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Walking the Shakespeare Way Spring 2007

Overview

A keen group of walkers from the Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe walked all 146 miles of The Shakespeare Way, from Stratford-upon-Avon to Southwark, in March 2007 to raise money for the Globe. The walk was organized and led by Friends and Patrons Manager, Jo Matthews.

The Friends’ goal, following their 21st Birthday in 2006, was to raise £21,000 to enable Shakespeare’s Globe to develop as a world-class facility for the enjoyment and exploration of Shakespeare in performance. As a charity, the Globe receives no government subsidy and is reliant on the income it generates through its activities and fundraising projects. To date, the cost of developing the International Shakespeare Globe Centre and Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition is £30 million.

Every year, from May to October, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre hosts an acclaimed season of plays by Shakespeare and new writers: following tradition, as in his own time Shakespeare himself was a ‘new writer’. Throughout the year Globe Education works with students of all ages exploring Shakespeare’s works in performance, an unrivalled contribution to cultural awareness of Shakespeare’s work. It is these two strands of the Globe’s work that the proceeds of the Walk funded.

To help raise this money for Shakespeare’s Globe, members of the public were welcome to sponsor a walker or even join up as a Friend (£38) and take part themselves joining other Friends at any point during the walk.

The Friends Walk began on Saturday 17 March at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon and ended at Shakespeare’s Globe two weeks later.

Read excerpts from the walkers

Download the walk itinerary

Download the walk accommodation list

Download the route map

If you are planning on walking the Shakespeare Way we would love to hear about it. If you are interested in raising money to support Shakespeare’s Globe along the way then please call us on 020 7902 5970 or download a sponsorship form

Excerpts from Jo Matthews Blog, Friends Manager and Hardy Walker

The Walk was sponsored, and open to Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe, so I was walking sometimes with stangers, but immersed in their company for 16 hours a day. We averaged 11 miles per day, some of it across muddy fields and through blackthorn hedges. We crossed and re-crossed the Stour many times, and the Glyme, the river that creates the lakes at Blenheim.

My inspiration came from two sources, the first a guide to the route, the second a recent book by Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of the Globe, entitled Will and Me. The guide has been written by Peter Titchmarsh, and covers all 150 miles in great detail. It was the physical bible for the walk. The spirtual bible was the second half of Dominic’s book, which covers his own crazy walk from Stratford to Bankside, during which he and various mates quoted Shakespeare and indulged in literary and scholarly debate. In turns academic, scatological and philosophical, it gave me mental stimulation when the going got tough.

It was in the end, a salutory experience. It is a long, long walk from country town in Warwickshire to the capital city - to fame and fortune; and must in itself have contributed hugely to the pearls of poetry we so admire:

There with fantastic garland did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name ...

Fond Memories

Friend Anne Rowley (Stratford – Enstone):

‘Noting the bus trip from Shipston-on-Stour to Long Compton took twelve minutes: we were going to be walking for nearly seven hours ‘over hill, over dale, thorough bush, thorough briar’ to reach the same destination.’

‘If Shakespeare did walk such a route, it would be nice to imagine that he also met and got to know some great companions along the way and enjoyed some memorable evenings in inns and hostelries as he went along.’

Friends Administrator Sarah Sullivan (Chiselhampton – Marlow):

‘We saw numerous pheasants, the feathers of which began to adorn Jo’s now infamous walking stick. After a look at Hambleden church and village (plus a welcome lunch stop in the Stag and Huntsmen Inn to recharge our batteries!), we continued on to Marlow with warm sunshine on our backs. The walk was great fun and I would recommend the trip thoroughly (although I don’t know if I could manage all 146 miles!)’

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