Leamington Past and Present

I recently visited Leamington for a few days. It is familiar territory since it was part of the broader Warwick-Leamington urban area that provided me with various sorts of distraction when growing up in the 1950s. To say that it is ‘familiar’, though, is not quite accurate since it has changed very considerably.

Remembering the area

As I remember it, it was always divided geographically and remains so. The northern part was clearly wealthier, with swathes of the sort of Regency architecture which characterised other spa towns of the 19th century like Bath and Cheltenham. There was also what was known as ‘South Leamington’; always and for the most part working class, somewhat stigmatised, and presumably one time home to those who worked for the wealthy retirees and seekers of health who frequented the spa: the army of maids, man servants, retail clerks, bath attendants and such like. By the 1950s, the original spa functions were long gone. What had been passed down was a shopping area noted for its ‘quality’ stores serving a regional market that was much larger than that for neighbouring Warwick, which had been the original market town.

Also by then Leamington had become a significant industrial centre, catering largely to the needs of the automobile industry. Lockheed produced brakes and clutches, whilst the Ford foundry manufactured castings for the assembly plant at Dagenham. The houses of South Leamington were now the homes of the blue collar worker.

Changes

Now the Ford foundry has disappeared to be replaced by a shopping centre while there is a shrunken Lockheed presence. Meanwhile from the ruins of deindustrialisation, a new and very prosperous town has emerged in a seemingly seamless manner. It is also much larger than it was, as is neighbouring Warwick which has shared to some degree in the growth of employment in the area.

There have been several, ostensibly independent developments which have come together to produce this result. The first is the growth of a revitalized luxury automobile industry some ten miles to the south at Gaydon. This is the site for research and development for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and in addition houses the larger part of assembly activity for Aston Martin as well as its HQ and R&D activities.

Second, much publicity has been given to what has been called ‘silicon spa’: a reference to a thriving group of computer games firms. Although some are in surrounding towns such as Southam, Leamington remains the centre of gravity.

Third, and in support of both of these in quite significant ways, has been Warwick University. Created in 1965, it is now very highly regarded. The implications for Leamington have been considerable. A large number of staff and students live in Leamington whilst equally, if not more, significant is that almost 2,000 former students live in the town. Of these many have been central to the silicon spa phenomenon. Given its tie-in with JLR at Gaydon, perhaps the major importance of the university lies in its Warwick Manufacturing Group. In trying to make sense of the changing contours of the Leamington economy, it seems there is a chance coming together of different events and forces. Of these the creation of Warwick University would seem to be the major one.

The depth of the past

The area around Leamington is no stranger to the historic automobile industry. Coventry was a major centre, hosting Jaguar, Triumph, and the Rootes Group among others, while the Land Rover was manufactured in Solihull. There is, accordingly, a quite massive reservoir of engineering know-how in the area, but one which has now been reworked through the arrival of new generations. The British auto industry has undergone a renaissance since its collapse during the 70s and 80s but around an emphasis on innovation in technologies, design and parts.

But it’s the past that ends up being the glue that holds this all together, that helps make Leamington appealing. There is the Regency architecture, the shopping, schools and also, as a further legacy from the past, there is an accessible transport system that owes much to the 19th century. This takes advantage of the fact that Birmingham, just 20 miles to the northwest was from the earliest days of the industrial revolution a major node in the country’s transport system. Leamington may change drastically, but the past is still visible in the vibrant town it is today.