Shakespeare's 450th Birthday Procession

Stratford-upon-Avon, where William Shakespeare was born, is just a few miles from the beautiful town of Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds.

This year on Shakespeare's 450th  birthday, 23rd April, the annual procession was supported by hundreds of devotees from local schools, colleges and churches, national and international societies and organisations, as well as individuals, all wearing sprigs of rosemary for remembrance and carrying bouquets of flowers to lay at his grave. It also featured a very large birthday cake.

Band leading the Procession

The huge birthday cake celebrating Shakespeare's 450th birthday

A clergyman in the procession wearing a sprig of rosemary for remembrance

Flowers laid at Shakespeare's grave in Holy Trinity parish church
William Shakespeare is buried next to his family in front of the altar, and there is a bust of him on the left wall (see picture).   It is thought to have been modeled from a cast of his face taken shortly after his death on 23rd April, 1616, at the exact age  52.

You can also visit Shakespeare's birthplace and grave at the start of the Shakespeare's Way Trail, or as part of a customised walking tour through Classic Cotswold Towns and along the northern section of the Cotswold Way. Contact us to find out more.

Have a great summer of walks

Anne

Looking over Long Compton on a frosty morning

Long Compton from the Jurassic Way 

Long Compton, in the north east Cotswolds, is famous for its witches.  Perhaps the most notorious was Anne Tennant, the wife of a farm worker who on 15 September 1875 came to a bloody end.   Cruelly executed by a neighbour in the traditional manner for witches, this killing sent shock waves through 19th century England.  

Long Compton lies below the Jurassic Way, one of the ancient tracks across southern England.   It's just one mile away from the Rollright Stones, a Bronze Age stone circle, which in folklore is thought to be an invading Viking army turned into stone by a local witch.

Two of our long distance trails pass through Long Compton and by the Rollright Stones:

- Shakespeare's Way which follows the route from Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon to his workplace at the Globe Theatre, next to the Thames in the centre of London.

- Cross Cotswold Pathway that starts at Banbury in Oxfordshire and wends its way south-west to the city of Bath. 

Contact us if you would like to know more.

Happy hiking
Anne 
Walk the Landscape

PS: check out Warwickshire Life to find out more about Long Compton and its witches. 

Bright January Days

Sunshine, blue skies and clear views across North Oxfordshire in January.

Happy walking
Anne

Walk Shakespeare's Way - 22nd April to 1st May

Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Why not join us on a small group walking holiday from 22nd April to 1st May, along Shakespeare's Way travelling from Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon to Shakespeare's workplace, The Globe Theatre on the banks of the River Thames in London.

Shakespeare's workplace- The Globe Theatre, London

Springtime, when the beech woods and meadows are at their most beautiful, is the best time to do this walk. The hansom trees will be unfurling their fresh yellow-green leaves and the ground will be covered with a deep blue carpet of bluebells and a multitude of spring flowers.

Contact us to find out more.

Regards

Shakespeare's Way - Day 9 - The end of the road

Day 9. Kew Bridge to The Globe Theatre (16 miles / 26 km)

The last leg of the journey follows the Thames Path along the south bank of the River from Kew Bridge to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre at Bankside in Southwark. On the day I walked, it was rather a cold and damp February day and both the river and sky were grey, and although enjoyable and full of interest on a sunny day with blue skies the walk would be fabulous.

Hammersmith Bridge

Wandsworth Park

Over this section of Shakespeare's Way, the River Thames is wide and tidal and the route passes many of its famous bridges; from Kew in the west to Chiswick, Barnes, Hammersmith, Putney, Wandsworth, Battersea, Albert, Chelsea, Grosvenor, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Westminster, Hungerford, Waterloo and finally Blackfriars before reaching The Globe, with Southwark and London bridges visible just beyond.

Blackfriars Bridge with St Pauls and the Gerkin on the horizon

(it was a grey day and getting dark!)

And it also passes many famous London landmarks; the beginning and end of the University Boat Race at Putney and Mortlake, Fulham Football Stadium, the Houses of Parliament, Battersea Power Station, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, the London Eye, Saint Pauls to name but a few of the most well known.

The Globe Theatre

at the end of the Shakespeare's Way

And then there’s The Globe Theatre, the destination so longingly anticipated on the long walk over 146 miles of varied landscapes through central England. The round, black and white modern reconstruction with its dark thatched stands out from the rest, almost out of place amongst the stone and concrete buildings of the Thames embankment. A great place for a celebratory cup of tea, hunk of piece of cake (actually a pint of beer and plate of chips at The Anchor pub along the river!) and after a little rest, a tour of the extensive Shakespeare Exhibition.

Why not join us on the guided walk along Shakespeare's Way from 22nd April to 1st May, in the springtime when the beech woods are at their most beautiful; when the majestic trees will be unfurling their fresh yellow-green leaves and the ground will be covered with a deep blue carpet of bluebells and spring flowers.

Or self-guide the Shakespeare's Way and we'll book your accommodation and luggage transfer.

I hope you decide to come along.

Shakespeare's Way - A 146 mile journey of imagination - Day 8

Day 8. Iver to Kew Bridge along the Grand Union Canal (14 miles / 22.5 km)

Soon after leaving Iver we cross the M25 to walk along the Slough arm of the Grand Union Canal. This was the latest section to be built and links the brickfields east of Slough to central London.

Houseboats on the Grand Union Canal

We then take the towpath along the Grand Union Canal proper as far a Brentford where it meets the River Thames. The Grand Union was built in the late 18^th century and was the main route for goods into the capital city, linking up with canals from other parts of central England. ‘Though not built until 200 years after Shakespeare’s death, it is for walkers a green corridor through northern suburbs into London!

The flight of locks at Hanwell

Once an extremely busy commercial highway it’s now used by house boats and leisure boats, and is the home to flocks of water birds, mute swan, mallard, coot... We walk down the Hanwell flight of locks and past the few remaining docks where industrial goods were loaded and unloaded.

Dry dock for river boats on the River Thames at Brentford

On reaching Brentford, the landscape changes, the narrow canal carrying long, low barges is replaced by the wide and tidal River Thames with larger river boats and working boatyards with dry docks. The last mile along the Thames to Kew Bridge is a taster of the last leg of the journey to the Globe Theatre.

Why not join us on a guided walk along Shakespeare's Way from 22nd April to 1st May, in the springtime when the beech woods are at their most beautiful; the majestic trees will be unfurling their fresh yellow-green leaves and the ground will be covered with a deep blue carpet of bluebells and other spring flowers.

Best Wishes

Anne M

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,