Coming June 2025 . . . That Sceptred Isle: A Close Reads Excursion

Jul 04, 2024

Hey friends,

We have some event news!

We have been circling this for a while—teasing it, alluding to it, indicating it was coming—and now we’re ready to officially announce it: we’re headed to England next June for a very special Close Reads excursion!

We’re calling it “That Sceptred Isle” and it’ll be one part retreat, one part adventure, one part literary ramble. Scroll down for lots more information, including regarding registration.

You might recognize this event’s title from Sir John of Gaunt’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s Richard II, in which Gaunt describes his homeland like this:

This royal throne of kings
This sceptred isle
This earth of majesty
This seat of Mars
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm this England . . .

We’re all anglophiles here at Close Reads, unabashedly so, and the primary goal of this retreat, this excursion, is to dig into the literature, history, and landscape that defines the country we love from afar. Of course, it’s impossible do this in a single week. But we’re going to do our best by focusing on some essentials. So we’ll be spending time in the countryside that inspired places like the forest of Arden and Tolkien’s Shire, visiting some of the oldest towns in the region (like Oxford and Bath), and digging deep into several wonderful passages from Shakespeare that are explicitly about the realm he called home—all while eating as much good food as we can, visiting pubs and bookshops, and doing just enough tourist stuff to keep us honest.

(And, yes, I do enjoy the irony of announcing this on July 4th.)

Here’s how it will work:

This retreat is open to just twelve attendees . . .
We have rented a beautiful house near the town center of Stow-in-the-Wold, a lovely old village in the heart of the Cotswolds. This house will be HQ for the event, so to speak . . .
While we will spend a decent amount of time discussing literature, we won’t simply be doing that in a room. We also will spend a lot of time walking the footpaths of the Cotwolds, chatting in pubs and restaurants, visiting historic cities and their many literary sites, and much more . . .
The dates of the event are June 18 to 24. June 18 will be an arrival and acclimation day and June 24 will be the final official day of the event. See below for travel information . . .

Event Highlights

We will be taking day trips to Bath, Oxford, and Stratford to see a variety of literary sites . . .
We will explore the lush woodlands and rolling hills and gorgeous stone villages of the Cotswolds (by foot or by car; your choice)
While in Stratford we will take in a performance of a Shakespeare play by the Royal Shakespeare Company . . .
Literary discussions will be of a variety of wonderful Shakespeare passages, all of which explore, in perhaps the most beautiful language possible, the nature of England (and Englishness) . . .
The Cotswolds (cotswolds.com)

Cost and Registration

Registration will open on Monday, July 15 at noon eastern time . . .
There are two registration rates:
- For a solo room it is $4,100/person
- For a shared room it is $3,200/person
To register, a $1,000 deposit will be required. This is non-refundable unless we are able to find someone to replace the spot . . .
Please note: this registration does not include air travel or transportation from the airport to Stow-in-the-Wold . . .
But it does include most meals, including all breakfasts and most lunches and dinners, including a special banquet. Attendees will have the flexibility to try restaurants in different cities at their own cost, if they wish. But when in Stow-in-the-Wold, Sean, Heidi, Tim, and I will be cooking for you (unless we decide to eat in a pub or local spot) . . .
It also includes a ticket to the RSC performance
As well as all transportation once at the event (i.e., car, train, and bus rides between sites) . . .
Prospective attendees will need to fill out a form on registration day, July 15, to express interest in attending as well as ability to pay the deposit. We will use this form to determine who can come and will subsequently invoice attendees . . .
A typical lovely Cotswolds village (via cotswolds.com)

Arrival and Travel

You will be responsible for getting to Stow-in-the-Wold, which is not terribly difficult to do. There are a number of options, from train to bus to car . . .
We will send a packet featuring in-country travel information, with a variety of options . . .
You are welcome to arrive in Stow anytime on June 18. We will officially begin that evening with a special meal . . .
Market Square in Stow

Miscellaneous Information

Please note that, while the house has plenty of bathrooms and bedrooms for our purposes (as well as two kitchens), there are no truly private bathrooms, as in a master bedroom found in an American home or in a fully private hotel room . . .
This event is limited to attendees aged 18+ . . .
Please note that we do not plan to spend offical event time in London. This may seem strange, but we want to focus on other places and given that London is where most attendees will fly into and out of it’s easy to see before or after the official event. Feel free to spend an extra day (or week or whatever) on either end!
No, we don’t yet know which play we will see; the RSC schedule for 2025 isn’t available as July 2024 . . .
The Cotswolds is one of the most beautiful regions in the United Kingdom, an area that inspired Tolkien’s creation of the Shire. Click here to learn more . . .
Click here to learn more about Stow-in-the-Wold, one of the most Tolkien-esque of all villages. It features a 12th century inn, a historic town square, a grand old church, and is adjacent to some of the best walking paths in the country . . .

England is a great place to be a tourist because they’ve been hosting visitors for so long. They’re generally pretty welcoming people, they actually preserve their history and culture, and, of course, you can never see everything while also feeling like you’re experiencing plenty.

We can’t wait to host this excursion, to show a little Close Reads hospitality, to have an adventure. Join us!

Have any questions? Shoot me an email via david@goldberrybooks.com.