Stowmarket has a non-League football club Stowmarket Town F.C., which plays at Greens Meadow. There is also a rugby club located at Chilton Fields, to the north of the town. Stowmarket is home to a handful of gyms and also boasts its own leisure centre complete with swimming pools, climbing wall, bowls green, gym, and artificial-turf football pitch. The town has a plethora of grassroots clubs playing a multitude of sports. The Regal Theatre Cinema has been in operation in the town centre for more than fifty years, offering films, concerts and theatre productions. The former Corn Exchange underwent a £1 million refurbishment in 2012 to become a music venue, art gallery and theatre named the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts. It is named after the late influential DJ and broadcaster who lived just outside the town. Climate Stowmarket has a maritime climate type as is typical for the bulk of the British Isles. Wattisham is the nearest official weather station, about 4 miles south south west of Stowmarket Town centre. The absolute maximum temperature recorded was during the August 2003 heatwave. In an average year 11.9 days will report a temperature of or above, with the warmest day of the year rising to . The absolute minimum temperature is , set in January 1979, although given online records only date back to 1960; it is likely the winter of 1947 saw lower temperatures. In an average year, 48.3 air frosts can be expected. Sunshine, averaging over 1635 hours a year, is amongst the highest for inland areas of Britain. Annual rainfall totals average below 575mm, with over 1mm of rain falling on 109.4 days. All averages refer to the observation period 1971–2000. Stowmarket today Stowmarket has held an annual carnival for well over 50 years in the recreation park featuring a fun fair, fireworks, a procession through the town and local entertainment. Stowmarket also plays host to the music festival Stow-Fest, a live music open-air event that takes place annually at Chilton Fields in the North of Stowmarket. Since 2010 the town has hosted the Stowblues Festival, organised in partnership with BBC Radio Suffolk. The Mix is located on Ipswich Street, and is a flagship youth and community centre in Suffolk. Notable residents The poet John Milton made regular visits to the town as his tutor, Dr Thomas Young, became vicar of Stowmarket in 1628. Other notable residents