Next door, the half-timbered birthplace dwelling is actually two buildings knocked into one. The northern, much smaller and later part was the house of Joan, Shakespeare’s sister, and it adjoins the main family home, bought by John Shakespeare in 1556 and now returned to something like its original appearance. It includes a glover’s workshop, where Shakespeare’s father beavered away, though some argue that he was a wool merchant or a butcher. Neither is it certain that Shakespeare was born in this building nor that he was born on April 23, 1564 – it’s just known that he was baptized on April 26, and it’s an irresistible temptation to place the birth of the national poet three days earlier, on St George’s Day. Despite these uncertainties, the house has been attracting visitors for centuries and upstairs one of the old mullioned windows, now displayed in a glass cabinet, bears the scratch-mark signatures of some of them, including those of Thomas Carlyle and Walter Scott.
A little further down the road is Nash’s House and New Place. Once the property of Thomas Nash, first husband of Shakespeare’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall. The adjacent gardens contain the foundations of New Place, Shakespeare’s last residence, which was demolished by the Reverend Gastrell, who was in bitter 
Just around the corner was Hall’s Croft, Stratford’s most impressive medieval house, Hall’s Croft. The former home of Shakespeare’s elder daughter, Susanna, and her doctor husband John Hall, the immaculately maintained Croft, with its beamed ceilings and rickety rooms, holds a good-looking medley of period furniture. Hall established something of a reputation for his medical know-how and after his death some of his case notes were published in a volume entitled Select Observations on English Bodies. The best view of the building itself is at the back, in the neat walled garden.
We set off for Mary Arden’s House, another of the Shakespeare properties, three miles northwest of the town centre in the village of Wilmcote. 
We then moved on to Charlecote Park, a grand 16th century country house, surrounded by its own deer park, on the banks of the River Avon Wellesbourne, about 4 miles east of Stratford and 5 miles south of Warwick. 
Then we went across the floating bridge to Cowes, one of only five remaining chain ferries in the UK. It dates from 1975 although a ferry has worked this route since 1720.
It was raining again this morning when I had to make an early trip to the toilet but by the time we got up it was starting to brighten up. We drove the 4 miles or so to Godshill, the quintessential English Village, which boasts some of the oldest architecture on the Isle of Wight.
With its delightful medieval church, charming thatched-roofed cottages and a winding main-street lined with traditional tearooms, Godshill is as picturesque as it is popular.
We drove to the 8 miles or so Bembridge Windmill. The grade 1 listed building was built around 1700 and is the last remaining windmill on the island. The mill was working by wind until 1913, having only been used for grinding animal feed after 1897. The mill was restored in 1935 and again in 1959, and was taken over by the National Trust in 1962.
We went to Osborne House the former country retreat of Queen Victoria.Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House in 1845. It soon became obvious that it was too small for their needs so the decided to rebuild it. The new Osborne House was built in the style of the Italian Renaissance complete with two towers between 1845 and 1851. Prince Albert designed the house himself in conjunction with builder Thomas Cubitt, who also built the main façade of Buckingham Palace. The sale of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton paid for much of the new house's furnishings.
By the time we had done the Tour of the House it had clouded over and we were now getting some fairly heavy showers. We walked down to the Beach and then up to the Swiss Cottage which has child size furniture and was built to encourage children to learn domestic skills.
After breaksfast and a bit of a chill we headed off the 17 or so miles to the Needles Batteries. By the time we arrived at the needles it was raining quite heavily, and was very windy. Cars are not allowed on the access road to the batteries so we spent £4.50 to park at the Needles attraction and started the three quarters of a mile walk up to the Needles Batteries, in the driving rain.
The Needles Old Battery dates back to 1862, and it doesn’t only make for a beautiful vantage point to admire views across the Solent but it’s played a part in both World Wars. A series of new rooms tell the story of the battery and its uses and the stories are illustrated with vibrant cartoons to bring them to life. The Parade Ground still includes a pair of original guns and if you follow the underground tunnel you’ll discover a searchlight emplacement which takes in dramatic views across the famous Needles rocks.
The New Battery holds a few surprises of its own too, and the modest exhibition in its underground spaces shows visitors how it was used for testing British rockets during the ’race for space’. The creation of the rockets was cloaked in secrecy, and the battery, found just a little further along on the headland than the Old Battery, made the place for testing the rocket engines. The actual testing of the rockets themselves was done in Woomera Australia.
On the way back to the caravan we called in at Ryde for a look at the hovercraft's.
The sun was shining again this morning. After a nice cooked breakfast we walked through the woods, down past Poole’s Cavern, through the Pavillion Gardens and into Buxton.
After a walk around the formal gardens we spent some time in the animal hide where we saw an array of birds,with the highlight being several Bullfinches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Nuthatch.
After a nice Cream Tea in the visitor centre we headed back to the car and drove home via Alnwick and the Coastal apart from a couple of brief showers, it was another lovely day, although the wind didn't die down until late evening.
Because we weren't putting the awning up it only took about 15 minutes to get everything set up and get the kettle on. I had a nice cuppa, Maddy had a cider before setting off for a walk around the Priory ruins. Finchale Priory dates from the twelfth century and was founded on the site of the hermitage of reformed pirate, St. Godric and dedicated to John the Baptist. Part of the monastery later served as a holiday retreat for the monks of Durham Priory.
