Jane Grigson

John Shakespeare – William’s father – lived and worked in the house known today as Shakespeare’s Birthplace. John married Mary Arden in about 1557 and William was born in 1564, the third of their eight children.

In 1568 John became the Mayor of Stratford, which was the highest elective office in the town. It was because of his father’s status as Mayor that William was privileged enough to have attended the local grammar school to begin his education.

In 1582, at the age of 18, William married Anne Hathaway. The young couple continued to live with his parents in the Birthplace. It is where their own children, Susanna, Judith and Hamnet were born.

John Shakespeare died in 1601 and being the eldest surviving son, William inherited the house. William leased the small, two-room cottage adjoining the main house to his sister, Joan Hart. The remainder of the family home was also leased and became an inn, called the Maidenhead. It was later renamed the Swan and Maidenhead Inn, which remain in operation until 1847. When Shakespeare died in 1616 he left the property to his elder daughter Susanna, and when she died she left it to her only child, Elizabeth.

Although she married twice, Elizabeth had no children. When she died in 1670 the house passed to a descendant of Joan Hart. The Hart family owned the property until 1806 when it was sold to Thomas Court, a butcher. The whole property was put up for sale in 1846, following the death of Court’s widow.

We navigated our way around the breakfast menu which somehow didn’t quite work, for example there was no bread to accompany the meat and cheese that are part of the continental breakfast.

After breakfast, our first destination was Shakespeare’s birthplace where the room guides’ explanations and stories added to the experience. We then visited the nearby MAD museum, The Museum of Mechanical Art and Design which displays such things as kinetic art and automata.

Before deciding on a place for lunch we browsed the Sunday market which had been recommended to us by the hotel receptionist as we were checking in. I was tempted by a scarf and went back to the stall after we had done a circuit of the market. As luck would have it the stall owner was demonstrating the scarf that had taken my eye to another couple and then went on to demonstrate a second scarf to them. This was one that Mr C had pointed out to me. I joked with the couple that they were picking the same scarfs that I liked. They left with one of their choices and I came away with both of mine…

For lunch we both had a delicious chicken Waldorf sandwich in the Fourteas 1940’s tea room. The place had a lovely atmosphere, with the ladies wearing appropriate dresses of the ’40s and the menu was presented as a ration card. The Tudor museum, just across the road from the tea room was our next destination.  The visit was interesting but left us with time on our hands for another adventure.

We decided on a second visit to the butterfly farm but first I needed to go back to the hotel to change out of my yellow butterfly-attracting jacket. During this visit to the butterfly farm, we were treated to the delightful sight of one of the iguanas who had climbed down from his high perch to mingle with the humans. In-between snacking on the greenery he posed for the cameras.

After our busy itinerary we returned to the hotel to chill out.  Before dining in the Giggling Squid, a Thai restaurant, we ordered Proseccos in the hotel bar which avoided the complications we had been experiencing with the gin. The food in the Giggling Squid was delicious as it always is in this restaurant chain. For some reason we were not offered a dessert and I had not seen any desserts coming out of the kitchen so I thought perhaps they were not available that night. That was until just after we had paid our bill the next table were offered the dessert menu…

Mr C chose a nearby pub to finish of our evening. It was small place that locals frequent and it was live music night. The place was full and it took me a while to find a seat (I hate standing at the bar). The live act was George Wilson, he was amazing. He did two sets, the first being of a vintage era and the second bringing us up to more modern times. His rendition of Bad Manners took me back in time to when I saw them performing live.

We arrived back at the hotel to find the door was locked and there was no-one to be seen in the reception area. We pressed the intercom button several times and nothing happened! Mr C had the presence of mind to Google the hotel website where he found a phone number for the hotel. To our relief the phone call was answered immediately and the member of staff apologised most profusely, explaining that there is no hotel porter on a Sunday. This is the first time I have ever found myself locked out of a hotel. I have stayed in some rather dodgy hotels over the years but even those made it clear how to access the hotel when the doors were locked.