Shakespeare and The Cotswolds

Took all the back roads and tiny lanes for a slow trip up through the Cotswolds this morning. Crawled round the small roads, looked at the thatched roofs, and admired the traditional stone houses. Don't you just love the names of the towns - Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-In-Marsh, Chipping Campdon, Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter. Stopped at the lovely town of Bourton-on-the-Water for morning tea. People were sitting on the grass in the sun and under the trees watching the ducks on the river as they had their coffee and cake, and it was the kind of place where you could happily wander around for the whole day.

Wound our way into Stratford-Upon-Avon for a late lunch which we ate on the banks of the Avon as the boats plied up and down. Walked to all the usual attractions - the house where Shakespeare lived, the house where he died, the house where his wife was born, his daughter's place, his granddaughter's place. Wonder if there will be a plaque on Brendan's house remembering me? The theatre in the town is closed for renovations so we couldn't get in there, but the parish church that he was buried in is certainly busy. Must drive the functioning church crazy.

When we'd seen all the sights and watched the live Shakespeare performance in his backyard, we drove out to Anne Hathaway's house for a look at that too.

Unlike the genuinely old and quaint houses in the Cotswolds, Stratford-Upon-Avon is a large modern town with its own Marks and Spencer, McDonalds, and multi-storey high-rise car parks. It's built on tourist money, and if it wasn't for half a dozen Shakesperean related houses dotted around the town, it would be indistinguishable from any other mid-sized town.


On the other hand, if you could actually find a shop in one of the little Cotswold hamlets, it would invariably have a sign in the window telling you when it would next be open.

Had tea back in our room, and watched some Wimbledon which started today.