Platform 2b or not 2b…. Shakespeare Line stations adopt works by the Bard
STRATFORD railway station has become one of 18 where all the platform’s a stage...
Tributes to William Shakespeare have been placed at each station on the Shakespeare Line between Stratford and Birmingham, linking them to one of the Bard’s works.
Stratford railway station’s play is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The installation features a statue of William as well as a plaque, on a planter, which gives details about the play.
Howard Hemmings, a trustee of the Shakespeare Line, said: “The Shakespeare idea was to familiarise everybody that this is actually the Shakespeare line.
“We’ve been trying to get these statues up now for about the last two years and we now have, with the help of all our trustees and all the station adopters and volunteers down the line.
“Over three days, three of us went and put all these statues in, starting at 6pm and finishing at 8pm.
“The idea was first conceived by Angela Okey, who's also involved with the station at Henley. The next step now is that the adopters at each of those stations, which tend the gardens, are going to look at a book that is about the horticulture in Shakespeare. They'll look at what play they've got, and what plants may appear in that play and then they'll try to grow them at those stations.”
During an unveiling ceremony yesterday (Wednesday) Dulcie Pugh and Jacob Hussain, pupils from King Edward VI school recited a section of As You Like It.
Neil Morgan, treasurer of Friends of the Shakespeare Line, said: "We have put the railway well and truly on the map with William Shakespeare now starring at each station along the line.
“All the volunteers have worked so hard and are so committed, and we are seeing benefits along the whole route with these special statues adding to this famous stretch of railway. We are building on other improvements made at stations along the way, including at Henley-in-Arden where we have brought new life to the station building and, in doing so, attracted more visitors to the town by train."
Denise Wetton, Network Rail's Central route director, said: “These unique statues at each station along the main route between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon provide an impressive tribute to the world-famous William Shakespeare.
"It's also fitting that these beautiful statues have been officially unveiled during Community Rail Week, and as part of this year’s Railway 200 celebrations, marking both our local history, communities, culture, and the ongoing important role the railway plays."
The plays and stations were matched by choosing names out of a hat. The matches include: Earlswood (Comedy of Errors), Henley (Romeo and Juliet), Wootton Wawen (Much Ado About Nothing), and Wilmcote (Taming of the Shrew). The full list of stations and their plays is below.
Birmingham Moor Street - Cymbeline
Tyseley - All’s Well That Ends well
Spring Road - Loves Labours Lost
Hall Green - The Merry Wives of Windsor
Yardley Wood - Twelfth Night
Shirley - Julius Caesar
Whitlocks End - The Tempest
Wythall - Macbeth
Earlswood - Comedy of Errors
The Lakes - As You Like It
Woodend - The Merchant of Venice
Danzey - Hamlet
Henley-in-Arden - Romeo and Juliet
Wootton Wawen - Much Ado About Nothing
Bearley - Henry V
Claverdon - King Lear
Wilmcote - Taming of the Shrew
Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway - Measure for Measure
Stratford-upon-Avon - A Midsummer Night’s Dream
