by Stephanie Kerr | Nov 3, 2022 | News
The Open 2022, an exciting exhibition providing a showcase for artists living and working in the West Midlands, is now officially open and Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum has been inundated with fabulous reviews from visitors so far. Here are just a few:
“What a wonderful, diverse selection of exhibits, something of everything, large and small. What talent and imagination”
“My second visit and I’ve seen even more beauty!”
“Love it! A vibrant show”
“Excellent standard of work”
Last seen in 2019, the Open has been a regular and popular feature of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum’s (LSAG&M) programme since the 1930s. Open 2022 is an eclectic mix of artistic forms, with previous ‘Opens’ featuring, amongst others, sculpture, photography, installation pieces, computer generated imagery and textiles.
An independent panel of judges have selected artworks for the exhibition and the winner of the Open 2022 Award was awarded on launch night. Mark Elsmore has won £1,000 for his stunning watercolour Gouache entitled ‘Playlist’. You can see his work on display now.
The exhibition provides an opportunity to vote for your favourite artwork, which will receive the People’s Choice Award of £500. Visitors can vote for their favourite piece of art by filling in a voting slip. Voting closes on Sunday 11th December.
Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum Open 2022 – Friday 7th October – Sunday 8th January | Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm
Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum website: www.warwickdc.gov.uk/royalpumprooms/site/index.php
Open 2022 webpage:
leamingtonopen2022.artopps.co.uk/
by Stephanie Kerr | Oct 25, 2022 | News
Over the last month, Belvoir! has supported Myton Hospice by taking part in a sponsored skydive and their recent Charity Golf Day!
John and Conors skydive was from 13,000ft, once you exit the airplane you accelerate to 120 mph, covering each thousand feet in approximately five seconds. At 5,000ft the instructor deploys the parachute and guides you to a safe landing. “John and Conor said it was the most amazing feeling when you initially free fall, completely exhilarating! They managed to raise £1000 in aid of Myton Hospice for the skydive in a short amount of time due to signing up for the skydive on 2 days notice.
Also… Belvoir! had an amazing day at Myton Hospice Charity Golf Day. Hosted by Myton Hospice, Belvoir! entered 3 teams into the day and sponsored a hole. It was held at Finham Golf Club in Coventry where over 20 local business entered a team in to play. They had an amazing day and they will be attending this amazing event for years to come in aid of such a brilliant cause.
A big thank you to our family, team, friends, contractors and landlords for their kind donations.
Take a look here to find out more about Belvoir! and Myton Hospice!
by Stephanie Kerr | Oct 14, 2022 | News
A popular music shop in Leamington is marking 36 years of trading with a move to bigger premises.
Presto Music, one of the UK’s premier sources of sheet music, classical and jazz recordings, musical instruments, accessories and music gifts, is relocating to new premises.
Presto Music opened in 1986 as a specialist classical recording retailer, loved by many and visited by thousands of customers. The store has seen a number of locations: its most recent, 7 Park Street, is where the business has grown into what it is today.
The current shop will close at 1pm on 20 October and, after the move, customers will be able to find the new store at 23 Regent Grove, CV32 4NN, from 24 October.
The new site is a 7,000 sq. ft purpose-built location and will continue to stock the wide range of instruments and accessories, recordings, printed music and gifts that music lovers have enjoyed throughout the years, with an expanded range of next-step instruments, specifically curated for the advancing beginner and beyond.
Phyllida Martignetti, Shop Manager of Presto Music, said: “We are so thrilled to be able to offer our very loyal customer base a new, vibrant store in the form of our Regent Grove location. The new store will bring with it expanded instrument ranges, such as Pearl flutes, Yanagisawa saxophones, Blackstar acoustic amplifiers, Faith guitars and several instruments from Conn Selmer, catering for all students and players up to a semi-professional standard, which is incredibly exciting, along with the reintroduction of our events, concerts and album launch series.”
The store will also house a multipurpose space for community focussed events and experiences such as: masterclasses, product launches, demonstrations, workshops, group music lessons and a performance area for album launch events and local concerts. The offices, where the editorial, content and customer experience teams operate, will also be located on the new premises.
The current rental scheme will also be available on a selection of string, woodwind and brass instruments: the perfect solution for those who want to make sure a new instrument is the right one before committing to a purchase.
