Shakespears's Way 2010 to 2011

Shakespeare’s Way

Stratford-upon-Avon to the Globe Theatre London

 (with an extension to the Thames Barrier!)

Shakespeare's birthplace - the start

Globe Theatre - the end

As we come to the end of 2012 we thought it would be good to recall a bit of recent history: Shakespeare's Way, which we completed on Friday 18 March 2011.

We started back in February 2010 and split the walk into 15 segments of roughly 10 miles each time (varying from 7 miles to 14.5 miles). Never thinking that we would ever achieve the 150 or so miles (officially 146 miles) we started modestly in Woodstock and worked through to Oxford and then to Watlington.

Buoyed by that success we moved back to the start at Stratford, by then it was summer and then longer journeys to start and finish were possible.

Pub name	Miles from Stratford	Date	Rating out of 10	Notes
Halford Bridge Inn, Halford	11.5	28/05/2010	5	Beer alright. Lunchtime food looked OK - not sampled
Cherington Arms, Cherington	20.5	23/07/2010	8	Good beer. Friendly. Lunchtime food looked good - not sampled
Red Lion, Long Compton	24.5	23/07/2010	4	Not really for walkers - expensive food. Art?
Fox Hotel, Chipping Norton	31	03/09/2010	7	Good beer
Star Inn, The, Woodstock	47	10/09/2010	5	Beer OK
Plough, Wolvercote	54	05/02/2010	6	Good beer. N's local
White Horse, The, Oxford	58	12/03/2010	9	Excellent. Campaign HQ
Chequers, The, Sandford-on-Thames	62.5	12/03/2010	5	Tatty, beer OK, Formica tables
Lord Nelson, The, Brightwell Baldwin	73.5	09/04/2010	6	OK garden. Bit expensive
Five Horseshoes, Russell's Water	82.5	08/10/2010	6	Beer OK. Good view Expensive food
Stag & Huntsman, Hambledon	90.5	08/10/2010	7	A welcome pub
Jolly Woodman, Littleworth Common	104.5	03/12/2011	4	Beer OK. Pub was cold. Blackwood Arms now closed
Black Horse, The, Fulmer	110.5	07/01/2011	4	Expensive beer. Warm pub on a cold day
De Burgh Arms, West Drayton	118.5	07/01/2011	2	Tatty, no beer on
Fox, The, Hanwell	125.5	28/01/2011	8	Unspoilt + Fullers. Friendly. Food looks OK
Magpie & Crown, Brentford	129	28/01/2011	8	Great range of micro real ales. Friendly
Bricklayers, The, Putney	136.5	18/02/2011	9	Great range of beer, noted Camra pub
Duchess, The, Battersea	142	18/03/2011	7	Only Greene King on. Great view of Battersea PS

The table above gives our very personal view of pubs found and used on the way. The table below contains details of the stages and brief details of public transport used to get to and from each stage.

Ettingham Park (10 miles)

We really enjoyed this walk. Apart from some wonderful countryside and quiet places there were great contrasts. From the wealthy houses around Fulmer (TQ005850) hiding behind their security fences and electric gates and the “Stepford Wives” village of Honington, Warwickshire (SP264425) and (in our opinion) the insensitive “blot on the landscape” house at Crimscote Hill, Warwickshire (SP235472) to the “down at heel” areas near the M25.

Climbing up from Long Compton (24.5 miles)

Rollright Stones (28 miles)

in the Glyme valley (32 miles)

The route follows the valley of the River Stour until it reaches the Cotswolds, crosses into Oxfordshire and then heads south by way of Chipping Norton and Woodstock to Oxford.

Blenheim Palace (46.5 miles)

After following the Thames for some way the route heads south-eastwards to the Chilterns and then catches up with the Thames again at Marlow. 

Toot Baldon Church (65.5 miles)

Begbroke Oak (50.5 miles)

Steepest climb (82.5 miles)

After the climb

Leaving the Thames again at Cookham (home of the artist Stanley Spencer) the route cuts across Burham Beeches to the north of Slough eventually joining the Grand Union Canal. The canal towpath is really easy way into the west London suburbs and eventually rejoins the (now tidal) river Thames at Brentford. The route then follows the south bank of the river all the way to the Globe Theatre (slight detour around the site of the old Battersea Power Station.

Battersea PS (142 miles)

Beech woods (88.5 miles)

Overall the path was easy to follow and suitably signed. As we have proved it is possible to use public transport though one has to be prepared to wait for buses or sometimes hurry along for trains (T nearly breaking into a run at Bourne End to catch the train.)

