Royal Leamington Spa Local Customs

(G 19) – Destroyer of the Town Class

Town Class Destroyer was built by New York Shipbuilding Corp in 1918 as the USS Twiggs, she was turned over to the Royal Navy in October 1940 and became HMS Leamington. The destroyer was allocated to the 2d Escort Group, Western Approaches Command and conducted convoy escort missions across the Atlantic into 1941. While on this duty the Leamington teamed with the destroyer HMS Veteran in sinking U-207 off the east coast of Greenland in September 1940. In March 1942, the Leamington added another "kill" to her record when she and three other destroyers sent U-587 to the bottom as the U-boat threatened a Middle East-bound troop convoy. In October 1942, the Royal Navy transferred Leamington to the Royal Canadian Navy, in June 1944, the British loaned the ship to the Russians. Leamington was returned to Great Britain in 1950 and subsequently broken up for scrap at Newport, England in July 1951.

The Leamington and Warwick Mela Festival, the annual celebration of Indian culture, now in its 18th year (2011) celebrates Indian Culture through the age-old traditions of music, dance and more. There are also food stalls selling tasty Asian cuisine, henna painting, children’s rides and other stalls selling items such as clothes and jewellery.

Annually, usually around third Sunday in August

Noon to 6:00 pm

Entrance: Free

August 2010

Leamington’s Pump Room Gardens

This popular free annual festival, now in its 33rd year takes place over the second or third weekend in June (This year 2011) it was June 18 and 19. The festival features a broad range of music and runs alongside dance, workshops, kid's entertainment, over 120 stalls including charities, activists, spiritual groups, healers, crafts and fair traders.

Saturday: 11.00 am to 9.00 pm
Sunday: 10.45 am to 6.00 pm

Entrance: Free

email mailinglist@peacefestival.org.uk

Pump Room Gardens

June 2011

Although listed here on VT as Royal Leamington Spa, and indeed this is its formal name, you will probably get some strange looks if you ask people in Britain about "Royal Leamington Spa". Make sure you drop the Royal bit. Even the majority of road signs just refer to it as Leamington, although Leamington Spa is just as acceptable. You may even confuse people from outside the immediate area if you refer to it as RLS (I've got fed up typing it in again...).