The store will continue to offer a repair service, carried out by our two experienced instrument technicians working in store, particularly focused on the areas of brass and woodwind.
Jonny Brading, Commercial Director of Presto Music, said: “Our vision is to offer an inclusive, enhanced musical environment for our customers, where they can visit and benefit from our newly created in-house team of instrument specialists. It’s an exciting time to bring something new to the music retail industry”.
Chris O’Reilly, CEO of Presto Music, said: “We believe passionately in the power of music to enrich lives, and are very excited by the opportunities our new expanded store will bring to the people of Warwickshire and indeed the whole Midlands area. We’ll be bringing world class musicians to Leamington Spa to launch their new albums and inspire the next generation”.
Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9.30am to 5.30pm and Saturday: 9am to 5.30pm.
About Presto Music
Based in Royal Leamington Spa in the UK, Presto Music is the UK’s leading ecommerce site for classical and jazz recordings (CDs, DVDs, high quality downloads and vinyl), printed music, music books and musical instruments. Founded in 1986 as a small high street shop, the Presto Music website was started in 2001 and has grown into one of the most significant online sites for music products in the world.
With over 160,000 classical recordings, over 70,000 jazz recordings, over 800,000 sheet music titles, more than 35,000 music books and over 30,000 musical instruments to browse and purchase online (of which tens of thousands are in stock and available for immediate dispatch), Presto offers an extensive catalogue to suit musicians and music-lovers, accepting payment in 15 different currencies and shipping to over 200 countries worldwide.
Alongside its wide-ranging catalogue, decades of experience, excellent customer service and staff with expert classical music knowledge, Presto prides itself on outstanding data and unique editorial content, ranging from reviews of new products to exclusive interviews with artists and composers, researched and written by the in-house editorial team.
by Stephanie Kerr | Oct 13, 2022 | News
Leamington’s Pumpkin Path returns this month for a ghostly glowing programme of events.
This interactive event for all the family, which is organised by BID Leamington, has two trails where families can search for clues that appear on little orange pumpkins in 66 of Leamington town centre’s shops windows from Saturday, October 22 to Monday, October 31.
The clues will reveal the place to find the ‘Scary Post Box’ where pumpkin hunters should post their entry form for a chance to win some fabulous prizes in the prize draw.
In the Prize Draw, visitors have an opportunity to win over £1,000 worth of prizes, which have been kindly donated by Leamington’s businesses.
These include an afternoon tea experience at Enchanted, fitness treatments from Therapy and Fitness, and gift vouchers and prizes courtesy of Middletons, Hotel Chocolat, Bistrot Pierre, Esquires Coffee, Ember Home, Cotswold Trading, and Hart Restaurant as well as a £200 gift voucher for Lee Longlands and a £200 Gift Experience at Venture Photography plus many more.
Everyone who collects ALL the clues will be entered into the Grand Prize Draw to win £200 of treats for the family.
The ‘Scary Post Box’ closes at 5pm on Monday, October 31, with people still able to post their entry forms to BID Leamington in Park Street before Wednesday, November 2.
As well as the Pumpkin Path, there are plenty more spooktacular thrills around town including the Spookysaurus Dinosaur Show.
It features two 30-minute shows on the Upper Mall in Royal Priors on Sunday, October 23 plus an opportunity to experience roaring dinosaurs up close and personal during their walkabouts around town (check website for times).
Or if you want to strike a pose, the Royal Priors Shopping Centre has set up a Spooky Selfie Station in their Lower Mall from 22 until 30 October, for all your showstopping spooky needs.
There will be a giant spider, inflatable pumpkins and spooky stilt walkers in Regent Court on Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30 and a face painter and scary stilt walker at the Sunday Market on Parade between 11am and 3pm at on October 30.
BID Leamington also has lantern packs in readiness for the Lantern Parade on Sunday, December 4 which can be collected from their office at 35c Park Court, Park Street, between 10am and 3pm from Monday, October 23 (Monday to Friday only) as a half-term activity for £5 each.
Alison Shaw, Project Manager at BID Leamington, said: “It’s lovely to mark the spooky season in Leamington with so many different events and activities.
“With a range of amazing prizes to be won in the Prize Draw, the Pumpkin Path over the two routes is fun for all the family.
“We are looking forward to families exploring Leamington’s town centre for spooky clues to uncover the mysterious post box.
