The Cotswolds is a range of limestone hills, beech wood, steep valleys of
pastureland grazed by sheep renowned for quality wool.
In Roman times sheep and rivers were a source of wealth for medieval people
producing wool and cloth. The area boasts quaint and colorful towns
and villages.
The base of our tour was
Stratford-upon-Avon.
Stratford is a small Elizabethan town on the gently-flowing
River Avon. Stratford was the birthplace of William Shalespeare (in 1564).
The city consists of an array of 16th
and 17th century structures with rows of half-timbered houses,
including Shakespeare's own home on Henley Street.
Stratford was a market town and trading center in the Middle Ages.
I was met at Heathrow by Tim Parry who has a limo service between Stratford-Upon-Avon and London. He gave me a guided tour of the area on the way to Stratford. I hadn't even gotten to my destination and I had already seen some lovely Cotswold villages.
I wandered around town a bit to get cash and familiarize myself
with the area while I waited for the rest of the tour group to
arrive.
Dinner at the hotel was accompanied by a local actor performing
bits of Shakespeare.
The Holy Trinity Church is along the banks of the River Avon,
just down from the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theater.
Shakespeare was a lay preacher at Holy Trinity Church when he
returned home from London.
No building in Stratford is taller than the Memorial Theater
so the Moat House (originally a Hilton) is only 3 stories,
probably the shortest Hilton in the world.
Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity on April 26, 1564 (so we assume he was born on the 23rd since they usually baptized 3 days after birth). He was buried on April 25, 1616, which leads us to believe he died (also) on the 23rd because they generally buried people 2 days after death.
Shakespeare's father John was mayor of Stratford and was born in nearby Snitterfield. The Forest of Arden used to be north of Stratford (and was used in As You Like It). It was used up building battleships for war with Spain.
Today we took our excursion to Shakespeare's birthplace on Henley Street
which is managed by
the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
We also saw Anne Hathaway's cottage where Shakespeare's wife grew up.
It's an Elizabethan farmhouse with a low thatched roof, timbered walls, and
lattice windows. We drove by Mary Arden's home, a Tudor farmstead,
where Shakespeare's mother grew up.
Shakespeare's last home, known as The New Place, is gone now.
All that's left is the foundation and Knott Garden,
a sunken garden divided into 4 sections by a path, filled with flowers
herbs, and box hedges, and contains a Mulberry tree that Shakespeare
planted. A later owner of New Place was tired of people wanting to see
it and clipping from the mulberry tree so he moved, had the tree cut
down, and left orders for the house to be demolished.
We saw Hall's Croft, home of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and husband
John Hall, a local doctor. It contains 16th and 17th century furnishings
and an exhibit of medical equipment from the period.
During our evening lecture, there was a fire in the boiler room
at the hotel, so we had to evacuate and finish our lecture outside
under a giant Lebanonese Cedar tree in the courtyard.
We also toured Warwick Castle, England's finest Medieval castle.
I climbed the 3 front towers, the mount in the center (built up by man),
and the "ghost tower."
We had the moat contents described in rank detail, apparently in that
day, it was basically the sewer system. It flowed directly into the
River Avon which runs past the castle. Our tour guide was a bowman
and he played the part quite convincingly. He gave a demo of his
archery skills as well.
Later in the day we got a backstage tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theater, composed of a main theater and the Swan Theater (a Globe-styled theater). The current theater was built after the original theater burned. In the evening we saw the RSC production of Henry V, in a World War I motif (but with original dialogue).
Overnight I experienced my very first earthquake (who would have thought
I'd have to go to England for this?). It was centered in near Leamington
Spa which is in another part of Warwickshire (where Stratford is). I woke
up but thought someone was in my room. When I was more awake I decided
I must have dreamt something. It wasn't until I was watching the BBC
Breakfast News the next morning that I knew it as an actual earthquake!
It registered 4.2, which isn't that large by our standards, but it was
the largest in England in 10 years.
We visited Stow-On-The-Wold (Edward Stow lived on the hill). The Romans arrived here in 47AD. We visited the Parish Church of St. Edward, the oldest surviving original building in town (built by the Normans about 986). I passed a cheese shop that had Wensleydale on special and a board that said "Real cheese, Grommit!" so I couldn't resist, I had to try it-- and it was great. We missed the Cheese 2000 festival which was the following weekend. We visited the Royalist Hotel, the oldest inn in England built in 947 AD.
We also visited Bourton-On-The-Water, the "Venice of the Cotswolds" (someone hadn't been to Venice) because of its six bridges that span the River Windrush which divides the town and later empties into the River Avon. The composer Holst born nearby.
Lower Slaughter has beautiful stone bridges and excellent walks. We had lunch at the Washbourne Court Hotel and walked along the River Eye (which later runs into River Windrush).
In Stanway we visited Stanway Parish where we saw a wedding in progress, and the Stanway Water Garden.
Stanton is not very modern, and is inhabited mostly by retired people
and workers from Broadway. The Stanton Parish Church was where John
and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist Church, preached.
We even got to see a Cricket game going on down the street.
Broadway, in Glouscester, is called "Gateway to the Cotswolds." Most people in our group went shopping, I went to the Horse and Hound pub to sample the local brew.
Chipping Campden is a market town. The name comes from chipping (as in chipping at the price, or bartering), camp (people), and den (organized). The Eddington Park Hotel supposedly has a housekeeper ghost.
