Tuesday Cuppa Tea Happy Birthday Shakespeare!

Welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea!  I am joining the other blogs listed at the bottom of the post. The linky is there too, so you can join in!

Please join me in wishing William Shakespeare Happy 448th Birthday on April 23!  Amazing! The most read, memorized, published and produced playwright in history! Now that's someone to celebrate! There are yearly celebrations with parades, special presentations and picnics, but this year will be bigger as it joins with Festival 2012 which has been joined with Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Here is a website with all the festivities:
Shakespeare's birthday celebration 2012

In honour of Shakespeare's birthday I have a Shakespeare's Country blue ironstone transferware cup and saucer by Ridgway, England from the 1950s.

The design includes Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried and his swwetheart Anne Hathaway's cottage which is just a bit along the river Avon in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

That is quintessential Stratford. We have to pass through Stratford each time we go to the various family homes in the Midlands. Stratford is at the top of the Cotswolds. We could go the motorway route, but it is too stressy  for us as well as missing all the gorgeous villages on the way up from London. Yes...it takes a lot longer, but we usually make the trip in 2-3 days using only A and B roads and avoiding the motorways, stopping at favorite places, like Lower Slaughter. 

The one thing that we don't like, is the A422, I think, has to go through the center of Stratford and crosses a humpback bridge that is a real bottleneck. We try to avoid going through on weekends when Stratford is packed.

This is the Queen's Head pub in Stratford where we have stopped for lunch.

This is the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford which is a wonderful year round venue. We have seen Judi Dench and other famous actors at work here. The tour is fun too!

I thought this sign was fun, and certainly shows you the options. All the major Shakespeare sites are quite walkable.

Above is a favorite...Harvard House, the founder of Harvard University who emigrated to escape religious prosecution.

Just outside Stratford is the Bancroft Boat Basin on The Avon River where several canals cross the river. We love canals, and often stop here with a picnic lunch before heading through Stratford.

Here is Shakespeare's grave and monument in Holy Trinity Church.

And here is a decorative Leonardo teapot we have in the shop that is so cute! For more on the cup and saucer or teapot at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.

So... I raise a cup of Ty-Phoo...a Midlands tea, to William Shakespeare! Happy Birthday!

My honey's favorite...but then he's a midlands guy! Roots for Aston Villa!

Have a great day visiting the other blogs, and enjoy a cuppa tea for Will!

Common Ground ~ http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com

Monday Marketplace

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/

Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy ~ http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com/

Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea

Wanda Lee ~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.ca Tuesday Teatime 

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday

Ruth ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com/

Thursday Tea Things And Talk

Miss Spenser ~ http://missspensersblog.blogspot.com/

Teacup Thursday

Coloradolady  ~ http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

Vintage Thingie Thursday