“We hope that these events will attract families into the town centre and bring plenty of fun and laughter this month.”
Download the form HERE or you can pick up a copy from the Royal Priors Shopping Centre or Visitor Information Centre between 22nd to 31st October.
by Stephanie Kerr | Oct 13, 2022 | News
The OPEN 2022 exhibition is now open at the Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum. A Private View took place on Thursday 6th October and the overall Winner selected from a total of 350 pieces, was revealed as Mark Elsmore, with his stunning painting entitled ‘Playlist’ – Watercolour Gouache. Warwick District Council’s Chairman, Mini Mangat was in attendance to present the lucky winner with his £1000 prize.
Mark said, “Listening to music, deep in thought. The Playlist she is hearing is the soundtrack of her life.” I was in Vienna with an aim to paint architecture, but it was impossible not to notice the young woman looking so interesting and painterly. I spotted her from a distance, she was sitting outside a church. She seemed lost in her thoughts, but getting closer I noticed her red boots tapping to the rhythm of the beat from her earphones… Lost in music?
She was a tourist like me, enjoying the sunshine. I tentatively asked if she would mind me taking a couple of photos for a possible painting. Bemused she shrugged her approval. The spell was broken as soon as she looked up but eventually I managed to get her to resume the original pose.
I worked on the painting back at home.
Her likeness is good. I’ve altered a few things to help the narrative. The image is quiet, a good contrast to the lively sounds and thoughts within her head. I’ve changed her hair a bit to suggest a breeze and give an almost ethereal feeling. I’m trying to capture more than a still image.
I have a theory that the music you imagine she is listening to will colour your own thoughts about her story.
The independent judging panel (Stacey Barnfield, Victoria Smith and Otto Saumarez-Smith) awarded some ‘Highly Commended’ pieces and these along with all of the chosen entries are now on display in the temporary gallery at the Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum. Visitors to the gallery can also vote for their favourite artwork, which will receive the coveted People’s Choice Award of £500 and will be announced towards the end of the exhibition, in December.
Last seen in 2019, the Open has been a regular popular feature of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum’s programme since the 1930s. OPEN 2022 is an eclectic mix of artistic forms, with previous Opens featuring, amongst others, sculpture, photography, installation pieces, computer generated imagery and textiles
Both prizes are kindly donated by Friends of Leamington Art Gallery (FLAG).
Admission to the Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum is free. Opening hours are Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm
(Photo: Open Winner Mark Elsmore with Warwick District Chairman, Mini Mangat)
by rls | Aug 18, 2022 | News
The Magic Wingdom, an independent chicken restaurant on Dormer Place in Leamington Spa has scooped the top spot in both of the Judge’s awards ‘Best Buffalo’ & ‘Best Wild Wing’ at The World’s largest Wing Festival, Wingfest.
The festival, which stipulates vendors may only sell 2 flavours of wing took place in Digbeth, Birmingham last weekend. The Wingdom went on to come second in the same categories of ‘The People’s Choice Award’.
There were 21 of the countries best ‘Wingslingers’ competing at the event including ‘Poor Boys’ & ‘Griedy’s Wings & Strips’.
The Magic Wingdom restaurant opened in 2021 and this was its second ever foray into a street food event.
You can visit The Wingdom Tuesday – Friday 5.30-9.30pm & Saturdays 12-9.30pm and they will be winging their way to Leamington’s Food Festival on September 10th & 11th, the highlight of town’s food calendar.
Owners Sam Cornwall-Jones & Frankie Griffiths are both “blown away” by the win and hope to promote this success over the coming months.
“It’s great to have such national recognition during such a difficult time for hospitality and it will hopefully raise our profile in the town”
The Magic Wingdom is the third site from Great British Pub Award Winners, ‘The Drawing Board’ alongside ‘The DB Bottle Shop & Tap Room’ all in Leamington Spa.
by rls | Jul 29, 2022 | News
If you are in town you may notice some changes to the frontage of the former House of Fraser store. This is part of a vibrant campaign to bring unused high street windows to life in Royal Leamington Spa which is now underway. This idea follows the lead of other UK towns and cities by transforming the windows of empty business premises on high streets.
The eye-catching images have been developed by taking photographs of cut-glass vessels in the Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum to capture the town’s sparkle. The photographs of these beautiful historic assets have then been transformed into high-quality vinyl graphics to be placed in the windows of empty stores to enhance the welcome for visitors to our town centre.
