room. In the meantime, the doors are open again and visitors are being welcomed back inside.

A one-way covid safe viewing walkway has been created for visitors to come inside and take in the splendour of the main hall with its beautiful decorated dome, and to enjoy a 10 per cent discount at the café and on the Heritage retail range.

If you’d like to step inside and marvel at the beauty of the pump room, it is open for viewings today, Thursday May 20 between 10am and 4pm, and again tomorrow from 10am to 1pm. Capacities continue to be limited and the walkway can accommodate a maximum of 18 at any one time, visitors are asked to socially distance, and to be aware that the spa waters are not available to taste at this time.

More dates in June have been allocated to visit and the viewing open sessions will be available on Friday, June 4, Saturday, June 5, Sunday, June 6, Tuesday, June 8, Wednesday, June 9, Thursday, June 10, Friday, June 11, Monday, June 14, Tuesday, June 15, Wednesday, June 16 and Thursday, June 17, between 10am and 4pm.

It’s so good to open the doors of this beautiful building again and to welcome the community back and we