THURSDAY
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
THURSDAY
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
| Welcome to the Woodstock Guest House. Do not take the brown acid. |
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| Woodstock is a nice place in a nice location run by a pair of nice people. |
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| We took a short walk from the B&B into town, passing lots of old buildings on the way. This one on the right is Nash's House, which was owned by William Shakespeare's granddaughter. Next door and not in this picture is the foundation of New Place, where Ol' Bill lived later in his life and where he died. |
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| Henley Street is blocked off for pedestrians. |
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*DUPLICATE PHOTO WARNING* The fool is still there, just fifteen years older, much like the fool who took the picture again. |
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| The house where William Shakespeare was born. It was late in the day so we didn't go in. I had been before and my sister didn't seem that interested. |
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| Exterminate! Exterminate! There was an episode where the Tenth Doctor goes back in time and meets William Shakespeare ("The Shakespeare Code") and another Eighth Doctor audio drama ("The Time of the Daleks") where the Daleks go back in time to erase Shakespeare from history, so seeing this here isn't really out of place. |
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| This is the Library and Information Centre. I'm not sure if it is an old building or a newer one built to fit in with the surroundings. |
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| A couple of buildings down is this Subway. |
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| This is a lock on the river. Beyond the lock are some longboats. |
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| The peaceful River Avon. |
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| They're rowin', rowin', rowin' on the river. You know I always preferred Ike and Tina's version of that song over CCR's. |
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| The Royal Shakespeare Company wasn't doing a Shakespeare play that night. I wouldn't have minded seeing one. I like his plays and I've seen a lot of them either on stage or on film. |
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| In the park next to the river there are a lot of lampposts that seem to have been donated by various countries and cities. This one was donated by Israel. I don't know about the owl and the fiddler but the donkey man may be a reference to Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. |
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| The Church of the Holy Trinity is where... |
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| ...in this section of the church... |
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| ...William Shakespeare and the missus are buried. |
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| Dinner was at The Windmill Inn. The plaque on the front says "Welcome friends! I've been an inn for more than 350 years. While Will Shakespeare was writing his immortal plays some of his fellow townsmen were enjoying their favourite drink here. They must at times have enjoyed his company, too, for he lived only a hundred yards away and the home of this daughter, Susanna Hall, was round the corner in Old Town. The Welcome at the Windmill is as cordial now as it was in the poet's day." |
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| They have a list of the owners from 1720 to date. |
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| A pie and a pint. I despise peas but I did eat a few together with the pie so that I couldn't really taste them. For the record the pint count on the trip was three pints of Strongbow and one of Guinness. I realize that some heartier people would consume that on a single night out. |
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| These fruit machines have always seemed confusing to me. They are like slot machines but a lot busier. Drop in a pound, hit the button, watch all the lights flash and wonder where your money went. |
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| Stratford-upon-Avon at dusk. |
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