A 1940s People Carrier
August 8, 2014
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
Leamington at War
August 8, 2014
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
Graham Jones – woodcarver – revisits Jephson Gardens
August 6, 2014
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.
Sam Lockhart, Elephant Trainer Extraordinaire
August 2, 2014
The world’s foremost elephant trainer began his working life as a circus acrobat and when he died was described by the Leamington Courier newspaper as a ‘retired giant of the entertainment industry’. The dapper little man with the magnificent white moustache was one of Leamington’s most recognisable residents in the years between the two world
The “King of Clubs” William James Henri Lawton (1871-1964)
July 30, 2014
Born in Warwick in August 1871, small in stature (5ft 4½ in) and slender in build (9st 3lb), Henri Lawton nonetheless became a renowned gymnastic, boxing and fencing instructor, the author of 2 small books on exercise and fitness, and in 1895, World Champion Indian club swinger. To claim the title, which had almost always gone to an American before this, Henri
James Edward Duggins R.B.A (1881-1968)
July 30, 2014
Leamington artist & photographer James Edward Duggins was born on 27th March, 1881, the son of a Cubbington watchmaker. He studied under Algernon Talmage with the Newlyn School. In St Ives, Duggins became friends with John Anthony Park whose marine pictures were a big source of inspiration to him. He met Edward Stott and Sir George Clausen who had a profound
Carol Circuit’s Leamington Mystery
July 30, 2014
A few years ago I made a most extraordinary discovery and Leamington Spa is at the heart of this find. When I accepted a commission to reupholster a Victorian chaise longue, I expected to find the traditional stuffing of horsehair inside. Instead I found a cache of artefacts dating from theVictorian period, including a name
Travelling to School on the Train . . . . 1955 – 1962
July 9, 2014
Back in the mid – 1950s, following my success in passing the eleven plus examination, I was offered a place at the Hugh Clopton School for Girls at Stratford upon Avon (later The Stratford upon Avon Grammar School for Girls at Shottery Manor). When I first started there a lot of Leamington girls chose to travel by train,
W J Bradley, (1873 – 1964), Basket Maker and Antiquarian
July 9, 2014
William Bradley was born into a family of Leamington basket makers, who grew their own osiers on a small island in the River Leam, adjoining Welch’s Meadow. Both Kit Smith and Eva Sabin remember a smallish, kindly man, working on his little patch in the river. Kit’s father, the boot-maker from Bath Street, had a small boat which
Leamington’s First Velocipede?
July 9, 2014
As many of us begin dusting off our bikes for a burst of spring fitness, we don’t usually give much thought to cycling’s early days, or how cycles came to be made. Many of the early models were very much a local product but still hard to come by. In 1837, the young John Charles Manning was desperate
