Saturday, August 18, 2007

Stratford upon Avon

William Shakespear was born, lived and buried in Stratford England. We enjoyed visiting his birthplace, home, workplace, burial place and we did find the city most fascinating. Of particular interest was the thatched roofs in this area of England. Thatched roofs are made up of thousands and thousands of river reeds, layer upon layer. These rooftops are only built in the very wet regions of England. If these reeds would dry out, the roofs would leak. There is an entire eco-system that lives in these roofs. Spiders, bats, mice, bugs, etc... all make this habitat their home. BUT....they are so wonderfully English. Each thatch architect has their own signature style. Some of the roofs have a pattern, or sculpted, or they use a rounded pattern around windows or a square pattern. Some architects design very manicured shapes, others have a "hawaiian" thatched look. Another thing we loved about English homes were the gorgeous English gardens.





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