Shakespeare country

Before heading back from Rugby, with better weather forecast for the bank holiday Monday, we decided on a detour to Stratford upon Avon, about 20 miles south west from where we'd stayed.

After promising ourselves visits to Stratford twice whilst staying with Lynne and John in Bedworth, and again hoping to visit on the way down this weekend before being thwarted by the traffic and weather, this time there was no stopping us!

We didn't have a full day but at least we had a few hours to look around and see what the tourists come to see. On the way in we found signs to a handy park and ride which took us right into the centre. Nearby was a pleasant parkland area where the Stratford canal meets the River Avon - judging by the number of people there a popular spot.

Being Bank Holiday Monday, the Stratford side of the river was home to an open air market, attracting plenty of interest with stalls selling souvenirs, crafts and tasty nibbles. A couple of local photographers also had stalls and were doing a decent trade selling their work, which was of a high standard and not just the usual local scenic views.

The market had set up close to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on the banks of the river, which brought back memories for mum of a school trip here in the early 1960s. People come from all over the world to see the productions here, or buy a momento of their visit in the well stocked gift shop, where any reference to Shakespeare had been used as a marketing ploy from the expected books and postcards to badges and stationery (example: the pencils on sale were embossed with "2B or not 2B...")

The Stratford canal ends here at the river and a busy canal basin, having started its route on the outskirts of Birmingham and a connection there to the Worcester and Birmingham canal. Across the river from the canal locks we found a nice if rather expensive cafe for lunch and a cup of tea with good views across the park and over the river back towards the theatre.

Stratford makes the most of Shakespeare: dotted around the town are numerous sites attracting the tourists with a connection in some way to the famous playwright. On a short visit the most obvious place to find was his supposed birthplace, close to the centre of town on Henley Street, though in his day no doubt much less urbanised - at least I imagine there wouldn't have been Shakespeare's cafe or Shakespeare's giftshop established back then.

Even on a damp overcast day the town was thronging with tourists, and it was difficult to get any kind of shot of the older buildings on the street, including the house where Shakespeare was reputedly born and where he grew up. We smiled especially at the group of Japanese visitors who were making good use of their expensive cameras shooting anything that looked old, usually with a group of them stood immediately in front.

With a long drive back after a busy weekend we didn't want to hang around too long, and our decision was vindicated when we joined a lengthy tailback typical of a bank holiday on the M6.