Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Wednesday 11 November 2015

Halloween Ghost Walk Stratford on Avon - 30th October

I meant to type up this post days ago but I seem to be going through one of those phases with Blogger where I find it hard to get motivated to produce posts.

Anyway, after we'd visited Holy Trinity Church I moved the car to a car park in Church Street behind the Courtyard Theatre and we went in search of somewhere to eat and ended up in Barnabys - a fish and chip shop which also fortunately sells vegetarian pizzas!





It was still too early for the Ghost Walk we were booked on so we went and had a look round the RSC shop something we rarely had time to do when we used to go and see plays there.



There were several Halloween Ghost Walks taking place on the Friday evening and ours was led by Jocasta the Witch - it was great fun and rather spooky walking round the old streets of Stratford listening to tales of ghosts, murders, misery, witches and spells with quite a bit of history mixed in too.





The walk included a private tour of the "haunted" Hall's Croft which we visited earlier this year. Its a half-timbered building dating back to the 1600's and was the home of William Shakespeare's eldest daughter Susannah and her husband, Dr John Hall, a physician.



The visit included a glass of Mulled Wine :)


More haunting tales told around the churchyard of the church we had visited earlier.




Although the car park was lit we had a very spooky walk back round the rear of the Courtyard Theatre along an unlit road and alley - not the sort of thing you want to experience after a Ghost Walk!



We stopped off at Wootton Wawen on the way home to take a photo of St Peter's Church - a Saxon Sanctuary. This church is always lit at night but this is the first time we'd had a camera with us.





A little purchase from the RSC shop which I couldn't resist (although again it'll be going away for someone to give me at Christmas!).





Last Friday evening D and I went to Birmingham Rep to see the Regent's Park Theatre production of "Lord of the Flies" - it really was excellent. I believe the production is touring the UK at the moment so I would recommend it if it comes to a theatre near you.


Yesterday and today visits to The Range and Hobbycraft mean I am well stocked up to start knitting some of the "Knit and Purl" toys in the book I posted a photo of recently. Also have finally finished knitting squares for D's blanket and am in the process of sewing the pieces together. Photos of finished products at some stage in the future!



Most of the photos above were taken by D with the Canon - sorry about the date on each one - didn't realise it would be impossible to remove!


9 comments:

Millymollymandy said...

Great looking photos and the buildings look so pretty at night. That must have been a fun evening. I do like the ghostly image by the car at the end - is that you? :-)

Grosmontine said...

Wonderful night-time pics Caroline, it all looks suitably spooky and atmospheric for the ghost walk :-) My parent's often visit the RSC so you never know you might bump into them one day!

I think we all struggle to motivate ourselves sometimes when it comes to blogging but I for one always enjoy your posts and pics so I sincerely hope you get your mojo back soon :-)

Hope you are well and my best wishes to you and your family :-)

Ragged Robin said...

Millymollymandy - Thanks very much Mandy - it was a good evening. We've been on quite a few Ghost Walks when on holiday on the Isle of Wight and they are also great fun :) Yes - it is me!! Didn't even realise my son had taken the photo!

David Turner - Thanks David - I will tell my son you liked the photos - they turned out better than my Olympus ones!! I remember you saying your parents visited the RSC regularly. I do miss our trips there - sadly, my son changed jobs and so we no longer get free tickets so these days don't go anywhere near as often as I'd like!!

Thanks so much for the very kind comment re: blogging and my posts! As you say I think we all go through phases like this and I think this time of year makes it more difficult with so few daylight hours to get out and things getting busier with (dare I mention the word!!! Christmas on the horizon!!).

Fine there thanks David - hope you are well too and best wishes to you all :)

Deb said...

Great photos Caroline, I love the photo of the church lit up and the ghostly photo of you adds to the atmosphere. ;-)

Ragged Robin said...

Deb - Thanks so much :) Was really pleased to get a photo of that particular church lit up - we've driven past so many times at night and not had cameras. Its a very interesting church to visit too in the day-time - must go back one day!

SeagullSuzie said...

Oh I'm so late to post this comment! Lovely images at night-something we forget to do-these new bridge cameras are wonderful at night photography and night can be so beautiful. We are booked on a candlelight walk through the gardens of Greenway House on Wednesday, Dartmouth does a pretty night time market and we have ghost walks in Brixham too (although not been on one yet).

I have run out of time for everything and blogging has taken a back seat as has my photography, not intentional-just happens!

Ragged Robin said...

SeagullSuzie - Thanks so much Suzie - I often seem to be commenting late on blog posts at the moment too - busy time of year with Christmas approaching etc. etc.!!

The bridge camera seems better than my Olympus dslr at night-time photography! - I think the dslr would need a tripod (not a thing to take on a ghost walk!).

Do have fun on Wednesday - sounds like it will be lovely. I remember some of your night-time photos from the past - they were great :)

To be honest Suzie struggling here too with blogging or even having time to go out & with photography. I believe we are both still decorating (moved onto the other living/sitting room now) such a pain when you use rooms all the time and have to decorate and lay new flooring round furniture etc. etc.!! We need a new fire and new patio doors in that room too :(

Have a lovely time at Greenway House and hope things calm down soon for you so you can get out and about with the camera again.

Rohrerbot said...

A beautiful time out and one of my favorite times of the year. Love Mulled Wine!!!! As for blogging, I'm with you. I think it's this time of year....lack of motivation, crazy busy time etc etc.

Ragged Robin said...

Chris Rohrer - Thanks Chris - yes, you are right its a difficult time of year for blogging. Haven't really been anyway much recently to blog about and garden wildlife stuff I now put on my other blog.