My 21st birthday in Stratford-upon-Avon

I spent my 21st birthday at Shakespeare's grave (paid for by Tesco Clubcard, when clubcard points still meant something) 🎭

My photo of Shakespeare’s grave, taken in 2015 on an iPhone 5c

I think it’s fair to say that I was not a quote-unquote cool 21-year-old. Judging by my continued obsession with Paddington Bear, I’m not remotely cool as an almost-31-year-old, either.

Unlike my classmates at the comprehensive secondary school that I attended from age 11 until I turned 18, I didn’t spend my teenage years drinking Smirnoff Ice in a field with my friends. I wasn’t sneaking out to kiss boys on park benches, or smoking illicit cigarettes, or trying to get served underage in pubs. The house parties I went to were usually parent-chaperoned and often involved a very mild game of Never Have I Ever, because at that age, none of us had experienced anything remotely salacious (I still haven’t, tbh). I didn’t catch the train into London by myself until I was 18, and that was only so I could get on a coach back to Lincoln where I went to university.

As an anxious child, and later, an anxious teenager, I spent most of my time trying very, very hard not to break any rules or cause any fuss. Nothing much has changed on that front.

Looking back, I was rebellious, but in a different sense. I wanted out. As soon as talks about university plans began, I knew in my gut that I would move as far away from my hometown as possible, reinvent myself, and find out who I could be outside of the constraints of the small town that I desperately wanted to leave behind.

I was rebellious in that I doggedly pursued a career path that none of my peers were interested in. I went to drama club alone, auditioned for the school musical, spent my evenings and weekends at rehearsals. I listened, transfixed, as my English teacher read Macbeth aloud to a class of otherwise very bored 14-year-olds - my first intoxicating taste of the Bard and the tentative beginnings of a lifelong love affair with words.

Still my favourite Shakespeare play to this day

Somewhat predictably, I ended up studying drama at university, and so it felt very fitting when my mum surprised me with a weekend away in Stratford-upon-Avon as a 21st birthday gift. I remember it being a particularly carefree, hopeful summer: I had just finished my degree and would soon be heading to Edinburgh for the Festival Fringe in August, followed by a six month internship at a local theatre starting in September. Like most freshly-graduated young creatives, a career in the arts really felt like a possibility for me at the time, and I was ready for whatever the industry had to offer me (as it turns out, very little - but that’s a story for another time).

It only struck me recently that a trip to a 400-year-old playwright’s historic hometown probably isn’t most 21-year-olds’ idea of a good time, but to me, it was everything I could have wanted and more. A whole weekend, with my mum, walking in the footsteps of one of my literary and dramatic heroes? YES PLEASE.

So, on a grey day in June 2015, I found myself on a train to Warwickshire, my darling mum by my side as we chatted excitedly about our trip. Earlier that week, she had concocted a treasure hunt involving several post-it notes to help me guess what the big birthday surprise was. Most impressively, the whole thing had been paid for with Tesco Clubcard points, which my mother was and still is dedicated to saving and spending for maximum return on investment.

To this day, we still talk about our adventures in Stratford-upon-Avon. Every morning, we made drinks (coffee for me, tea for mum) and sat in our twin beds, each reading a book. Then we would meander downstairs for a leisurely breakfast, followed by showers, or maybe a quick dip in the indoor pool. We spent our days taking full advantage of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust passes that mum had booked, allowing us access into three historic sites: Shakespeare’s birthplace, New Place, and Anne Hathaway’s family cottage.

It was one of those trips that felt incredibly serendipitous. Unlike many of our camping holidays growing up, the sun actually shone for us in Stratford. We indulged in cream teas under parasols on a busy little cobbled street, chatted with some jolly Texans who were having the time of their lives on their big UK trip, and ate fish and chips side by side as the sun set over the canal. The whole experience really was so special.

But my favourite anecdote? Matthew Kelly, of Stars In Their Eyes fame, smiled at my mother. Yep, my mum got a megawatt smile off of Matthew Kelly in the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre gift shop. What a time to be alive.

Almost ten years later and I still smile from ear to ear when I think about the care and thought that went into planning those precious few days.

I got to spend my 21st birthday not dancing in a sticky-floored club, but retracing the steps of one of the greatest playwrights of all time, eating scones and gossiping with the woman who raised me. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. *Googles hotels in Stratford-upon-Avon…

Thank you so much for reading! If you liked reading about my adventures as an eager, fresh-faced 21-year-old in Stratford-upon-Avon, please do leave me a comment, or even better, subscribe if you haven’t already 🥰