Arriving in Shakespeare’s Forest of Arden, Celia in As You Like It declares: “I like this place. And willingly could waste my time in it.” For a slow travel escape, this part of Warwickshire is sometimes overshadowed by the neighbouring Cotswolds and Oxfordshire. But culturally, historically, geographically, it is Shakespeare’s homeland and England’s ancient heart. From Marylebone station, the train to Leamington Spa powers through the Chilterns in just under 90 minutes. Sheep-freckled farms slope up to grassy hill forts under circling red kites, and a fox runs through fields among white splashes of blackthorn blossom. The branch line for Stratford-upon-Avon signals a shift of tempo: Claverdon, Bearley, Wilmcote… the station names have an Elizabethan air.
