Stratford Celebrates the Falstaff Experience's win

July 26, 2011 - PRLog -- The great and good turned out on Monday to celebrate the Falstaff Experience's momentous achievement of winning Chiltern Railways Attraction of the Year. The event was attended by the Mayor of Stratford Bill Dowling; Chief Executive of the Stratford BID Chirs Gregory; Head of Shakespeare Country Tony Merrygold; proprietor of Tutbury Castle and television personality Lesley Smith and many other representatives from local businesses including the Birthplace Trust. The celebrations began with a toast by the Mayor and a presentation of the award to Falstaff Experience owners John and Janet Ford. The guests were then taken on a history tour of the museum by Sir John Falstaff himself. The revelers then enjoyed a buffet lunch and were entertained by local performance poets, twins Bettina and Annette Jones and an abridged performance of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' fully demonstrating to the guests the wide and varied range of entertainments the museum has to offer. The celebrations were completed with a Ghost Tour of the museum that is said to be the most haunted building in England by author Terry Deary in his 'Horrible Histories Guide to Stratford Upon Avon'.

John and Janet Ford took over the Falstaff Experience in October 2008 and in their 3 years at the museum they have transformed the Falstaff Experience and added Tudor World. The award was voted for by the users of Chiltern Railways and the independent visitor attraction that receives no funding has beaten many high profile attractions to win this prestigious award. The museum delights guests young and old alike and offers a ground breaking educational package as well as live shows in the Witches Courtyard Theatre and hosts Ghost Hunts every weekend. The Falstaff Experience is famous for its unique Lantern Lit Ghost Tours. In 2011 the museum introduced the popular Stratford Town Haunted Pub Ghost Tour led by Dashing Jack. The museum also has a strong online presence and offers several free education products online including free worksheets and the option to email historical and literary characters with questions. Full details of the museum can be found at www.falstaffexperience.co.uk.

Creative Director Janet Ford said: "This award is fantastic. We would like to say thank you to all the people at Chiltern Railways and all the people who voted for us. We are passionate about history and through the museum we hope to inspire others to share our passion.This award certainly indicates that we are doing that. As a an independent museum a lot care and passion goes into running the museum. Winning this prestigious award makes us so proud and to be recognised by Chiltern Railways is a real honor. Stratford is a perfect place to visit for a long weekend and the great offers to be found in Chiltern Railways 2FOR1 Brochure will hopefully see record visitor numbers in the town. In times of recession value for money is so important and by creating affordable days out for the family Chiltern Railways are doing a great service. Success inspires us further and we shall be making a real push to win this award next year. With this in mind we have planned a full program of events for 2011 including; the 'Tudor Olympics' this summer and 'The March of the Plague Doctor' for Halloween and an innovative Christmas program."