The Diary of an Itinerant Storyteller

December venues - From the Atrium Arts Centre to Pontefract Castle

2011-12-30T20:40:00.005Z

It was a busier December than usual for storytelling and I told from the Atrium Arts Centre in North Walsham to Pontefract Castle by way of Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings near Birmingham.

The Avoncroft session was an evening event telling tales to the volunteers as part of their Xmas party. There and back in one night, so little time to look around. It was a great evening though so hopefully some summertime sessions there in 2012!

The Atrium was a real surprise. It's hidden away in the depths of a housing estate, but well worth the effort of finding. Not only does it have its own cinema and cafe, but also huge kitchens and other workshops, music rooms and dance studios like the one I wandered into below. Although thinking upon it now I should have removed my medieval style wooden pattens before stomping across the brand new floor! My negligence aside, the Atrium is a great local resource for NorthWalsham - lets just hope the people use it.

One of the dance studios at the Atrium and me

Click on images to make larger...

I told at Pontefract Castle on a freezing December day as part of a small Medieval event. In truth there is not much of the medieval ruins left, although the remains of the kitchen were interesting with the layout of fireplaces and other features still discernible and well interpreted. Another feature that caught my eye was the cellar and magazine store, which I didn't get to go down, but there was an interpretation panel near the entrance and on my arrival I was shown exactly where to drive for fear my van disappeared into the stoney depths! Not many castles seem to have such features, although I did see something similar when I told at Knaresborough Castle in 2009 (Although they were tunnels, so even better!)

Beneath Pontefract Castle

As the panel confirms it is basically a small Norman Cellar that was extended out and down in the 13th, 14th and 15th century and perhaps its most interesting use was as a prison during the Civil War, with many of the prisoners leaving their mark. I love graffiti and am part of a growing group surveying churches for tell tale marks. When you stumble upon a name or some other mark it makes you wonder about who the author was and why they left their mark. Of course in most cases we will never know and that's why it's so great - You can let your imagination run riot! That's certainly the case with tunnels as well, even short ones like this. There is something spooky, but also exciting about descending into the depths to who knows where. And there's sure to be treasure hidden some where in one of those nooks and crannies. I fancy the little incomplete gallery on the far right!

My storytelling tent in the inner bailey of the ruinous castle
Just below the remains of the Keep

Thanks for all the invites to tell in 2011 and I look forward to some new venues and maybe even more hidden tunnels in 2012...

Settle, Yorkshire Dales

2011-10-11T19:03:00.007+01:00

On the 8th of October I traveled up to Settle in Yorkshire to tell at the 2nd Settle Storytelling Festival.

I got my first impressions of Settle whilst leading a story walk about the beautiful market town, although the continual rain meant that we didn't hang about for too long! What really stood out for me was just how friendly everyone was in Settle - Interested in the festival, storytelling and the storytellers. I also found out that the locals, many of whom were volunteering for the festival made some superb cakes for events like 'Tea and Tales'. Settle itself is a great mix of old and new and is clearly prospering with shops to cater for tastes and purses. There are loads of tea rooms and cafes for all the walkers, but good and cheap and on Sunday I spent the best part of an hour wading through a huge all day breakfast, finished off with a delicious piece of home made lemon meringue pie and all for a fiver. It kept me going throughout the whole of Sunday and well beyond my storytelling session at the festival club night at the Folly.

The Folly in Settle

It's a Seventeenth Century House house built by Richard Preston, a local lawyer and as with all ancient houses it has had many different uses during its lifetime. Like all old buildings it also has its fair share of stories; my favourite being that it was called 'the Folly' because Preston spent so much money building it in order to demonstrate his wealth, that he actually bankrupted himself. A piece of fiction, but a great one and I for one don't think that we should let fact get in the way of a good story! It is a very grand residence for its time and the fire place in the hall is so big I could happily tell my stories, whilst standing under the fireplace arch. The fire was lit and I was half afraid I would burst into flames, but it was just the thing to drive out the damp weather. The Folly is also home to the local museum and it is set out just the way I like it with lots of interesting objects and exhibits scattered here and there.

The Folly Fireplace (Main Hall)

What really caught my eye was the great photographic collection of Victorian and early twentieth century local characters and notable worthies including a very imposing picture of Mrs William Perfect - Not the sort of lady to get on the wrong side of and I don't somehow think that she would have approved of my tales of drunkenness and thievery!

Mrs William Perfect (But was she?)

The other thing that caught my eye were the various exhibits relating to the building of the railway, in particular the Settle to Carlyle line that used over 6000 navvies, many of whom were Irish and many of whom suffered and died laying track and building viaducts. Not just the men, but also members of their families who eked out a hard existence in isolated shanty towns like Batty Green near Settle. The harsh conditions were captured by Betty Harrington in a collection of water colours now on display in the Folly.

Betty Harrington's views of 'Life in the Ribblehead Shanty Town (1974)
Click on image to make larger

Settle is a beautiful place nestled as it is beneath the hills. Now Norfolk isn't as flat as some assume (That's the fens!) but we are starved of dramatic scenery so common place in Yorkshire. I love the way the houses climb up and seem to grow out of the side of the hills and also the organic steps and stairs built out of local stone that seem to have been grown rather than built.

Stairs to who knows where...

Thanks to Sita Brand for inviting me to tell at her fantastic Settle Festival and to all her friends & helpers who looked after me and all of the other tellers.

Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire

2011-08-18T20:21:00.003+01:00

I have just one more day of telling medieval tales at Kenilworth Castle.

For two weeks I have been camped on site with my friend and co-founder of Past-Imagined, Historical Tale Tellers , Stewart Alexander. As always it's been a real privilege staying on site after the public have gone home.

The Castle at Sunset
Click on image to enlarge

I have spent many nights wandering the ruins and more than any other castle I have stayed at, Kenilworth seems sombre and brooding, menacing even. Although Stew thinks it is a place of melancholy. Certainly like any major historic site it's had it's fair share of ups and downs. It was once home to Robert Dudley - One time favourite of Elizabeth 1st, but spurned for his own political and personal failings. Prior to that the scene of death and destruction including a siege by HenryIII in 1266, the evidence for which can still be seen in the huge stone balls shot from trebuchets and other weapons at the castle long ago, but now no more than decorative tops for many a gate post of many a house in the older part of Kenilworth.

Recycled Trebuchet Balls

According to some, the harrowing history has lead to a few hauntings over the years, including a Grey Lady. I like many others enjoy a good ghost story, and there was one night late when walking to the loos that I did catch something out of the corner of my eye - just flitting across the entrance to the new Elizabethan Garden, but whether it was a Grey Lady, a local lad intend on mischief or maybe even a low flying owl, i'll never know!

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Location:Fieldgate Lawn,Kenilworth,United Kingdom

Victorian Crafts at Renishaw Hall

2011-08-13T14:28:00.002+01:00

Today I'm telling at Renishaw Hall.

A very grand Victorian house built around a much older 17th century hall. It's most famous for being the home of the Sitwells, all part of the 'bright young things' of the interwar years. Creative people from privileged backgrounds. The most famous of them was Edith Sitwell the poet.

That's all very interesting, but I was more taken by the crafts and other activities on display at the Victorian event here this day. In particular the man making lead toys - animals and the like, although now cast from lead free pewter.

Pouring 'lead' into a mould
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His moulds are brought at antique fairs so he can produce animals just like originals and then the children can have a go at painting them in the tent next door. The toymaker even makes his own moulds out of marble just as they would have originally been. I like that kind of ingenuity.

And by sheer coincidence the small museum at the hall houses some of the Sitwell children's own lead soldiers and animals, so children can get an idea just what it is they are painting.

Sitwell antique lead toys

A small thing perhaps, but many of the kids kept the animals they had watched being cast and then painted themselves, very close as they listened to stories. And they had something to take away that may last and remind them of the hall for many years to come!

Thanks to all for the friendly welcome and to some great audiences. Especially the older listeners who gave as good as they got!

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Location:Station Rd,,United Kingdom

Hidden Gems at Colchester Castle

2011-08-08T21:33:00.008+01:00

I have returned to Colchester Castle to tell Medieval Tales and was again very taken with one of their temporary exhibitions. This one was all about buried treasures, from Anglo Saxon and English Civil War Hoards to unfinished neolithic flints and clothes and shoes secreted in the fire places, floors and walls of old houses. It was this group that really caught my eye. From mummified cats to witches pots and even this mid 17th century coat that had been hidden in a house in Malden in Essex....

