Shakespeare’s legacy
Shakespeare’s stamping ground
It’s over two years since I visited Stratford upon Avon for the first time, out of season and briefly, so I was thrilled to go again last week and stay for three days, time enough to explore the town and its significant sites.
I’ve come away hugely impressed by the preservation of so many ancient places, the excellence of the guides, the sympathetic exhibitions, and the imaginative ideas which bring Shakespeare alive for the masses. For once health and safety concerns have not put barriers between us and history.
It’s eight centuries since William Shakespeare (1564-1616) trod the streets of the town of his birth and yet we can still wander through the rooms he played in as a child, pace the actual stone floor where he and Anne Hathaway spent their courting days, and stand on the site of the huge house he bought for his growing family. Some of the roofs look decidedly iffy; you can see daylight through floorboards, staircases are very uneven; some ceilings are low and walls uneven; but you can explore the houses and touch the very wood and stone the great man would have touched 800 years ago.
On all sides there are references to Stratford’s most famous son. Streets, pubs, shops, public buildings, boats, bear the names of his family or his characters. The world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company regularly puts on his plays in the iconic theatre. 
For the more faint-hearted mini sketches are played out against the backdrop of his birthplace. Statues of the writer himself and his fictional characters abound. And all against the beautiful architecture and pretty river scenes that make up Stratford itself.
I learned so much about the man and his family, even though a surprising number of facts remain unknown.
Did you know, for example, that a phenomenal number of current sayings came from his pen, including rude insults?
Did you know he actually invented a large number of words that are still current today?
Did you know that his family line died out with his grandchildren?
Did you know that he needed a special licence to wed his pregnant fiancee because he was only 18?
Did you know that his son-in-law, Dr John Hall, would have held frogs over the open mouths of patients with sore throats – the creatures emitted a juice with antibiotic properties (discovered scientifically many many years later)? Hence ‘frog in the throat’!
It’s magical and evocative and fascinating and highly recommended.