Majestic sight in front of Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford
THE majestic sight of two horse-drawn carriages proved to be a real treat for people in Stratford on Tuesday (8th October) when a charity stagecoach tour pulled up outside Shakespeare’s Birthplace at the start of a four-day journey to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
Eight horses and 24 passengers stopped in Henley Street and quickly drew a crowd of visitors eager to take pictures of the stagecoaches and travellers, who themselves wore costumes to add even more colour to the occasion.
The 60-mile journey is raising money for Breast Cancer UK and Prostate Cancer UK and includes stopovers along the route where the horses are rested while the passengers – who self-fund the trip – ask for donations to the good causes.
“We started doing charity tours in 2008 and it’s been the same group of people every year,” said Colin Pawson, who plays a guard on one of the coaches, and is quite distinctive in his bright red long coat. He sounds a brass horn to signal the departure and arrival of the coaches at each of the destinations on the tour.
This year’s journey started in Stratford, the birthplace of Shakespeare and ends at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
“We’ve got some coaching friends from America and the Netherlands joining us on the ride,” Colin said. “We tend to start off gently with an eight-mile journey on the first day and build this up each day after. Our horses are well looked after and they are prize-winning horses. We check the weather forecast and if it rains we get wet, although we have got waterproofs and umbrellas if we need them.”
The interior of the coach is smaller than most people would imagine – it would have been a squeeze for passengers from days past travelling inside on their long and often uncomfortable journeys.
“There wasn’t much room and when you think about the size of coats and dresses in those days, it would have been tight,” Colin said. “Often you didn’t know who your fellow passenger was until you got started so it could be quite an experience, especially if someone had a sickly child as well.”
The Mayor of Stratford, Cllr Jason Fojtik, met members of the charity tour and wished them well on their journey.
Colin then climbed on top of the outside of the carriage and raised his horn to herald the start of the adventure and head off to the first stop at Hampton Lucy.
The longest day in terms of distance is today (Thursday) when the target is 22 miles. They will then arrive at the elegant Blenheim Palace the next day (Friday).