Meet the Chef for August…..
Each month we will be showcasing a chef or a team that makes Royal Leamington Spa special and this month, we feature Max from Oscar’s French Steakhouse & Bistro!
The “Summer of Fun” carries on in Royal Leamington Spa…
Join in Royal Leamington Spa’s ‘Summer of Fun’ ! From now until September, the town centre will host a feast of yummy, action-packed community events which are all FREE to attend. So, if you’re ready to experience summer vibes like never before, make sure you put these dates in your diary!
In July, Leamington Carnival will meander around the streets of Leamington on Saturday the 13th. With spectacular floats, drummers, energetic dancers, colourful costumes, live bands and much more. This is your chance to be part of this fun community event, celebrating the town’s diversity, creativity and energy whilst supporting local charitable organisations. The Carnival will wind its way to the Royal Pump Room Gardens where the celebrations will continue at the Summer Festival with local art and crafts stalls, food for all appetites, entertainment and Barkers Amusements Funfair will be there to welcome you!
Make sure you’re ready to get creative in August when Art in the Park returns on 3rd and 4th in Jephson Gardens. Enjoy a jam-packed weekend of art, creativity and fun as local makers, musicians and performers show and display a mix of crafts and arts and to fuel the fun a little more, local eateries will provide a variety of high quality food and drinks for all appetites.
Warwickshire Pride, Saturday 17th August, has continued to go from strength to strength; getting bigger and better each year, while retaining its identity as a grassroots, community Pride event. Warwickshire Pride is now an established festival in Warwickshire’s event calendar, welcoming masses of people each year for a celebration of LGBT+ culture.
Now in its twelfth year the annual Leamington Food and Drink Festival will take place over the weekend of September 7th and 8th at the Royal Pump Room Gardens. Visitors will find an exciting variety on offer, with exhibitors displaying culinary skills and cuisines ranging from delicious Caribbean food to gourmet toasties, to Indian street food and Persian delights accompanied with an array of local brews and exotic aperitifs.
The Home Cook of the Year, organised by Aubrey Allen, also returns to crown Leamington’s finest amateur chef who will be judged on a three course cooking challenge and children will also be able to get their hands dirty by cooking scrumptious dishes at the kid’s cookery school all washed down with local live entertainment to enjoy all weekend.
To find out more visit www.royal-leamington-spa.co.uk; www.leamingtoncarnival.org.uk; www.artinpark.co.uk; www.warwickshirepride.co.uk; & www.leamingtonfoodfestival.co.uk. ADMISSION IS FREE!
The “Summer of Fun” has begun
Temperatures are forecast to rise at this year’s ‘Summer of Fun’ in Leamington with a celebration of Brazilian music and dance spicing up the festival line-up.
The Brazilian Festival was a new event for the town and featured live music, performances and workshops representing the rich and vibrant culture of the South American country.
It took over the Pump Room Gardens on Sunday, June 9, and be one of many free-to-attend events happening in the town centre up to September, billed as the ‘Summer of Fun’ by BID Leamington.
Cars at the Spa is another first-timer for the ‘Summer of Fun’ and the classic car rally on Sunday, June 30 will also be held at the Pump Room Gardens.
The Brazilian Festival and Cars at the Spa will fall on the weekends either side of the oldest event, Leamington Peace Festival, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year and is one of the UK’s longest-running free festivals.
Leamington Peace Festival is always held on the weekend before the Summer Solstice and returns to the Pump Room Gardens on Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16.
The Big Victorian Picnic will take place on Saturday, July 27 to mark the completion of work to restore the Pump Room Gardens to their former glory.
The Pump Room Gardens will also host Leamington Carnival on Saturday, July 13, Warwickshire Pride on Saturday, August 17 and Leamington Food and Drink Festival on Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8.
Art in the Park will return to Jephson Gardens on Saturday, August 3 and Sunday, August 4.
Alison Shaw, project manager at BID Leamington, said: “This year’s ‘Summer of Fun’ is set to be the biggest and best ever with new festivals being added to the programme.
“Together they attract tens of thousands of local people and visitors to the town centre, and offer something for everyone with a broad celebration of art, culture, food, drink, and entertainment.
“BID Leamington is delighted to be supporting each one and once again organising the Leamington Food and Drink Festival which in its 12th year will feature some 130 exhibitors and attract over 25,000 visitors alone.”
The Brazilian Festival will be the climax to the Brazilian Culture Week, which was first brought to the town in 2016 by the Brazil Culture & Arts Community.
