Warwickshire (the birthplace of William Shakespeare)
Stratford-upon-Avon is where you’ll find the legacy of one of England’s greatest ever writers. The streets of this town are lined with historic houses, including his own, which you can visit. Or take in a play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
Shakespeare was a wealthy property developer (with left-wing political views) who has no direct descendants, as all his closest relatives died, with no living children.
Despite stories of other people writing some of his plays, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust refutes this. Some believe that Edward de Vere (the Earl of Oxford) wrote them.
The Illustrated William Shakespeare offers 25 of his most beloved poems alongside stunning colour collage artwork, if you feel that you really should read Shakespeare, but want some easy bedtime reading!
Germaine Greer is not a fan of ‘exploitation of the Bard’, saying that millions of ‘pilgrims’ now spend £7 to struggle up the stairs of Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (not a cottage, and it never belonged to her). And visit to spend money at fast food chains and over-priced sandwich bars, something that William would likely be appalled at.
Like Bath, London and the Lake District, Stratford-upon-Avon is now suffering from so-called ‘over-tourism’. Where people often visit with mass tourist companies, buy over-priced tourist tat, take a few selfies and return home, contributing almost nothing to local heritage or economies.
The town is now so commercial, that apparently China is soon to build its own version (just like Las Vegas builds its own versions of worldwide towers and bridges).
People Need to Find Other Things to Worry About
It seems like political correctness has also gone a bit mad here. Following media criticism that to call Shakespeare ‘the greatest living writer’, is ‘white supremacy’, there are now seminars in London, to prove that Shakespeare was not racist?
In fact, as noted above, he was a very radical left-wing campaigner, and about as anti-racist as you could get, nobody needs seminars, they just need to read his life story and work. In 1833, black actor Ira Aldridge played Othello on the London stage, and since then it’s rare for a white actor to play him.
This mirrors some who criticised the author of the Paddington Bear books, because he came from ‘darkest Peru’. In fact, Michael Bond was inspired to write his tales of the polite kind bear, after his own family would shelter refugees in the war.
His notion for creating the books, was actually to foster compassion and acceptance for people from abroad. Paddington Bear was the original illegal immigrant! What would Nigel Farage say?
Nuneaton, Warwickshire (birthplace of Larry Grayson)
Also the birthplace of writer George Eliot, the friendly town of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, is best-known for being the birthplace of Larry Grayson, one of England’s most beloved entertainers, who despite his success, loved it here so much that he never left.
Nuneaton (the name is from a 12th century Benedictine nunnery) has a market that has been there since 1247. Local residents are concerned that a new housing development could impact the water quality at a local stream from run-off, as it recently found endangered water voles nearby.
Labour government plans are to rip up local planning laws, to build more homes (although it’s perfectly possible to do this, without affecting wildlife if they consult with ecological planning experts).
Larry Grayson was born to a single mother, who handed him in a blanket to a local family (they all remained close friends, he lived with his sister until his death). His phrase ‘shut that door’ arose from when he first did stand-up, and a stage door kept flying open!
It is important to be happy and enjoy what you are doing, without the sole aim of becoming a star. Setting out only to be a star, can lead to misery. If someone is meant to become a star, it will happen naturally. Larry
Isla St Clair (not impressed by reality TV)
Many people loved The Generation Game TV series a few decades ago, presented by Larry and his beautiful co-star Isla St Clair. She was a Scottish folk singer (she still is! – listen to beautiful songs at her site for free).
However like many, she is not impressed with modern reality TV (from bullying TV shows to ones that millions inexplicably seem to find entertaining). She writes that people long for a light entertainment show that ‘doesn’t involve eating worms or awful revelations that should be kept indoors’.
A view shared by TV wildlife presenter Chris Packham. He recently wrote an open letter to Ant and Dec, asking them to not promote a show where native creatures are scared (or eaten) for ‘entertainment’.
Each year, Ofcom receives thousands of complaints about the ‘I’m a Celebrity’ show, which also disrupts local ecosystems (these are creature that in nature, would be food for other creatures).
The programs also sends the message that insects are of no value. In fact, insects vital to ecosystems (and likely a more important range of species than humans!)
