Books by Peter Smith

Peter Smith (1917-2007) moved to Cheltenham in 1962 with his wife Judy, and was often to be seen about the town, instantly recognisable by his shock of thick white hair and his purposeful stride. He inspired everyone that he met with his enthusiasm, his dedication, his boyish sense of humour and most of all with his energy. Peter and Judy played an active part in the activities of many local groups, including Cheltenham Local History Society, for whom Peter led a team indexing the Cheltenham Examiner newspaper. He saw the project to its successful completion in 2006, providing an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the history of Cheltenham. He was regularly to be found collecting funds for Cheltenham Samaritans and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution on Boots Corner, and often carried out Church Watch duties at St Mary's Parish Church. Peter is, perhaps, best remembered as Plaque Officer for Cheltenham Civic Society, coordinating the Society's commemorative plaques scheme from 1995-2005. He also lovingly recorded details of the many other plaques, large and small, old and new, erected by individuals, or by groups such as the Public Libraries Committee, in the town. In 2001 he was given the Alderman Charles Foster MBE award in well-deserved recognition for his voluntary work in Gloucestershire and, in particular, for his untiring efforts for the Cheltenham Civic Society. Sadly Peter died in 2007, at the age of 91, and so did not see the publication of this book. Sue Rowbotham was born in Hampshire, but moved to Cheltenham at the age of two weeks and has lived in the town since that time, so considers herself to be a true 'Cheltonian'. She was bitten by the local history bug in 1998 whilst her two children were at Christ Church Junior School, and has researched and written about the town's past in a wide variety of ways ever since. She collaborated with the University of Gloucestershire to design a CD-ROM on Cheltenham's history for use in schools, based around the national curriculum, and contributed research to the project that led to the performance of Our Town Story: Cheltenham at the Millennium Dome in 1999. Sue published Cheltenham: A History, co-authored by Jill Waller, in 2004, which covered the history of the town from prehistory to the present day. She was editor of the Cheltenham Local History Society Journal from 2002-8, and has provided advice and computer support to the Society teams indexing local newspapers. She was awarded a Cheltenham Arts Council citation for her services to Local History in 2006.