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St. Johns Court, WARWICK, CV34 4NL

The flats were probably built in the late 1960s Image

Local councils have to keep the electoral register up-to-date so that as many eligible residents as possible can vote when an election comes. Every autumn councils send a letter to every address they know about to ask who lives there. In Warwick District residents can respond by post, by phone, or online. Non-responding addresses will get another letter and if there is still no response a band of recruits are despatched to go knocking on doors. Hence I found myself at St John's Court flats Image, so unprepossessing from public viewpoints: pleasantly surprising within. St John's Court first appears on an OS map of 1968-71, on the site of a cattle market.

The shiny white coach is from Spain. The view is in the direction of the Leisure Centre on the north side of the park: Image

Most of the car park is behind the camera. The coach awaits the return of its passengers, probably a school party, either from St John's House Museum Image or from the swimming pool at the St Nicholas Park Leisure Centre Image In the background are St John's Court flats from the 1960s Image

The L-shaped St John's Court site has mainly long blocks: see Image In the southwest corner of the site are three short blocks, two of which are pictured. The development first appears on an OS map of 1968-71. Hidden by the grassy bank is St John's Brook. The viewpoint is the path between St Nicholas Park and St John's House Museum. Staff have used the limited space to tell passing visitors an environmental story, in which some incongruous rocks play a part.

The town centre is to be spruced up for the Olympic Torch Relay on Sunday 1st July 2012. The tanker contains hot bitumen emulsion for spreading on the road surface; the bags contain the top dressing of fine pea gravel. A corner of St Nicholas Park car park has been set aside for the urgent work.

A strip of land by St John's Brook (in a ditch, right) takes a footpath from St Nicholas Park car park through to St John's House Museum via the garden. Some eye-catching interpretive material has been installed. It says little and clutters up the space.

Left of centre is a dead tree whose trunk has been carved to evoke a totem pole. On the right is the course of St John's Brook. Over the fence are the St John's allotments.

Built in the 1620's by Anthony Stoughton on the estate of St John's Hospital which had been granted to his grandfather (also Anthony Stoughton) by Henry VIII. The building stayed in the hands of the Stoughton family until 1788 when it was sold to the Earl of Warwick six centuries after a previous earl had founded the original hospital. The building then housed boarding schools for the next century or so. From 1915 onwards the house was let to a variety of tenants until 1958 when Warwick County Council negotiated to purchase St John's at a price of £10,000, of which £2,500 was contributed by the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. It was opened as a museum by Lord Montgomery in 1961. The first floor houses the Warwickshire Regimental Museum and offices, whilst downstairs displays various exhibits from the County's social history collection. (Summary of museum leaflet)

The County Land Agent manages these allotments to the rear of St John's House Museum. The path on the other side of the fence leads from St Nicholas Park car park to the Museum garden Image In the background are two of the St John's Court blocks of flats Image