Ribbon has long been regarded as one of the oldest of decorative materials. During the Middle Ages merchants travelled throughout Europe trading ribbons of silk and other expensive fabrics from the East. Geoffrey Chaucer mentions ‘ribbands’ in the Canterbury Tales. Originally only the well-to-do could afford such a luxury item but by the 1800’s ribbons … Read more
As a result of the Spanish Civil War, over 4000 children, some only just over the age of six, were evacuated from Northern Spain to Britain in 1937. Suffering extreme hardship, violence, imprisonment without trial, and widespread poverty under the Franco regime, for the families of the Basque evacuees life had become an endless struggle … Read more
Was the remarkable life of this man saved by the mineral waters of Leamington Spa at the age of 21? John Ruskin was a writer, artist, art critic and polymath who was precocious at all stages of his life. He championed J M W Turner, the Pre-Raphaelites, Gothic architecture and the Arts and Crafts … Read more
Alan Griffin recently discovered that some of the recordings that members of the Leamington History Group made in the studio at the old Art Gallery several years ago are now on line. You may like to listen to them using this link – Community Arts Workshop:- Recycling Memories The programme runs for about 15 minutes. … Read more
Elizabeth Anne Galton was a Victorian gentlewoman, the eldest of six daughters and three sons born to a wealthy Quaker banking family and related through her mother to the Darwin family. She was not a feisty high-achiever, explorer or philanthropist, but she played a significant role for future historians at least in recording her memories … Read more
In October 1940, a fresh-faced young American named John Buccellato, just out of his teens, enlisted in the United States Army Infantry. His parents who were middle-class Sicillian immigrants lived in an apartment block facing Central Park in New York City. His mother was a milliner. Within two years ‘Butch’ Buccellato found himself in … Read more
Beech Lawn, “Dr Jephson’s splendid mansion” once stood at the corner of Warwick Street and Dale Street. Designed by a local architect, William Startin, it was built by a workforce of 140 in 1830-31 for the Leamington doctor, whose advocacy of a plain diet, exercise and the taking of the Leamington waters made the Spa … Read more
The photograph to the right, taken in Leamington in 1865, is of former crewmen of the Confederate naval ship, the Shenandoah. What circumstances brought these sailors to Leamington at a time when fellow Americans were celebrating the ending of the Civil War? Four years earlier, the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, sent his representative, James M … Read more
Like its former distinguished Headmaster Dr Joseph Wood, seen here, the old Leamington College building in Binswood Avenue has recently passed into history . . . as a school. Designed by the architect David Squirhill and opened in 1848 it was the first purpose-built school in Leamington. Apart from a brief period as … Read more
When I was a young lad growing up in the nineteen- fifties, my father was a baker in the small Warwickshire town of Southam. In 1947 he had purchased the old windmill and the bakery business that went with it and my two brothers and I moved in to the small cottage that went with the … Read more
Surprisingly, practically nothing has been written about the war years in Leamington or of local people’s wartime experiences. Some recent research into those unfortunate Leamington residents killed by wartime bombing suggests that the war years are a period in urgent need of recording. Such a project is something that almost every member of our group can contribute to in some way. Many of our members will have first‐hand experiences to share and even us wartime … Read more
On August 2 and 3, during the Leamington Studio Arts in the Park festival, 2014, Wood carver and sculptor, Graham Jones, was seen at work in Jephson Gardens. In 2013 Graham was commissioned by Warwick District Council to create a number of wood sculptures from sections of trunk taken from an old diseased beech tree. … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
June 9, 2026
May 26, 2026