The Maldon Coat

This old coat in particular really fires my imagination. Why was it hidden there? Many think they know but no one can be certain. There are those who will tell you that shoes were hidden to trap witches, for it is said they they can't walk backwards! A great story if nothing else. And the coat it too has a story to tell. It was oft times repaired and the fancy cuffs later added. Many owners perhaps each with a story. And that's the point about museum exhibits - they are far more than the sum of their interpretation panels. Don't be afraid when you see things like this coat to let loose and imagine what sights, sounds and scrapes it's wearers once got into. These tattered rags tell of its owners status, but might also hint at their aspirations, their hopes and dreams. We can all be tellers of tales and so too a raggedy old coat!

For more information of hidden clothing visit the Deliberately Concealed Garments Website here...

16th century shoes, witches pots and a mummified cat
From various Essex houses

Roman cow bells buried in a circle
Why?!

Saxon through to 17th century Civil War Hoards

Thanks to Clive for another invite to the castle and the great staff, especially the two who helped me push start my car today!

WI ROCKS at Music at the Crossroads!

2011-07-05T14:34:00.007+01:00

Have just returned from a weekend of telling at both Music at the Crossroads at Hook Norton and the Cornbury Festival; both in Oxfordshire. Both fantastic music festivals and the Cornbury festival had a comedy tent and all the stuff you'd expect at a modern event. Something for everyone. But what really stood out at Hook Norton was the WI ladies serving delicious tea in proper cups and saucers and some great cake - just like me mum used to make. I have to admit to liking a mug of tea normally, but cup, saucer and well made cake just seem to go together somehow. Not very rock and roll you might say and you might even complain that festivals aren't what they used to be. That's certainly true. There was however a beer tent and all the usual for those who wanted it, but for me tea and cake are the perfect end to a days hard telling!

The ladies of the Hook Norton WI and their festival wares

Proper cups and saucers

Proper cakes!

Pro active peddling of festival cakes

Thanks to Phil for another invite and to the WI for their superb cakes!

Oulton Box Day

2011-06-29T12:35:00.016+01:00

Just a few days ago I was telling at Oulton - At their annual Box Day Celebration. The village is very dispersed, but the villagers came up with an excellent way of bringing the community together. As part of the Millennium celebrations they asked every household to donate a box of bits and pieces that represented their family and the boxes were then stored in a purpose built metal chest that was encased in wood and held in Oulton Chapel. There they will stay in the Oulton Chapel Chest for 100 years before being handed back to the houses from whence they came. What a fantastic idea! Not only does that help unite the villages now, but should also unite them in the future. Even the storing of the boxes at the chapel has resonances with the past when all important documents relating to village life were stored in the parish church chest, for the simple reason it was often the most secure place to do so. Thus they have linked the villages together in the past, the present and hopefully the future.

Oulton Chapel
Not a typical parish church, rather an 18th century non-conformist place of worship
Well worth a visit and more details can be found on the parish council website here...

Also on Simon Knott's Norfolk Churches website

A great idea that is remembered each year at the Box Day celebration with photos adorning the main tent of all those who have come to live in the village since at least the early 2000s, including a traveller and his dog who camped up on the roadside for a while. As I said Oulton is a dispersed village, spread out here and there and so I did have trouble finding the celebration, but in many ways it has a far greater sense of community than many a 'traditional' village!

Thanks to Zoe for inviting me and everyone else who enjoyed a good tale!

Arundel Castle and Colchester Oyster Fayre

2011-06-09T20:24:00.034+01:00

A busy week last week and one that took me from the Bishop's Palace in Wells, to Christchurch Mansion House in Ipswich and then onto Arundel Castle in West Sussex.

The Yarnsmith
In the original early medieval keep at Arundel

Arundel is a huge castle with lots of history and like all major fortifications it has suffered over the years and also been restored and added to many, many times. It's that that still stands out about the place, for having just arrived and set up with my storytelling apprentice Kim, we decided to have an explore before I started telling and we stumbled upon a what I can only describe as a fantasy garden.

Oberon's Palace based on Inigo Jones 17th century design

For it turns out that the present owners (Still the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk) are still adding to the castle and it's estates and this new garden was inspired by the work of the famous early modern architect and stage designer, Inigo Jones and taken from a painting inside the main house.

Looking into the Oberon's Palace

Jones was well known for his innovative theatrical designs and clever inventions & effects, many used at court masques. This is reflected in the center piece of the garden - Oberon's Palace which was designed for Prince Henry's Masque in 1611 (Henry was the elder brother of Charles the 1st, but died whilst still a youth) And inside a crown neatly balancing on top of a fountain, which spins and bounces and bobs, but does not fall off.

The crown balancing on top of the fountain In Oberon's Palace

In that respect then the recreation of Jones design is fantastical, for just as some today might look down their noses at special effects, there were those who did the very same some 400 years ago. Ben Johnson, who wrote many of the masques that Jones designed stage sets for, regularly mocked Jones work saying that the literature was more important to theatre than the sets. Alas for Johnson there were many who disagreed and came to see Jones stunning effects, which must have galled Johnson no end!

Looking up in Oberon's Palace

I would have been one of those coming to see what wonders Jones came up with next and for me the fact that I first thought the garden at Arundel was a fantasy garden was not then a criticism. . I thought it was fantastic! A stunning recreation of the work of a creative genius of 400 years ago.

Detail of the main arch of Oberon's Palace

Another of Inigo Jones designs - the Park Temple

Inside the Park Temple

Part of huge Inigo Jones garden

Having told at Arundel on the Thursday I then went back to Ipswich on the Friday and in the evening I continued my storytelling journey onto the Colchester Oyster Fayre. The Oyster Fayer is my favorite historical fair in the whole country and anyone wanting to buy authentically made goods, from shoes to swords, to horn cups and phallic pewter badges, they would best be served by coming to the Oyster Fayre.

For me though it's the entertainment that really stands out and not just because I'm part of it! And this Year it was Melford hys Companie who really entertained one and all. They are part of the now famous living history group who have their base at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk. There are many offshoots and individuals who started at Kentwell and like the Melford players now travel all over the country to schools, museums and heritage sites, demonstrating and entertaining.

The cast of the St George mummers play including the Devil himself and a dragon with real smoke!

The Melfords put on mummers and other plays as they would have been in medieval and Tudor times - all very colorful, bawdy and with lots of interaction with the audience and crowd participation. This year they performed the St George mummers play which even featured a smoking dragon and the kids helping the quack Dr pull out George's guts! Jack Green who as 'Dr John Green' featured in an earlier blog on Nottingham Robin Hood Pageant that can be seen by going here... He played the 'evil' Saracen

Jack Green as the 'evil' Saracen

The boastful Dr of Physic attempting to cure St George

Kill or cure, with the help of some kids!

Finally out come his guts or is it sausages!

They then went on to perform the Reeve's Tale from Chaucer about two lusty students who get one over on a greedy miller. The tale is a bawdy one already, but Jack addedan extra earthy feel by playing a Chaucer type narrator who had to be dragged off stage for getting carried away with the dirty bits!

A case of mistaken identities and mixed up beds in the miller's mill From Chaucer's Reeves Tale

Jack Green again as a very bawdy Chaucer
Being dragged off before he went too far!

And finally they performed Chanticleer, inspired by Chaucer again and that involved everyone in the crowd being animals and giving chase to Reynard the fox when he took hold of Chanticleer the Cockerel. I really enjoyed the plays as did the huge crowds they drew in. From tiny kids to old people - everyone got the stories and jokes, which is something modern theatre could do with taking note of!

Chanticleer the Cockerel strutting his stuff!

Perching with his beautiful hens

Giving chase to Reynard the fox who has Chanticleer in his clutches
Even the audience joined the pursuit!

Thanks To Paul Ullson for inviting me to Arundel and Ted Loyde at the Oyster Fayre..

Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich

2011-05-31T18:14:00.010+01:00

This week I am telling in the wonderful Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich. Originally a Tudor hall it grew and developed as fashions changed and it is now a museum and gallery full of twists and turns, nooks and crannies, step ups and step downs and creaking floor boards. Lots of creaking floorboards! It is packed full of fantastic furniture stained with the dark hues of everyday use and touch. There are little rooms here and there, austere Tudor and Stuart portraits, their occupants sitting in judgement on all the meaner sort like me who pass by. There are all sorts and sizes of room, from rich men's closets to the scullery and kitchen where the meaner sort like me once turned spits and fetched water. It's a labyrinth because as fashions and tastes changed the house grew and in later times furniture and even whole building from elsewhere in Ipswich were absorbed into the structure. There is too much there to describe, from Georgian costume to Tudor bed warmers and cucking stools and so I have decided to focus on one object that caught my eye....

