IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Parade, LEAMINGTON SPA, CV32 4BT

On Sundays leading up to Christmas a market is held on the Parade. The damp cold weather on this day, however, felt less than festive; note the reflections on the wet pavement.

Most of Leamington's Parade was built as houses, early- to mid-nineteenth century, which were converted to shops later. A handful of sites were built as shops in the twentieth century, such as this M&S.

The closure of the House of Fraser department store, formerly Rackhams, has created a big dead space in the Parade. Announced in July 2018 the actual closure took place in early 2019 despite the efforts of the local MP to persuade the company to retain the store. A proposed takeover by Sports Direct, the fate of many other House of Fraser stores, did not happen.

The day before Christmas Eve 2012: last-minute shopping in town centre streets filled with food stalls, market traders and children's rides: a bustling scene. At the time of submitting this photo a year on, the town seems much quieter. The shop on the left is H&M. They took over the store formerly occupied by Woolworth's. Now there are rumours that H&M will close.

The Parade, Leamington's main shopping street, was closed. Before the Covid-19 pandemic it was on the route of many bus services. The street could become congested, fume-filled, noisy and a bit hazardous with buses, deliveries, cars and bikes. At the start of the pandemic social distancing for shoppers and waiting passengers at the many bus stops was presumably found to be unworkable. Buses were rerouted into bus stands in Kenilworth Road and Beauchamp Road, east and west of Christchurch Gardens ("Top Park"), behind the camera. It's an improvement in some ways; the only sound is conversation and we can cross the road wherever we like. If only all the shops were open. Royal Priors, left is a shopping mall behind the street. H&M, right, occupies the former Woolworths store. Magnolia paint imposes a unity on architectural differences, seen here in mid-December dusk.

O2 – hardly buzzing. Toni&Guy – what were they: hair salon, clothes, knick-knacks? Two long-established opticians out of shot right will be glad to see the back of Gohil + Grey. Who advised these people to muscle in? Wouldn't it have made better business sense to open a branch where there was no competition?