Stratford - The End and Birthday Party

Whenever we go out we try to make it interesting for Our Daughter by asking her to spot how many things associated with what we are going to be doing she can see - when we went to see "The Lion King" in London we went looking for the lions we could see - statues etc.

In Startford we concerntrated on business premises who traded on Shakespeare or things associated with him and came up with the above - Hathaway Tea Rooms.

We spotted this Restaurant.

And this hotel.

And even the local Bank had this mosaic!!!

The purpose of our visit to Stratford was to see "Matilda" at the Courtyard Theatre. Our Daughter was spoilt this year as I had originally booked tickets a long time ago to see "The Lion King" but then read the reviews about "Matilda." So we ended up going to see two spectacular shows. For her Birthday Party Our Daughter and her friends went to the cinema to see "Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and then onto Pizza Express. A bit spoilt you may think but last year due to her awful parents' (our surname is not Wormwood) work commitments she didn't have any treat or Birthday Party - what bad parents were we!!! We had to  make up for it this year and I think we succeeded.

"Matilda" - Fantastic, Wonderful, Super, etc ...

At Pizza Express making a wish ...

And then it was all over.

Our Daughter enjoyed her Party so, so much. We must never again allow work commitments to take over - we run our own business though and it is very hard sometimes.

But Our Daughter won't be young forever and it is important to make the time.

So I will make a promise that come what may next year we will arrange another Party.

Watch this space ...

Until next time.

June.

Images of Stratford Part Two

This is Nash House and next to it is New Place where Shakespeare's house used to be - it is now the subject of an archeological dig. Elizabeth Hall was Shakespeare's only grandchild and she married Thomas Nash who lived next door in Nash House. It seems strange that Nash House remains but that New Place no longer exists! I wonder how and why it came to be demolished?

There is a sculpture garden. It contains many Shakespeare inspired sculptures.

Another sculpture. They are the work of Greg Wyatt.

At the end of the garden there is this monument type structure.

We went on a River Walk. We made our way over the bridge towards a further Shakespeare inspired monument.

Some more photos from the monument.

 

Stratford really does its famous son proud. You could never forget who was born here - he is remembered everywhere!

We carried on with our walk - past the ducks, geese and swans.

To the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre.

Another view of the RSC.

An image from the RSC.

Outside was this lovely little dog. His elderly owner had gone into the theatre shop but not tied him very firmly to the railings outside. He had somehow got himself free but we quickly tied him back. He does look like a dignified old soul, doesn't he. He was quite happy for us to make a fuss of him.

There are a few more photos to show you which I will do in the next post but after that there will be no more from Stratford.

We are going to be taking things easy this weekend as the last few weekends have been fairly hectic - what with going to London to see "The Lion King" and then going to Stratford the following week. You can imagine the pile of washing and ironing that awaits! I won't mention the dust - the weather is getting warmer but what that means is that the sun shines in through the windows and showcases all the dust. I hate dusting!

Oh, well it won't get done by itself.

I'm off!

Until next time.

June.

Images of Stratford

Today I thought that I would show you some photographs that I took of Stratford - as if I hadn't shown you enough! I was a bit snap happy! There was so much to see that was the problem!

The above is a photo of the Garrick Inn.

It is amazing that these wood carvings are still around.

This gent was outside "The Christmas Shop." We did venture inside but everything was quite expensive and bearing in mind you'd have to buy something and then put it away for a year. Well, I just know that I would put it somewhere safe and then forget all about it!

Approaching the American Fountain. The Christmas Trees and Christmas lights were still up!

The American Fountain. Sadly, it is no longer a working fountain.

This cat was in a window and so I had to snap away at it - I'm sure that cat is thinking - "What on earth is that mad woman up to!"

This lion was on a Church near to the hotel where we stayed. Thinking of "The Lion King" I took this photo as it has 8 lions on it! You may remember that when we went up to London to see "The Lion King" we did a bit of lion spotting then too.

Lovely old buildings.

