Leamington Spa

Leamington Spa used to be a village called Leamington Priors. Just like Bath and Cheltenham it owes its present day fame to its spa waters. At the turn of the 1800's salty spa water was rumoured to have magical properties and any town or village which had the benefit of this water could prosper as a result. Visitors flocked to Leamington and by 1814 the town had a pump room and baths and no shortage of people to make it popular.

Leamington Spa is a shoppers paradise. In addition to many branded good quality high street stores it is also home to many 'hard to find' unique and privately owned shops. Leamington Spa is within easy distance of Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon and Kenilworth and its famous castle. There is always a lot to see and do in Leamington Spa. There are also many students in the town, most of them from the nearby Warwick University. Once you have visited the Royal Pump Rooms you might take a stroll through Jephson Gardens with its boathouse and tea rooms.

Leamington Spa is home to the Peace Festival which takes place in the middle of the town. Over the course of a summer weekend there is free music, food stalls, fair trade stands and a variety of skilled artists and crafts experts. Everything is free and there is always something of interest to people of all ages.

For more photographs of Leamington Spa click here

Chedworth Roman Villa

Chedworth Roman Villa is one of Britain's largest Romanco-British villas situated at Yanworth not far from Northleach, near Cheltenham. The excavations provide a fascinating insight into this period of our history.

The site was discovered by a gamekeeper in 1864 who found fragments of pottery. The remains include over a mile of walls, mosaics, bath houses and a water shrine. There are various artifacts and the visitor centre provides an audio visual presentation.

Prior to the site being acquired by the National Trust, the Earl of Eldon provided the Museum and Custodians House and the roofing for many of the structures.

This is a National Trust site so the usual shop, tea and coffee facilities etc are all available. Parking is in a country lane so you may have to walk some distance on busy days.

In Roman times this site would probably not have had the dense vegetation that it does today. This is particularly true of the trees which would probably have been chopped down for building materials and firewood.

Chedworth Roman Villa, Yanworth, Nr Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. GL54 3LJ

For more photographs of Chedworth Roman Villa click here or view on You Tube

Cheltenham

The Regency town of Cheltenham is worth a visit for many reasons. The town's architecture and attractive parklands are two good examples. Cheltenham has worked hard to maintain its reputation for the quality and sheer brilliance of its floral displays which can be seen in many locations and are particularly prominent along the promenade.

Cheltenham is an old established town dating back to Saxon times. It is the most complete Regency town in England. A visit to Pitville Park and the Pitville Pump Room soon reveal its history as a Spa town. King George III visited Cheltenham in 1788 and set the trend for the drinking of the healthy water with its supposed healing qualities.

Cheltenham is excellent for shopping. The town centre features all the modern shops and conveniences you would expect and a vibrant and busy shopping arcade. The Montpellier area of town (not far from the Queen's Hotel) is a haven for the more discerning shoppers who might be looking for their next antique acquisition.

The restaurants and facilities at Cheltenham are excellent. The town has its own very well known racecourse, an impressive Town Hall and an abundance of attractions and places to visit literally on its doorstep. Cheltenham is the gateway to the Cotswolds.

For more photographs of Cheltenham click here


 

Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury, a town in Gloucestershire, is located on the River Severn where the river Avon joins it and where the locks and weirs along the route of the Avon allowed river traffic to reach the Severn.

Tewkesbury takes its name from Saxon times where a Saxon founded a hermitage in the seventh century. Theocsbury, as it would have been referred to, owes its very existence and prosperity to its nearby rivers.

Visitors to Tewkesbury will find several Tudor buildings including Gloucestershire's oldest public house, The Black Bear. Tewkesbury High Street is unique in its mix of old and new buildings and upon exploration there is plenty of interesting architecture to see.

This former market town has seen its fair share of historic battles and if towns could talk this would have plenty to tell. The Abbey Mill just off the High Street served as a centre for flour milling for centuries.

Tewkesbury is popular with tourists during the summer months and with easy access to the nearby M5 motorway it acts as a conduit for traffic taking scenic routes through the Gloucestershire countryside.

Tewkesbury plays host to a number of festivals. From February to October visitors can take part in a Winter Beer Festival, a Medieval Festival with real battle re-enactments and a fair, a water festival and the annual Mop Fair. For such a small town it has a significant events diary.

The Medieval Fair at Tewkesbury is Europe's largest free annual medieval battle re-enactment and fair. Thousands of dedicated battled hardened participants turn up for this.

The spectacular scenes and focus of all this attention is to re-create the Battle of Tewkesbury which took place in 1471

The Tewkesbury Abbey or The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the second largest parish church in England and was a former Benedictine Monastery.

Tewkesbury's importance as a market town would have been made all the more obvious to visitors by such an impressive structure. It's origins go back to the monastery when the Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII as part of the dissolution of the monasteries.

Generally the monastic buildings were demolished but this town managed to buy back the land and continue worshipping on the site. Although the Abbey has changed significantly over the years it still dominates the town.

Tewkesbury has its own modern industrial estate and the nearby Ashchurch army camp is one of the largest depots of its kind in the UK..

www.tewkesbury.gov.uk


For more photographs of Tewkesbury click here

 

Tewkesbury Floods

Tewkesbury suffered badly during the floods of July 2007. Whilst many counties were subject to particularly bad flooding during the year, the county of Gloucestershire was the worst affected.

June 2007 saw one of the wettest months on record for the UK. Rivers burst their banks and even flood defences in some locations did little to stem the flow of water which caused damage to thousands of homes.

At Tewkesbury the river burst its banks and part of the town and surrounding countryside became submerged. The flooding was so severe that Tewkesbury became completely cut off with little or no road access and parts of the town were under 3 feet or more of water.

Tewkesbury Abbey suffered its worst flooding in 245 years and the nearby Mythe Water Treatment Works was flooded and ceased pumping causing concerns for drinking water supplies. The army were called in to provide water bowsers and bottled water was shipped in to provide enough supplies while Severn Trent Water battled to restore service.

Emergency services struggled with unprecedented demand. The floods also caused problems and concern with electricity supplies.