Out at the weekend it is interesting to hear the various topics of conversation and as we rested our weary limbs at the end of a very constructive walk, OK it was lunchtime and we fancied a pint before we continued on, but the talk came around to our home town of Macclesfield and who was the most famous person associated with it.

After the normal and expected responses of Joy Division, New Order and the normal exchange of views over ‘Manchester bands’ one bright spark throw the name of Shakespeare in the ring, what we all explained ‘Shakespeare’ are you serious?

Well after getting home a little research was done and it is it a possibility and this is what I found:

John Brownswerde, who left Stratford-upon-Avon to become Headmaster at Macclesfield’s FreeGrammar School (founded in 1502). Educated at both Oxford and Cambridge universities, Brownswerde was a renowned schoolmaster with a singular method of teaching, being known by most men that knew him as “Grammaticus”. A brass memorial dedicated to him by the ex-pupil and Elizabethan poet and playwright, Thomas Newton, can be found in Macclesfield parish church with the words: “The first of poets, the leader of grammarians and the flower of schoolmasters.”

Stratford vicar Sir John Bretchgirdle (formerly of nearby Northwich in Cheshire) sent his star pupil, the young William Shakespeare, to Macclesfield to study under his good friend, John Brownswerde. This would have been where William shaped his use of language and gained an unusual knowledge of law and its procedures. At that time, one of the specialities of the school was teaching law as the basis for a career in the profession. Shakespeare had almost total recall of Ralph Holinshead’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Wales, considered to be the most definitive history book of the time. At least fourteen of his plays are said to have their origin in this book, some even including the exact wording.

Holinshed was born in the village of Sutton, two miles down the road, so he was probably an ex-scholar of the Free Grammar school. Having been written by a local man, the book must have been required reading for the pupils. When Brownswerde became ill, Shakespeare probably took over teaching duties, then on the headmaster’s retirement in 1588, William is known to have moved to London, where he gained his reputation.

So there you go, you might be out enjoying the local countryside, wrapped up in the latest pair of walking trousers, such as the Regatta Mens Combat Cargo Walking Workwear Trousers I was wearing, but you might end up learning something completely different.