The Cotswolds 2000
Chapter 4 - Stratford-on-Avon
Or is it Stratford-upon-Avon? Both forms of spelling seem to be acceptable. For me this is a kind of homecoming - I was raised about ten miles to north in the village of Earlswood. Later on, while I was at University, my mother moved to Stratford. During summer vacations, when I wasn't doing geological fieldwork courses, I worked for the local government (Stratford-on-Avon Town Council) in the gardens and nursery. One summer another student, Des, and I planted out 10,000 wallflowers in a nursery bed. Anyone who knows anything about wallflowers will understand that this is not as easy as it seems since wallflowers have tap roots and will die if not properly heeled in. So visiting Stratford meant that I could revisit some old haunts and perhaps tell a few stories along the way.
If William Shakespeare had been born in another town, Stratford would probably not be a very special place to visit. As it is, tourists bring in considerable wealth - a lot more than when I worked there - and much of this is ploughed back into the local economy. It also means that town planning has been successful, as this view of Bridge Street suggests. It really hasn't changed a lot in 35 years.

This photo was taken about ten minutes after nine o'clock in the morning. Just after the shops had opened but long before the arrival of the first tour bus. If you visit Stratford, this is a good time of day! In many ways Stratford is a classic country market town and it serves its rural community well, with a good variety of shops. But once the tour buses arrive. . . .

Many of the historical sites in and around Stratford are connected with the Bard. We did not visit any of them so there are no photographs! But they are well worth the effort and should be a part of any first time visit to the area. Instead we concentrated our time around the canal basin, located by the River Avon and adjacent to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.

When I lived in the area, the Stratford -on-Avon Canal was derelict. A branch of the Grand Union Canal that linked London with the Industrial Midlands, the Stratford-on-Avon Canal allowed barge traffic to reach Gloucester and Bristol, important ports in the southwest. A group of enthusiasts went about restoring the canal, which has a large number of locks and two aqueducts. They were successful and the canal is now a part of the extensive network of working canals administered by British Waterways. The photo above shows a couple of narrow boats (a reasonably obvious descriptive!) passing into the lock that separates the canal basin from the River Avon. Working the locks is hard and slow work, perhaps the main explanation why the canal system become redundant when the railways took over in the mid-Nineteenth Century.

As an aside, I grew up in Earlswood, a village ten miles south of Birmingham, some ten miles north of Stratford. At the bottom of our garden was the Reservoir, actually a couple of damned valleys. The Reservoir was a source of water to top up the Stratford-on-Avon Canal - everytime you use a lock a large volume of water moves down the canal system. It was out of bounds for us kids, but fishing was allowed if you were "grown up".
Here is April standing by one of the flower beds adjacent to the canal basin. The River Avon is behind the camera, while the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is to the left.
A new addition since I worked in the gardens, this stainless steel sculpture celebrates the famous Swans of Avon.
More flower beds! It was a perfect morning.
Nearby is the fine statue of William Shakespeare - which if my memory serves me, is called called the Gower Memorial Statue (Gower was a famous Shakespearean actor). The Bard is surrounded by four of his famous characters.
The picture right shows the canal basin viewed over the roof of a narrow boat carrying a load of firewood. After I took this photo we were approached by the owners of the boat, John and Denise Read. They are a retired couple who have chosen to spend most of the year on their own custom built narrow boat. Spend ten minutes with them and you'll be craving the canal boat owners' life! The firewood is for this coming fall when they will be crossing the Pennines, a range of hills that forms the backbone of northern England. It is likely to be cold up there! A modern canal boat has all sorts of conveniences, all contained in that narrow form essential to pass through the locks. Here are three photos of the canal boat industry's greatest boosters!
Turning away from the canal basin, we walked across the old Tramway Bridge, now a much needed footbridge across the River Avon. The views of the river and the theatre are picture postcard material:
Looking down on the river I noticed a lot of Canada Geese that must be a new addition to the river - there were only ducks and swans years ago. The swans, are, of course, among the finest birds you'll ever see.

Which brings me to my final story. When working for the local government all those years ago we received a call that a swan was injured and had to be captured and taken to the vet's office across town. Des and I were summoned and told what we would have to do by old Bill Williams, the head gardner. He gave Des an instrument that looked like a shepherd's crook - only the crook part was the size of a swan's neck. "Hold the swan down with the crook," he explained. Then he looked at me. "You then jump on the swan with this sack. Make sure you keep his wings under the sacking and the swan won't hurt you!"

Well, somehow or other we did it. I carried the injured swan through the streets, its magnificant head at eye level. The crowds parted like the Red Sea for Moses! A week later we set the bird free and it rejoined the others on the river. A happy ending!
And this is the end of the Cotswolds Travelogue, at least for the year 2000. We hope you enjoyed it!
In Association with Amazon.com
Recommended Reading List
How to Order Prints - Prices reflect the sale of a single copy of the image which may not be reproduced or otherwise distributed without the explicit consent and knowledge of FocalPlane.

Prints are available as follows:

All Titles

10" x 8" print in 14" x 11" matt and frame for $55 plus tax (in Texas) plus p&p.

10" x 8" print in 14" x 11" matt (no frame) for $36 plus tax (in Texas) plus p&p.

Standard matt and frame colors are white and black. Alternative matt and frame colors can be provided.

Please e-mail to place an order or request more information, including Sterling prices.