Stratford upon Avon

Hello all!

I got up this morning, packed up, said 'bye to Rob and off I went to the station! Thankfully it wasn't raining so my walk was easy. 

I caught the 8.45am train to Birmingham where I had to walk and switch stations and then caught the train to Stratford upon Avon. I arrived about 12.20 and easily walked to my accommodation. I'm stoked - I didn't realise but I booked a B&B with a single room here. I think the only hostel was miles out of town. I couldn't check in but I left my bags. 

I set off for an afternoon of Shakespearean exploration! I'll admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of Shakespeare at high school. Many an afternoon in year 10 was spent whinging to Mrs Carter asking why we had to study 'Macbeth'. But as I've grown up I've learned to respect the fact that he's one of (if not the!) most famous literature figures in history. It's interesting how my trips tie in together. Mum and I travelled to Verona a couple of years ago now and I got to stand on the balcony from 'Romeo and Juliet', and now I'm in the town where Shakespeare was born, lived and died. 

My first stop was Shakespeare's Birthplace, where I purchased the '5 House Pass' so I can get into all the Shakespeare related attractions. Here I learned quite a lot about Shakespeare's life. He was born on or around the 23rd of April 1564 her in Stratford upon Avon. He was the third child his parents had had, but the first to survive to adulthood, even though he was born the same year the plague hit here. 

In his lifetime, William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets and 5 poems. As he was an actor as well, he wrote his plays in such a way that actors really enjoyed performing in them. He had shares in the Globe Theatre in London (which I'm seeing 'Richard II' at in October!). His father was called John Shakespeare and he was a glove maker, earning £40 a year (twice as much as a school teacher) and his mother was Mary Arden. When he was 18 he married 26 year old Anne Hathaway who was three months pregnant with their daughter Susanna at the time, and they had two more children Hamnet and Judith. He left for London in 1592, and by the time he was 33 he was so wealthy he bought the biggest house in Stratford upon Avon which had 22 rooms!!!

The Shakespeare Trust purchased the house in 1847, and I saw some visitor's books from over the years, one had a visitor in it from Sydney in the 1880s. In the house there were five beds, which one of the guides told me was very unusual for the time and showed that the family was rich. I saw the room that Shakespeare was born in, and other bedrooms and rooms. There was the window originally in the birth room, which pilgrims scratched their names into. I then went out into the gardens where I was serenaded by a man in Shakespearean dress in front of the entire garden full of tourists. Mortifying. I gritted my teeth and smiled until it was over and then inconspicuously ran away before it could happen again haha. I did, however, enjoy the storyboard summarising all of Shakespeare's plays across 2.4m. Took a photo of the panel about the play I'm seeing :)

I then continued and went to Harvard House. It was built by Thomas Rogers, the grandfather of the man who Harvard university is named after. It was built in 1596 and was right near to the 22 room house Shakespeare purchased - New Place. There was a stained glass panel in the attic that dated from the 1400s that was found during renovations in the early 1900s!

Next was Hall's Croft. This house belonged to Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband Dr John Hall. I saw bedrooms and the doctor's small apothecary as he was a herbalist. There was also an exhibition about SUA during the First World War and how plays lifted the spirits of the people. 

My final stop on my Shakespearean afternoon adventure was the Holy Trinity Church. William Shakespeare is buried here. He died on April 23 (yes, his birthday!) in 1616. He had purchased the right to be buried here by buying some church land during his life. I saw his grave, his wife's as well as Dr John Hall and William and Anne's daughter Susanna. 

I went for a walk through some gardens and along the river and then made my way back via the supermarket. I checked in and was pleasantly surprised at my B&B. As I said before I thought I had booked all hostel dorms this summer. My room is cosy and the bed is so comfortable. Going to rest up the next two days and hopefully my cold and head will be all better by then :)

Warwick Castle (and jousting!) tmro. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox