Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
And here's a statue of one of Shakespeare's 'motley fools' ...
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Posted Mar 18, 2008, 9:31 pm Last edited Mar 18, 2008, 9:44 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
The beautiful timbered exterior of The Garrick Inn.
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Posted Mar 18, 2008, 9:43 pm Last edited Mar 18, 2008, 9:44 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
Here I am outside the very same 'The Shakespeare', where almost one year ago today (well, the 4th April 2007 to be precise) one of my ToyVoyager heroines, Elisabeth from France, *almost* asked Imogen Stubbs (Lady Nunn) for her autograph!!!
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Posted Mar 18, 2008, 9:54 pm Last edited Mar 18, 2008, 9:57 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon_Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
Here I am showing you Nash's House and New Place.
New Place is where Shakespeare lived out his final years, after retiring from life in London. It was built in 1483, and was the second largest house, and the only one made of bricks, in Stratford at the time. Shakespeare had obviously made his fortune in London.
History has it that after Shakespeare's death in 1616, the house passed to his daughter, Susanna (Hall) and then to his granddaughter, Elizabeth, who married Thoomas Nash, the boy-next-door.
When Elizabeth died, the house reverted to its former owners, the Cloptons, and then was bought by a vicar, the Reverend Francis Gastrell.
Legend has it that he became annoyed with constant visitors to the house, and, in 1759, he destroyed a mulberry tree in the garden which Shakespeare himself was said to have planted. Stratford residents were angry at this, and smashed all the windows of New Place. Rev. Gastrell then destroyed the house completely, leaving nothing of the building. Not a nice man!
Nowadays, there is a museum in the neighbouring Nash's House, and you can see the foundations of Shakespeare's final residence if you go through the house next door (or lean over the wall, like I did!)
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Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:29 pm Last edited Mar 18, 2008, 10:30 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
These lovely timbered buildings are part of King Edward School (a grammar school for boys) which has been an educational establishment since the early thirteenth century.
Shakespeare himself is rumoured to have been a student here.
The school was given a charter by the young King Edward VI nine days before he died in 1553.
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Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:34 pm Last edited Mar 18, 2008, 10:36 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
A plaque telling the visitor about the almshouses here in Stratford.
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Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:36 pm
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
I thought I'd show you the British flag as it flies above the Council offices - it looked so good against the clear sky! (And even better with me in front of it!)
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Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:38 pm
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
John Hall wasthe only doctor in Stratford in Shakespeare's day, and became the Bard's son-in-law too, when he married Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna on June 5, 1607.
Hall's Croft was their Stratford home, and is now open to the public as one of the five 'Shakespeare Houses' (The Birthplace, Nash's House, Hall's Croft, Mary Arden's House and Anne Hathaway's Cottage) of the town centre and surrounding areas.
After Shakespeare died, he left virtually everything he owned - including New Place, which they moved into - to Susanna and John Hall.
His widow, Anne, was famously bequeathed his 'second-best bed'.
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Posted Mar 19, 2008, 10:01 pm Last edited Mar 19, 2008, 10:12 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
This is England's most Visited Parish Church. More than 200,000 visitors make a pilgrimage here every year. And the reason? None other than William Shakespeare himself.
Holy Trinity (or The Collegiate Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, to give it its proper name) is often known as Shakespeare's Church because he was baptised here (26 April 1564), and buried here on 25 April 1616. he would have been a regular worshipper here, along with his wife and children (before he moved to London, and on his return to Stratford after retiring).
It is the oldest building in Stratford, dating back to 1210, and was built on the site of a Saxon monastery.
It is believed that Shakespeare's body is buried 20 feet deep to prevent theft. His epitaph reads:
Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosèd here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
But cursed be he that moves my bones.
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Posted Mar 19, 2008, 10:23 pm
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
Enough of the history lesson, this is the present!
Here is The Courtyard Theatre, where the Royal Shakespeare Company currently perform whilst The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, The Swan, and The Other Place are being knocked down/closed/rebuilt/refurbished.
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Posted Mar 19, 2008, 10:32 pm
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
The Black Swan - or, locally - The Dirty Duck, haunt of actors after performances.
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Posted Mar 19, 2008, 10:51 pm Last edited Mar 19, 2008, 10:51 pm by Isobel&Neil
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
And this pic shows the exterior of The Swan Theatre in the background. (It's closed at the moment)
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Posted Mar 19, 2008, 10:53 pm
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
And more evidence of the building work. It's meant to be completed by 2010. And the cranes are more interesting for younger visitors than the Theatres would be, so there's nothing to complain about here!
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Posted Mar 19, 2008, 10:54 pm
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Stratford-Upon-Avon, England - 2nd March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
And here's my final offering from Stratford: myself with a new - and rather large - friend.
There's a Teddy Bear Museum here too, which also has a larger than life bear outside (this one's a Bear Shop).
Isobel considered offering them a ToyVoyagers Travel Tag for our large friend, but we thought the Hosts - or the Post Office - might object
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Posted Mar 19, 2008, 10:57 pm Last edited Mar 19, 2008, 11:03 pm by Isobel&Neil
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The Car, A34, England - 7th March 2008
By: Isobel&Neil
Everyone I'm with is fairly useless at navigating. I volunteered, if only to make sure we ended up in Dorset, and not John O'Groats.
Just so you know where we are headed for ... it's The Isle of Purbeck in Dorset!
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Posted Mar 31, 2008, 11:49 pm
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