Perhaps the low points were crossing the M25 near Iver (TQ041808), the De Burgh Arms pub (next to West Drayton Station) and skirting Oxford’s sewage works. Some of the high points were climbing up the Cotswold scarp slope near Long Compton, crossing the Chilterns from Watlington to Hambledon, discovering that it is possible to avoid Slough and walking into London via the Grand Union canal and the Thames.

Stonor Park (85 miles)

Not sure Shakespeare did the route that we did and if he did he did it in three days! Weather was mostly kind, had snow on the segment Bourne End to Farnham Common on 3 December 2010. A real sense of achievement, it looks really impressive on Google Earth.

Stages		Distance (miles) + on-off	Miles from Stratford	Notes
Stratford-upon-Avon to Ettington Park (7 May 2010)		8.5	8.5	Train to Stratford. Stagecoach 50A bus from Ettington to Banbury and train from Banbury
Ettington Park to Shipston-on-Stour (28 May 2010)		8	16.5	Train to Banbury, Stagecoach 50A bus to Ettington Park. Stagecoach 50A bus from Shipston to Banbury, train from Banbury
Shipston-on-Stour to Long Compton (23 Jul 2010)		8	24.5	First bus S3 from Oxford to Chipping Norton and then Stagecoach 50 to Shipston. Stagecoach 50 bus from Long Compton to Chipping Norton and First bus S3 to Oxford
Long Compton to Lidstone Turn (0.5 mile off) (3 Sep 2010)		10.5	35	First S3 bus from Oxford to Chipping Norton and then Stagecoach 50 Long Compton. First bus S3 from Lidstone Turn to Oxford
Lidstone Turn to Woodstock (0.5 mile on) (10 Sep 2010)		13	48	First bus S3 from Oxford to Lidstone Turn. First bus S3 from Woodstock to Oxford
Woodstock to Oxford Stn (0.5 mile off) (5 Feb 2010)		11.5	59.5	First bus S3 from Oxford to Woodstock. Ending in Oxford.
Oxford Stn to Stadhampton (0.5 mile off) (12 Mar 2010)		11	70.5	Starting Oxford Stn. Thames Travel 101 bus from Stadhampton to Oxford
Stadhampton to Watlington (1.5 mile off) (9 Apr 2010)		10	80.5	Thames Travel 101 bus from Oxford. Whites Coaches from Wallingford to Stadhampton failed! Thames Travel 101 Watlington to Stadhampton & Oxford
Watlington to Hambledon Mill (total of 2.5 miles on & off) (8 Oct 2010)		14.5	95	Thames Travel 101 bus from Oxford to Watlington. Arriva Bus 800 / 850 from Hambledon Mill to Reading via Henley
Hambledon Mill to Bourne End (1 mile on) (5 Nov 2010)		10	105	Arriva Bus 800/850 from Reading Stn to Hambledon Mill. Train from Bourne End via Maidenhead to Reading
Bourne End to Farnham Common (3 Dec 2010)		7.5	112.5	Train from Maidenhead to Bourne End. First bus X74 from Farnham Royal to Slough Stn.
Farnham Common to West Drayton Stn (7 Jan 2011)		11.5	124	First bus X74 from Slough Stn to Farnham Royal. Train from West Drayton
West Drayton Stn to Brentford Thames Locks (28 Jan 2011)		10.5	134.5	Train to West Drayton. E2 bus from Brentford to Ealing Broadway and train from Ealing Broadway
Brentford Thames Locks to Putney Bridge (18 Feb 2011)		7.5	142	Train to Ealing Broadway. E2 bus to Brentford. SWT from Putney
Putney Bridge to Globe Theatre (18 Mar 2011)		9.5	151.5	SWT from Reading to Putney. Over ground from London Bridge via Charing X and Bakerloo to Paddington
	Total	151.5

We can 

Grand Union joins the Thames (129 miles)

recommend the walk which is well described in the book, “Shakespeare’s Way – a journey of imagination” published by The Shakespeare’s Way Association, January 2006 ISBN 0952685167. (Contains plenty of warnings about crossing roads and gives lots of advice about “welcome benches”.

The website for the walk is at http://www.shakespearesway.org/index.htm  We are not included in the “Completers” section though we did get our certificate. P also produced a completer’s certificate when we arrived at the Globe but pointed out that we had missed a vital section in Chipping Norton and a less than exciting bit across old gravel pits between Iver and West Drayton!

Thames Barrier

The extension to the Thames Barrier was well worth the effort. On 8 April 2011 (a fine sunny day) we carried on carried on down the Thames from the Globe Theatre to the Thames Barrier and then travelled back by bus and water taxi to Embankment, a distance of 10.5 miles.