The joy of courtship...
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It's this small jug made in the late 18th century in the ceramics collection and it's subject reflects a major theme of many of the stories I tell. In truth I'm not really into ceramics, but this jug had a certain appeal because of my stories, namely the struggles between man and woman, husband and wife. Occasionally I have been challenged for telling such tales, but historically the subject had been a constant cause of both concern and jocularity. Clearly that's the case with the jug, for as it says...

When two fond fools together meet
Each look gives joy, each kiss as sweet
But Wed, how cold and cross they be
Turn upside down and then you'll see...

And then when you turn it upside down the message is complete!

The realities of Matrimony!

This is not an attack on men nor women, but simply a joke that makes people laugh and so hopefully lessens tension between men and women, husband and wife. Surely we all need a laugh every now and then!

Thanks to Caroline and all the staff and volunteers at the mansion house for looking after me so well and being so into storytelling!

Celtic Harmony, Hertfordshire

2011-05-12T15:18:00.000+01:00

On May 2nd this year I told at a Beltane Celebration at Celtic Harmony Camp. It's a mix of Iron Age round houses and technology but overlaid with messages about the environment and sustainability. In essence using our Celtic heritage to promote harmony with the natural world, whilst providing natural & cultural heritage education.

One of two roundhouses at Celtic Harmony
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Inside and looking up at the smoke blackened roof of the roundhouse

The organic looking Iron Age roof

It was this that particularly attracted me to the site. Having worked recently at Center Parcs at Elveden in Norfolk where the access to nature is limited for the most part to cycling or walking through it, I have to be honest and say that the Celtic Harmony approach is much more hands on and I think better for it. That's not to say there is anything wrong with the center parcs approach - it does after all get people out and about who might not otherwise have access to nature; it's just that I like to see both kids and adults getting their hands dirty. That's precisely what happens at the camp, because at least one of its founders, Luca, is trained as a Forest School teacher where the emphasis is on positive learning through access to nature but also importantly through fun. And there can be no greater fun as far as I'm concerned that messing about with mud! One of the activities when I was there was creating Green man Clay faces at the mud pit and plastering them to a nearby tree.

Earth and water make mud and mud is fun!

The finished product -
Green Men al waiting to finally banish winter...

Its not just about nature though, because the hands on activities also include more historical sessions such as grinding grain to make flour and simple forms of bread and cakes. This was taking place in one of the roundhouses where anyone who wanted to could grind their own flour, make a simple 'cake and cook it over the fires. The smell of both smoke and cake was great and it was good to see that nothing was fenced off. Everyone was getting involved, getting their sleeves rolled up and using their own common sense!

The grindstones kept turning all day...

Cooking the cakes in the roundhouse

It was good to see, because like many people I sometimes worry that kids and adults for that matter are becoming detached for the world around them and that convience rules, especially when it comes to food. And at Celtic Harmony the message is clear that the animals had their many uses including meat. Its not forced down your throat, but its clear that the animals here were not just pets.

Messages about our Celtic past and sustainability are dotted here and there...

A Goat!

The emphasis was on fun and so hopefully learning by the back door. Even the ceremony at the end of the day where Queen Winter was banished by the May Queen and the Green Man, involved lots of shouting and audience participation and I think that it's precisely that pantomime element that will make everyone remember what happened and maybe take away just a little bit of a 'feel' for life long, long ago..

The May Queen (Middle) banishes Cruel Winter (Left)
with the help of the Celtic Harmony Chieftain and many, many kids!

Thanks to Luca and Clare and to the storyteller Molly for making me feel so welcome...

Oundle, Northamptonshire

2011-04-11T21:19:00.013+01:00

Last Friday I was lucky enough to be one of six tellers telling 'Taster Tales' at the annual Society for Storytelling Gathering, which this year was held in the market town of Oundle at the Independent School.

Any town can I suppose call itself 'historic' by virtue of being around for some time, but in the case of Oundle it's a certainty! Its market is ancient; over a thousand years old and so pre dates the conquest, and many of its buildings are medieval. Historic it is, but also the town has a slightly surreal air about it. It's like a mini Oxford or Cambridge, but with a village filling in the gaps between the school buildings and I found it hard to see where the independent school ended and the village began.

The outside of Oundle School Great Hall

The place is truly confusing, because even buildings that appear at first glance to be ancient are in fact relatively new. Not least the Great Hall of the school where we were telling, that looked for all like a medieval structure, but as the dedication out side shows, it wasn't built until 1907-08, although the Grocers Company Shield also adds to the feeling of ancient history and demonstrate the towns close links to its past. It also serves as a reminder that the Grammer school was re-founded and endowed in 1556 by Sir William Laxton, Master of the Worshipful Company of Grocers and Lord Mayor of London.

Great Hall Dedication Stone

Grocers Company Shield (On the left)

An ancient town then steeped in history, but when I went for a walk late on the Saturday, the young had taken over as they do everywhere and it could have been the club laden riverside area of Norwich I was passing through. There is also a definite feeling of 'town and gown' that you get in a University City like Oxford, for when I was looking around on Friday I met a woman who suggested that I would be far better off spending the evening at the local Ship pub than hanging about at the school! I met her and some of her friends on Saturday and they were all very interested in the storytelling weekend, so its certainly a friendly, if some what disconcerting place!

Inside the Great Hall where some fantastic tales were told

The roof of the Great Hall

Barley Hall, York

2011-02-27T14:25:00.007Z

Saturday last I was telling in Barley Hall in York . Hidden down a tiny alley between Stonegate and Swinegate and a mere stones throw from York Minster, it is a reconstructed and renovated Medieval Hall that is a veritable sweetshop of sensory delights. I particularly like it because I'm as interested in those whose hard work raised up these great structures and their skills that made rich men's dreams of immortality a reality.

And so I was like a kid in a sweetshop at the hall, because it has been rebuilt using ancient skills and techniques. It is also softly lit with low light, some horn windows & scented candles, and decorated with the flowers, herbs, and spices that made up the medicines so important to the cunning woman's craft long, long ago, it intoxicates the senses and transports the visitor back to times past.

But it is in its construction that I took most pleasure; enjoying the honey coloured rough hewn timbers that have yet to take on the dark hues of everyday use and touch. To run your fingers over the minute undulations of hill and valley created by the carpenter's adze, whether they be formed 700 or just 7 years ago, it really gives you a 'feel' for beautiful buildings and the sheer skill and effort that went into creating them. I wrote on my last post about Dragon Hall in Norwich, which is also a rebuilt and renovated medieval building, that I don't much like reconstruction's that are 'fixed' in one time period, but I do have to make an exception for Barley Hall. It really does give you a small window through which to look into life in a rich man's town house long ago. That said, because the place is run by the York Archaeological Trust, there are plenty of great exhibits that do for example look at death, disease and medicine in York as well as crime and punishment in medieval times. Barley Hall is very like Dragon Hall in many ways. Both share a similar history with once great houses being sub divided and hidden behind later alterations, only to be rediscovered late last century. And like Dragon Hall there is a nod to the modern at Barley Hall, with a floor to ceiling window that separates the main hall from the passageway outside, allowing even the passer by intent on shopping in the nearby 'Shambles' or on the market, at least a brief insight into the life of the medieval elite!

Looking in on the main Hall from the covered alley outside

Thanks to Chris Tuckley of the York Archological Trust for giving me the chance to tell in this beautiful building and also Stuart and Gemma who looked after me on the day....

Here be Dragons! The Guildhall & Dragon Hall, Norwich

2011-02-19T07:43:00.038Z

Last week I was telling at Dragon Hall in Norwich and the Norwich Guildhall and all of it part of the Norwich Dragon Festival in association with Ghent.

Dragon Hall, Norwich

Norwich Guildhall

Norwich is a City steeped in dragons and both these buildings have a strong link to them and the St Gorges Guild that inspired much of the monstrous symbolism in and around Norwich. They are also two of the oldest buildings left in Norwich and both date back to the fifteenth century. Dragon Hall which was built as a merchant's house and shop in the 1400s by Robert Topps, a merchant with strong links to both Norwich and London, although apparently its heyday was short and after Toppe's death in 1467 the hall was divided up. Over a very short time the magnificent roof beams and the carved dragon spandrel (Which gives the hall its name) were hidden and by the nineteenth century buried beneath numerous partitions and false walls that made up a maze of very poor quality housing.

Toppe's 'Crown Post Roof'
A serious case of 15th century showing off!

The Dragon Spandrel, which gives the hall its name

Toppe's Hall with dragon spandrel top left of the picture
Awaiting cubs and scouts who having a sleepover at the hall.

