My parents took my sisters and I on a coach trip from Loughborough to Stratford-Upon Avon in the late 1950s, about the time that I was 14 years old. Much was made of the fact that we were going to see Shakespeare’s birthplace and that we would also see the theatre and other related sites.
We climbed out of the bus on what was probably the hottest day of the year, and the place was crowded with tourists. I remember walking along the side of the River Avon, with its resident swans and ducks, and returning to the town over a very old stone bridge.
In the town, wooden timbered houses lined the streets, taking us up to the famous theatre, and past a pub appropriately called The Swan.
The next place we visited was
We sat and ate our packed lunch on the town green close to the old bridge. I seem to remember a troop of Morris dancers performing their traditional capers with sticks and jingling bells. I was quite worried that I might, at any moment, be expected to join them.
Dad went off to join a queue for some bottled drinks. The heat from the sun was getting unbearable and we were all extremely thirsty. He was gone for a very long time and when he finally returned with the drinks, the contents of the bottles were disappointingly warm. My small sisters were, by now, getting hot and a bit fractious, poor mum was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep sun hats on their heads.
I was very glad when the time reached 5.00pm and we returned
to our waiting coach, and home!
David Taylor
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