Stratford upon Avon

On 4 August we travelled from Kings Lynn to the Hilton Hotel at Warwick, our base for the next ten days. On the way we visited Stratford upon Avon. We had previously visited this town in 2015.

Stratford upon Avon is best known for its associations with William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's birth place is located in the main street - Henley Street.

View of the back of the cottage and garden.

Older styled buildings line one side of a busy street.

Like many towns and villages in England impressive displays of flowers line the streets.

We decided to go for a walk beside the Avon River.

We soon discovered that others from our group had the same idea.

Lots of activity on the river as well as on the river banks.

As well as the locals and tourists, the birds enjoy the river.

The birds are also quite at home on land.

We came across an area where a version of a play by Shakespeare was about to be performed. Apparently this space is referred to as The Dell and is situated in the Avonbank Gardens. The Royal Shakespeare Company has a number of theatres and companies including a group named The Other Company. During the summer The Other Company arranges for student, community and semi-professional groups to perform at The Dell.

Productions in the gardens are free. Audience waiting for the play to start. Unfortunately the play began too late for us to watch it.

Actors from the Oratory Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago waiting to perform their version of the play, The Taming of the Shrew.

Back in town to meet the rest of our group at the coach we passed the Ghost of Shakespeare wandering down the street.

As we passed the statue of the Court Jester, our coach drove back to the meeting point to take us the hotel at Warwick.

Warwick Castle

On a bright sunny morning we were off to visit Warick Castle. The history of the castle dates back to 914 when earthen ramparts were constructed to protect the small settlement of Warwick. In 1068 William the Conqueror built a motte and bailey fort on the site. This later evolved into the stone castle.

James, Melissa, Zoe and Eliza had called in to see us when they arrived in Warwick the previous evening so we had organised to meet at the castle.

We had visited the castle previously on the VOSCA tour in 2015 so this time we set off to explore the grounds looking for something that would entertain a four year old and an 18 month old.

The first stop was to join the crowds watching the firing of the trebuchet. This is a replica of the weapon used to make holes in castle walls during a siege.

We then went to watch the birds of prey.

 These magnificent birds put on a great display flying around the grounds, then back to their handlers.

Our third stop was the Wars of the Roses presentation. We were not sure how the girls would react to this event but they watched fascinated as riders on horseback rode backwards and forwards in front of them.

Zoe made sure that she had a good view of the show.

Eliza was transfixed watching the horses with Grandad

as can be seen in this picture as a horse raced by.

One day we will explain to the girls the significance of the Wars of the Roses to our family history.

Our next stop was lunch followed by a walk in the gardens.

Peacocks everywhere.

After lunch Zoe and her parents climbed one of the turrets to check out the view.

Meanwhile Eliza and Grandad had a nap.

When Zoe and her parents returned it was time to go the castle to look at some of the rooms inside.

Then it was back to the hotel after a fun day exploring Warwick Castle.

Warwick

We arrived in Warwick on Saturday 4 August and where we stayed at the Hilton Hotel.

Tuesday 7 August was a free day so we decided to test the public transport system by taking a bus into the town.The hotel did not have a map or a copy of the bus time-table so we wandered to the bus stop near the hotel entrance and waited for the X17 bus. We later discovered that we could also have taken the X18 bus, but that was not until it had passed us. Once on the double-decker bus we found out how expensive it was to travel on public transport in England. This relatively short journey cost us £2.40 each for the single trip. The bus meandered its way through streets of houses until we reached the central bus station in town.

First stop was to locate the information centre to collect a map. We then decided to visit the Thomas Oken Tearooms for a coffee and hot chocolate plus a freshly made cheese scone. This allowed us time to have a good look at the map to work out where we wanted to go.

The tearooms in Castle Street are near the Warwick Castle. Thomas Oken lived in the mid 1500s and after his death he left money to assist the poor in Warwick.

As the River Avon is near the castle so we walked to the bridge to have a look at this section of the river.

Colourful paddle boats in the shape of flamingos, dragons and swans were on the river.

Local ducks and swans swam close to the boats, perhaps hoping for food.  We the walked back through St Nicholas Park towards the town. Being school holidays there were many children playing in the park.

The church of St Nicholas was built in 1785 on the site of an earlier mediaeval church building. the church marked the southern border of old Warwick town. 

Warwick has many old buildings dating back hundreds of years. The street behind the castle has many of these buildings.

An entrance to the back of the castle can be seen within the castle walls.

Older buildings make up much of the street-scape. 

Strings of bunting zig zag across the streets between the buildings.

The East Gate of the town remains and is now the entrance to Smith Street - a row of assorted shops and restaurants.

The Collegiate Church of St Marys is also prominent at the end of Northgate Street.

Like in the other towns we have visited in England, the flowering baskets and tubs are enjoying the beautiful weather.

Before returning to the hotel we visited the museum located in the former market hall built in the seventeenth century.

We then located the bus stop for the trip back to the hotel.