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Gained an hour’s sleep overnight as the clocks went back and surprised at how long we slept in.
Callum emerged just before 9.30am and we set off to Stratford shortly afterwards, just a 30 mins drive away. We had planned where to park but took a wrong turn and ended up somewhere else. All the car parks in this are very old with very narrow slopes and spaces – Jon just loves these car parks! It turned out we were a stones throw away from Shakespeare’s house.
Before exploring, we stopped at Bensons for breakfast. Bacon and egg / Sausage and egg sandwiches and a hot drink.
Before exploring, we stopped at Bensons for breakfast. Bacon and egg / Sausage and egg sandwiches and a hot drink.
We were ready to explore. First stop was Shakespeare’s Birthplace. Shakespeare’s house still stood in town – a lovely old tudor building – however, it was hard to comprehend why the planners had allowed such a modern monstrosity to be built right next door. It looked very out of place and it turned out this building is the entrance to Shakespeare’s House. We bought tickets to explore his first house. “New Place” – where the house he bought when he married once stood, next door to the church.
A small museum housed a couple or artifacts from around the time of Shakespeare, but the most interesting thing was the house itself. Shakespeare’s father, John, was an affluent glove maker, tanner and wool dealer. For a number of years he played a prominent role in the town. He served on the town council and was elected bailiff (mayor).
The house was representative of the time when Shakespeare was born – this house was his birthplace. The kitchen was set out as per the time – a large fireplace and the table set up for entertaining. In the room next door, was John’s workshop. He was a glovemaker by trade and would have sold his gloves through the window straight onto the high street. His stock room was upstairs. John would have had apprentices working with him – they would not have been paid, but received free board and lodgings. The little room in the attic would have been where they all lived.
After John had died, William added an extension to the house and converted it into a pub – The Maidenhead – later the Swan and Maidenhead. At the time, William had moved to a new house and the small house attached to the original house (1 up, 1 down) was given to William’s sister. At the time, the house would have formed a part of a terrace but houses either side at some point were taken down. One side replaced by an out-of-character modern building that now forms part of the museum.
One interesting exhibit was the window from the house where visiting authors had etched their names into the glass. Whilst we couldn’t quickly identify any signatures, it was said that Charles Darwin, John Keats, Mark Twain and Thomas Hardy were amongst those who’d left their mark.
The gardens out the back were very tranquil and would look lovely in the summer when the flowers were in bloom. There were a couple of actors around and presumed at some point they would have put on a performance but not whilst we were there.
Once we’d left Shakespeares Birth Place, we headed across to “New Place”, where Shakespeare spent most of his life. The town was packed with old Tudor buildings
Whilst the house had been demolished, gardens now stood and there were some incredible statues depicting a couple of his various plays.
Inside the museum (the house next door) was a tribute to some strong female characters featured in Shakespeare’s plays with costumes from the stage plays.
A fascinating insight into the life of Shakespeare.
After Stratford, we decided to head to Chipping Camden – another of the pretty Cotswolds town close to where we were staying. The weather was changing and rain was coming in. We found a car parking space on the high street and decided to see if Sally’s recommendation of Da Luigi’s was any good! They had a table for the three of us and the menu looked really good. The section of the restaurant we were sat in only had about 6 tables but there was a steady stream of people coming in to eat.
For starters, we ordered a Focaccia with garlic butter and a bread basket. Oh my, the Focaccia was as light as feather and the other bread was delicious as well. For mains, Jon ordered a Ham and Mushroom pizza, Callum the seafood risotto and I had the Salmon Tagliatelle. All really delicious. We were also swayed into buying a Limoncello Pannetonne for Christmas – these were displayed in every corner and spare bit of surface in the restaurant.
By the time we had finished our meal, the rain had got much heavier. A very quick look around and we headed back to the car before we got soaked.
No need for cheese & biscuits tonight as we were all full from dinner! Callum started to catch up on the Traitors tonight – 3 episodes tonight and we would watch the remaining episodes tomorrow night.
