Ron Ransford is a very well-known figure in Leamington. For many years, his family ran a building/demolition/recycling business in the town, and Ron has personally “seen off” a number of old Leamington landmarks during his working life.If you want to know where some significant artefact or piece of equipment from a long-vanished Leamington building, Ron … Read more
A few memories of a child in wartime by Eva Sabin, nee Kilby. I grew up in Kilby’s shop in High Street. We lived above the shop with my grandparents who owned it. My first recollection of the Second World War is a Sunday morning in the shop with my mother listening to the speech declaring … Read more
Jane Wray Gowns – Victoria Colonnade, Royal Leamington Spa Although the elegant figure on the left may not be instantly recognisable, many older Leamingtonians will remember her as ‘Jane Wray’, owner of the fashionable dress shop in the Colonnade. She was my mother, Mrs Jane Wheatley, seen here at home in Lansdowne Circus,modelling one of her … Read more
Eric chats about his long and varied life, as a window dresser, costume designer at the RSC, interior design specialist, entrepreneur and restaurateur. 51 mins. 57MB mp3 file. This recording was made as part of the “History @ Bath Place” project, 2007-9. eric-shadbolt
Betty is a “foreigner”: she came to live in Leamington at the age of 10, and found it all very different from where she had grown up. She gives her impressions of Bath Place School in 1938, dancing at the Palais in the 40s, and working as a typist at Ford’s. 52 mins. 54MB mp3 … Read more
Dorothy started working life in service, then worked at the Midland Counties Home for Incurables. She recounts what it was like to work there. 41 mins. 43MB mp3 file. This recording was made as part of the “History @ Bath Place” project, 2007-9. dorothy-marlow
Charles recounts memories of a boyhood in wartime – the Coventry Blitz, the street parties at the end of the War and for the Coronation, life at Sabin’s Bakery, and Saturday cinema in the 1950s. 50 mins. 53MB mp3 file. This recording was made as part of the “History @ Bath Place” project, 2007-9. charles-sabin
Kevin talks about a life in music, from Rentons Rare Records to playing home-made instruments (watering can, anyone?) on TV’s Blue Peter and in many local schools. 31 mins. 33MB mp3 file. This recording was made as part of the “History @ Bath Place” project, 2007-9. kevin-renton
Bob reminisces with LHG member Colin Jennings about their early years in Windsor Street in the 1940s. 13 mins. 14MB mp3 file. This recording was made as part of the “History @ Bath Place” project, 2007-9. bob-ross
(compiled from extracts from ‘living memory’ interviews conducted 2006/2007) Recollections 1920’s-1930’s Over a lifespan of 120 years, there was little structural change in the houses on Althorpe Street from their being built in the mid 1830’s to being demolished in the early1950’s. The street was basically two long rows of terraced houses broken up by … Read more
Many people refer jokingly to discoveries, inventions, memoirs, as jottings ‘on the back of an envelope’. This is the real thing. In 2011 Leamington History Group inherited an intriguing little archive from local historian Toby Cave. At first sight it was just a small brown cardboard box full of all kinds of scraps of paper … Read more
Do you recognise this building with its decorative carved columns? It’s one known to generations of Leamingtonians as Sabin’s, – the Leamington bread shop and bakery in years gone by. Mona Radford, nee Sabin, was born at the shop in Farley Street, into a family business started by her great grandfather Joseph, who seems to … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
September 9, 2026
August 12, 2026
August 8, 2026