Paddy Tracey BBC Gloucestershire

The flowers of five crocus plants in bloom. There's purple and white petals and orange stamen. They're growing out of green grass in West Gloucestershire.

I love snowdrops, and it's always sad to see them start to fade for another year
But then these appear to bring more joy 🌸

🍐🌳🍻 Wassailing at The Hartpury Orchard Centre
Always a great evening
And the rain eased off too 🙂

✨Deerhurst, Gloucestershire. A kitchen in the nave and a bedroom in the chancel hid within plain sight an Anglo-Saxon chapel built by Earl Odda (a relation to Edward the Confessor). Re-discovered in 1865, it is the most complete surviving Saxon church in England.

Great shot, and love the Folk of Gloucester in the background. Great part of our city.

What a beautiful bird

A pint of Wye Valley Brewery's Anchorman at 3.4% on a red beermat on a wooden table in what's argued to be Gloucestershire's oldest pub The Black Bear Inn, Tewkesbury. There's light streaming in from the windows on the left of shot.

Whatever you're up to Gloucestershire, have a great weekend.
(And in case you're wondering this is Wye Valley Brewery's Anchorman at 3.4%)

Romanesque church stone doorway with bands of zig zag ornament, the outer course ending in a dragon and on the side a snake biting it's own tail. Two columns on the door jambs, wooden door.

Suffering for my art - absolutely pouring down in Bishop's Cleeve, #Gloucestershire, but a #AdoorableThursday door like this needs to be photographed! I've brightened it slightly so you can see better than I could in the ghastly gloom! #Romanesque and lovin' it...

A very large abbey church on a sunny day, with the odd fluffy cloud. It is viewed across a field, framed by trees. The massive central tower is the most prominent feature. The dominant colours are sandy yellow (the stone and parched grass), green and blue.

The Abbey Church of St. Mary, #Tewkesbury, formerly a Benedictine Abbey church. The fine crossing tower is 12th century, and one the best surviving examples. It used to have a wooden spire, but it blew down. #TowerTuesday #Gloucestershire #ChurchCrawling
📷 my own, from 2019

Stained glass image of a ploughman driving a plough pulled by two white oxen, caught in a roundel of feathery foliage, a detail of a larger design.

'God Speed the Plough!' it's #PloughMonday today, when the ploughmen, having had their ploughs blessed on the Sunday, would go out a-visiting round the houses - but here's a ploughman at work at Ebrington, #Gloucestershire, by Christopher Webb, 1964.

A frozen canal in Gloucestershire with the sun rising. The stern of a narrow boat is on the foreground and there’s trees in the distance.

Cold start to the week in Gloucestershire.
How cold?
Well the canal at Saul Junction is frozen.
(Thanks to Trudi for emailing this photo to the show this morning)

Plenty of sheep (perhaps Badger Faced Mules) all looking at the viewer in a field in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The sky is leaden, the grass is green and sheep are keen.

Ewe know when ewe get that feeling someone's following ewe? 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

Studio 2 at BBC Radio Gloucestershire. There’s a microphone, mixing desk, many screens, a notepad, glass of water, cup of tea, a mobile phone and a newspaper

Merry Christmas Gloucestershire 🎄
I’m reading your festive news this morning
Wishing you and yours a lovely, happy and peaceful day 🎄

The first "commercial break" on BBC Radio Gloucestershire - BBC Sounds Some quality products that don't actually exist in our "ad break".

We've got to pay for ourselves somehow 😉
Ladies and Gentlemen... The first ever commercial break on BBC Local Radio (disclaimer read in sped up voice "this is not an actual commercial break, none of the products exist, terms and conditions apply")
Merry Christmas - I'm reading your news tomorrow 🎄

Bryan Higgs was one of the BBC Radio Gloucestershire Make A Difference award winners this year 🏆
Top man!
Keep up the good work Bry 🥊

Practice

Learning to play the Carrot Flute - BBC Sounds Michelle from Phoenix Recorder Orchestra teaches Jon Smith how to play a vegetable.

🪈 You too can play the Carrot Flute.

