Rajneesh

Parts of the Guild Chapel may date back to 1269 when the Guild of the Holy Cross was given permission to build a hospital and chapel. The chancel was rebuilt in the 1450s and the nave, porch and west tower were reconstructed in the 1490s This later work was funded by Hugh Clopton (died 1496), a Stratford-born man who had prospered in London as a mercer – a dealer in textiles – and who served as Lord Mayor there in 1491. The interior was decorated with wall paintings, substantial parts of which survive.*

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries the walls were painted with a series of striking images. These all depicted the saints, the gates of heaven and hell, and other popular reflections on the afterlife. Following the Reformation, these images were banned, Elizabeth I passing Royal Injunction in 1559 demanding “removal of all signs of superstition and idolatry from places of worship”.

In Stratford, that Royal injunction was received by the Corporation of Stratford and John Shakespeare, father of the playwright, who was Chamberlain of the Corporation. Surviving council records show that in 1563 John Shakespeare authorised payment of 2s for ‘defasyng ymages in ye chappell’. Whether they were all covered at that time or at a later date is unknown. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and it is quite possible the paintings, or some of them, were still visible during his lifetime. Speculation also surrounds John Shakespeare’s willingness to follow the orders he was given, with scholars long debating whether John and his family followed the Catholic faith the Reformation was out to suppress. What we do know is that rather than the paintings being defaced, they were largely limewashed over instead (only the face of the Archangel Michael in the Allegory of Death painting can be seen to have been clearly ‘defaced’ – literally scratched away). This limewashing actually served to protect the paintings, many of them in very fine detail.**

• *Information from a plaque outside the Guild Chapel
• **Information from the Guild Chapel website

Some special moments and memories from 2022, one from each month of the year. The photographs are taken from a calendar that I created for myself and due to the printing deadline, December’s photograph is also from November.

1. The Inclined Plane, Coalport, 2. Lichfield Cathedral, 3. Local Pathway, 4. Llangollen Canal Nr Chirk Aqueduct, 5. violet’s Tea Room Bridgnorth, 6. Waddesden Manor, 7. Tewkesbury, 8. Sandringham Church, 9. Attingham Park, 10. The Long Walk, Windsor, 11. The Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon, 12. Stratford-upon-Avon

We awoke to glorious sunshine and were given a window seat for breakfast which allowed us to to make the most of it. The breakfast was excellent although the portions were enormous. My plate of scrambled egg and salmon could have fed two people.

Straight after breakfast we headed into town to pick up some bottled water and some handkerchiefs for Mr C because, during the various lockdowns, all of his had mysteriously disappeared. Whilst in town he also got a bit carried away in Brook Taverner when he realised that there was a Black Friday deal available. The purchases (minus one handkerchief) were deposited into our car boot on our way to the butterfly farm.

That lone handkerchief came in useful when both our camera lenses and screens steamed up in the hot humid atmosphere in the butterfly house. The butterflies were spectacular and a few of them were kind enough to pose for us. In the case full of chrysalises we saw a butterfly emerging which was fascinating to watch as its wings unfurled. A sign advising ‘Caution! Iguanas Poo here’ (from above) was enough to encourage us to move on swiftly by. As we were about to leave, a butterfly settled contentedly on my shoulder.

It was now time for lunch so we headed into town picking up some leaflets from the tourist information centre along the way. This included a walk leaflet about a walk that we had noticed on a map near to the butterfly farm. We had lunch in Huffkins where we again dropped lucky as a table had just become available.

After lunch we started the river walk from the middle point, near to the Hotel Arden. One of the points of interest detailed on the map is The Church of the Holy Trinity, Shakespeare is buried there, just in front of the altar. One of the church’s guides explained lots of fascinating details about the church including the fact that the nave of the church is at a slight angle to the chancel imitating the angle of Jesus’ lolling on the cross as depicted in the stained glass window.

After our visit to the church we continued our river walk finishing at Cox’s Yard, which we had bypassed earlier when we left the butterfly house in search of lunch. Our walk concluded, we headed back into town and, whilst we were walking, Mr C had an unexpected phone call from my nephew who gave us an update on his new job and other things. By this point it had turned rather chilly so I headed into the nearby Edinburgh Woolen Mill shop to warm up but came out empty handed. We then visited the Christmas shop which was chaotically busy. A small angel decided to come home with us…

It was now time for afternoon tea and we found a vegan café where we settled down in the warmth for a lovely cuppa before heading back to the hotel to chill out before dinner.

We had an aperitif in The Rose & Crown pub before dining in the The Opposition bistro. Once again the gin was served in a gold fish bowl full of ice (it is the current fashion) but without the friendly addition of a straw, making it impossible to drink without tipping ice all over  your face. In the restaurant I settled for good old fish and chips which was delicious.

Mr C chose Wetherspoons for a nightcap and told me to choose a table whilst he went to the bar. Twenty minutes later I was beginning to think he had done a runner when suddenly he emerged looking rather angry and ticking like an old clock… There had been a saga with ordering drinks at the bar. I suggested that we move to a different area in the pub that I had noticed whilst I was waiting. By chance, we were now sitting next to the couple that had shared the delayed ordering saga at the bar. We got chatting whilst they were waiting for their food to arrive and found out that she was celebrating her birthday which was a coincidence as this was my delayed birthday weekend celebration too.

We set off a little later than planned because Mr C had been away in London at a conference and needed to pack.

With lunch in mind, just outside of Stratford, we noticed a Dobbies garden centre. We negotiated around a car crash that was outside the garden centre but, on arrival at the cafe we found that only drinks and ’sweet treats’ were on offer. The sweet treats looked a lot sweeter than either of us would enjoy so we decided to lunch in Stratford, which was only a short distance away. It was too early for access to the hotel carpark so we parked in a multi-story car park and made our way into town.

We found a delightful tea room, Huffkins arriving just as a table was being cleaned and reset. Several people who arrived just after we did were turned away as the café, was full. I chose a warmed Almond Croissant with Elderflower Presse. We then strolled into town, visiting the Guild Chapel, the Shakespeare bookshop, Waterstones, the magic yard and the antiques emporium before returning to the car to drive the short distance to the hotel car park.

We checked into the Arden Hotel and were taken to our room on a never-ending up-and- down corridor to our room, which was called Juniper. The room was fabulous and we accepted the offer of the ‘Bed turn down service’. This was sheer luxury after hit and miss room service during the previous two years because of Covid-19 restrictions and laziness (or lack of staff) after the restrictions were lifted.

Before walking to our chosen restaurant we had a pre dinner drink in the hotel bar. The service was slow and chaotic. Our gin arrived in a gold fish bowl full of ice leaving us to duck and dive with the provided straw to find the gin lurking in the bottom of the glass (bowl). Whilst drinking our gin, we enjoyed watching a couple of the staff videoing their attempt at making a hot chocolate drink crowned with cream and chocolate drizzle. It didn’t work out as planned and take two was needed.

We dined in the Edward Moon brasserie where I chose butternut squash and coconut chilli. Mr C opted for chicken and mushroom tarragon pie. We shared a lemon brulee dessert. The food and service were both excellent.

We stopped off at the Garrick Inn for a nightcap before returning to the hotel. I didn’t really enjoy the nightcap experience; it involved climbing onto a high bar stool which isn’t an enjoyable experience when dressed up in a skirt and even worse there was the underlying feeling that the customers were a nuisance and the staff couldn’t wait to go home. Lights were turned off as customers left areas of the bar.