It did at least protect the medieval building until it was exposed again in the 19702 and 80s. Its a restoration project that continues on to this day with the reconstruction and repair of both internal and external features. And what I really like is that the building is continuing to evolve. The worse thing that they could have done was try and 'fix' the building in one particular time period; ignoring all those later phases of pub, shop and poor housing and also ignoring its continuing use into the 21st century. Luckily they did not do that and the building also has a very modern new wing to cater for schools and other events and also a very modern glass gallery at the back of the property which is a beautiful thing in its own right and allows people outside to see the fantastic original wooden arches that help support the great hall.

The 21st century glass walkway at the back of the 15th century hall

Inside the glass paneled walkway

Some people may not approve of this mix of old and new, but I bet you anything you like that Robert Toppes would have marveled at it. He came from a time when glass was hard to produce in any great size and quantity and was an expensive status symbol. Just think what he would have thought of glass panels that reached from floor to ceiling, I feel certain he would have been willing to spend much of his fortune on such a thing and the carved dragon spandrels, well they would have been old news!

The Guildhall also has a carved dragon as one of the bench ends of the Mayor's throne and Alderman's seating in the Council Chamber, otherwise known as the Mayor's Court where many a petty crime of 'ill rule' and 'evil behaviour' was dealt with and to find out more about these crimes , the people who committed them and their punishments, just click here...

The Guildhall Council Chamber & Mayor's Court

Detail of the late medieval/early 16th century Mayor's and Alderman's seating

Carved dragon bench end in Mayors Court

Unfortunately I couldn't tell in the Council Chamber because of ongoing restoration and repairs, and so I told in the Assembly Chamber where the Councilmen of Norwich met and also was the room where the Sheriffs Court took place (There were many courts in Norwich as everyone wanted their fair share of the fines handed out!)

The Assembly Chamber

The Guildhall was built on the site of an earlier Norman tollhouse from where the early market place was administered . The Guildhall itself was built in the early 1400s in recognition of the Charter that made Norwich self governing and replaced the Kings Bailiffs with Mayor, two Sheriffs and Alderman. These men were typically rich merchants and also members of the Guild of St George and prior to the reformation they would celebrate St Georges day by processing about the City with a St George and 'Snap' dragon who made battle. And whilst St George didn't survive the reformation Norwich Snap did as part of the annual Mayor Making celebrations, thus ensuring the close connection between the City and dragons! The Guildhall was then a perfect place for telling tales of the 'Dickfools' who led Norwich Snap about the City and also tales of Death and the Nature of Women. Certainly they knew the nature of women well enough in the Mayor's Court, for one of their main preoccupations trying to control it!

Stairs leading down to undercrofts (storage and prison cells)
Also parts of earlier Norman Tollhouse

An eighteenth century version of the Norwich 'Snap" dragon

Another carved dragon
In the Erpingham Gate that leads into the Cathedral

St Margaret (The patron saint of women in childbirth) bursting out of a dragon
St Helen's Church at the Great Hospital, Norwich

Early 16th century St George mural at St Gregory's church, Norwich

Thanks to Sarah at Dragon Hall for the hot dogs and letting me tell there, and both Laura and Sophie of Norwich 'HEART' for all the work at the Guildhall.

Joules Yard, Market Harborough

2011-02-04T17:37:00.005Z

Last night I went and told a tale at Kevin Walker’s Yard of Tales storytelling club at Joules Yard in Market Harborough. As part of National Storytelling Week Kevin opened up the floor to ten or so storytellers - professionals, club members and beginners and what a great mix it was. I have to admit that I have avoided storytelling clubs till now and concentrated on telling to those outside the typical storytelling audience. But a change is as good as a rest and to be honest it’s always good to tell to an audience who know what to expect and who don’t assume it’s all ‘once upon a time’!

The club is held at the back of Joules Yard - which boasts a restaurant, an antiques centre a garden center and even a laundry service which means that there is something for most people! It also regularly hosts folk and acoustic evenings as well as Kevin’s monthly storytelling club. The club itself takes place in what can only be described as an old outbuilding. I don’t mean that in a bad way, because with the high winds that night coupled with the creaking of timbers and rattling of glass it certainly lent some atmosphere to the whole event. And although it was cold you could get a great big mug of tea (Or alcohol if you wanted) and have some of Kevin's home made cake to take your mind off it!

The night started with Dave Blake, father to the professional storyteller, Jo who was on form with some very dubious, but very funny puns to make for a very different version of the Norwegian tale, The Husband who was to Mind House. There were also a couple of husband and wife couples - Jill & Terry Jobson and Kath & Mike Chalk who all spun very different tales from all over the world and also managed to incorporate some of their own experiences. There was a veteran storyteller, Liza Watts, who has according to Kevin has been telling all over and everywhere for many, many years and she told a story about defeating Death himself (That's my kind of story!) Also Pete Castle a very well known teller and folk musician who had a very relaxed style and completely the opposite to Sophie Snell who was full of energy and took us all on a journey back to the time of pirates, headless corpses and squashed eyeballs. This theme was repeated in Jo Blake’s story which moved from beautiful images of flower petals spilling from a girls mouth, to the scooping out of eyeballs with a spoon - All the ingredients you need for a good story! New storytellers were represented by Tom Phillips, a teacher and budding teller who because it was Chinese New Year, took everyone back to ancient China with a moral tale of greed and magic choppers! There were as many different styles and energies as there were storytellers and it was good for me to see just how other tellers ply their trade.

As for Market Harborough itself, well I saw very little, because I went straight to the club and it was late when I came out and had to drive back to Norwich. It was also very cold and windy and not a night for standing about too long outside. I did however pass this amazing building with a date of 1608? on it, although I suspect parts of it are much older...

Market Harborough Guildhall/Tollhouse or was it a Grammar School?

I assume it’s the old Guildhall cum Tollhouse where the market and maybe the whole of Market Harborough was regulated from? As the history page on the Joules Yard website says.. Market Harborough was founded specifically with trade in mind, so a tollhouse would have been a necessary part of that plan. I shall hopefully be telling at the club again one day soon so will go and check it out. One thing's for certain though, it would be a great place to tell some medieval or Tudor tales in!

Thanks to Kevin for the invite and for a very appreciative audience...

Elveden Centre Parcs, Norfolk

2011-02-02T18:38:00.013Z

I have worked at the Center Parcs at Elveden a few times now, telling to children and it was not as I expected. I suppose I thought it would be some cabins in the woods with a shop and perhaps a swimming pool, but no. It's very different and at first I have to admit to being a bit disappointed. That's because it's so busy with so much going on - With shops and restaurants it is a holiday park and not the forest hideaway that I expected.

Map of the many restaurants and shops in the woods!

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But that is of course down to my own bias and I suppose that because I am always amongst crowds that I like to get away from people when away on a break, but we are of course all different! There maybe roads everywhere criss-crossing the woods, but they do encourage access to the outside and a bit of nature with trails into the woods and whether you choose to walk or ride on the many bikes that cover the site. I imagine that for say someone who dwells in a town the park could seem like paradise.

Bikes placed everywhere for use by anyone

It's also good to see people of all ages from toddlers to the old being so active. There is plenty going on inside from typical holiday entertainment and any amount of indoor sports from badminton to bowls, but even so there were still more people outside. Even though it was a freezing cold February day there were plenty of people outside wrapped up well with wellies on (I like my wellies not only waterproof but just so convenient if you are too lazy to do up shoelaces like me) Its very much about getting out amongst nature albeit in a very 21st century kind of way with Quad biking and swinging on wires through the trees, but it's getting out none the less. There's also falconry and other outdoor stuff as well as getting out on the lake, rowing and they even have those big inflatable things you can walk on water in! As I sit here drinking tea in the warm Starbucks of all places I can see people walking, cycling and playing crazy golf together on treasure island!

Great crowds playing crazy golf on Treasure Island

I suppose that's what sticks out most; the large groups that come to Elveden, which must be good. We do after all live in a world dominated by twenty-four hour tv, computers and the smart phone like the one I have my face buried in now whilst I write this blog at Centre Parcs. You could say that when it comes to my phone I'm a good example of the inactive, isolated lifestyle, which leads me to type with some irony that you could do a lot worse than get you family or a group of mates together, get out there and perhaps and go to Centre Parcs!

Not many out sailing today as very cold

In the distance a giant inflatable walking on water thing!

Fencing.
One of the many indoor sports with healthy people putting me to shame!

Thanks to all the bar staff for helping set up today....

New Year - New Journeys

2011-01-06T13:45:00.004Z

Its been a while since I posted as most of the events I told at last year were repeat visits. Hopefully this year there will be some new venues including Dragon Hall in Norwich, Christchurch Mansion House in Ipswich, Arundel Castle in Warwickshire and the Bodlien Library in Oxford. So lots more journeys to come...

