91Èȱ¬

Hope you've enjoyed our week hearing from people who are involved in 'restoration' in Gloucestershire....

Take a look at Keith Harding who restores musical boxes so that you can hear them in the World of Mechanical Music in Northleach.

And we heard from Dominic Mills from T. Neilson and Co Shipyard in Gloucester who's hoping that a famous boat from 1912 will be the next project.

They've bid for the rights to restore 'The Nomadic' which took passengers to the Titanic.

As Editor of the Forester newspaper Viv Hargreaves is used to covering the news with us on Breakfast, but now that her pond and viaduct are finished she's making it.....

I'm a very jealous boy!!!

Steve Kitchen in for Mark again this week...

We've been looking at the restoration of old photographs and cine film.

John in Cam sent me this fabulous picture of his Mother, as a baby, taken in Dursley in 1912.

The image has undergone quite a bit of refinement, from original sepia photograph to 'grayscale' and then sharpened with specks or flaws 'painted out'.

And it really was worth it - thanks John!

My Grandad was a keen cine enthusiast. Quite a few years ago we had his films converted to VHS video and so I've bravely agreed to show you how cute I once was, and how clumsy I've always been.....

All this week on the Breakfast show we're exploring the theme of restoration.

It's after Dave Taylor, a Morris Minor enthusiast, from Gloucester got in touch with the show.

He's been restoring a 1971 Morris Minor traveller. He's done the outside...but now he's stuck with the interior.

Other topics we'll be exploring include how to restore old photographs and films, we'll be at the Mechanical Museum in Northleach to investigate the restoration of old musical instruments and we'll spend a morning at a shipyard in Gloucester.

I've really enjoyed a diverse week on Breakfast.

Well done to all the students in the county who did so well once again on A Level results day, especially Charlotte Stevens. We joined Charlotte at her home in Abbeymead Gloucester, 18 years after the Breakfast Show had visited the maternity unit and spoke to her mum Gill, just hours after Charlotte was born. Next up is Cardiff University so I'm looking forward to us being there on Graduation day.

Our look at Gloucestershire childcare over the week has uncovered many stories....from grandparents sharing the burden to nurseries hit by the recession. On Friday's show I was joined by the student nurse who, as a young single mum, told me how grateful she was for free state childcare that had enabled her to continue to learn.

So with this in mind I was delighted to end the week with this text message...

Hi Steve
My daughter fell pregnant at a very young age. She has just graduated with a Law degree from Surrey Uni. She has yesterday been told she has got a place at the London College of Law, one of the top law colleges, to further her education before going into practise. I am very proud of her as you might imagine but the state has certainly helped her. She is now 23 with a 6 year old daughter.

Next week we're going to have a look at 'Restoration' in the county. From cars, to buildings and from musical instruments to photos, there are skilled people who get things back to how they used to be. Are you a restorer? Have you had something restored? I'd love to hear from you, and why not send me some photos of your 'before and afters' for the blog.

Have a great weekend
Steve

Take a look at this fantastic sunrise from the window of the 91Èȱ¬ Radio Gloucestershire newsroom this morning.

We'd love to see the sunrise from your part of the county.

Email them to us cummings@bbc.co.uk

Already you're beating us with your magnificent sunrise pics. This one was taken by Rob Boulton from his narrowboat "TYWARDREATH" on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal at 5:30am today. Can you do better?

Whilst I'm looking after the Breakfast Show and this Blog I'm enjoying seeing your pictures of my home county.

Peter and Alison have the fortune of enjoying the county and the River Severn onboard their narrowboat 'Gwenellen'. Thanks to them for forwarding on these shots of the Purton Hulks, at high tide, with the sun setting behind the Forest.

Keep them coming!

Steve Kitchen

The quote of the day on Tuesday's Breakfast came from Vanessa Flewitt, the Manager of the Cheltenham Hospital Nursery, as part of our week long look at Child Care in the County. Talking about the pressures of finding a nursery place she said, "we've recently had some parents coming straight here after a confirmed pregnancy test to book a place for their child." I couldn't believe my ears!

As part of Wednesday's Show we're previewing the new 91Èȱ¬ series 'The Great British Bake Off'. It's a search for top amateur bakers, and I'm guessing that we're well stocked for talent here in Gloucestershire.

So what a perfect excuse for you to show off your proud creations on the blog. As a boy I remember my Mum having a crack at some great Birthday cakes over the years, from sponge cricket pitches and snooker tables to iced guitars, she tried most things.

So have you made a top tier cake, or buns with a bonus? If so, I'd love to see your pictures and then I can post a few right here on the blog.

With Mark on his holiday I'm looking after the blog as well as the Breakfast Show and look forward to receiving some of your stories, thoughts and photos of Gloucestershire.

You might remember Mark telling the story of Rainbow's (5oz) giant egg here on the blog. Well now its " eggcited" owner Jeremy has got back in touch to reveal the contents - a 'Double Yolker' that was used by his wife Lindsey to make some lovely muffins, cracking!