One of the premises where this can be seen is the ground floor of the former House of Fraser store in Parade. The property is being refurbished into high-quality office and design studios in preparation for expanding video gaming company Sumo Digital to occupy the first and second floors.
We hope you agree that this is a significant improvement on what it replaces.
Please return to this website soon, for a more detailed explanation of the inspiring story behind this beautiful collaborative project.
by rls | Jul 28, 2022 | News
Visitors to Royal Leamington Spa and local residents are invited to enjoy a fantastic range of events, trails, offers and entertainment as the town centre is transformed to accommodate the Commonwealth Games and other events this summer.
Over the next two weeks, the town is expecting an increase in visitors as people come to enjoy the Lawn Bowls and Para Lawn Bowls competitions in Victoria Park and the festival site with a giant screen in the Royal Pump Room Gardens.
BID Leamington has created a range of memorable initiatives to welcome and support visitors and residents, and encourage them to explore and enjoy town centre businesses while they are in Royal Leamington Spa.
The Great Leamington Flag Trail involves trailblazers finding up to 64 flags representing the Commonwealth countries and nations which will be placed outside different businesses in the town centre.
Once a minimum of eight flags have been located and named on the entry form, participants can enter a draw to win fantastic prizes donated by local businesses. As an added bonus, naming additional sets of eight flags counts as additional entries, and fully completed forms will be entered into the grand prize draw for a £100 ‘foods of the world’ hamper.
Trail Forms
Trail forms are available from the upper level of the Royal Priors Shopping Centre, the festival site at the Pump Room Gardens and you can download the PDF form HERE. The closing date for entries is August 10.
The Little Book of Offers is also now available in Royal Priors Shopping Centre, the festival site at the Pump Room Gardens, and the Visitor Information Centre and is packed with 60 money-saving coupons at a wide range of independent and high street businesses throughout Leamington Spa town centre.
BID Leamington has also produced a ‘Taste Leamington’ Guide listing all of the fabulous palaces to eat in town, and the town’s ‘butterfly hosts’ will be back with #LoveLeam cotton shopping bags to distribute at key times.
Pedi-bikes are returning to Leamington Spa after their success in 2021 from Saturday, July 30. Two bikes will be based at the Pump Rooms and surrounds to help visitors access the town centre and offer a different experience of seeing and exploring the town’s offer.
In preparing for Art in the Park on August 13 and 14, an updated Art in the Spa Guide and Street Art Trail are now available to encourage visitors to call into the town’s amazing art galleries and explore the wider creative offer throughout the town.
Making the Summer Memorable
Stephanie Kerr, executive director at BID Leamington, said the initiatives had been organised to make everyone’s visit to the town throughout the summer as memorable and enjoyable as possible.
She said: “We wanted to enhance the Commonwealth Games experience for Warwickshire and West Midlands residents and visitors from across the world who are coming to Leamington Spa maybe for the first time.
“The generosity of town centre businesses never fails to surprise me and their support for the Great Leamington Flag Trail and the Little Book of Offers has been fantastic.
“We know the pedi-bikes are popular and aid mobility for some visitors to town whilst providing an opportunity for us to promote the town as they glide around.
“The Art in the Spa Guide has also been launched to coincide with Art in the Park as well as the Commonwealth Games to encourage visitors to the town and the community to pop into our art galleries as well as enjoy the Street Art Trail.
“This promises to be an unforgettable few weeks for those connected with Leamington Spa and the BID Leamington team has been working hard to enrich the experiences of everyone who visits – and hopefully there will be plenty of return visits in the future as a legacy of the Commonwealth Games!”
by rls | Jun 9, 2022 | News
Shoppers can show their love for their favourite Leamington town centre businesses in a regional lifestyle award – but time is running out!
There is under a week remaining until voting closes in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2022 which are being held in association with Healthily and local partner Birmingham Airport.
Leamington Spa has an amazing 15 town centre businesses shortlisted among the Warwickshire and West Midlands finalists in seven different categories.
And there is one area – Park Street – which is proving particularly popular where six shortlisted independent businesses are based.
BID Leamington Executive Director Stephanie Kerr said the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2022 are a perfect opportunity for shoppers to show their appreciation for the 15 finalists from Leamington town centre.