I just hope I can still afford the petrol!

Wondering where I'm off to next!

Making Bacon at the Black Knight Fair...

2010-09-28T11:12:00.011+01:00

Last Saturday I was telling at the Black Knight Fair in Ashton-Under-Lyne.
Its an annual 'celebration' of the infamous local Lord, Sir Ralph de Assheton, who was well known for his cruel and heartless ways. Amongst other things he rolled his enemies and any local peasants who stood up to him, down a hill in Ashton, in a barrel - A barrel with iron nails hammered into it! During the modern celebration there were the expected boos when the Black knight made his entrance, but in truth everyone loved him and he was just like any great pantomime villein. But a local historian told me it was very different when the fair was introduced in the seventeenth century and the Black Knight then was still treated as a figure of hate. In those days his effigy was processed through the town before being burnt on bonfire. Now that's the kind of celebration I like. But saying that, it was still a fun day with jesters, musicians, magicians and me! Certainly the locals enjoyed themselves and its clear that they are very proud of their local history and the story of Sir Ralph. For his adventures do have the makings of a good story - Of foul deeds and secret meetings with hideous hunchbacks; its all there. And its hard to tell where the story ends and truth begins, for as one local lady told me, she can remember as a child the remains of Ralph's castle on top of a nearby hill at the end of her street. And she assured me that they were still rolling wrongdoers down that hill in a barrel full of nails until fairly recent times! Its true what they say, truth and lies do live in the same house!

A good day out and a warm friendly place, but what I also enjoyed was journey to Ashton. It was a long one that took me over the top of Derbyshire and the Peaks, which I hadn't expected. Its one thing to look at a map and follow a road, quite different when you are there taking in the wondrous views. For no sooner had I passed through Sheffield than I was driving on the Snake Pass, looking across at some fabulous views as the sun came up, lighting up the tops of the hills whilst the valleys still lay in darkness. That's one of the benefits of traveling to and from a job in one day, you get the roads to your self and the best of the views. Although I should have liked to have stayed longer to explore Derbyshire some more on the way home.

The Snake Pass at sunrise
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But Ashton was worth the drive and as well as entertainment there was also a farmers market. And what caught my eye were two young 'Old Spot' pigs penned in next to one of the tents. They were getting plenty of attention from adults and kids alike. Plenty of ooohhhs and aaahhhs from everyone. For many did not know that the pigs belonged to a butcher nearby selling pork pies, sausages and bacon and he brought the pigs with him to show the kids where their food comes from. It reminds me of a farm museum called Gressenhall in Norfolk where I first started telling and where in the visitors center there was a sign pointing to a fridge door telling children to go get some sausages. But when they opened the door it looked into a pig sty and all the little piglets therein! A shock for some at both Gressenhall and on Ashton market, but to be honest I think its good that know something of the food we put inside us and I have to say the butchers pork pies were delicious. They were also good value, for I brought one for £2.50, which was as big as my face!

BEFORE - Sausages and pies in waiting!

AFTER-The butchers stall with pies as big as my face

Thanks to Gerry and his staff for making it such as easy day and also to the people of Ashton for their wonderful stories!

Summer events

2010-08-23T22:20:00.067+01:00

It was a very busy summer and so here are some of the high points.....

In early July I was telling as part of the Lord Mayors Celebrations in Norwich. It was on St Georges Green which has just been opened up to events after the whole area has been refurbished, repaved and the like. A great place near the City Art College to relax and even take in a bit of culture on the edge of a busy city....

Information Panel at St George's green

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Entrance to St George's Green
Over the newly restored 18th century St George's bridge

Art on the Green

Relaxing on the Green

My storytelling space on the Green

The following day I was at St Benedict's Street Fair in Norwich. This was a real eye opener for me, for to tell the truth I didn't realise they did stuff like this in Norwich! The whole street and others besides were shut off (It was Sunday anyway) and some of the shop owners and other traders set up outside. But there were also lots of performers, singers, street artists and the like and it all made for a very laid back afternoon. I was telling in a churchyard, which is now part of an arts centre and the crowds were well up for a tale or two or three!

Traders and on St Benedict's Street

Performance on the street...

Sustenance on the street....

Relaxing on the street!

The Spoken Word stage at St Bendict's Street Fair

Later in July I was at Folk by the Oak at Hatfield House near London.
I've told at a few music festivals recently, but this was one of the best. Not least because it was a folk festival with only one stage, so I had plenty of opportunity to get in some stories and a folk crowd always appreciates a good story. Some great young singers who are on the way up and all topped off with Bellowhead, who some purists don't like, but I thought were fantastic. Really got the crowd going, although they did take the piss out of Norwich!

What also stood out were all the oaks at Hatfield, hence the name of the festival. Its said that Elizabeth 1st was given the news that her half sister Mary was dead and that she was now Queen under one of them. Although many of the older oaks have now gone, but some still remain or at least the concrete cores that the misguided Victorians once poured inside them.

Crowds beginning to gather in front of the stage

Remains of concrete
Which was once inside now missing section of this oak

Victorian conservation at its worst!

I then continued on to the Cambridge Folk Festival. Although my time there was cut short, I did enjoy what I saw, with so many stages for both established and new acts. I was telling with John Row and he wangled back stage passes for the main stage which boosted me ego and there's nothing wrong with a bit of ego. As someone said to me just last week, if you don't blow your own horn it'll go rusty - Wise words indeed!

There was lots going on, but I enjoyed the ceilidh sessions best. Just watching everyone trying to get their heads around the moves made me smile as much as all of they were. Every one was having a great time dancing with people they had never met before. That's why I like ceilidhs, everyone can join in and even a crap dancer like me can not make a fool of themselves....

The main stage at Cambridge Folk Festival

The storytelling area at Cambridge

Enjoying a ceilidh at Cambridge

Most of August was dominated by places like Sherwood, Ickworth and Kelling where I have told before, but then I went to Devizes International Street Festival. It was a bigger version of the St Benedict's fair except it took up the whole town center. What stood out for me was the local indoor markets where you could buy anything from a second world war ARP Warden's helmet to a Victorian sandwich sponge or even a Canterbury Tales DVD in Russian!

The best thing however were all the great street entertainers and I couldn't help thinking that many a storyteller could learn lots from them, especially when it comes to connecting with a large crowd of people. They included mad WI type men/women roaring about on motorised shopping trolleys and doing displays on said trolleys to rap music. There was also a very different mix of brass band married with some hardcore drumming! But best of all was a wonderful display of puppetry and mime by a group called Nakupelle who put on a performance with life sized puppets that were down on the ground at one moment, crawling around sniffing and hugging the crowd, and then were soaring high above heads the next. They were brilliant. This was storytelling without words...

Drum and Brass!

More Drum and Brass

Even more by my storytelling space

Nakupelle in action

Amazing things with glass balls!

Formation Shopping Trolleys!

And finaly over the holidays I was telling at Rochester Castle. The Tong side of my family came from Kent about 100 years ago, so its always good to get back there and Rochester is not far from where they lived. In some ways most visitors don't see the best of Kent because they are flying up the M20 or M2 to Canterbury or Dover. That's sad, because places like Rochester are fantastic, especially if you're into the historical stuff like me. Both the castle and nearby cathedral are still Norman through and through. It really is like stepping back 900 years There are not many Norman castle Keeps as complete as at Rochester and if your'e into a bit of early medieval Romanesques architecture then you can no better than the Cathedral. A local told me that even after a fire in the nave in the early forteenth century they still rebuilt in the old style, which is unuseual. Normally they would use a disaster like that to rebuild in the latest fashion. I had thought that perhaps it was a far sighted respnse from the local Bishop; perhaps having seen changes elsewhere and wanting to save the old styles for posterity, but no. As the local informed me, they just didn't have enough money to completely rebuild anyway! But that's good with me, for nessesity 700 hundred odd years ago has left Rochester with a almost unique, and I think honest cathedral.

That was great, but because I was staying on site all weekend I also had the oportunity to visit some of the villages my family lived in long, long ago. Places like Egerton where some were buried in the late eighteenth century. I couldn't pinpoint their graves, but the churchayrd was a peaceful place, set on a rise overlooking fields and orchards and a well away from the M20!

Rochester Cathedral at dawn

The Cathedral from the top of the Norman keep

The Romanesque 'Norman' nave

The original entrance to the Chapter House
Rochester Cathedral Cloister

Model of Rochester Castle Keep

Rochester Castle Keep

The three floors of the Keep

Door and tunnel set into Keep wall

View of my tent and other traders/performers from top of Keep
Also Victorian Bridges and Medway

Late seventeenth century grave from Egerton churchyard

A bullet from the blue at the British Museum

2010-06-19T22:38:00.019+01:00

Last Saturday I was telling again at the British Museum. I wouldn't normally blog about a place I posted on before, but the museum is so big and so full of wonderful objects from all over the world that I set myself the task of finding something I'd never seen before. It led me to the Ancient Greece gallery and amidst all the urns and other classical antiquities I found these lead sling bullets which date from the 4th century BC....