On Tuesday's show we're going to be talking about some sightings of a huge wild boar in the county, so if you've get any great tales or snapshots of the forest dwellers please send them on. Your proud porky picture could be on here very soon.

Catch you in the morning from 6am

Steve Kitchen

Shooting stars and a night time bore.

What more could you want for a magical evening in Gloucestershire? Here is the view from Minsterworth church late on Thursday evening.

Thanks to Kevin Powell for this dreamy photograph.

This is a picture of the ship Wilson Caen arriving at Sharpness Docks on Tuesday evening. With a load of fertiliser fresh from Latvia it makes a fascinating silhouette against the sunset

We were talking on the air last week about the old shops that used to be in the centre of Cheltenham.

We have done a little more digging and found some more lovely old photos of the shops that used to be part of everyday life. You can see them all, full size, here on the blog on a special page.

If you have any memories of special shops email them to me or leave a comment.

updated comments.

Steve Moth remembered working at Maypole Dairies after school with a young fellow called Jack who worked on the bacon slicer...Shirley from Bourton wrote wistfully about Sid Tongs a little music shop in Winchcombe Street...Amanda loved the money capsule in Wards where your change would whizz up a tube.

Many people wanted to know if there are any books about old Cheltenham shops. Yes there is!

Cheltenham;

Plus thanks to Dave for this list.

Images of Cheltenham by Eric Franks...Century of Cheltenham by Robin Brooks...Cheltenham in Old Photographs by Roger Whiting...Cheltenham in the 1950s by Peter Gill and Cheltenham A Pictorial History by Steven Blake.

It's something many people in the county will have witnessed, but have you ever seen the Severn Bore by night?

This week on the show we're talking about the magic of experiencing Gloucestershire's very own natural phenomenon by the light of the moon.

There are a series of evening bores this week, with a five star expected late on Thursday.

Check the bore times .

It's 21m high and is set to become a Gloucester landmark... but what do you make of the new sculpture at the Docks?

'The Candle' has been designed by Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress and is part of the city's regeneration project.

It has lines from the poem, Requiem, by the Gloucester writer, Ivor Gurney, engraved around the base.

Jeremy Power is the proud owner of Rainbow... who produced this beauty. It weighs 5 ounces... more than twice the average weight of 2 ounces.

Pond envy or what?

Friday's co host is Viv Hargreaves from the Forester newspaper. Her husband has erected a train track around the garden including this wonderful viaduct!!

The master plan for Gloucester's Railway Triangle has been approved.

The Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company has set out its vision for the 30 acre derelict site.

It includes 360 new homes, around 700 square metres of community retail and a health innovations centre.

An evening's view from Coaley Peak. Looking past Slimbridge across the Severn to Blakeney to the Black Mountains with Hay Bluff being the farthest point to the right hand side (41miles away). A view seen much as it was probably by the inhabitants of the Long Barrow some 2900 years ago! As taken by Nigel Phillips.

We've had a wonderful tour around one of Gloucestershire's most intriguing communities.

The Breakfast Show's Kate Clark met the people of Whiteway...just south of Birdlip and to the east of Sheepscombe. Here are her thoughts on a memorable visit.

I hoped to arrive at Whiteway with an open mind, receptive to new ideas and eager to discover the philosophy behind the community. However, this was well-nigh impossible as I had already heard the whispers of Whiteway. The hearsay on the hill lead me to believe I was about to find a bohemian group of flower power, wife-swapping radicals, who were perhaps 'past their best'. God forgive they might even be nude! At this point I was wondering if I needed back up, headstrong I might be but that won't help me with their sorcery.

I could not have been further from the truth. The first person I met was a small, silver haired and sensibly dressed lady in her eighties. This is Joy Evans, daughter of leatherworkers who settled in the colony during the 1920s. Joy is a wood carver, her husband was a furniture maker and her son is an artist blacksmith. In a matter of fact manner she described how difficult live was at Whiteway. The small wooden houses were cold, drinking water had to be carried ¼ mile from the stream and the farming land was thin and stony. Water was not piped until 1949, electricity did not arrive until the early 1950s and the toilet would have been a 'bucket and chuck it.' I was questioning the mindset of anyone who chose to live this severe way of life. Was the dream of building a community free from restraint and injustice really worth it? Joy's eyes sparkled when she spoke of a wonderful free childhood, where neighbours were seen as aunts and uncles and gardens were without boundaries.

Today's residents say they were 'drawn' to Whiteway. Penny White and her husband were won over by the open land and a stream at the bottom of the garden. Chris England and her husband had waited 35 years to buy a house in the colony and Joy Thacker said the moment she walked up the path to her one bedroom bungalow, it just 'felt right.' The Whiteway pioneers in 1898 wanted a community free from prejudice, where everyone would share work, food, companionship and live in equality. Today Whiteway seems very much laid back. No-one will force you into joining in with community chores and meetings. However, if you would like to live somewhere peaceful and safe where your neighbours will go out of their way to help you, then Whiteway it is. I was converted, or was that an effect of something in my tea?