Category Archives: Stratford-upon-Avon

The divine Sarah Bernhardt’s Hamlet

On Radio 4 Francine Stock is currently investigating the concept of charisma. This week in Pinning down the Butterfly: the It Factor, she looked at an actress whose fame spread across Europe and North America, the divine Sarah Bernhardt. Bernhardt … Continue reading

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The story of Shakespeare’s brooch

On Tuesday 8 September 2015 the new season of meetings of Stratford’s Shakespeare Club will begin.  Following the AGM to be held at 7.15 the subject of the evening’s talk will be Shakespeare and Jewellery. It will be given by David … Continue reading

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Fred J Kormis’s Everyman in Stratford-upon-Avon

Passing the jewellery shop at the top of Sheep Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, I’ve often wondered about the statue of a young man who looks across the road towards the Town Hall. I had always assumed it must have a Shakespeare … Continue reading

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Shakespeare with a twist

Shakespeare in Stratford isn’t just about the RSC and in fact the town has a number of venues, and several theatre groups, performing a wide range of drama including some by our very own playwright. Sometimes, too, we see plays … Continue reading

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The legend of Shakespeare’s crabtree

I recently wrote about the doggerel rhyme, alleged to have been written by Shakespeare, naming several of the villages near Stratford. The rhyme relates to Shakespeare’s Crab, an old crab-apple tree under which Shakespeare is supposed to have slept, which … Continue reading

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Bidford-on-Avon and the Shakespeare legend

Back in June 2015 a farm vehicle struck the fifteenth-century stone bridge at Bidford-on-Avon, a few miles downstream from Stratford. Bidford was once, as Stratford still is, a market town and its bridge marks a crossing that goes back to … Continue reading

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News about Shakespeare’s School

Last week the news broke that Stratford’s King Edward VI School (Shakespeare’s School) has won its bid for £1.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This is excellent news: this money will enable  the school to carry out much-needed conservation … Continue reading

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When Parliament almost came to Stratford-upon-Avon

On 18 June 2015 a report was published concerning the need for major restoration on the Houses of Parliament in London. It outlines a number of possible options for the work and for what might happen to Parliament in the mean … Continue reading

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Shakespeare Conferences

Summer has arrived right on cue in Stratford-upon-Avon, with blue skies and warm temperatures encouraging people to picnic on the grass and take out boats on the Avon. Walking by the river late on Thursday afternoon I watched people learning … Continue reading

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Posting Edwardian Stratford to the world: W W Quatremain

In any collection of old postcards of Stratford you are likely to come across the work of the artist William Wells Quatremain (usually referred to as W W Quatremain). Although he was not the only artist painting scenes of the … Continue reading

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