Now this is a museum filled with priceless and sometimes unique objects, from the Anglo Saxon Sutton Hoo Helmet, to the Egyptian Rosetta Stone and the beautifully crafted Elgin Marbles, which I suppose stand out far more than these sling bullets. In fact they are quite common and can be found for sale on the Internet. But what appealed to me was the markings on one of them.. On one side is a winged thunderbolt and on the other the inscription "take that"!

It is that inscription that caught my eye, because it made me laugh and that's the point. It just confirms what I have found with stories and storytelling; that people in the past were not that different to us and I'm sure that the person who made the bullet over 2300 years ago enjoyed the sentiment just as much as I did last Saturday.

Thanks to Alice and her volunteers...

Fossilized Journeys at Thornborough Bridge

2010-06-09T18:46:00.023+01:00

Last weekend (The 4th-6th June) I was telling at the Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham and on route I stopped at Thornborough bridge which I blogged about last year... For photos and blog click here.

Its a great stop off point for anyone going to or coming from Oxford from the east, for not only is there the history of the medieval bridge and much earlier Roman and pre-Roman archeology, but also its a real beauty spot and surprisingly relaxing when you take into account the roaring traffic on the nearby A421. But what caught my eye this time as I walked the length of the old bridge was the deep scoring that covers the two inside walls of the bridge and it seems to me that it can only have been made by many generations of carts that crossed the bridge long, long ago. Certainly the marks were made after the bridge was built, because many of them cross multiple stones and some must be fairly old because they are now encrusted with lichens.

Wavy scoring across the stones
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Some very deep grooves

Lichen covering the scoring, suggesting its been there some time

Some of the marks even follow a wavy pattern, up and down and suggest that the cart wheel was perhaps damaged and a bit wonky! That's' what really caught my imagination about these marks; they really are fossilized journeys. I'm used to looking for graffiti on old structures; words and pictures scratched on stone long, long ago, and sometimes we can tell a lot about the ideas and beliefs of the people who deliberately left these marks. But what of this accidental scoring, who knows? Perhaps some were caused by an unruly horse reacting to an overzealous whip. Maybe some represent a carters attempts to avoid a drunk stumbling across the bridge who didn't have the sense to stop in one of the 3 V shaped stopping places built into the medieval bridge for that purpose. Or perhaps some were simply caused by weary travellers whose overloaded carts were too big for the bridge or who were in a hurry to get home for their tea; we simply can't know for sure. It's fair to say that many of these marks were made by local traveller. Perhaps they were peddlers, merchants and farmers taking goods to and from the local market, but other than that we can only wonder about these journeys from long, long ago. We can only wonder about these travelers and their travels set in stone!

The Bishops Palace, Wells and Newark Castle

2010-06-01T19:01:00.032+01:00

Last weekend was a busy one and I took itinerant storytelling to new extremes, by telling at both the Bishops Palace in Wells, Somerset and Newark Castle in Nottinghamshire on two successive days. It was six hundred miles of telling and traveling in all.

The Medieval Gatehouses
The Cathedral gate to the left, the Palace gate to the right
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Wells Bishop's Palace is like no other Cathedral complex I've ever been before, which is probably because of the moat that still surrounds the Palace.

The second defensive gate which passes over the moat

Its that moat which not only gives you a real sense of the past, but also gives the whole of the Palace a real sense of peace and isolation. Its ironic that I was telling there to draw in visitors, but there was just a little bit of me that wanted to keep it all to myself; the way it was when I was setting up.

The Medieval Moat

The back of the Palace

Obviously many of the Bishops who lived in the Palace adapted the building and rebuilt them to suit changing tastes and all put their individual stamp on the place - Men like Bishop Beckynton who built the late medieval well house and topped it off with a sculpture of his favourite hunting dog. The importance of the residence can be seen in the fact that the gate leading to the Palace from the market is larger and more ornate than the corresponding gate leading to the Cathedral.

'Inside' the the remains of the great hall

My tent 'inside' the great hall

As new buildings were added older ones went out of use like the great hall which has now been given back to nature. My storytelling tent was pitched inside the remains of the great hall with a lone spiral staircase tower sticking out the ground immediately behind my tent and in front of me the remains of its huge walls, windows and first floor fire places that now hang in the air; now mere scars that hint at this buildings once lavish past.

Remains of the defensive moat wall

That said this building was not just about beauty, because many of the structures are still dominated by crenelations (battlements) and we should not forget that the medieval Bishops who dwelt here were landed magnates in their own right. Noble men who often imposed great burdens on the commoners and sometimes felt their wrath. In my home City of Norwich the Cathedral was sacked by the citizens in the thirteenth century and during Cade's Rebellion in 1450 the Bishop of Salisbury, Ayscough was murdered by the mob. At Wells it was Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury who was awarded a 'licence to crenelate' in 1329 and other defences included a portcullis in the inner gatehouse and also 'murder holes' used for casting down rocks and boiling water on attackers. Its a fact that many Bishop's Palaces and Cathedrals complexes were built with defense in mind, which says a lot about the medieval religious hierarchy.

The rebuilt well house
With Bishop Beckynton's favourite hunting hound on top

Looking into the well house

My tent inside the great hall with spiral staircase tower behind

The swarm (Look closely!)

That said I'm not going to overstate the defensive nature of the Bishops Palace. With its meandering moat of clear crisp water is really is a place of beauty and I recently came across a medieval poem which confirms that people long, long ago had a the same love of nature we do today....

Green turf amid silent trees and soft light airs
And a spring of running water in the grass
They freshen a jaded mind, they give me back to myself

They make me abide in myself

12th century French poem, Marbod of Rennes, Meditation Among Trees

I couldn't have put it better myself!

Thanks to Helen for booking me and Debbie and all the very friendly staff and volunteers who dealt so ably with a swarm of bees that engulfed my tent for a while and also looked after me so well.

Barton Turf bio diversity event

2010-05-25T19:59:00.020+01:00

Last Sunday I was telling at an annual environmental event run at Barton Turf in Norfolk by the Broads Authority and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It's an event that promotes not only the bio diversity of the Norfolk broads, but also local crafts and voluntary organisations who are committed to protecting the environment and wildlife. And on the advice of a friend in heritage I also suggest that you check out http://www.commonground.org.uk/ which celebrates both the heritage, the environment and local custom, which fits in very well with the subject of this post and many others!

There was plenty going on for both adults and kids, from tours of Barton Broad upon a state of the art solar powered catamaran/boat thingy (I know very little about boats!) Also pond dipping, ringing birds, making bat boxes, making wildlife sculptures out of recycled materials and one of my favourites; dissecting owl pellets. After the initial "uuuurgh" by some kids and the realisation that they were not dealing with poo, boys, girls and the occasional adult like me were more than happy to prod and poke about in the pellets to find all sorts of small animal bones. When I was a kid, I found a shrew's jawbone in a pellet. I took it into school, only to find that Jason Hatch who had been to Africa with his really rich parents, had brought in an elephant tooth. They made a great contrast to each other and our teacher's obvious pleasure in the comparison between shrew jaw and elephant tooth went a good way to alleviating my feelings of inadequacy and it didn't put me off owl pellets.

Dissecting owl pellets
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All of these very worthwhile activities were great, but to be honest the one that really caught my attention was the worm charming. It was a competition to see who could 'charm' or more precisely lure worms to the surface in allotted two meter square sections. Adults and kids alike spent 45 minutes using their own individual and sometimes bizarre techniques to encourage the worms upwards. Although most involved some kind of rhythmic banging and thumping which as one veteran worm charmer told me are meant to sound like rain, which encourages worms to the surface so that they don't drown! I'm not sure about that one, but one thing was for certain, every one had their work cut out because it was very hot and the ground was baked hard. None the less the final winners did manage a very respectable 27 worms, although last year the more moist conditions resulted in a winning amount of 50 worms. That's over one a minuet!

Worm Charmers charming

That's impressive, but not the reason I enjoyed it so much. For me it was the fact that everyone got involved and that for once health and safety was not top of the agenda. Kids were swinging garden forks about like no bodies business. I watched one girl stabbing the ground very close to her dad's hand, whilst at the same time gazing over her shoulder to her mum. Her dad didn't notice for he was just far too busy gently drumming the ground with his fingers. A different approach to worm charming and one I think that deserved a mention, but alas far to subtle when all about were jumping up and down and beating the earth with bits of two by two!