After returning to Stratford, I toured a few of the local
pubs near the hotel. The Black Swan (aka the Dirty Duck) is
often frequented by RSC players after performances.
I also stopped in at the Pen and Parchment and Cox's Yard,
both along the banks of the River Avon.
In the afternoon, we took a trip to Coventry. Among other things, it's the home of Lady Godiva. It was an agricultural settlement in 1086 and was the 3rd largest city outside of London by 1377. Its prosperity came from woolen trade.
The wife of Earl Leofric was Lady Godiva. She sympathized with citizens and protested her husband's high taxation. She made a deal with her husband that if he would lower the taxes, she would ride naked on horseback through the city. Out of respect, the townspeople planned to stay inside their houses with the windows shut while she made this ride. Allegedly a young man named Thomas couldn't stand it and had to look (hence the phrase "peeping Tom").
Now it's a car center-- Rover Group (formerly BMW) and Austin
founded by Herbert Austin. In WWII, they made arms and engines
so they were a target. On November 14, 1940, Coventry was bombed
by the Luftwaffe. A 7:10pm air raid siren signaled the start of
an 11-hour bombing where the Coventry Cathedral was virtually
destroyed. The Cathedral roof was lead, which when wet, as it
was because the fire brigade was trying to put out fires all over
town, it looked like a a metal factory roof.
Eventually the water ran out, so when it was hit, the fire
could not be put out. The bell tower was left standing and working.
The old Coventry Cathedral was the only British cathedral to be destroyed by the Luftwaffe. The new cathedral, St. Michael's, was completed in 1962. It's a modern design by Sir Basil Spence and is a stark contrast to the ruins of the 14th century cathedral next to it. The "official" location has never been moved to the new one, so the bombed out shell is still the recognized cathedral.
We also saw the St. Mary's Guildhall, built between 1340 and 1460 and damaged during the bombing but restored. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in the tower for 2 months (of her 19 years), near the council chambers and treasury rooms.
Back in Stratford that evening, we had dinner with some local
folks, including a couple of people who travel around and teach
school children about Shakespeare. They have an interesting
web site at
http://www.bravenewshakespeare.com.
One of the women in the group is from New Jersey but moved to Stratford
to do graduate work and just stayed. Hearing her take on life in the UK
was pretty interesting (and talking with her wasn't difficult!). It's
from her I learned the word "kerfuffled" (flabergasted, confused).
Blenheim Palace is the birthplace of Winston Churchill (John Churchill's grandson). We saw the room where he was born as well as many of his paintings and letters. In one letter to his dad he says "I'll take your advice and not smoke but one or two cigars a day." At least Dad will be glad to know I'm not the only son who hasn't always taken his father's advice! Blenheim Palace is the site of Winston Churchill's famous speech after his appointment to the Admiralty in 1911. We had lunch at Bear Hotel, a 13th century coaching inn in Woodstock.
Then it was off to Oxford. The word "Oxford" comes from its proximity
to the ford in the River Thames where the ox could graze.
The River Thames goes by its Roman name in Oxford and is know as
the River Isis.
Oxford was an early Saxon trading settlement. Henry VIII founded the school in 1547 but died before it opened in 1562. Queen Elizabeth I presided over its opening.
The individual college we visited was Christ Church. Einstein attended Christ Church and Lewis Carroll taught there. We visited the Bodeian Library, the Meadows building (student rooms), and the Master's garden. Originally, Christ Church was known as Cardinal College but it was renamed by Henry VIII. We took High Tea in a dining room in Christ Church.
Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) came to study Maths in 1852 and stayed to teach until his death in 1898. Many Alice in Wonderland inspirations came to Carroll from Christ Church:
In the evening, I went to see The Comedy Of Errors
put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. During intermission
(known there as "the interval"), I stood on a balcony just out of
reach of a light rain, sipping a glass of wine and chatting with a
a charming English lass. If her boyfriend hadn't eventually come
around, I'd probably still be there! I walked back to the hotel
after the performance in a light rain along the River Avon.
That evening, a few of us saw Mousetrap at the St. Martin's Theater.
This is the longest running show in London, it's been going for 48 years.
Cambridge is supposedly where Sir Issac Newton had his inspiration
about gravity from an apple, there are apple trees everywhere.
Today we went from Chris' house to Stonehenge, about 25 miles!
He said he drives by it all the time, but it's just another place
on the highway. He had never even been since he lived where he lives!
Another ring of stones in the area is the Avebury ring. This one
is much larger but not as stark. There's even a pub (where we had
lunch) in the middle of the circle. We spent the afternoon shopping
in the town of Marlbourgh.
Today was Chris' day. We went to one of his favorite places,
the Hawk Conservancy. We learned how to hold and fly Harris Hawks, saw
Perigrine Falcons, and even a Bald Eagle! This picture is Chris holding
a barn owl, one of his favorites.
Back to London to tour around, we first took a tour of the rebuilt
Globe Theater. This completed my total emersion in all things
Shakespeare!
As with my trip 10 years ago, Bill and I climbed the stairs to the
top of
St Paul's Cathedral
(only one day off from when I did it
10 years ago!).
Then we took a riverboat ride up the Thames and caught the tube out
to Ruislip to visit another friend who is lucky enough to live in the
London area!