A mime artist pretending to be Shakespeare! Our daughter went and stood next to him and he took off her hat and put it on his head which was quite funny. Shortly after though a much younger girl than our daughter looked at him and he moved and she howled and howled and in between the sobs she said "I don't like him mummy!" Mime artists can be scary and a bit creepy.

A statue called "The Jester."

The base of the statue has quotes by Shakespeare about fools!

I cannot believe it but there are still some more to show you. There are photos from Nash's House and Garden - this is the house next door to New Place which was Shakespeare's home until his death in 1616. There are also photos from a River Walk and of course photos of the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre!

Stratford as you can see is an interesting place with a lot to see and most of it within easy walking distance.

It was well worth the visit!

Until next time.

June.

Holy Trinity Church, Stratford

This is the rear of the Church and is the first glimpse that we got  as we approached it by way of the River Walk.

Why did we visit - because this is the place where William Shakespeare was buried in 1616.

It is also the Church where he was baptized.

There was some beautiful masonry work in the Church.

There were plenty of stained glass windows but, being quite high up and at an angle they were difficult to photograph.

The colours and  intricacies of the work was amazing.

I'm sure that this painting is from the 1970's it has that feel about it - Jesus Christ Superstar era!

Back to those lovely windows.

There has been a Church on this site since 713 apparently when a Saxon Monastery was built on the site and the current Church dates from 1210!

The front of the Church. There is a knocker on the door referred to as the Sanctuary Knocker and anyone touching it could claim sanctuary in the Church for 37 days.

 William is not the only member of his family to be buried here.  His wife, Anne and other members of the family are buried here. This bust on the Church wall was erected in 1623 by his wife and friends.

 We were in Stratford for 4 days and went to see many of the historic sites. It was lovely to visit in January as  I'm sure that in only a few months time the place will be heaving with tourists.

We came back home late on Saturday as we had Our Daughter's Birthday Party on Sunday.

She had so enjoyed seeing "Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader" at the cinema and wanted her friends to see it - the local cinema is small and not one of those big multiplex ones.

We phoned on Saturday to see that everything was O.K. to be told that the projector was broken!

So we had to phone around and tell everyone that the party would be at our house and that we would probably watch Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.

However, on Sunday morning the cinema rang to say that the projector was thankfully fixed!

After "Narnia" we all headed off to our local Pizza Express for food and cake and then it was all over for another year.

Until next time.

June.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shottery

No trip to Stratford-upon-Avon would be complete without visiting Anne Hathaway's Cottage. We had purchased one of those tickets that enables you to go and visit more than one place when we had been to Shakespeare's Birthplace and saved some pennies in so doing!

We were here out of season and had the whole place almost to ourselves.

We were told that the place is heaving in the Summer.

A photograph of the Other Half and Our Daughter before we went into the cottage.

The man who told us a bit about the history of the place said that we couldn't take any photographs so when he wasn't looking I took a few!!!

The photograph above is of "The Hathaway Bed."

Did you know that Anne was pregnant by William and that they therefore had to get married  in a bit of a hurry - a shotgun wedding!

William was 18 years old when he married - in those days he would have been a minor in the eyes of the law. Anne however was 26 - so William was her toy boy!

Another bed in the house - it is a four bedroomed property.

William and Anne had three children - Susanna and then twins, Hamnet (a boy) and Judith. Hamnet died when he was 11 years old. Judith however lived till she was 77 years old - a good age in the 1600's!

After touring the house we went to the Sculpture Garden.

Our Daughter and the Other Half in the Sculpture Garden.

A sculpture of Falstaff's tummy!

I thought this sculpture looked a bit rude! I didn't recognize the characters until Our Daughter said, "It's Titania and Bottom from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

I quickly asked her how she knew that and was told that Year 6 had performed it for them at school recently. This of course was the first that I had heard about it!

Every now and again I ask Our Daughter what did she learn or do at school and invariably get the reply "Nothing really."

Then out of the blue she will say something knowledgeable!

Kids!

The apple orchard was spookily quiet.

Until next time.

June.