South from Coventry...

Had an excellent weekend with my son, including a trip to the Malvern Hills, which I had only ever seen from afar. Then drove south from Coventry, through landscapes of parched wheatfields. Had a few hours in Stratford-upon-Avon, which was chock-full of visitors. I thought I’d get more pictures by the riverside; anyway it was cooler there. Boats glided up and down the river: passenger launches, tiny self-drive motorboats, rowing dinghies and the little chain ferry which - for 50p a head - transfers people from one side of the River Avon to the other. I watched a narrowboat negotiating a lock, which allowed it to carry on down the river beyond a couple of wiers.

The locals were flogging Shakespeare to the visitors, or, rather, they were flogging any old thing by giving it some spurious Shakespearean connection. I wondered what the bard himself would think about the commodification of his plays and his image… and decided he’d probably settle for 10% of the takings. There’s nothing in the town that isn’t up for sale. Anyone wanting to get a better understanding of William Shakespeare could just take a copy of one of his plays, sit down in a comfortable chair… and start reading.

Thumbs-up from Will...

Walkers on the Malvern Hills…