Worm Charmers using the traditional fork method...

The other reason I enjoyed it was because it fits in well with many of the other events and activities I stumble upon, from the Town Crier competition, to black faced boarder Morris Dancers. I can't help feeling that only in England could you find such an unusual mix of the silly and bizarre. It's a fact made all the more apparent by the bus load of Chinese tourists to Barton who couldn't quite understand what was going on. They certainly enjoyed the spectacle, although one of the organisers who tried to explain what was happening got the distinct feeling that they thought the worms were going to be eaten!

A combination of fork and drumming techniques

Thanks to Holly and the rest of the team who kept me in cold drinks on what was a very hot day...

Hear ye, hear ye...Town Crier competition at Ely Eel Day

2010-05-03T10:20:00.021+01:00

After a great day of May Day storytelling at this years Ely Eel day festival I was happily ensconced in my tent taking down my bits and pieces and thinking about the various sights and sounds I had seen and heard that day. Sights like the dancing of the eel, which was like a Chinese dragon, but an eel propelled by schoolchildren in seventeenth century dress (Presumably in honour of Oliver Cromwell who had a house in the town, and which now houses a museum) There was also a local man still making traditional eel nets just like a roman one found in the fens near Ely. It should be hardly surprising really as it was of course eel day and so a celebration of Ely's link with the slippery fish (At least I think its a fish) Even the name Ely is said to derive from the words meaning island and eel. The importance of Eels to Ely is shown in the fact that even the monks of the City were said to have used eels to pay their taxes.

There was however much more going on than the worship of the eel and I was also remembering the fantastic and very loud local samba drumming group and the obligatory reenactment group, although I was a bit disappointed that they had come as Saracens and not not the local folk hero Hereward the Wake and his loyal band of Saxon Rebels. Not that it bothered most people and everyone seemed to have a good time. As did I, although now I was looking forward to packing up and getting home, when all of a sudden I heard a the ring of many a bell and the crisp, clear and loud cry of "Oyez, Oyez" coming from just outside my tent. As I peered out through a gap in the opening I saw that I had been surrounded by a a great mass of Town Criers. I suppose you might call them a 'Cry' or perhaps a 'Shout' of Criers and all were in there finest liveries. Some were accompanied by equally well dressed escorts, although women were not just present as mere window dressing, for there were at least three female Criers amongst the group.

The first of many town criers and his escort
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It turns out that I was trapped by the annual Ely Town crier competition, one of many that take place all over Britain at fairs, festivals and fetes. But don't get me wrong I was honored to have them doing their Crier thing outside my tent, for as one of them told me the first Town Crier competitions were held in Greece in 396 BC. to find the person who could best announce winners of the games. If its good enough for the Greeks, then its good enough for me!

That's what I like about what I do, for you never know quite what you are going to see and what unusual characters you will meet as you go about your business, telling tales. And certainly although like many I knew that there were the odd town crier doing their thing up and down the country, I didn't realise that there were so many of them and that they competed for titles. They had traveled from all over the UK and I'm told that in other competitions they come from as far a field as Australia and America and many of them although attracted by tradition are also happy to give some very modern performances.

A town crier in Early Police mans livery

Town crier in typical civic livery

Town crier and escort being judged by the great and the good of Ely

It was this that caught my interest, because on one level the criers simply look to be harking back to a now lost past, but that's not the case. Certainly all had a passion for history, not just for town criers. One contestant was an ex policeman and so had created a crier's livery based on the uniform of one of Robert Peel's early 'peelers'. Another had a passion for steam railways and so based his costume on the livery of one of the early railway companies. And even the more traditional Criers costumes of tricorne hat, frock coat etc were open to some very colorful interpretation!

There was also a great deal of variation in the performances. In the morning they had to 'cry' a message from their own town or city, but in the afternoon and outside my tent they could perform a 'cry' about a set theme, which at Ely was 'their perfect day'. As such all were judged on volume, diction, clarity etc and also on the content, which resulted in some of the criers being very creative. One of the female criers, who has been a carer for many years was waiting for the day when the government would care for carers. For another it was being out immersed in nature, whilst the winner, the town crier from Alnwick, 'cried' that any day was perfect when at the end of it he got to climb under the duvet with his wife. I liked that one best!

Town crier in early railway livery

The winning crier from Alnwick and his escort

Spot the criers relaxing with a pint!

It was good to see that such a traditional pursuit had been brought up to date and that these town criers were much like modern storytellers; willing to grow new corn from old fields. It was also good to see how much the audience enjoyed the performances especially when you consider that long ago and more often than not criers were not very popular, because they were of course in the pay of the civic elites and so often the bearers of bad news for the common people. But that was then and this is now and if I wasn't busy storytelling I'd probably have a go myself!

A 'shout' of criers and escorts giving a good 'bells-up'

Thanks to Aileen and her assistants for inviting me back!

Ickworth House-Below Stairs

2010-04-03T12:42:00.016+01:00

On Good Friday I was telling again at Ickworth House in Suffolk. Its the third time I have told there and normally I wouldn't have written about it again, except that due to the poor weather I was forced to tell in an area where the public don't normally get to go. An area which for me is far more interesting than the main house.

I was put down in the servants tunnel that runs the full length of the building with stairs going up at certain points so that maids and footmen etc could suddenly appear as if by magic and very conveniently for the local posh types and also disappear as quickly from view when not needed! My photos taken from a mobile phone do not do this great tunnel justice, but it is vast and apparently the servants nicknamed it the 'bakerloo line' because of its resemblance to the London underground tunnel!

A very blurry 'bakerloo line'!
Click on images to make bigger

Also coming off the tunnel are various storage rooms and many of the servants quarters including their dining room which I have to say with the heating range, rows of oak tables and benches feels very warm and convivial, although there are still a row of bells fixed just outside this room, which lead to the upper house. Fixed there to ensure that the servants didn't get too relaxed!

Entrance off the servants tunnel to one of the storage rooms

Inside the storage room

For me these rooms are far more interesting than the frilly, overblown and very uncomfortable spaces above stairs. although that's probably in part because many of my mothers family were in service. Her mother and father, my grandmother and grandfather both worked for a family out in the wilds of west Norfolk and prior to the great war they were supposed to go with the family to India. I think that it was a time when many of these families realised that the old traditional cap doffing days were on their way out over here. Thankfully for me my grandmother's mother wouldn't let her go, and if she had I would of course not be here!

The servants dining room

More of the servants dining room showing original tables and benches

The range in the servants dining room

The bells outside the servants dining room

More bells to keep the servants in their place!

I don't think that I would would have enjoyed being a servant in a house like Ickworth, bowing and scraping to others who were no better then me. But then again given the choice between the servants quarters and the rest of Ickworth house I know where I would have been. My pictures don't do it justice, but just imagine long ago at some Edwardian house party...

Above all was dull and formal. Refined with civility being the order of the day (At least in public anyway) But below stairs all would have been hustle and bustle. There were the house servants and also the maids and valets etc. brought along to serve their masters and mistresses every whim. The servants I think would have been kept very busy, but probably having a better time of it below ground, gossiping and singing and generally having a good laugh when time allowed!

That's why I like the 'bakerloo line' so much and soon every one will, for there are plans to renovate many of the servants rooms and open them up to the public. I know where I'll be!

Thanks again to Claire and all the volunteers at Ickworth.

The King of Hearts Arts Centre, Norwich

2010-03-23T15:15:00.014Z

The King of Hearts Art Centre

Last Friday week I was telling the various tales of Agnes Leaman and others who were punished in Tudor Norwich in a renovated Tudor house; the King of Hearts Cafe and Centre for the Arts. The building stands next to Fye bridge where Agnes and many other women were ducked upon the cucking stool in the late fifteen and early sixteen hundreds. But when first you look at the outside facade of the King of Hearts you would think it no more than a nice example of a Georgian shop front like many others to be seen along the historic Magdalen street.

Original Tudor mullioned widow taken from inner courtyard

But as you can see from the photos, beneath the facade is hidden a fantastic example of a late medieval and early Tudor merchants house. One of many built at this time. For some Norwich is now a bit of a jokey place, a bit of a backwater, but in Tudor times it was second city in the kingdom whose wealth was built on textiles and reflected in the large number of merchant's houses built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although many of these were lost in two great fires during the 1500s and later 'improvements' to the city. That's why the King of Hearts is so important, because there are so few buildings like it left in the City. And like the other still remaining it has been home to Sheriffs and Mayors whose own fortunes and in some cases misfortunes reflected the turbulent history of Tudor times. These include Edmund Wood, a wealthy merchant grocer who became Sheriff, then Mayor of Norwich in 1548. His son Robert was also Mayor and in 1578 he received Queen Elizabeth I when she visited Norwich, entertaining her with "a Loyal Latin Oration", for which she knighted him. Also Thomas Toft who was also a grocer and Mayor (1654) and a man of extreme Puritan views who took an active part in the destruction of statues and "superstitious pictures and reliques of idolatry" in churches and in the Bishop's palace.

