Bartholomew Bramble's Schoole of Defence

"You (the Bramblers) did more in 2 days than many groups do in a week!"
   -- exhausted driver #1 when dropping us off in Portsmouth around noon.  British law prohibits tour companies from working their drivers anywhere near as hard as we study.  We met up with driver #2 some 6 hours later for a ride back to London.


The Bramble Amble was a combination vacation / research trip to England.  My wife, son and I were joined by Bramblers Scott Crawford, Steven Roe, Joshua Wever and Mandy Lawson.  A partial list of our itinerary is below:

Day 1
Tower of London - Antique armor and weapons examined
Royal College of Physicians
British Museum

Day 2
Oxford
Warwick Castle
Stratford
     Anne Hathaway's Cottage
     Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
     Hall's Croft
     'The Tempest' - starring Patrick Stewart as Prospero

Day 3

Stonehenge - Special Access Tour at dawn (Yes, we touched and climbed on the stones!)
Avebury / West Kennett Long Barrow / Silbury Tor
Portsmouth / The Mary Rose Museum - Original artifacts of King Henry VIII's ship examined

Day 4
British Library - Scott and Steven personally examine and study George Silver's handwritten manuscript of Bref Instructions, the Earl of Essex's original hand written presentation copy of Paradoxes of Defence (1599), Original print copy of Paradoxes, plus Harlian Ms 3542 (15th century).

Day 5
Victoria & Albert Museum
Wallace Collection (Part of the weapons collection was closed, but they let us sneak in)
Golden Hinde
Shakespeare's Globe Exhibit
'Coriolanus' at The Globe (traditional costuming)

Additional
Royal College of Surgeons / Hunterian Museum -  - Antique surgical implements examined
St. Bartholomews Hospital Museum
Museum of London