The Arts Society New Forest Shakespeare Country Tour 18-21 September 2022
19 members enjoyed a tour by coach to Stratford, with Brookland Travel guided by Julia Morris. We visited the Nature in Art museum and gallery in a Grade 1 mansion en route and were given coffee , lunch and a talk from the owner whose mother artist Elizabeth Grey originally founded it. Paintings included works by David Shepherd, Joseph Epstein and Dashwood and we saw a visiting sculptor at work. We walked around various sculptures in the gardens in glorious sunshine.
on we stopped at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage where we were entertained by various well informed guides and found out the derivations of trap door, done to a turn, sleep tight and pot luck!
We checked in to the Crowne plaza hotel in Stratford which was well situated along the banks of the river and allowed us easy access to all the sights.
Our plans for Monday had to be altered as it was the day of the Queens funeral. We were given a private room in the hotel with a big screen so we could watch it in peace.
Later Julia took us for a walk around the sights including Shakespeare’s birthplace and theatre and appreciated the various architectural styles from Tudor to the present day Cotswold stone.
The next day we visited Ragley Hall where the Earl of Hertford gave us a guided tour and history of the splendid house which was filled with interesting art works and a huge mural up the stairs.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch on the lawn then returned to Stratford to visit Shakepeare’s father’s house, New Place and his grave in Holy Trinity Church.
We had an early supper and attended a very contemporary performance of Alls Well that Ends Well in the RSC.
On our last day we visited Compton Verney and had a guided tour of the house and all the exhibitions and listened to a talk by the artist David Batchelor describing his work ‘Colour Is’ The gardens were a delight to stroll around in the warm sunshine
We were sad to finally hit the road for home, arriving back in Lymington at 7.30pm – All was very Well in the End!
