They’re the big five of Stratford-upon-Avon: Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Shakespeare’s New Place, Hall’s Croft and Mary Arden’s Farm – the must-see tourist attractions that chronicle the home life of the world’s greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare.
Had the pitter-patter of baby William’s feet not trodden the boards of the Henley Street home of the Shakespeares, you certainly wouldn’t be reading this before you visit Stratford-upon-Avon. It would simply be another medieval market town in the middle of England: pretty, but insignificant.
But wobble across the boards a knee-high William Shakespeare did, as his first words became sentences that became ideas that became some of the world’s most beloved pieces of literature.