Shakespeare's Way

A Journey of Imagination

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Nobody knows for certain when William Shakespeare set out from Stratford-upon-Avon on his first journey to London but it must have been between 1585 and 1592 – a period understandably known to frustrated Shakespearean scholars as The Lost Years. Nor can anyone be sure which route he followed but it is very likely that he went via Oxford as he had close friends who kept an inn there. With these thoughts in mind the members of the Shakespeare’s Way Association have devised a 146-mile path following the shortest practical route between Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford and then on from there to Shakespeare’s Globe, London. Known as the Shakespeare’s Way, this path opened in April 2006, just before the playwright’s 442nd birthday. It is now being discovered by a growing number of walkers, including two elderly Australians who, upon learning of the walk’s creation through the website, were amongst the first to complete it.

After heading southwards from Stratford-upon-Avon and over the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, the route goes through Blenheim Park and then briefly beside the Thames to Oxford before crossing the lovely Chiltern hills. Beyond here it goes through pleasant beech-wood country to the outer fringes of London to join the Grand Union Canal at West Drayton. Although it was not there in Shakespeare’s time, this waterway now provides Shakespeare’s Way with a comparatively quiet, green corridor into London as far as Brentford. From here it uses the Thames Path, with its many historical connections, for the rest of its journey to Shakespeare’s Globe.

Lovers of the Chilterns will be interested to learn that waymarking of the route right across the Chilterns, from Britwell Salome, through Cookley Green, Stonor, Hambleden, Marlow and Cookham, and onto West Drayton, has been carried out by members of the invaluable Chiltern Society. The Shakespeare’s Way is the brainchild of Peter Titchmarsh, a keen walker and amateur historian who lives at Pillerton Priors, near Stratford. He has spent two years reconnoitring the route which uses existing footpaths, bridleways and a few minor roads. Peter is hoping that sponsored walks and the sale of guidebooks will help raise substantial funds for the Shakespeare Hospice in Stratford. A new guidebook entitled ‘Shakespeare’s Way – a journey of imagination’, provides route directions from Stratford to London and there is also an East-West Supplement describing the route in the opposite direction. The Shakespeare’s Way Planner provides accommodation details.

For more information, including a free leaflet showing the prices of the new publications see www.shakespearesway.org or write to: The Shakespeare’s Way Association, St Mary’s Barn, Pillerton Priors, Warwick CV35 0PG or phone 01789 740852.

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