Project manager Leandro Menezes said: “The Brazilian Festival will be a great way to celebrate the end of the Brazilian Culture Week and will showcase performances from the workshops held, including Samba and Capoeira.
“It will be a fun way for the whole family to experience Brazilian culture and heritage with bands, dancers, food and drink and more.”
Cars at the Spa is being organised by the Rotary Club of Royal Leamington Spa and will raise money for local charities.
Mike Hoyland, one of the organisers, said: “We will have over 100 classic cars, mostly from the Warwickshire area, ranging from pre-war Bentleys to military Land Rovers and an old Vauxhall Viva.
“There will be classics that will remind people of family cars they had when they were young, and ones that people will say they’ve always wanted. With entertainment from local bands and food and drink stalls, it should be a fantastic day.”
For more information about ‘Summer of Fun’, visit www.royal-leamington-spa.co.uk/whats-on/
‘An Entertainment’ is now open!
Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum’s new exhibition ‘An Entertainment’ opened on Friday 14th June!
Entry is free and everyone is welcome.
This family friendly exhibition showcases the many entertainments on offer over the past two centuries, from theatres and cinemas to concerts and dances.
Since the town’s development as a Regency spa resort, Leamington has enjoyed a lively nightlife. This exhibition showcases the many entertainments on offer over the past two centuries, from theatres and cinemas to concerts and dances.
Objects on display include beautiful ballgowns from the 1800s to the 1950s, Victorian playbills and film of the 24-hour jive marathon of 1960. This will also be the first chance to see the museum’s newly-acquired Arbiter Elegantiarum medal, an enamelled badge of office worn by Leamington’s answer to Beau Nash. Visitors can find about the town’s historic venues and how they evolved over time, as ballrooms were transformed into music halls and theatres became cinemas. Displays will also explore the lives of the men and women at the heart of Leamington’s entertainment scene, from the raffish Regency impresario Robert William Elliston to the cinema magnate Edith Devis and bandleader Jan Berenska.
The exhibition comes up to date with a look at some of the many musical and theatrical groups in Leamington today. These range from the Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra and Loft Theatre to Tango Warwick and Spa Opera.
There are plenty of activities in the gallery to keep young visitors busy during the school holidays. These include the chance to create a puppet and tell your own stories in our toy theatre.
Admission is free.
The exhibition will run until Sunday 8th September 2019
For more information on all upcoming exhibitions and events please visit www.warwickdc.gov.uk/royalpumprooms
Millets remove millions of plastic!
Leading outdoors retailers, Blacks and Millets have introduced 100% recyclable paper carrier bags across stores nationwide in a bid to become more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
The businesses have removed 1 million plastic bags from circulation across Blacks and Millets’ 150 stores and are collectively recycling them in a sustainable way to reduce the impact on the environment.
The initiative comes at a time when the businesses are expanding their UK presence, despite the challenging retail climate for high street stores. Blacks recently opened a new store in Aintree, and Millets is planning a number of store openings in 2019.
Among the stores which have swapped their plastic bags for paper are Blacks in Glasgow, Manchester and Reading, as well as Millets stores across Porthmadog, Birmingham and Newcastle.
Lee Bagnall, CEO of Blacks Outdoor Retail, said:
“As a business we are hugely passionate about the great outdoors and are 100% committed to becoming a more sustainable retailer that protects our environment now and in the long-term. We recognise that there is more to be done in the coming months, but we are thrilled to have taken the first step with the roll-out of our paper bag initiative across stores nationwide. We are pleased to have received positive feedback from shoppers who are embracing the change.’’
The bags are made from sustainable materials which can simply be recycled in domestic paper bins.
New Look Clements & Church store opens!
The Clements and Church store in Park Street, Leamington Spa opened it’s doors on Saturday 20th of April to reveal a stunning new look!
Step inside our new store and you may feel that you have entered an exclusive gentlemen’s club. The Park street store has been completely re-designed with a new concept covering a top-to-toe bespoke wardrobe, where clients can design their own casual wear such as sneakers and jeans alongside more traditional tailoring. Head tailor Michael Bailey said; ‘we want our clients to come and relax in our store and enjoy the whole custom-made experience.‘
In line with this, interior designer Tasha Nash has created a luxurious space with sensual curves weaving through the store leading to an area for fittings and for relaxing, somewhere to sit, discuss ideas and have a coffee. The subtle colour palette of grey and gold has a nod to art deco style. Tasha explains:’I like the idea of a studio where clients and tailors work together.‘
The new-look store will open its doors on Saturday 13th April. Come on in and enjoy the experience! 23 Park Street, Leamington Spa
www.instagram.com/clementsandchurch/
Belvoir Leamington – Simply the Best!
