It’s never wise to guess what weather is around the corner; however, at the time you read this, we should be noticing longer and lighter days reappearing here in Cheltenham. While I wouldn’t bet against needing our coats and umbrellas for a little longer, the end of winter and start of spring is approaching.

It won’t be long until thoughts turn towards our vibrant festivals, including the one hundredth anniversary of the very first Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts – which was founded in 1926 and has run continuously ever since.

In the same year that our Festival of Performing Arts first took place, our former Queen Elizabeth II was born, as was Marilyn Monroe. The television was first demonstrated by inventor John Logie Baird and Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne was first published in London. Would you have guessed that all of these events are one hundred years old in 2026?

And what of the future? What will Cheltenham look like in a century, in the year 2126?
Long-term planning is at the heart of what the Council does, which is why we are making significant investment in new facilities, affordable homes and better access to Cheltenham’s new business areas.

A brighter future for our town

We also believe that investment in our people and in the services we provide will stand the test of time. This year we’ll be making strides in training and jobs, as well as providing opportunities for entrepreneurs, young people and our businesses, which will provide a brighter future for our town.

The Council has championed the Golden Valley development, which will bring enormous investment into Cheltenham from national and major international companies. This investment will bring new schools, new homes, new leisure and shopping facilities and new, much-needed GP surgeries.

We might not know what inventions will have revolutionised life in 2126, nor which of the babies born in our hospitals this year will change the world, or even which books we’ll be reading to our children – but we can be sure that in one hundred years’ time Cheltenham will be succeeding.