Royal Leamington Spa

Poster, London Midland & Scottish Railway, Royal Leamington Spa by Ronald Lampitt, 1937. The poster depicts a well dressed woman in the foreground holding a glass of spa water, with the lake, lawns, flowerbeds and buildings of the Pump Room Gardens in the background. A couple dressed for tennis walk around the lake. Signed by the artist at bottom left. Text below gives details of an illustrated guide and rail services. Text at bottom margin reads "No P.W.24; Printed in Great Britain by Jordison & Co. Ltd., London & Middlesbrough". Format: double royal.

London Midland & Scottish Railway poster promoting Royal Leamington Spa, by Ronald Lampitt, 1937.

Leamington developed as a fashionable spa town in the eighteenth century, with visitors attracted by its supposedly healing waters. The London & North Western Railway built the first railway connection to the town in 1844 and the Great Western Railway line opened in 1852. Queen Victoria granted the town its 'Royal' prefix in 1838.

The Pump Room and Baths were opened in 1814, with the surrounding gardens developed between the 1840s and 1903.

The poster was printed by Jordison & Co Ltd, probably at its London works.

Ronald Lampitt was born in Worcester in 1906. He was a self-taught commercial artist and illustrator, who produced artworks for John Bull magazine, The Sunday Times, Reader's Digest and other publications. He worked on children's books in collaboration with his brother-in-law, Henry Deverson and illustrated nine Ladybird books and the magazine Look and Learn.

Lampitt produced posters and carriage prints for the Great Western, Southern and London, Midland & Scottish Railways and later for British Railways. He died in 1988.