Leamington Spa

We went to Leamington today to meet our friends Maureen and Ian for lunch. We took the train from Stratford as we knew it would be busy in town as it was the finishing point for stage 4 of the Tour of Britain cycling event.

After a look around Jephson Gardens, and a coffee in The Aviary cafe we met up at Bill's for an excellent lunch and drink.

By the time we came out the crowds were out in force along the sides of Newbold Terrace which runs alongside the gardens where the finish line had been set up, the road being closed to normal traffic.  I went off to find a vantage point for taking a picture as they came in, unfortunately it was behind the barrier enclosing the loudspeakers with only a straight across view of the road. Taking pictures of the bunch as they came in was virtually impossible as the only warning I had of their approach was through the speakers, not being able to see down the road.  I managed to get two or three pics of the main contenders but the best shot was as the stragglers were coming in, the crowd thinning a bit by then. The extra is a bike I saw which probably wasn't in the race!