Betty Monica Still In an interview a couple of years ago with Betty Still, Betty recounted her early life in Leamington and her work as a telephonist up to and through WW2, in Leamington and Coventry. She was born at 4 Victoria Road Leamington Spa. When she was five, the family moved to 42 Willes … Read more
In the summer of 2016, Leamington History Group received a message asking for help from Alberto Guido Chester, a knife historian and researcher in Argentina who had acquired a “gaucho” knife probably made in the 19th Century and stamped ‘Hobson Cutler Leamington’ (right). Alberto had not been able to find much useful information about … Read more
Harry Warr joined his father George* in business as a plumber and house decorator when he left Clapham Terrace School aged thirteen in 1923. By the outbreak of WW2, he had become a Special Constable, and joined the Police War Reserve. In October 1943, Harry was drafted into the Navy, and the business was ‘mothballed’ … Read more
Lockdown Living History Research Challenge Thank you to all contributors for the Leamington History Group’s Living History Lockdown Project. A new contribution from a youngster was added on 29th April. The ‘Leamington Scrubbers’ When the Covid pandemic took hold, Ashleigh Linsdell, a nurse from Cambridge, started a grass-roots movement For the Love of Scrubs to … Read more
The second in our series of videos about the history of Leamington tells the story of Leamington’s development during the Victorian Age, and reveals how many of Leamington’s most famous landmarks came into being.
The story of Leamington’s water supply, subtitled “History under your feet” is a presentation on the Warwickshire Industrial Archaeology website by Jeff Burgess, well known to many members for his talks on the water industry. Jeff encourages us to look down as we stroll around town, and to appreciate what is there, under our feet, … Read more
Few visitors to the parish church can fail to see the various memorial tablets on the wall of the north transept. A number of these plaques record the death in Leamington of senior naval officers who had served in the wars against the French. A little research reveals that four of these were vice-admirals who … Read more
Many Leamingtonians are not aware of the detail of the bombing raids on Leamington during the Second World War. Ask them if we were bombed and they will often tell you that Queen Victoria’s statue was moved because of a bomb. Many will tell you that Lipton’s grocery shop on the Parade was demolished … Read more
The story of the ship’s orchestra playing the hymn ‘Nearer my God to Thee’ as the Titanic sank is well known and documented. Survivors of the sinking also recounted how a Roman Catholic priest gathered more than a hundred passengers round him on the stern of the ship and led them in prayer after all … Read more
Perhaps you are vaguely aware of the shield for Leamington which has a chevron on top of a lion with two tails, three stars at the top and a border containing eight fleurs-de-lys. In an idle moment you may have wondered about its origins, what it all represents and if it tells you anything about … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
July 22, 2026
June 9, 2026