Sounds like a wonderful trip.

You will need to account for longer drive times than you are planning. (In general you need to add 25% to 50+% to on-line drive time calculations)

For instance Woodstock to Stratford is about 35 miles and easily a 1 hour drive. And Stratford to Haworth is another 3.5 hour drive (or it could take longer). So That Saturday you will be spending at least 4.5 to 5 hours 'car time'.

That final Monday will have you in the car at least 5 hours not counting the 2 or 3 hours at Chatsworth.

Highclere is on the way from Winchester to Woodstock, which has never taken me more than 90 minutes, except when the A34's had a bad accident.

Since nothing literary (except its annual festival of authors boosting their latest book) has ever happened in Woodstock, you're only going to eat and sleep there. Chawton is just another pretty house: you should be able to fit it and Highclere into a day easily. But what's Highclere got to do with literature? The soap opera filmed there is almost certainly the worst-written soap anywhere today. If you prize writing, go to the Coronation Street set, or listen to The Archers on Radio 4 as you're driving.

Little of literary interest has ever happened in the Cotswolds, unless you're Mitford fans or want to trace the real-world Brideshead around Chipping Campden. But Adelstrop's not just the best poem about an English summer: Jane Austen's uncle lived there, where he was rector. Sadly Adelstrop station was closed decades back, though the line's still there and the station sign is preserved by the village phone box. Your members might want to research the connections between Edward Thomas, the poem's author and Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken is supposed to have been written for Thomas, while he was debating whether to volunteer to fight in the war which killed him.

If sloppily-written soaps matter more than proper authors, Downton Abbey's external shots, including its church, are almost all filmed in Bampton, about 30 mins from Woodstock.

It will be a great journey according to your plans

"Little of literary interest has ever happened in the Cotswolds,"

Cider With Rosie?? Is that not of literary interest? Or did I waste my time during Eng Lit? .

Thanks everyone. Janisj,, I will adjust for the drive times. Thanks for clarifying there, you just never know when researching on your own.

Flanneruk, interesting Robert Frost connection. We will look into that. I have two club members who are big Downton Abbey fans so I thought if Highclere was close, it would thrill them to see it. we have two cars so our Oxford / Cotswold day will be divided between those wanting scenery and those wanting Oxford's literary offerings. Though now I need to see what Cider and Roses is all about!

Any other advice or comments are welcome. Leading a group into unfamiliar territory is a bit daunting so if you can save me from myself, I appreciate it!

Since you're going to Lyme Regis, I would suggest reading up on Mary Anning - a 19th century fossil hunter - and taking time to look for fossils on the beach.

My partner just finished reading an historical fiction novel about her: "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier - and highly recommends it.

>>Though now I need to see what Cider and Roses is all about!<<

Cider with Rosie, by Laurie Lee - a poetic evocation of a child's life in a then remote village slowly emerging into the connected modern world in the 1920s (cider, with Rosie, under the haycart, is the mark of this particular child's passage out of childhood). It is - or was - a staple on schools' Eng Lit curriculum. I loved it at the time, but haven't re-read it for decades.

Since Jane Austen is a big interest, skip the Cotswolds and head to Bath to see the Assembly Rooms and the Crescent.

"

Since Jane Austen is a big interest, skip the Cotswolds and head to Bath to see the Assembly Rooms and the Crescent."

They are visiting Bath - right after London at the beginning of the driving trip.

It sounds lovely!

Don't forget the Tolkien/Lewis connections in Oxford, if anyone in your group is a fan of their work.

Lee Ann

Of the two, we preferred Haddon Hall to Chatsworth. Though Chatsworth has magnificant gardens; you can get tickets just for the grounds.

You might want to stop in at Bakewell, a sweet little town, and either have tea at the Rutland ("Austen is reputed to have slept here") Arms or grab a Bakewell pudding for the road.

Just an aside here. Back in the 60's, my friend and I were driving around Britain looking for Wessex county, which is as I recall, the setting of some Thomas Hardy novels. We couldn't find it. It took a while for us to realized that Wessex is a fictional county.

Livetoroam, as a literary junkie, I await your trip report. Good luck.

Pegontheroad, LOL - I appreciate Austin but I LOVE Hardy!

You asked for new ideas and will be in London for a few days so these links may be of interest as there are a few different places in these for you to review: http://londonunveiled.com/tag/literary/
Also, http://wikitravel.org/en/Literary_London

If you follow up the good Edward Thomas suggestion above, then I can recommend the excellent Now all Roads lead to France by Matthew Hollis, which contains plenty of info about his friendship with Robert Frost and his family.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/05/roads-lead-france-thomas-review
You seem very organised but I will just say that have you double checked opening times for Max Gate etc - sometimes National Trust properties don't open every day of the week and I would hate to see you caught out.

