Royal Leamington Spa to Warwick and back

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days in Leamington. In Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England - to be exact. Contrary to earlier visits, I did not mainly focus on pubs, restaurants and maybe a few shops - though I saw the inside of a few of those this time as well - but decided to spend some of my time walking through areas of town I had never explored before. And when I was told that Warwick was not five miles away as I had always thought but only one, I decided to walk there, too. As I found out later, it was a bit further than a mile to the center of Warwick...

Mentioned in the Domesday Book as Lamintone in 1086, Leamington might have remained a small village near Warwick (pop. 301 in 1801 vs. 45114 in 2001), had the healing properties of its salty spa waters - already known about in Roman times - not been rediscovered.

The old town was - and is - located south of the River Leam only. Today, you find in its center small shops, cafes, restaurants and take-aways.

Not sure this studio is still open...

The Parish Church of All Saints, an example of Victorian gothic, dates back to the 19th century, although a church has been located on that very site just south of the Leam for over 900 years,

Parish Church and Pump Rooms

The Royal Pump Rooms and Baths opened close to the river in 1814, and Leamington soon became popular with the wealthy spa crowd. Numerous Georgian townhouses were built for the visitors to stay.

After the great flood of 1997, the Pump Rooms were re-developed and today house an art gallery and museum, a library, tourist information, assembly rooms and a cafe.

On the other side of the river, the new parts of town were built from about 1800 onward. Across the bridge from the Pump Rooms the Parade starts.

Town Hall

At the bottom of the Parade, the Town Hall is located. Major stores line the Parade further up, as well as some hotels and a shopping mall.

Upper Parade

I strolled up and down the Parade, visited a few shops but with the rain and all, went back to the guest house fairly soon. Along the way, I passed quite a few people wearing white anoraks and pulling a small luggage trolley, all headed in the same direction:

The Bowling Greens

Initially, I had wondered about the trolleys but when I saw where they were heading, I understood. It seems there was going to be some lawn bowling championship in the days to come, so everyone got in as much practice time as possible. And I wouldn't want to carry a set of bowls in my handbag either...

Grass Bowling Practice

By the way, if you've ever seen a lawn bowling match, you will know that it requires much more skill than you might think, putting it in line with curling or snooker. And making it about as interesting - though the fascination of these sports is very much in the eye of the beholder. Lawn Bowling dates back to as early as the 13th century, possibly the 12th, and today is played throughout the Commonwealth by people of all ages and the annual British Championships carry serious price money.


The next day, in view of blue skies and fluffy white clouds, I decided to take that walk to Warwick that I had promised myself, once my head had cleared up (a bit of fluff was left but that put me in line with the sky) from the previous night's frolicking in restaurants and pubs. Not far from the guest house (and opposite the Bowling Greens) is a small pub called The Cricketers.


There are no cricket grounds in sight, but I guess bowling jackets might not have looked as good on the walls as the cricket paraphernalia displayed there.

I then crossed the River Leam and walked up Dale Street.

Dale Street north of Regent Street

On the right are the stately townhouses of the City Center, with nice apartments for the obviously well-to-do. On the left, the terraced houses were relatively small, in various states of upkeep and several are for sale.

The Two Sides of Dale Street

Up at Warwick Street (sic!) I turned west towards Warwick. To the east are restaurants and shops for a few blocks, but to the west the area turns residential very quickly. And the terraced houses turn into stately homes.

Mill House Terrace

Just about on the edge of Leamington is Mill House Terrace. I am not sure how old the Terrace is but it looked peaceful and quiet, even though it was only a couple of hundred yards from a nearby major roundabout.

A couple of further roundabouts down the road and I was in Warwick and greeted by the first of many typical half-timbered Tudor houses. A pub, as it were.

Millwright Arms on Coten End, Warwick

From their website:

The Millwright Arms is first listed as a pub in 1880 but the building, a timber framed structure of two stories and attics, was built circa 1600 or slightly later. Initially, this had been the St. Nicholas Parish Poorhouse which was closed when the Warwick Union Workhouse was established in 1838 not far from here. The building was sold in 1851 by a local charity and by 1857 Thomas Davis, a millwright and machinist, had set up in the building and had established a beerhouse cum waiting room for his customers.

Warwick itself was built on the banks of the River Avon in 914 by Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great and sister of Mercian king Edward the Elder, as a defence against Danish (Viking) invaders. The defences were to be the basis of Warwick Castle and probably replaced older wooden fortifications built by Alfred in order to protect the kingdom of Wessex from the Danes, albeit without much success.
The town proper wasbuilt on a small hill which controlled not only the river valley but also the river crossing on the road to London and the roads to Stratford, Coventry and the salt way to Droitwich.

