Hatton Locks to Leamington Spa (+ pub lunch). BOOKING ESSENTIAL

This is a linear canal walk from Hatton Locks to Leamington Spa along the Grand Union Canal (which started life as the Warwick and Birmingham Canal) with a pub lunch. The morning is 4.7 miles with a refreshment break then 2.8 miles in the afternoon. This is a canal walk from Hatton Station, descending Hatton Locks and stopping at the Cape of Good Hope canalside pub for lunch. We then continue along the towpath to Leamington Spa station, directly opposite an exit from the towpath. It is completely towpath-based and hence is stile-free and traffic-free throughout. This walk starts at Hatton Station at 09.45. There is a 1.2-mile level canal walk to Hatton Locks, which will take around 45 minutes. We pause at the café at the top of Hatton Locks for refreshment; toilets are also available here. There are plenty of tables there to eat your own food/drink, or buy supplies from the cafe. If consuming your own refreshments then please do not use the tables reserved for the cafe; there is plenty of other seating there. Hatton's famous 'Stairway to Heaven' flight of 21 locks on the Grand Union canal has a fascinating history. State of the art locks were built at Hatton to fight off stiff competition from the roads and railways and widened in the 1930s. When the locks were completed, bands played and crowds gathered to watch the Duke of Kent arrive by boat and cut the ribbon. On leaving the café we go down the locks (beware of the dragonflies), which is an easy and steady descent, for a further 3.5 miles to The Cape of Good Hope canalside pub for lunch. The Cape of Good Hope pub is on the district of Warwick known as the Cape and dates back to the 1800s. The Wills and Clark families were owners and later tenants of the Cape of Good Hope for a number of years. The “Cape” forms part of property bought by Thomas Young in the period of 1830-47, and was passed to the Wills family through the marriage of Thomas Young’s daughter to John Wills. It retains a traditional flavour with a rope maker based on-site and although no longer industrial, canal boats still pass by at regular intervals. Your walk leader can also vouch for their Scotch Eggs! It is then a 2.8 mile walk along a mostly well-maintained towpath to our exit from the canal, directly opposite Leamington Spa station. Be warned that the tow path on the final approach to Leamington Spa can be muddy, so wear suitable footwear. The map number for the walk is EX221. At Leamington Spa the walk leader will probably head to The Old Library pub, just round the corner from the station, for refreshment. All are welcome to join him. Leamington Spa is served by Cross-Country services through Coventry and Chiltern Trains through Solihull. For maximum flexibility a return ticket from any Birmingham station to Leamington Spa is recommended, which will cover the train to Hatton and any train back from Leamington Spa. A cheaper option is a Chiltern-only return ticket from Moor Street to Leamington Spa which will cover the whole day but limits train options from Leamington Spa to Birmingham.