“We always love to celebrate the many and varied businesses that we have in Leamington town centre and it is fantastic to have 15 recognised at this stage of the competition,” she said.
“The Muddy Stilettos Awards 2022 are a great way for people to show their support as businesses in all sectors recover from the pandemic as well as celebrate Leamington town centre and all the wonderful, creative business owners that we have.
“Some of the finalists have been part of the fabric of Leamington town centre for many years and others have only just joined us, so we also urge everyone to rediscover our town centre also.
“There’s isn’t long left since voting closes on Wednesday and it would be great to have some of our Leamington town centre businesses win Regional Awards.”
Leamington Finalists
The Leamington town centre businesses who are among the Warwickshire and West Midlands finalists are:
Bar
House Leamington in Parade
Fizzy Moon in Regent Street
HART+CO in Augusta Place
Beauty Salon
Nanny June’s in Regent Street
Hair Salon
Hair @ 51 in Park Street
New Lifestyle Startup
Henderson Hound in Park Street
Ikigai in Spencer Street
Waf Waf Waffle in Warwick Street
Women’s Fashion Store
Mou in Park Street
Bridal Store
The White Boutique in Park Street
Tilly Trotter’s Brides in Park Street
Day Spa
The Spa on Clarendon Avenue
Lifestyle Store
Berylune on the corner of Warwick Street and Park Street
Sustainable Business
Positive Outlook Clothing in the Royal Priors Shopping Centre
Zero Store in Russell Street
Image Caption: Claire Watkins, Co-owner of Henderson Hound and Kary Hunt, owner of MOU, both in Park Street celebrate their nomination.
by rls | May 23, 2022 | News
One of the Midland’s most exciting independent fashion boutiques has opened a new store in Leamington Spa.
Domino Style, owned and run by Abigail Edmunds, has been wowing its customers in Stratford for more than 20 years.
It is now set to do the same in Leamington Spa with its new opening in Regent Street.
Although Domino Style has opened their doors to the public they are set to have a formal opening on 9th June 2022.
Domino Style features an eclectic, funky and exciting range of more than 40 fashion labels from the UK, Europe and the US, including Essential Antwerp, Ba&sh, Rails, Dea Kudibal, Stine Goya, Vilagallo, Maison Scotch, Baum und Pferdgarten, Lily and Lionel, Resume, Barbour X House of Hackney and Stella Nova.
The shop will also feature the premium jeans brands Paige, Frame and 7 For All Mankind as well as a smart selection of basics from the likes of Rails, American Vintage and Maison Labiche.
The opening night is set to be an evening of fashion, fizz and fun with everything from Food by Trailer Trash to a raffle being held in aid of Myton Hospice.
Raffle prizes include a luxury sleeping bag from Peapod London, a pair of sandals from Woden, a Mishky bracelet and eight cocktails from house plus many more.
While there is an emphasis on style, colour and fun are at the heart of each collection which is carefully chosen and hand picked by Abigail and her team. Alongside the clothes, the shop will include jewellery brands including Enamel Copenhagen, Chambers and Beau and Anna Beck and a well put together selection of shoes from companies such as Shoe the Bear, Woden, Alpe and DATE.
With more than 20 years working within the fashion and retail industries, Abigail said she was excited to be bringing Domino Style to Leamington.
She said: “Domino Style and Leamington were meant to be together. Both are young at heart, happy, vibrant and full of colour and I’m delighted to be sharing our amazing brands in this wonderful town.
“It’s been a dream of mine to expand the business and I’m thrilled to be able to do it now. The past two years have been tough, but hard work, determination, my wonderful staff and most importantly my amazing customers have allowed me to do this and I can’t wait to showcase all our fabulous brands to Leamington.
“We will have incredible clothes, fabulous shoes, and gorgeous jewellery all brought to you with the best customer service by this amazing team.”
As well as the shops, Domino Style has an online presence with Abigail regularly showcasing fashion edits and styling advice videos on Instagram and Facebook.
It was this which got her noticed by Drapers, the fashion industry bible, and subsequently nominated, and becoming a finalist in their Independent Awards for Best Use of Social Media in 2021.
Domino Style has also featured in Drapers’ 100 most inspirational independent retailers and was also included in Grazia magazine’s list of the best independent boutiques in the UK in 2021.
