Start : From The Blue Lias Inn (A) situated by the canal on Stockton Road, between the villages of Long Itchington and Stockton. Stockton CV47 8LD. Start Grid Ref: SP426 646
(S/E) Emerging from The Blue Lias Inn car park turn left along the road (Stockton Road). You are already on the Millennium Way. Cross the bridge over the canal and after a few steps you will reach a wooden gate on your left where you will see the first waymarker.
Take the gate to join the Grand Union canal (B) towpath and go with the canal left. Stay on towpath passing under bridge 24, then pass the canalside Two Boats Inn and go under the bridge 25, the A423 Banbury to Coventry road.
(1) Immediately after passing under bridge 25 go right to pass a small brick cubicle and take a kissing gate into the paddock. Cross the paddock and take two further kissing gates on either side of a farm track. Go ahead over the field (North-West) to cross the footbridge and take the kissing gate, then ahead on the path between trees towards a modern white house to find another kissing gate. Here we leave the Millennium Way.
Take the kissing gate and turn sharp right (East) down the surfaced drive past houses to the corner and follow the yellow way marker through a metal gate. Then stay right near the hedge to cross the bottom of the garden of houses maintaining the same line through a short area of woodland and continue through a corner gap along a short path to exit by a metal kissing gate to cul-de-sac.
(2) Bear left to reach Shepherd Close and left again to reach Southam Road. Turn right (South-Esat) on the main road and after a few yards cross over using the pedestrian crossing and continue up the road to the road junction where we bear left onto Stockton Road.
Continue ahead for a while passing a wooden bench on left, Wulfstan Drive, and the Primary School. Proceed on a wide tarmac footpath past a lot of new houses on Keepers Meadow housing complex. When you exit the footpath to the road, cross over to pass a deep layby on the right before reaching a sharp right-hand bend.
(3) At the bend, we leave the road to continue ahead (East) down a waymarked gravel bridleway with a sign to High Clays Farm. Where the gravel drive swings left to High Clays Farm, continue straight on down a wide grassy bridleway between trees and hedges.
Near the end of the track exit by gap to reach the canal towpath (here you are only a short way from the start!). Bear left and continue along the towpath with the canal on right, passing the flight of locks. Continue on past Top Lock Cottage, Stockton Top Marina on right and then The Boat Inn, also on the opposite side of the canal.
(4) Pass under bridge 21. Continue for 1/2 mile, passing Nelson's Wharf on the right, until you will reach bridge 20. Go under the bridge then almost immediately exit the towpath left to find a road. Go left on road to cross over the canal bridge and pass Station Farm on the right walking gently up the road crossing another bridge over a disused railway line. After this bridge we descend gently to reach a junction.
(5) Turn right (West) at the junction signed Stockton 3/4 mile then almost immediately take lane right signed Stockton Auto Services. Stay ahead past businesses to go through the waymarked metal gate ahead.
Stay along the narrow track with a tall metal fence on left. Where the metal fence turns sharp left, stay ahead to reach a concrete track where a large concrete barrier has been laid. Go left (South-West) here on the track keeping hedge left and after 75 paces take way marked footpath left in hedge gap by a large tree.
Go along a well defined path with hedge and trees right, in the direction of houses. Stay with hedge right to exit in the corner by a row of concrete posts and continue forward past a brick garden wall to reach a road.
(6) Ahead into Elm Row and continue along to reach the crossroads. Cross directly over into High Street, Stockton and stay left passing the interesting "Butler and the Pump" on your right and then The Crown Inn on left.
At the convenience store, turn right into Mount Pleasant walking uphill. Here you have rejoined the Millennium Way. Ignore side roads and continue uphill to arrive at a grassy passageway, with houses left, leading through spinney and over a stile to a field (the only stile on this circular).
(7) On entering the field go left with hedge left and wire fence right to take a gap next to a stile to the main A426 road. Cross the road, take a gap and then go down steps to go ahead with the hedge left. Go through the corner gap and along a short passageway continuing with hedge left along the narrow track at field edge with wire fence right.
Follow the corridor over two wooden bridges then along the woodland path staying close to a wire fence on your right. At the end of the wire fence you will come to a fence post with waymarkers. Stay forward along the grassy path through the spinney, shortly to arrive at a gap.
Go slightly right then immediately left, staying on the same line (the waypost is leaning against the hedge), to go with hedge left and after some 70 paces take gap left into woods to find redundant stile with waymark. Go around the redundant stile and ahead along delightful woodland path, which can be quite muddy.
(8) Cross the track and exit past one old metal kissing gate and through another to a lake. Bear right then keep lake left and take gap which leads back to your starting point at The Blue Lias Inn. (S/E)