Belvoir are a multi award winning family owned and family-run business who have been recognised for our exceptional customer service and innovative marketing skills! These awards are recognized by the industry as being notoriously difficult to win, once again a huge testament to our enterprising and much-valued team! Our multi-disciplined team specialise in all aspects of professional property services, including; residential property sales, professional residential lettings, student properties and room shares.
We are delighted to announce that they have just won GOLD for the best Lettings Agency in the UK and BRONZE for the best Estate Agency in the UK at the 2018 Negotiator Awards!
Belvoir! Royal Leamington Spa Sales and Letting Agents have offices just a short walk off the centrally-located and iconic regency Parade!.
We offer a full range of services for both vendors and landlords with our motivated team on hand six days a week with individual departmental contact details, ensuring our customer service is second to none.
We remain a trusted brand with national marketing coverage across the Belvoir website, as well as all the major property portals including Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket and Prime Location, this allows us to offer bespoke landlord services and vendor packages to tailor our services to your needs.
To find out more about Belvoir, you can visit their Website and YouTube Channel.
Hearing Revolution arrives in Leamington
Ellie and Catherine of Ash Hearing based on Regent Grove, recently attended the UK launch of the most exciting product to hit the audiology market in a decade – Livio AI.
Being described as a ‘hearing revolution’ the Livio AI™ is the world’s first Healthable™ device that tracks brain and body health. A merging of different technology means that the device offers far more than just better hearing, it also offers a more holistic view of health and cognitive fitness plus much more, making it the most desirable hearing product in the market at the moment.
Brain and body tracking – challenge yourself to move more and engage with others more
Fall detection – have an alert sent to a loved one
Language translation and voice to text transcription – 27 languages
Rechargeable – no fiddly batteries
Remote adjustments and self check for diagnosing faults – time saving
Ash Hearing is the only independent provider of hearing care in Leamington and is dedicated to helping you hear better. Senior Audiologist Ellie Cadman says “ This new development in hearing technology is really very exciting. After 15 years in the industry I have never seen a product that appeals on so many levels. We are proud to be able to supply our customers with such a wonderful, revolutionary device”.
For further information, call 01926 431973 or visit www.ashhearing.co.uk
Leaders Leamington are on top!
In September 2018, Leaders moved to their new premises on 10 Parade after enjoying 2 and a half years at the previous branch along Newbold Street in Royal Leamington Spa.
Leaders form part of the Leaders Romans Group boasting over 170 branches nationwide. The team at the Leamington Spa office are property experts who would be delighted to help you with your next move, whether you are planning to sell, let, buy or rent a property. They can also support you in areas such as mortgages, auctions and surveyors. They have dedicated departments for Compliance, Client Accounts and Credit Control to name a few, meaning you can trust them to look after your property and act in your best interest.
Lettings Manager Jan said “I am very proud to work with my dedicated, determined and proactive team who have extensive local and outstanding property knowledge. With over 40 years combined experience we are the perfect team to help you with all your property needs. All are focused on giving outstanding customer experience along with a warm and friendly welcome.”
You can visit their new branch Monday-Thursday 09:00-18:00, Friday- 09:00-17:30 and Saturday- 09:00 to 16:00pm or you can call their Sales Team on 01926 428989 or their Lettings Team on 01926 451045.
Also, you can find out more information about Leaders by visiting their website.
Aubrey’s are Deli-rious!
Award winning local food hall, Aubrey Allen have been named England’s best Delicatessen at this year’s Guild of Fine Food Shop of the Year awards!
Aubrey Allen, a family business and butchers of over 85 years in Warwickshire have spent the last 15 years developing the delicatessen side of the business and have since rebranded as a food hall.
Managing Director and the inspiration behind the food hall image, Russell Allen said, “to be recognised as a delicatessen having been a butchers for so many years is good; to be named the best Delicatessen is just fantastic news and the work of our great team.”
Sarah Russell, head of Retail Marketing for Aubrey Allen was there to collect the award and said “We are absolutely thrilled. The team create amazing chef prepared meals, we source some world class cheeses and we even do a pop up deli in local businesses to give value for them and help drive awareness of all we do for us. We have lots of exciting plans for the shop happening over the next few months and this will be a real boost for the whole team!”
For more information please contact me on 01926 311208