Despite all these efforts, the Danes invaded Mercia in 1016 and burned down much of Warwick.

Fire was the scourge of Warwick again, when large parts of the town were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1697.

Several important or at least interesting mediaeval buildings survived the fire and can be seen to this day as you approach the town center, such as for example:

The Roebuck on Smith Street

At the upper end of Smith Street:

Houses just outside the East Gate

Not much is left of the old mediaeval wall that the gate was set in, though.

Jury Street, seen from the East Gate

Or close to the Castle Walls:

Oken's House in Castle Street

The building is about 500 years old and was the home of Thomas Oken, believed to be the richest man in Warwick at the time, who made a fortune dealing in wool and woven fabrics. He died on 29th July 1573 and left most of his money and valuables to aid the poor and to fund education and housing in Warwick. Today the building houses the Thomas Oken Tea Rooms.

And last but by no means least:

Lord Leycester Hospital, the town's medieaval Guildhall.

"The group of buildings which, by the way never were a medical establishment, were raised by the Guilds of St. George, the Holy Trinity and of the Virgin Mary around 1400 and were home to them until 1571, when they were acquired by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, as a home for retired aged or infirm ex-servicemen and their wives. By the 1950's, the "Brethrens' Quarters were no longer fit for use. The buildings were restoren between 1958 and 1966, and their quarters were modernised". (From the plaques at the Hospital Site)

Unfortunately, the Leycester was just about to close when I arrived, so some outside pictures and a glance through the entrance gate were all I managed.

Lord Leycester Hospital - Gate; Woodwork; Entrance to the Inner Court

While walking around town I remembered an almost-forgotten CreamTea I once had in Warwick. Besides, I started to feel my feet. It was already rather late in the afternoon and I could not remember where the tea rooms were that I had enjoyed so much about 15 years ago. Neither did I want to backtrack to Oken House and so I simply sat down outside a small coffee and tea shop on Market Place. Not remembering what goes onto the scone first, clotted cream or jam, I tried both - first putting on the jam worked somewhat better for me though. Maybe the cream wasn't thick enough...

Clotted Cream on Jam - or Jam on Clotted Cream?

Either way, it was sweet, it was fat, and accompanied by a few cups of hot strong tea it was just what the doctor ordered. Okay, more the opposite of what she ordered but I felt sinful that day.
After this short break I walked on, thinking of catching the bus back to Leamington but then got sidetracked on the way when I passed Mill Street, where many of the Tudor houses survived the Great Fire.

entering Mill Street

Mill Street close to Castle Hill

Mill Street ends at the foot of the Castle Hill but unfortunately you cannot see much of Warwick Castle from there, just one tower and some of the castle wall are towering over you from the top of the hill.

When I finally reached the busstop, I discovered that the next bus was not scheduled for another 45 minutes and so I decided to simply walk back to Leamington, albeit along another route. A little further down the road, where a bridge crossed the River Avon, I was offered about the only view of the Castle that showed more than half a turret or a piece of the wall.

Warwick Castle

The Castle proper was first built as a Norman motte-and-bailey fort after the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century, with the raising of today's castle starting in 1264. Until a few years ago, the castle was actually owned by the Earls of Warwick until a few years ago when it was sold first to Madam Tussaud's and then on to an entertainment group which is now using Warwick Castle as a sort of mediaeval theme park.

Anyway, there was far too little time left for visiting the Castle and getting my £ 17.50 worth of castle rooms, knights jousting, falconry, archery, etc. - some other time.

And I was by now rather tired and so I walked back to Leamington, another 2 km along a major road with some older and some more recent housing developments. Later, I found out I could have walked along the river itself... pity!

Back at the guest house, I quickly changed shoes, put the camera in my bag, and walked another mile or so to join a friend for dinner and the pub quiz at his local... and of course walked back in the middle of the night!


The next morning, it was already time to leave again and I took the train from Leamington to Birmingham International Train Station and, lo and behold, it was only 12 minutes late. A few steps from the platforms, passengers board the driverless Skylink, a small maglev train which takes them to the actual Birmingham International Airport in under a minute.

Skylink maglev train arriving

Looking out the front window towards the airport

Time had flown quickly, and I was flying home. I will not wait as long as this time before I go back - that's a promise.