Big thanks to Michele from the Phoenix Recorder Orchestra who showed @jonysmith.bsky.social how it's done.

Listen through BBC Sounds 📻 👇

Swear this happens every year, I catch a bunch of #Autumn pics that i'm pretty fond of, but then because they're not on the usual tags, no one gets to see them
but... well this view of the Devils Chimney, Cheltenham was pretty gorgeous esp. considering its moniker
🍂

A spooky tour of Gloucester - BBC Sounds Heather Hughes is shown around by Civic Trust guide Debbie Vass.

👻 We've met some characters on our Heather's "Spooky Tour of Gloucester"
Albert Jones' Handlebar Moustache (and love of beer)
The Watcher of St Mary's Gate
Demaris Deighton and her cellars
And of course Mischievous Maurice and his incontinent ghost dog 🐕
Big Thanks to The Gloucester Civic Trust 🎃

Love the carving on the Saxon Font in Deerhurst 🌀

A radio studio with multiple screens, keyboard, mixing desk, controller, headphones and microphones. There's a jacket hanging on that back of a chair and beyond that a glass window into the operations room.

Apologies to everyone in Gloucestershire yesterday that had to endure me reading the news for the first time in more than two years.
Whilst there was not enough in the way of animal stories for my liking, I did go large on Leather Shorts, Wooden Stools and Puddles of Beer.
Off the subs bench 🎙️📰

⚽ Big win for Mushet and Coalway at Fintan in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division Two
If twelve goals isn't enough for you what about Rodborough Old Boys v Falcons Reserves in the
Gloucestershire FA Intermediate (North) Cup Second Round?
You can keep your top flight snore draws ⚽

Interior view of Odda’s Chapel at Deerhurst in Gloucestershire. It was built in 1056 by Earl Odda, a relation of Edward the Confessor, for the soul of his brother Aelfric. 📸 My own. #SaxonSunday #Deerhurst #OddasChapel #Gloucestershire

It was lovely to have a chat with Dame Jacqueline Wilson at Cheltenham Literature Festival about her latest book and revisiting characters from her much loved children’s books. Hear with @jonysmith.bsky.social on his BBC Glos Breakfast Show 6-10am

@paddytracey.bsky.social

Well worth a listen 👇

I’m back on the Beeb! Tune in tomorrow and come with me on an art historical adventure!

"Sophie" from The Nippy Chippy takes our order - BBC Sounds Jon Smith meets "Sophie" the AI bot designed by Brad-Lee to help out at his Chip Shop.

🤖 Yes... I got binned off by a bot 💔
Find out what happened when we placed our order with "Sophie" at The Nippy Chippy in Stonehouse
She's the creation of Brad-Lee Narfuz who has rolled her out to more than ONE HUNDRED other takeaways 🍟
Listen through BBC Sounds 📻👇

"It's getting really tough to turn a profit" - BBC Sounds Jon Smith meets Emma Gibbon at The Hewlett Arms in Cheltenham.

🍺 Will you be going to the pub this weekend?
You might be surprised how little they make on each pint
Emma Gibbon from Cheltenham pubs The Plough and The Hewlett Arms wants the government to give the industry more support
Listen through BBC Sounds 📻👇

On a road trip to see all those saucy place names - BBC Sounds Jon Smith meets Dee and Tash on a tour of all those smutty signposts.

🗺️A map of smutty place names sent Dee and Tash from The Forest of Dean on a Rude Road Trip
(and if I ever see any innuendo in the show I whip it out)
Listen through BBC Sounds 📻👇

Georgie and her Historical Hysterical Critters - BBC Sounds Jon Smith meets "Queen Elizabeth I" from Berkeley Castle - and her friends.

👑 It's not everyday that Queen Elizabeth I comes to your radio station
And even rarer when she brings an Honduran Tarantula and Giant African Land Snail with her🐌
But that's how Georgie of Berkeley Castle rolls🕷️
Listen through BBC Sounds 📻👇

🎪 It's the Ashleworth Show.
Burgers, beer and bales
Bouncy Castle and Brass Band
Other letters of the alphabet remain available