The county of Warwickshire is an often overlooked gem that holds some of the most unique and beautiful towns in all of the United Kingdom. There are no massive burgs contained within the county but this in fact helps to make Warwickshire even more stately and enjoyable. Granted, there are towns in Warwickshire like Rugby and Nuneaton that have sizable populations but the growth of the city never infringes on the beauty and grandeur of the buildings and land that came before. This is the beauty of Warwickshire's many lovable towns and the famed Leamington Spa may in fact be the perfect example of such virtues.
Leamington Spa was originally known as Leamington Priors back in the 1700s. The town at this time was hardly worthy of placing on a map but the few citizens lived happy lives and admired the beautiful scenery that seemed to jut out from every location. Towards the end of the century, though, a new craze was afoot. Most people forget that England was truly built by the dubious and often unpredictable fads that drove the rich people of the land to funnel all their money into various ventures. The fad at the end of the 1700s was that of regenerative spas. In the 1790s some doctors decided that natural spring water had healing and restorative powers and within a year every town that had a natural spring would become flooded with wealthy folks trying to cheat death or disease. Leamington was just such an area and within no time it joined the ranks of spa towns that were quickly becoming rich due to the massive boost in economy.
Throughout the 1800s Leamington Spa was one of the fastest growing towns in all of England. The only competition it really had at this point was the other spa towns that were similarly finding it necessary to build more and more fancy hotels and resorts to support the swelling tide of tourists. None of these towns knew, however, that the spa craze was going to fizzle out shortly. In later years doctors would turn around and say that now it is salt water, and not spa water, that is truly the best thing for regenerative powers. This of course sent all the wealthy folks to the coastal fishing villages and, just like the spa towns, quaint fishing hamlets became tourist towns offering beachside stays for health reasons. One mustn't fault the rich for their wishy-washy ways but instead thank them for spending all their money to build up so many towns. At any rate, the spa towns that were left for the oceans either faltered and fell apart or stood strong because they were wise enough to not depend fully on a fickle crowd. Leamington wisely chose to pursue other ventures in addition to its spas and it survived the fallout rather admirably. These days Leamington Spa is still very much alive and vibrant and it is one of the leading manufacturing towns for a variety of goods from engines to stoves to nearly everything in between.
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