Leamington

It's not much more than an hour away, yet we hardly ever go to Royal Leamington Spa, as they like it to be known. I was there yesterday for a meeting about the Heritage Open Days, a national celebration of our heritage and culture - construed in the widest sense. 50 countries now take part, we were told. At the time, I mentioned that a sub-set of domestic properties calling itself Cheltenham Eco Homes took part in the HODs weekend for the first time last September: we were encouraged by the public response to repeat the process, and are now calling ourselves Cheltenham ECOHAB - standing for something like energy conservation opportunities - houses and (other) buildings. A colleague and I thought we should tap into what's going on during the HODs in other places - hence the trek over to Warwickshire. The "organiser forum", led by a couple of lively young London ladies, was well attended, and included a tour of the Pump Rooms and the integral Art Gallery & Museum.

Leamington has got it together in a way which puts Cheltenham to shame: it's a tribute to the energies and vision of I guess just one or two people, one certainly being our guide who started as a typist there 20 years ago and now seems to run the place. This unusual royal coat of arms is up in the main hall, not as large or elegant as the Pittville Pump Room, but well used for chamber music, I note from the bumf.

Cheltenham Eco Homes

Ours must be the least eco of the ten private houses open to the public today, as part of the Heritage Open Days scheme. This is the first year that eco homes have featured alongside buildings of architectural interest, such as Maggie's Centre which we visited on Thursday. There was a pretty continuous trickle of visitors, to look at our new boilers and solar thermal installation: BCL Energy set up a display in the dining-room, and Caroline sold jam and chutney, much of it made from what we grow in the garden. In fact everyone wanted to see the garden, blown about as it has been this last week or so. The chickens were a great draw of course. We were exhausted by the time the last people left!

At the risk of moral showboating, it seems to me extraordinarily appropriate to have held this first Cheltenham Eco Homes day on 11th September. On the back of 9/11 2001, we went to war in Iraq over oil; and even by reducing our demand for oil, we are unlikely to be able to avoid altogether further resource conflict. But to reduce it must be a first step.

Maggie's, Cheltenham

On this, the first of this year's Heritage Open Days, we were able to visit the relatively new Cheltenham Maggie's Centre, open from 1 to 6 today. Our hostess Rachel couldn't have been more welcoming, though she had already had 40 visitors by mid-afternoon.

I would never have imagined such an unpromising building as the old Cheltenham College pool-keeper's house being transformed into so special a place, but architect Richard MacCormac has achieved a wondrous conversion and enlargement. The garden alone is worth a visit, with its Bill Pye fountain snaking along the entrance path. Why can't all modern buildings be as beautiful?

Heritage Open Days

I have been stewarding at St Gregory's today: it is open under the Civic Trust's Heritage Open Days scheme, as it was also last year. We didn't get many visitors, but those who did come along seemed to be seriously interested. Hugh Greenhalf had put up a most informative display illustrating the history of the church and of the Cheltenham Catholic community: I loved the contemporary newspaper's description of the incredibly grand opening ceremony, with Cardinal Wiseman in all his pomp. This of course is what the Latin Mass Society's adherents want us to return to! (God forbid!)

One of our "visitors" - as I at first took him to be - was none other than our new parish priest, Fr. Bosco MacDonald: I took this photograph of him, for the rogues' gallery in the church porch, but I haven't the patience to remove the evidence of rain from his coat, in Photoshop; so I shall have to take another one in due course.