Stratford-upon-Avon
is a historic market town in Warwickshire, and is best known for
being the birthplace, sometime living place and burial place of
British playwright and poet, William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Situated on the River Avon, it was originally a village before being developed into a town in 1196, when it was granted a charter, by King Richard I, to hold a weekly market. It retains much of its "olde worlde" charm due to its creaky yet well-preserved timber-framed Tudor buildings and quaint cobblestones.
Tourism is the major source of the town's income, with between 2.5 and 3 million visitors annually. But although he's often regraded as the greatest literary being of all time, and the national poet, not all of the town's tourist attractions are about The Bard! I
popped into their Butterfly Farm, and it really was a delightful
experience- don't go home without experiencing it!
Shakespeare and his characters are referenced the town over, and here he is surrounded by four of his characters: Falstaff, Prince Hal, Lady Macbeth and Hamlet.
It is called the Gower Monument, and was erected in 1888.
Outdoor wildlife-friendly pond, complete with Bug B&Bs!
The Butterfly farm is open from 10-6 during summer, and from 10-dusk in wintertime. It is closes only on Christmas Day.
This butterfly feeding table contained a variety of fruits...
My favourite butterfly is the Blue Morpho. Peer hard and you can see one perched on a tree...
Some of the butterflies are bred in house, and some are imported.
The other butterfly houses I've been in are situated at the Horniman Museum, and London Zoo.
I found the statues quite intriguing, and they certainly added to the exotic atmosphere...
They also house two green iguanas: Benny and Prudence.
This is Benny- we never saw Prudence.
This guy's a Rusty-tipped Page, and the butterflies sometimes allow you to get really close.
Looking back through the arch as we headed into the Rainforest Flight Area...
The colourful tropical plants and flowers contain sugary nectar, which is a perfect food source for butterflies.
A warning to the curious!
The Rainforest Flight Area is the largest butterfly display area in the United Kingdom.
The central pool, and this was the most fantastic section of this tourist attraction...
Swimming with the fishes, and you can see koi carp havin' fun in the water...
To one side of the pool was a cascading waterfall...
Another Blue Morpho, and about a third of the butterflies here are supplied by their own farm in Belize.
Dancing Blue Morphos.
They were certainly friendly, and seemed to swim over to see me!
It was quite heavenly walking through this zone, and certainly cheered me up (not that I was miserable!)
The temperature was certainly hot and steamy in here, and thankfully we were able to hang our coats in their cloakroom before entering.
There are also cabinets containing beetles, spiders and lizards, but they didn't want to come out to play and pose...
This really is a happy place, and was a delight to visit!
It seemed much colder once we'd left the tropical confines of the Butterfly Farm!
In the Rainforest Realm, this is a spectacled caiman, and he's from the same species family as alligators.
That's funny- he didn't appear to be wearing glasses!!!
😆😆😆
Back inside the Rainforest Flight Area, and these are leafcutter ants. They are fungus growing ants, and they can carry up to 50 times their body weight!
It's goodbye for now, from me and this Peleides Blue Morpho...
Here I'm gazing downstream, having crossed back over the River Avon.
Looking upstream at the Tramway Bridge...
Down on the green by the river, and this is the Young Will sculpture, by Lawrence Holofcener. It was unveiled in 2016, to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.
Stratford-upon-Avon Butterfly Farm, you were fantastic and I will return!
💓
Until then,
TTFN
The Miss Elaineous
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