On to Stratford, William Shakespeare home town.
As you can see we do have to walk a bit and climb a few stairs (well Leanne climbed the stairs) before we got to the train station. Dogs have to be carried on the escalator and Coach doesn't like to be carried.
London has a lot of train stations, this one is Marylbone. It is the fourth one we have been to since we started out weekend travels. All have a antique beauty to them.
The American Fountain/Clock was a gift to the town from a millionaire Philadelphian, George W. Childs in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. This was in one of the town squares that was having a farmers market the day we were there.
There are many building that date to the 15th century, some look a rougher than others.
There was a food festival going on the weekend we were there. For a modest price we could do a food or ale tasting tour. We had Coach and dogs aren't allowed in restaurants so the food tour was out. They are allowed in pubs, so the ale tour was on.
British equivalent to a dollar store.
The Ale tour was basically a pub crawl the first place we went to was on the left and the next was just across the street. For 5 pounds ( about $8) we got 11 half pints of Ale, some were fairly strong while others were on the mild side.
Leanne with a few of the locals.
Where i am standing is Harvard house built in 1596. It was owned by Thomas Rogers the Grandfather of John Harvard, the founder of Harvard university. The building on the left is the Guild Chapel it begun in 1269 by the Guild of the Holy Cross. The nave and the tower date from 1495. The building just beyond the Chapel is the school that Shakespeare reputedly received his education.
Our fourth Ale stop, did i mention that the ale's over here are room temp.
Our next stop was the Windmill Inn it holds the longest unbroken licence in Stratford dating from Shakespeare’s time. This house was built in 1599 and became an ale house a year later.
People back then were a little shorter than they are now. As you can see Leanne would have no problem with door height. I on the other hand have to walk bent over a lot.
This house is called Hall’s Croft. It was built in the 17th century and was home to Susanna, Shakespeare’s daughter, and her husband Dr John Hall. A very beautiful house with lots of detail in the construction.
Lots of swans
The manually powered chain ferry was opened in 1937, It was the last of its kind to be built in Britain. It looks like a bicycle chain connected from one side to the other. The operator on the ferry runs a hand crank to bring the ferry over.
A view of the river Avon
Another house that was built in the 15th century, as you can see it has settled a bit.
And its always nice to see that the English people like our dog Coach. Although he was wondering where his bed was.
On the right another one of the many locks that are in England.
Sunday was a day for Dragon boat racing. There were just two boats and at least 12 teams and they would race about a 1/4 of a mile. The person in the back steered it and the person in the front had a drum that he/she would beat so the rowers could keep time. As they went by they would count out loud "1", " 2", "1" "2". A few of them were getting there count off and it looked like they skipped a few beats.
This house is William Shakespeare’s Birthplace, built in the 16th century
This house showed a section on how they were built. After the post and beam went up they filled in the walls with woven sticks and then covered with plaster.
After that it was back to the train for a 2 hour ride back to London. We made several stops along the way and the train started filling up to standing room only. There was a big rugby match going on and they were all going to Wembley stadium. The stop before we got off was the stadium and almost everyone got off.
We still had to grab the Tube for the rest of the trip. It was a little easier for Leanne this time.
Yes i still took the elevator.
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