While you couldn’t describe the art deco doorway as demure, the frenetic pace of day-to-day life means it can be all too easy to walk by Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum. Making time to explore the sprawling venue behind the street façade was well worth the investment, we found – discovering a treasure trove of trivia and gaining a sense of cultured satisfaction on a Sunday afternoon.

As well as the vivid oil paintings showing local dignitaries in all their glory, whimsical watercolours of bucolic landscapes, and the ubiquitous gold lacquered frames that you’d expect to find at most local art galleries – and the prehistoric arrow heads and stuffed animals you’d find at local museums across the country too, for that matter – the three-floored tardis is also home to some truly fascinating tales of the unexpected too.

A life-sized drummer was standing to attention, photographs of avocados lined a wall, a pink-feathered corset raised a few eyebrows, while conical towers covered in pencil sharpener shavings started a ‘what is art’ debate. Crammed with fascinating exhibits at every angle – look up at Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum and you might see a scary-looking chimney sweep sneering at you, look down and the keen-eyed will spy a mouse hole that is home to a bit of a surprise.

Up the squeaky stairs and along the creaking corridor, a paper dress in vogue in the swinging sixties was not the only thing to catch our eye in the section dedicated to Cheltenham’s history – learning that it wasn’t just bathing, beer brewing and glove making the town was once famous for, but tobacco-growing too way back in the 17th century.

A tiny room dedicated to the Antarctic explorer Edward Wilson was bustling with visitors admiring his fur outfit and reading about his adventures with Scott. Another room, dominated by huge Chinese pots, transported visitors away from Gloucestershire. While the dedicated arts and crafts gallery deserves a whole afternoon’s viewing by itself.

A portrait entitled The Ugly Duckling by Frank Cadogan Cowper creates a powerful entrance to the Summerfield Gallery. And while the painting itself is dazzling in all its toothy-grinned innocence, seeing a film about how the 16-year-old subject discovered the painting for herself on a visit to Cheltenham almost 60 years later is particularly magical.

It isn’t just the grey-haired brigade – of which there were plenty on our visit – who are treated to films either. In the children’s corner, under a painting by renowned local artist PJ Crook, there’s also a stop motion adventure showing the resident mice coming out to play when the museum closes, which seemed to capture the imagination judging by the squeals of excitement.

The smallest visitors were to found sat at tiny tables throughout the venue on our visit – clutching chubby crayons, colouring in penguins, dressing up in outfits and playing with curious creatures and creative toys – demonstrating the evident effort made to make it a family-friendly venue. A little more interactivity wouldn’t harm the adults’ enjoyment too, with a handful of installations including the animatronic Dance of the Seven Drawers by Rodney Forss creating a stir.

While Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum is attracting visiting daytrippers and overseas tourists by the bucketload – judging by the overheard accents – it’s Gloucestershire’s locals who are most in danger of overlooking this cultural gem. With free entry, and a regular line-up of visiting exhibitions and special events to boot, however – not to mention an ambitious £4 million extension on the horizon – we’ll be making this cultural haunt a regular lunchtime treat.

Michelle Byrne
22 March 2010