Correct Cheltenham pronunciation?

[Miss Green]

Some friends and myself have got a disagrement regarding how to exactly pronounce Cheltenham, where some say it very lazily I tend to and stick by a very strickt Chel-ten-ham. Any one that can put some light into this one please contact me so that I can sleep again at night.

[dzug]

Other than shortening it to Cheltnum, I can't think of any other way of saying it. And I can't see anything 'incorrect' about Cheltnum.

Which way it is said says more about the speaker than correctness.

You need to find bigger things to lose sleep over....♫

[emmylou_c]

well i live between cheltenham and gloucester and i say cheltnum

[Whoa Nelly]

Some people who live here call it Nam. People who come from Cheltenham are known as Cheltonians but I was not born here and prefer to be known as a Cheltenhammer. It is also a town with 2 different accents depending on where you were educated.

[spudqueen]

The in-laws live near Cheltenham and have a little laugh when people pronounce it Chel-ten-ham. They always say Cheltnum.

[RAW004]

I lived there until I was 19 and I don't know anyone that calls it Chel-ten-ham, Everyone I know calls it Cheltnum.

Taking Whoa Nelly's point that there are two accents in Cheltenham depending on education, I have friends that went to Cheltenham College and friends that went to a local comprehensive and they all say Cheltnum

[camelbreath]

I was brought up and educated in Cheltenham and would say that it should be pronounced the same way as Chippenham i.e. without dropping the 'e'; however, some people, outsiders in particular, different sections of the community and immigrants to Cheltenham insist on dropping the 'e'.
Each to his own, as long as people understand each other, the language is successful.
If you want to bastardise the language, don't be surprised if people find it harder to understand you.
People who sneer at others over such petty differences are often ignorant or have insecurities that prompt them to behave this way.

[allure2019]

I believe the correct pronunciation is Chet-num with the l, en and the h silent.