Beatrix Potter any interest? http://www.peterrabbit.com/en/beatrix_potter/lake_district/the_world_of_beatrix_potter_attraction

Down and out in London and Paris is a good excuse to visit the Savoy

Those of you who are interested in Oxford could take the bus from Woodstock. It stops in the center of the city, no need to park at a lot and take a bus into the center. And this would allow somebody who becomes enraptured at the Ashmolean Museum (as we did) to take a later bus.

It seems strange to stay in Woodstock and not see Blenheim Palace (where Winston Churchill was born). But that takes time.

Your trip seems very well-planned but will everyone adhere to the schedule? The more people the harder it is to get everyone organized and ready to leave on time.

And I'm not sure you have allowed enough time for things going wrong. Will you all have cellphones (cellphones that work in Britain)? They're especially useful for car-to-car communication. (Yes, you will get separated.)

Bath is worth 2 days; Oxford is worth 2 days. I am posting my report shortly but I would advise not moving every day.

In London you might be interested in this site http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/search/
Many authors have lived in London if only for a short time

This sounds as though it is going to be a great trip. I do hope that you write a trip report. I would be very interested in reading about your adventures.

stokebailey- will check into Bakewell and good idea about a gardens only tour at Chatsworth- that might be perfect.

latedaytraveler and lovs2travel- I will definetly write a trip report when we get back. I have done several and though,not as witty as many on this board, I try to get anything helpful for others covered, so stay tuned!

albionbythesea and MissPrism- great links-thanks!!

Morgana- the review for Now all Roads... was great reading, will look forward to the book itself. The notion that Pound decked Frost to the ground was quite a visual picture!

Mimar- great idea on the cell phones- will double check that we are covered there. I think the 7 of us will travel well together and they are all committed to the schedule- time will tell, of course.

Thanks so much everyone- I have some new links and lots of things to doublecheck that hadn't yet occured to me. Big, big help and much appreciated.

"I will definitely write a trip report when we get back. "

Hopefully you won't have the 'issues'/pitfalls we had during my book club trip. Ours wasn't based on literary sites but more general sightseeing . . . But I don't think it would have helped

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/6-women-2-flats-2-cars-oops-3-cars-big-house-2-weeks-in-england.cfm

Totally agree with mimar about getting a bus from Woodstock to Oxford.

It's a terrible idea for a visitor to try to drive and park in Oxford: driving to the nearest Park & Ride instead, then getting a bus into town takes as long and costs as much as getting the bus straight into Oxford from more or less outside your Woodstock hotel.

And, unlike central Oxford or the closest Park & Ride to Woodstock, parking in Woodstock's free.

Miss Prism, thank you for the link to the BLUE PLAQUE sites. Intersting...

Chatworth/Haddon Hall on the monday before driving south to Heathrow - you'd kick yourself for not squeezing in a trip to D.H.Lawrence's birthplace & museum in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire which is practically en route.

It would also make a refreshing - and bracing - counterpoint to all that effete Austen and Hardy stuff you'll be gorging on!

Dr D.

If you are going to see Jane Austen's House, try and fit in a visit to Chawton House (where her brother Edward Austen Knight lived) and next door to St. Nicholas' Church (where Cassandra and Jane's mother are buried). It's only a few minutes drive bw JA's house and Chawton House. See http://www.chawtonhouse.org/

Chawton House Library has a fabulous book collection of English women writers from the 16th to 19th centuries. As a book club members, I think will enjoy it. You may need to organise a private tour as I am not sure how often they are open for public tours.

Dr D. Will have to check on DH. I visited his house in New Mexico some years ago. Would be fun to see his English digs.

Mez- We will definitely stop at Chawton House. Big Austen fans in this group but we do love our Hardy too. And Bronte. And Dickens. Oh, you can see why we are making the pilgrimage to England this next year!

janisj- I just read your trip report and it made me question if I have the gumption to try this. But the tickets are purchased so there is no turning back now. to top it all off, we all work together so we have to be on speaking terms when we get home.

"janisj- I just read your trip report and . . . "

It was probably mean of me to bring it up

You'll be fine. But I really would clarify things like separate checks, etc ahead of time . . .

The comment about Jane Austen reminded me of our loved and lamented CW, but Hardy effete? Jude the Obscure, effete?

Maybe not but it's hardly Sons & Lovers is it, much less Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Actually, D.H. always struck me as warped mama's boy, Dr_DoGood, trying to prove his manhood in words because he really could not do much in deed.

To the Hardy enthusiasts (and I am certainly one)...
Fact about Hardy you'll like--his heart is buried in St Michaels, Stinsford, Dorset with his first wife (although there is a theory that his surgeon's cat ate the heart before it got to the grave) and the rest of him, cremated, is in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.

When I visited his grave in Dorset, there were masses of Japanese tourists there. Since I thought his grave was a tad off of the beaten tourist path, I asked a Japanese guide about why this was a stop. "Thomas Hardy is revered in Japanese culture," she explained. "A visit here for many of these people is the same as going to Stratford."

Wow.

Anyway, JanisJ, I think you were wise to put that link out there for the OP. Livetoroam, perhaps you should have everyone in your group read the link so that all of you are aware of the pitfalls.