IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
York Road, LEAMINGTON SPA, CV31 3PR

I had luxurious emergency digs in one of these rather grand houses for my first term at Warwick University in 1966 as the halls of residence at the university - then only a year old - hadn't been finished in time.

York Road in Leamington Spa. These fine semi-detached houses were built in the late 1890's on the site of a market garden.

I had digs in one of these substantial houses for my first term at Warwick University in 1966. (By January 1967 the first halls of residence had been finished and I spent the rest of the year on campus.)

The footbridge connects York Road with the Pump Room Gardens, visible beyond the bridge, and Dormer Place in the distance. Compare with Image

Following the freak rainstorms in April 1998 the River Leam burst its banks and inundated much of this part of the town. The Pump Room Gardens were totally immersed as can be seen here. Compare with Image

This modest footbridge connects York Promenade and Library Walk to the Pump Room Gardens and the town centre across the River Leam. It was designed by borough engineer William Louis de Normanville and opened in 1893.

Late 19th century town planning in action. From York Bridge, left Image, the borough engineer William Louis de Normanville laid out Library Walk, centre, which created a pedestrian route from the town centre to the railway stations and the library from 1898. The steps, foreground, mark the eastern end of York Promenade, opened in 1893, which connects to the New River Walk, now part of Victoria Park, by underpass below Adelaide Bridge. A ramp, right, was provided for bathchairs and perambulators. Information from The Leamington Spa Gardens by Christine Hodgetts, Warwickshire Gardens Trust, 1997

Its companion has been excavating the new surface water outfall to the River Leam nearby http://www.geograph.org.uk/p/3945853 http://www.geograph.org.uk/p/3925078 This one will soon be digging the trench for the new sewer.

It was like meeting an old friend: the many-petalled, sweetly scented, soft pink muddle-centred flowers, late summer blooms, prickly shoots, the greyish-green leaves mostly of seven leaflets in the front garden of a Victorian house. Everything suggested a Scotch Rose, a Rosa spinosissima hybrid. A dip into Jack Harkness’s ‘Roses’ brought the memories back, confirming that this is almost certainly the variety ‘Stanwell Perpetual’. Unlike its spring-flowering cousins, something in its genes makes it flower intermittently from spring to autumn. Originally known in England as the Pimpernel or Burnet Rose, Rosa spinosissima and its hybrids have been known as Scotch Roses since before 1800. Although white- and single-flowered in the wild, many colour variations have been observed, as has the ability to produce more than five petals. Breeding by Robert Brown, a Perth nurseryman, from 1793 produced eight varieties in a range of colours: white, yellow, pink, reds, marbled and bicoloured. This began “a hectic skate to popularity”. By the early nineteenth century there were hundreds; French and Dutch nurseries also bred many forms. A fascinating variety was introduced in 1838 under the name ‘Stanwell Perpetual’, “one of the prettiest and sweetest of autumnal roses”, generally accepted to be a cross between R. damascena semperflorens and R. spinosissima. By the mid-century gardeners were favouring the longer flowering periods of the introduced China roses. The briefly spring-flowering Scotch roses, “the hundreds of little Scotch jewels” disappeared from the catalogues. The endearing qualities of ‘Stanwell Perpetual’ have ensured its survival. For close-ups, see Image and Image Jack Harkness. Roses. London: J M Dent, 1978, ISBN 0-460-04328-5

It was like meeting an old friend: the many-petalled, sweetly scented, soft pink muddle-centred flowers, late summer blooms, prickly shoots, the greyish-green leaves mostly of seven leaflets in the front garden of a Victorian house. Everything suggested a Scotch Rose, a Rosa spinosissima hybrid. A dip into Jack Harkness’s ‘Roses’ brought the memories back, confirming that this is almost certainly the variety ‘Stanwell Perpetual’. Unlike its spring-flowering cousins, something in its genes makes it flower intermittently from spring to autumn. Originally known in England as the Pimpernel or Burnet Rose, Rosa spinosissima and its hybrids have been known as Scotch Roses since before 1800. Although white- and single-flowered in the wild, many colour variations have been observed, as has the ability to produce more than five petals. Breeding by Robert Brown, a Perth nurseryman, from 1793 produced eight varieties in a range of colours: white, yellow, pink, reds, marbled and bicoloured. This began “a hectic skate to popularity”. By the early nineteenth century there were hundreds; French and Dutch nurseries also bred many forms. A fascinating variety was introduced in 1838 under the name ‘Stanwell Perpetual’, “one of the prettiest and sweetest of autumnal roses”, generally accepted to be a cross between R. damascena semperflorens and R. spinosissima. By the mid-century gardeners were favouring the longer flowering periods of the introduced China roses. The briefly spring-flowering Scotch roses, “the hundreds of little Scotch jewels” disappeared from the catalogues. The endearing qualities of ‘Stanwell Perpetual’ have ensured its survival. For a view of the whole shrub, see Image Jack Harkness. Roses. London: J M Dent, 1978, ISBN 0-460-04328-5