Stratford-upon-Avon

We arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon around 4:30 and checked into Woodstock B&B on the main road leading into town.  They have a car park and it was an easy walk to the center of town.   

Woodstock B&B

Most everything closes between 5 and 5:30 so we just took a nice walk down to the Avon river. (We had learned on our Bath tour that the word "avon" means "river" and that there are many, many Avon rivers in England.)

One of the nicest things about Stratford are all the lovely Tudor style houses that still exist there.

They are still lived in and nicely maintain, on the whole.  Gives a very charming effect.

We walked by the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre.  Unfortunately, there was no theatre that night, just a concert, so no chance for seeing anything.

Royal Shakespeare Company

The Avon river runs right through town and is loaded with boats and swans.

We took a nice quiet, calm boat ride up and down the river and saw a little pedestrian ferry which was powered by a man winding a winch.

We walked over to the other side and had a good meal at Le Bistro Pierre.  We both had lamb, which was very good, but the french baguette was probably the best part of the meal.  Despite the storm that appears to be gather in the picture below, we never got rained on.



The next morning, after a hearty English breakfast, we headed off to "do Shakespeare".  We wanted to see his birthplace and his grave site.  The birthplace was beautifully restored and has been a target for visitors since the 1700's!  They have guest books showing famous Americans like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson visiting when they were ambassadors to England and France.

Shakespeare was born and raised here.  he was one of eight children, although not all survived to adulthood.  His father was a glove maker.

I wasn't supposed to take pictures inside but there was no sign.  I had taken several before they told me not to.  They had docents throughout who were very interesting and told us a lot about the history of the house and the family.

After that, we walked through town towards the church were Shakespeare is buried.  Along the way we came upon another house that belonged to a member of shakespeares family.  Since our admission ticket was good there also, we went through it.  The best part was outside where they are actively excavating what is called "New Place" which is the home that Shakespeare lived in when he "retired" back to Stratford from London.  It has been taken down and built over but they are finding lots of interesting things in the site.  We saw them sifting through the dirt and finding various things.  Very interesting experience.

We finally reached the church where he is buried along with his wife, daughter and her husband. 

The graves are right in front of the altar.  There was a docent there, as well, who told us stories about Shakespeare in Strateford - how he came to be buried there (gave land to the church), how he became a "gentleman" and got a coat of arms for his family. 

He also told us the story of the alabaster bust of Shakespeare that was made for his wife by an unknown artist. It is kept nicely painted and thought to be a very good likeness of him.

We drove back to Richmond, stopping for lunch in another cotswold village (Moreton-on-the-Marsh), had tea in Woodstock (where the Blenheim Palace is located).  We considered going into the see the palace but we have seen so many palaces and it was very expensive (15 pounds each!) so we just headed for home.

All in all a lovely trip.