We stopped off at the newsagents in Wootton Wawen to buy some papers and opposite is the beautiful St Peter's Church - a Saxon Sanctuary and a church I really must visit again.
The car park not far from the rear of the Courtyard Theatre is open at weekends and in an ideal location for visiting "Old Town" Stratford.
The temperature was only just above freezing so I am not surprised that there was no-one on the upper deck of the Stratford Sightseeing Tour Bus!
Hall's Croft was built in 1613 and was the home of William Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband the physician Dr John Hall until Shakespeare's death when they moved to New Place.
Apothecary tools and equipment
The mulberry tree in the walled garden is at least 150 years old.
Snowdrops on the verge of flowering.
There is presently a very interesting exhibition commemorating 100 years since the First World War.
We had lunch in the tearoom - I was very good and managed to resist all the cakes and this Tudor Vegetable Stew with Rye Bread was really delicious.
After lunch I revisited the very lovely and historic Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare and some of his family are buried which I'll save for another post.
13 comments:
Brought back lots of happy memories. I loved Hall's Croft when we went and the Church is beautiful too.
Countryside Tales - Thanks CT. Hall's Croft was our favourite of the properties although D loved Mary Arden's farm - so much to do and see there :)
Simon Douglas Thompson - Gosh that was a long walk Simon! I seem to remember I did similar things when I was a lot younger and ignored the culture side of things. Stratford is lovely but gets horribly busy and crawling with people. A freezing cold day in January is probably when you'll see it at its quietest!
i loved Stratford when I visited many years ago so these brought back some memories. Thanks for sharing.
A lovely look round, lunch looks good to. The fire would have been nice lit and warm.
We are having a wood burner fitted in on Thursday...
Amanda xx
Margaret Adamson - Thanks Margaret so pleased it brought back memories for you - its a lovely town :)
Amanda Peters - Thanks Amanda. Very envious of your wood burner!! :) We need a new fire and have been suggesting wood burner to OH but as we are still thinking of moving (eventually!) he says it would be waste of money :( Will be great for you these cold days :)
Interesting reading as always Caroline, it makes me realise just how long it has been since I last visited Stratford.
Nice to see the snowdrops (the one's in our garden are in similar state of development), whilst if and when you get the chance, I look forward to seeing more of the church at Wootton Wawen (what a fabulous name!).
Kindest wishes to all :-)
David - Thanks so much David.
I have been searching for some snowdrops I planted in our garden last year along with some hellebores and I think the leaves of the former may just be poking through. I do hope I haven't lost them as we always seem to lose this species :(
Wootton Wawen is a great name :) If you look on the right under my labels David click on the one for Wootton Wawen and there should be two posts - the one just done but after that one I did on St Peter's a few years ago which has a few pictures. For some reason I didn't create a label for St Peter's that time. Its a really interesting church and well worth another visit but if you get chance and see this it will save the wait! :)
Best wishes to you all :)
My partner drives me all over this country but, will he stop and look at old houses? He will not! So the only way for me to enjoy them is vicariously, so please keep posting, I enjoy every one of them. Thank you so much.
Toffeeapple - Thanks so much. Your comment means a lot as sometimes I do these posts and really do think they are boring and not worth posting! So its very special when they are enjoyed.
If its any consolation my OH doesn't like NT properties very much and, as for churches, the whole family find them boring :( I actually went out on Saturday with my son as he is quite happy to go off with a camera while I spend an hour in the church. He isn't keen on NT houses either but strangely he has really enjoyed the visits we have made to all the Shakespeare properties.
Thanks so much again.
I love your posts when you go inside those lovely old historic homes. Thanks for sharing.
P.S. I haven't seen any snowdrops yet but I have seen some daffs! :-)
Deb - Thanks so much for your lovely comment :) Those were my first snowdrops - did see daffodils but only in bud on a walk a few weeks back. May be dropping into Packwood house later so if I do will see what is in flower there :)
A Mulberry that is 150 years old!!! Ours here live for about 50 or 60 years. That's impressive. Your soup looks very good. And rye is my favorite choice. As for passes, I find that if I buy one that I sometimes never use it enough. With my National Parks pass, I have used it A LOT this year so I've become a fan. I think I've saved over 300 dollars this alone! So in short, passes are great if I use them:)
Chris Rohrer - Thanks so much for the comment Chris. I think that possibly where Mulberry trees are concerned 150 years old might be classed as ancient! Yes, I loved the Rye Bread - must find a recipe and try making some.
I agree re: passes. Have permits and am members of so many organisations but some get used far more than others. National Trust, West Midlands Bird Club and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust are the most used and this year I must go to Marsh Lane Nature Reserve far more because its extortionate to join and I hardly went last year :(
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