Transport

Railway Station

This railway station is the sole survivor of the four railway stations that served the town at some time. Two earlier stations not on this site were constructed: one off Rugby Road for the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1844 (see article) and the other off Avenue Road was opened in 1854 for the London … Read more

Milverton Stations

The first suggestion for a railway connection to Leamington appeared in a report of a survey for a railway from Coventry in February 1839. The route was proposed as a branch to connect the towns of Leamington and Warwick to the London to Birmingham line which had been opened on 17th September 1838. Milverton was a … Read more

Midland Red Bus Garages in Leamington Spa

 A well-known building in the town for over 50 years was the bus garage in Old Warwick Road at the corner of Tachbrook Road. Opened in April 1922 this Midland Red Bus Depot was one of the oldest purpose-built garages within the Midland Red Company. When built it was only suitable for single-deckers and open-top … Read more

Burlington Motor Company of Leamington Spa

A brief history of Burlington Motor Company of Leamington Spa written by its founder Haydn Davies I have always had an interest in home-built cars and in the mid/late 1970s there was an upsurge in companies building kits for such things and, the more I looked at the available kits, the more I thought “I … Read more

Posters of Royal Leamington Spa

Posters have been used for many years to advertise the attractions of the town and the railways which served the town. Here is a selection of them. They were displayed at railway stations and other places around the country and probably contributed greatly to the number of visitors. We would welcome other posters; please contact … Read more

Archive (Automotive) Antics No 1

I was wondering, lonely as a cloud, through the Archive the other day and was thinking about the Blue Plaque that was put up in September 2023 to William Munger Heynes. William Munger Heynes was a man who was instrumental in the design, performance and production of so much of Jaguar’s successful days after WW2. … Read more

Norman Hyde – Motorcycle Land Speed Record Holder

Norman Hyde, the legendary motorcyclist from Leamington, has been honoured to mark the 50th anniversary of his land speed record. Back in 1972, Norman who lives at Radford Semele, rode his home-built Roadrunner III to a speed of 161.8mph at RAF Fairford and in doing so achieved the World Sidecar Land Speed Record – an … Read more

William Munger Heynes 1903-1989, Chief Engineer with Jaguar

William Munger Heynes (31.12.1903 – 11.07.1989) William Heynes was born at 11 Percy Terrace, Leamington Spa, one of a family of five boys. He was educated at Warwick School from 1914 to 1921, when he started as an apprentice draughtsman at the Humber Car Company in Coventry. He worked in the design department, learning every … Read more

Coach Houses

This is a slideshow by Alan Griffin which has images of many buildings which were coach houses in years past. Click on the forward and back arrows on screen or on the keyboard to navigate through the presentation. Click on the square symbol in the bottom right corner to enter full-screen mode. Coach houses slideshow … Read more

Massey Bromley, Railway Locomotive Engineer

Massey Bromley has at least two connections with Leamington Spa; he was a pupil at Leamington College and also he is buried in Leamington cemetery in Brunswick Street and has a memorial in St Mary’s church. He was pretty unique in that he was possibly the only locomotive superintendent with a railway company at the … Read more

Railways to Royal Leamington Spa

This is an introduction to the railways of Leamington Spa and a longer and more detailed Research Paper is available HERE In the nineteenth century Leamington Spa was blessed with the construction of railway lines radiating in several directions. Leamington missed out on the first main line from London to Birmingham which opened in 1838 … Read more