Day 30 - Stratford-upon-Avon

Continuing on our journey, we left Friary Wood and headed to Warwick via Stratford-upon-Avon. The countryside was so green, driving through little villages and across flowing streams. We drove into Stratford-upon-Avon and crossed over the River Avon finding a carpark for 4 hours (it is always a challenge parking the car). We found the Town centre and visited the Shakespeare Centre. We bought the ticket that lets you visit all of Shakespeare's houses .... the kids did groan but once we started, found the houses interesting.
Starting at Shakespeare's birthplace, we saw where his parents lived and learnt that shortly after he was born, the bubonic plague struck Stratford killing 15 per cent of the town's population - he was lucky to escape death. He inherited the property when his father passed away and made it into an Inn, with a stairwell upstairs for tourists to see where he had been born for a penny. Apparently he was an astute businessman deciding to benefit from his popularity as a playwright.
We then walked to where he bought his own family house following his success in London- known as the New House. By the age of 30, Shakespeare was ranked as one of the most prosperous men in Stratford. Unfortunately the house was demolished in 1759 by the then owner who was tired of Shakespearean tourists wanting to see where he lived! Next door to this site is Nash's house where his grand-daughter and her husband lived - it is still standing and has an exhibit showing different artifacts from the Elizabethan period.
Continued walking to Hall's Croft where his daughter and her husband, the local physician, lived. Another beautiful timbered building dating back to1613. Then visited Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was buried in 1616, in the Chancel. It was his birthday the week before and his gravestone was covered in flowers.
Finally we visited Anne Hathaway's Cottage, a very pretty thatched roof cottage surrounded by gardens. The cottage was actually a farmhouse belonging to his wife's family. It remained in the Hathaway family for several generations and still had a distant descendent living there in 1892 when the Shakespeare Trust bought it. In all the houses you are told stories about Shakespeare and his family which does give it life but some of the guides are interesting - taking their job very seriously. The cottage still has original furniture dating back to when Anne lived there and William visited.
By this time it was getting late and we headed towards Warwick to find our next B&B. We had booked into the Rose & Crown Inn in Warwick's town-square. Again we were lucky to get a carpark for the night outside the Inn. Enjoyed a nice meal at the Inn before going to sleep to the sound of music from below.