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Memories of town's post-war lights festival

John Bray
BBC News, Royal Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum A black and white park scene with illuminated trees and bushes. In the background are fountains and the tower of Leamington Spa's All Saints Church.Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum
The Lights of Leamington Festival drew crowds from across the West Midlands each year

Memories of a major lights festival that lit up a town for a decade will be brought to life at an exhibition that opens this weekend.

The Lights of Leamington Festival was said to rival Blackpool Illuminations between 1951 and 1961.

Now a project to capture the memories of people who visited the event in Royal Leamington Spa's Jephson Gardens has been completed.

It provides stories of rainbow-lit trees, magical animal installations, spectacular skylines, music, dancing and fireworks in the post-war era.

Whittle Productions Nine people in a park. Seven women and two men. They are all people who contributed to the memories of the lights festival project. They are all wearing coats and scarves and the ground behind is frozen.Whittle Productions
Lights of Leamington story tellers include Reg Boucher, Pam Cowper, Christine Kenny, Jim Murphy, Val Steele, Maria Murphy, Dalbir Kaur Khaira, Wendy Shear and Anne-Marie Insley
Maurice Mead Photography A black and white image of the guinness clock in the 1950s at the light festival. The vertical timepiece has a clock on top with painted toucans below. Next to it is a model caravan with flags on top and a model zoo keeper leading animals thorugh a door.Maurice Mead Photography
Maurice Mead Photography A black and white image showing people sat outside a marquee called Jephson Tavern. They are sat in groups around small tables.Maurice Mead Photography
"It was very enterprising of Leamington Spa to even put on something like that. I do think it should really be appreciated and recorded for people to see what was possible in those days," said Anne-Marie Insley. "The poverty after the war, the austerity and yet they went ahead and they did this."
"It was all amazing," said Reg Boucher. "We were just out of the dark days of the Second World War. Things were improving all the while, but this was just spectacular. People came from all over. I seem to remember coaches parked up all over the place. We were looking for something to brighten life up a bit."

After securing funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Leamington Spa-based events company Whittle Productions held workshops and met with the community to gather personal memories.

"It has been a privilege to hear such an incredible array of interesting and fascinating recollections about the lights festival and know that by documenting this project it will create a legacy and become part of the town's cultural and heritage narrative," said co-director Carole Sleight.

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Switched On Stories – The Exhibition opens at All Saints Parish Church on Priory Terrace, Leamington Spa, on Saturday and runs until Sunday 23 February.

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