Shakespeare's Way - A 146 mile journey of imagination - Day 6

Day 6. The Chilterns: Britwell Salome to Marlow (20 miles – 32 km)

Day 6 takes us over the Chiltern Hills and back into the Thames Valley at Marlow. From Britwell Salome we start a gentle climb up the chalk escarpment to Cookley Green and from there on take an undulating route crossing dry valleys of the Chilterns with their beech woods and limestone grasslands. We leave the whitewashed and thatched cottages of the Thames vale behind and to find houses of brick and flint with red tiled roofs.

A Chiltern beechwood

Hambleden church built of flint with red tile roof

Stonor House

The pond at Rotten Row

Join us in spring, when the beech woods are resplendent with carpets of bluebells, on a guided walking holiday along (all or part of) the Shakespeare's Way from 22nd April to 1st May 2011.

Or hike independently on a self-guided walking tour and let us take care of the accommodation and luggage transfer.

Best wishes,

Shakespeare's Way - A 146 mile journey of imagination - Day 5

Day 5. Oxford to Britwell Salome (18 miles – 29 km)

Day 5 leaves Oxford on the Thames Path, passing the University College Boathouses before reaching the picturesque Sandford Lock. The route then heads south east though the remaining outskirts of Oxford before crossing the wide, flat South Oxfordshire plain with its rich farmland and prosperous villages, making for the distant chalk escarpment at the northern edge of the Chilterns.

Site of the Crown Tavern, Oxford.

Owned by Shakespeare's friends, John Davenant and his attractive wife, its probable that he stayed there on his journeys to and from London.

Open country south east of Marsh Baldon

Thatched cottage at Chalgrove

Join us in spring, when the beech woods are resplendent with carpets of bluebells, on a guided walking holiday along (all or part of) the Shakespeare's Way from 22nd April to 1st May 2011.

Or hike independently on a self-guided walking tour and let us take care of the accommodation and luggage transfer.

Best wishes,

Shakespeare's Way - A 146 mile journey of imagination - Day 4

Day 4. Woodstock to Oxford (11 miles – 18 km)

Today we left Woodstock and Blenheim Park behind to first visit the grave of Sir Winston Churchill in St Mary’s churchyard, Bladon, then cut across country to the Oxford Canal with its canal barge homes before taking the path along banks of the River Thames into the city of Oxford.

Churchill’s grave in St Mary’s churchyard, Bladon. Sir Winston Churchill had expressed a wish to be buried at Bladon, the small village close to the family home of Blenheim. So, on 30 January 1965, after his state funeral service at St Paul's Cathedral, London, his body was transported by train to Bladon. There, the private burial took place, conducted by the rector.

The Oxford Canal at Duke’s Cut, three miles north of the city where there is a connection to the River Thames. The canal was constructed in the late 18^th century and was once an important artery between the Midlands and London, primarily carrying coal from Warwickshire, stone and agricultural products. In 1805 traffic switched to the rival Grand Union Canal, a faster and much more direct route between London that avoided the flash locks on the River Thames.

The 300 acres (120 ha) of Port Meadow next to the Thames north of Oxford, were given to the Freemen of Oxford in the 10th century by Alfred the Great in return for helping to defend the kingdom against the marauding Danes. The Freemen's collective right to graze their animals free of charge is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and still continues to this day.

Join us on a guided walking holiday along (all or part of) Shakespeare's Way from 22nd April to 1st May 2011 in spring when the beech woods will be carpeted with bluebells.

Or do it independently on a self-guided walking tour and let us take care of the accommodation and luggage transfer.

Best wishes,

Shakespeare's Way - A 146 mile journey of imagination - Day 3

Day 3. Chipping Norton to Woodstock (16 miles – 26 km)

This section follows the River Glyme valley from the market town of Chipping Norton, through Ditchley Park and past Blenheim Palace, to the picturesque town Woodstock, which probably originated as a settlement in clearing in the woods within the Royal Forest of Wychwood.

Chipping Norton or "Chippy" as it is known is a lively market town in the North Cotswolds with a theatre, a new leisure centre, book shops, art galleries, a museum and antique shops. It has one of the finest parish churches in the Oxfordshire, a medieval guildhall, some quaint back lanes and beautiful Georgian houses.

Cleveley today is a tranquil hamlet with an old mill pond, but was once was a busy thoroughfare on the main road from Chipping Norton to London.

Blenheim Palace was built between 1705 and 1724, as a gift to John Churchill, the 1^st Duke of Marlborough in appreciation of his defeat of the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim. Despite much political intrigue which led to Marlborough’s exile, it became the home of the Churchill family for the following 300 years and Sir Winston Churchill was born there. A UNESCO world heritage site, the architect was Sir John Vanbrugh and the landscaped gardens were designed by Capability Brown.

Join us on a guided walking holiday along (all or part of) Shakespeare's Way from 22nd April to 1st May 2011 in spring when the beech woods will be carpeted with bluebells.

Or do it independently on a self-guided walking tour and let us take care of the accommodation and luggage transfer.

Best wishes,