Lee Longland, 210-216 Bath Road (formerly 3, 4, 5 & 6 Waterloo Terrace)

The right hand corner of this furniture shop was formerly known as 6 Waterloo Terrace, which in 1857 was Charles Ballinger’s butcher’s shop, possibly the first one in the Upper Bath Road. The shop was successful and after his death in 1899 his son, also named Charles, bought these premises for £340.

Charles (junior) was also a butcher but had a lucrative side-line teaching keep-fit lessons at Cheltenham College, an example of how the traders prospered from the presence of the school. Being something of a keep-fit enthusiast Charles kept a set of weights in the shop and often challenged his customers to weight-lifting contests. On occasion the challenger, unable to hold the weights, sent them crashing down through the wooden floor, into the cellar below!

Some of the wealthier customers tended to delay settling their accounts for a whole year. Despite these difficulties Charles would always find some meat for the poor at the end of the day. However Charles closed the butchery at the start of the First World War in 1914. His sons had already enlisted in the army and, aged 43, he joined the Catering Corps. He survived the war and on his return to England he resumed his trade as a butcher at St. Marks in Cheltenham.

In 1916 these premises became the hairdressing business of Mr George Thompson. An excellent barber, he preferred to take his time and would frequently leave his customer waiting in the chair half way through a haircut whilst he went to have a cup of tea. Nevertheless he traded successfully here for over forty years.

In 1969 Mr Chapman, who already had an adjacent furniture shop, extended it into these corner premises. He was bought out in 1972 by Lee Longland of Birmingham, who celebrate more than 120 years in the furniture business.

Walk until you are opposite the Red Cross clothing shop