A walk from Stratford to the South Bank doesn’t sound particularly alluring. What, after all, is the Jubilee Line for? But, as you’ve probably guessed from the hilarious title of this post, we’re talking about Stratford-Upon-Avon, not Stratford-Upon-Olympics.
Yup, some chap’s come up with the idea of creating a special walking route from the Bard’s home town all the way to the Globe. Measure for Measure, that’s about 146 miles, passing through many charming towns and hamlets.
Peter Titchmarsh, a 79-year-old veteran walker, historian and charity fundraiser, conceived of the Shakespeare's Way in the hope of attracting sponsorship money for good causes. It follows the possible course the big man would have taken when he made the propitious decision to mosey on down to the Smoke and become a Londoner.
Mr Titchmarsh is setting off today in a bid to be the first to complete his route. He’s hoping to reach the globe on May 2nd. The Telegraph fails to pick up on the fact that this, appropriately, will be after his Twelfth Night on the trail. (Not so your trusty Londonist, ever on the prowl for puns.) Hot on his heels are ‘two elderly Australians’ (sadly, not two gentlemen of Verona), who have flown over especially.
While we’re in the mood for ol’ Shakey, have a gander at this week’s Time Out for a delightful feature on how the world would look if he’d never existed. (Amongst other things, we’d have no road humps and less global warming.)
Image from this rather bizarre site.
