Spending May Day with Shakespeare

A few weeks ago we had a rare night away & visited Shakespeare Country.

We loved it so much that we travelled back to Warwickshire Two weeks later as Mary Arden's Farm was celebrating May Day.

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We had just finished learning about The Tudor's so this was a perfect way to end the topic & inspire the children to know & learn more about William Shakespeare.

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Mary Arden's Farm has so much charm & history,

 you feel like you are walking back in time.

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Carding wool.

These two little girls love to get involved in crafts.

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The rear of Palmers Farmhouse.

There is always something cooking on the hearth in this farmhouse.

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All the Tudor costumes were wonderful.

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Cooking Tudor Pottage.

I brought home a wonderful little book with some lovely Tudor recipes in which we have had several times since our trip.

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A basket of Tudor supplies.

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The farmhouse kitchen.

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I loved all the woodenware.

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Goose Herding.

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Sweet Spring lambs at the farm.

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Kitty made a friend.

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Anne Hathaway's Cottage & gardens.

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Upstairs in one of the bedrooms.

It was wonderful seeing all the old pieces of oak furniture.

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The beautiful scullery in Anne Hathaway's cottage.

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Tulip Time in the cottage garden.

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The twins loved this garden with all the paths, nooks and crannies.

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The girls outside Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford Upon Avon.

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One of the downstairs rooms.

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This house is Halls Croft which was the home of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna,

 she was married to a doctor.

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The kitchen in Halls Croft.

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We loved all these old houses in Stratford & the surrounding villages.

The staff were wonderful & we learnt so much from them.

Our tickets last for a year so we will go back many times.

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May Day in England.

We love to study old traditions so after learning about May Day in England many years ago we once again travelled to Stratford upon Avon to Mary Arden's Farm.

There was so much to do there from making flower garlands to bringing in the May Pole.

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Dancing round the Tudor May Pole.

Cooking a May Day meal in Palmer's Farmhouse at Mary Arden's Farm.

The twins made some beautiful flower wreaths for their hair at the farm.

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There are so many activities you can do at the farm.

The girl's also did Tudor weaving & braiding & they made Gingerbread.

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Smelling the herbs in the farmhouse garden.

The girls are planning their own herb garden.

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Hand weaved basket outside the farmhouse.

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The Tudor May Day meal.

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During the meal they told you all about Tudor manners and customs.

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Mary & Danny joined in a Shakespeare play at his birthplace in the afternoon.

Mary has been truly inspired by Shakespeare & came home with a pile of books.

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There are five museums all run by The Shakespeare Trust.

They were all wonderful with so much to see & do.

I hope you all had a lovely May Day & are enjoying the last days of Spring in your part of the world.

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Thank you dear readers for all your lovely comments.

A few followers have asked for recipes on Instagram which I will post on my next blog post. I just had so many photos of the Shakespeare homes.

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Fondly Michelle

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