Royal Leamington Spa

We had moored above Cape Locks but the first task was to fill up with water. It was a bright and mild day - weather which continued until nightfall. After clearing the locks we continued towards Warwick. At Kate Boats we stopped to fill up with diesel and bought a few items from their chandlery shop. At least we now know how to replace light bulbs!

Continuing along the Grand Union, we were surprised to see an on-coming boat as we passed under a bridge with a sharp bend - not unusual normally but we are beginning to be lulled into a false sense of isolation as we only pass a few moving boats each day. At the same time as coming through the bridge we spotted a Tesco supermarket alongside the canal, as well as convenient mooring bollards. We decided to pick up supplies here as it might be a longer 'carry' if we waited until Leamington Spa.

We moored between bridges 40 and 41 - with some trepidation as this was where we were broken into last year! However, several other boats moored here and we survived safely this time!



We walked into Royal Leamington Spa - giving it the full title as we visited a delightful and informative exhibition in the restored Pump Rooms, covering the rise and fall of the town as a health spa, finally overtaken when the railways offered holidays at coastal resorts. (places like Padstow!)



It was interesting to see the bandstand in the open park area which last year was in the middle of a lake - part of the floods which were such a feature of that cruise! Jephson Park was also rather different and the river no longer threatened to swamp the weir and footbridge.



After shopping and returning to the boat we continued a short distance to Radford Lock. Above the lock the last few rays of sunshine made it seem quite attractive so we opted to call it a day - even if our grand total for the day was only six miles and three locks!