In truth I'm really into history from below, the history of everyday people like Agnes Leaman, but the fortunes and misfortunes of one group impacted on the other, especially when it came to the ideas and beliefs of extremists like Thomas Toft, for in his times the punishments for all sorts of petty crimes became all the more frequent and harsh. No more than you'd expect from any kind of intolerant regime!

The house does also has another link to the ordinary citizens of Norwich, for like a lot of large houses in Norwich as the City grew in population it rapidly became overcrowded and it was subdivided up into tenements and shops, whilst the 'great and the good' got fed up with living cheek by jowl with the rest of us and moved out to the grand houses on the outskirts of Norwich. And so it was by the the last quarter of the 20th century the street frontage was occupied by 3 shops, the upper level by small flats and the whole was described as being in a "dilapidated condition".

The Music Room
where many a storytelling performance also takes place

It was however completely renovated over a ten year period into the 1990s and transformed into the arts centre and cafe and I suspect that now it is a much more relaxed place than ever it was in Toft's day! It also includes a Contemporary Art Gallery, a Music Room, Craft Shop and four Meeting Rooms. And its one of the few venues regularly putting on storytelling performances in the city. Although sadly its underused by the locals and tends to be another of those hidden gems I've mentioned before.

Doorway into cafe from inner courtyard

Hidden both in terms of local community involvement, but also with regard to its history. For much was found during the renovation including many original mullioned windows. And in the Music Room where I was telling a painted ceiling with moulded beams was revealed that had been long hidden beneath a Georgian plaster ceiling. There was also a door from the inner courtyard blocked up long ago but now reopened for all to see. A doorway with a fine painted carving set over it. On one side are the initials TTS and on the other side a portrait of a lady. I'm assuming that the initials are linked to Thomas Toft, although the I can't be sure, for the lady on the other side with her long flowing and very loose locks looks far to racy for any self respecting puritan!

Rediscovered carving on top right of courtyard doorway

Many thanks to Anita and all the staff at the King of Hearts for a great evening...

Colchester Castle- The Very Merry Monk

2010-02-18T18:29:00.012Z

I had said that I wouldn't blog about places that I had already told at last year, but although I have already blogged about Colchester Castle, I was taken by a temporary Medieval exhibition there. Most of it is taken up with religious items from stained glass and pilgrim badges to bibles and early private prayer books. But what really caught my eye was this wood carving that relates to many of the medieval tales I tell....

The Merry Monk
A wood corbel that once supported the roof at At Mary's Church Higham
Click on the image to make larger

It is a corbel, a bracket that once helped support the roof of St Mary's church in Higham near Ipswich and it dates back to about 1450. It's that that really caught my interest, because this was a time when monks and other religious men and women were being attacked for their perceived greed and corrupt ways and many of the popular stories of this time played on that popular caricature of the gluttonous lazy monk or friar. Stories like the French tale, The Friar and the Butcher, a version of which can be found on my story blog by clicking here...

But although this monk is clearly well fed he is shown as a very happy and I think friendly fella whose love of food and perhaps also ale is something to be celebrated. In that respect he fits in with some of the stories of the day that were less critical of a well off church. Stories like Brother Jocundus in which the boozy Jocundus goes from being a monk reviled by his peers to finally becoming Prior of his monastery!

It's not clear in the picture, but the carved monk is also shown holding a book to emphasise that monasteries were also centers of learning and the dissemination of ancient knowledge and that fits in well with the stories that celebrated this fact. Stories like those of Friar Bacon, a real friar whose later fictional exploits include casting fortune telling heads, astronomy and astrology and much much more. In my version of his stories his head is so full of knowledge that if you were to stand close to him you might well hear his skull creaking and groaning as it worked hard to keep all that wisdom in his head!

This simple carving has then something to say about attitudes toward religion in late medieval England, although it is not surprising perhaps that it is a positive one when considering that it was carved for use in a church. That aside, I think it would have still caught my eye anyway, for its rare in medieval imagery to see such a happy, friendly and welcoming face!

Thanks to everyone at Colchester castle for once again making me feel so welcome.

Looking forward to 2010

2010-01-12T16:34:00.016Z

2009 turned out to be a busy year for me. So busy in fact that I didn't have time to post about everywhere I told. For that reason this year I shall only blog about places I've not told at before, which is already considerable. I've new bookings at The King of Hearts Arts Centre in Norwich, The Bishops Palace in Wells, Devizes International Street Festival and some folk festivals like Folk by the Oak which takes place in the grounds of Hatfield House north of London. A full list of where I'm working this year can be found on the Diary page of my website and it's updated regularly.

That said I feel I should mention some of the places I did tell at this year but did not get a mention in 2009....

First there was the English Heritage Festival of History at Kelmarsh in July. To tell you the truth its not my favourite event, because it is huge. Too much going on for me, and the main focus is on warfare throughout the ages. If I were feeling uncharitable I might call it the Festival of Death! But that is a bit unfair for amidst the various armies that go from the Romans right through to the present, there are also dedicated living history groups that demonstrate everyday life from long ago. there are also a lot of female re-enactors who present what life was like for women who had to get on with life regardless of whether or not their husband was at home or fighting on a far off battlefield. I can't deny that the Festival offers something for every one and you can even talk to an early 2oth century Arctic explorer in full kit whilst the Kids are put through their paces by a second world war drill Sergeant, or have a go at medieval jousting, or even play some Roman games!

I also spent a week camping in Sherwood Forest whilst telling as part of Past-Imagined with Stewart Alexander.....

The Past-Imagined Storytelling tent in Sherwood Forest
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We have been telling at their annual Robin Hood Festival for the last five years now and its probably one of my favourite if also the most tiring events of the year. Not only does the festival have all sorts of great entertainment from jesters to dancing demons, but the emphasis is on fun and not authenticity. This gives you a bit of licence to be creative! There is also the dated but wonderful visitors centre which will be going soon. It will be a real loss because the exhibits do focus on the magic of Robin Hood and the Greenwood, which is something I think will be lost when the centre is rebuilt. I fear it will be all about the facts and doubt there will a place for Hearne the Hunter and the Green man! The other reason I enjoy Sherwood is the camping and the privilege of staying in the greenwood. I like being in any wood, but there is something quite dark, yet exhilarating about Sherwood, which I think has a lot to do with the huge amount of ancient Oaks that still survive in what is today a very small piece of woodland. And what makes them all the more spectacular is the fact that they show their age. Many are 'stag oaks' whose gnarled twisted branches make them look like boney old giants pushing aside everything in their way...

A very gnarled but still very alive veteran oak

One of many detailed interpretive panels in Sherwood

There are other places I missed posting about, but I'll finish with the Open Christmas event at St Andrews Hall in Norwich. Its been running on Christmas Day for many years now, but this is the first time I've told there. And its not just for the homeless either. Anyone who is feeling a bit lonely can come and I think I'm right in saying that whole families turn up! Certainly there is a great atmosphere and there are lots of activities from carole singing to bingo. Although what struck me most was that most people were just happy to chat and catch up with friends of old, which I suppose is what Christmas should be all about. I was also struck by the level of dedication by all the staff on site, for there are decorations which must have been done prior to the event, also cooking, collection of food for people to take home with them and also cars and taxis to ferry people to and from the event. It made my 30 minutes on stage look like nothing at all!

So here's to all of the volunteers at the Open Christmas event and also the staff and volunteers at many a museum, heritage site, festival and fair who helped make 2009 a great one for me. And here's to an even more eventful 2010!

Ludlow Castle, Shropshire

2009-12-03T10:53:00.024Z

My storytelling tent in the inner bailey of Ludlow Castle
Click on any image to make larger

Last weekend I was telling at Ludlow Castle Medieval Christmas Fayre. Its my second time there and one of my favourite events of the year. Not least because I love Christmas and the fayre has a wonderful Christmas feel. It's predominantly a craft market with all sorts of great gifts for all. Trust me when I say that I have told at many craft fairs and some can be very dodgy with little more than bread boards covered with poker work and cushions covered in cuddly kittens! But not Ludlow, for just about every stand had something both imaginative and well made being sold on it; from museum quality miniature interiors of castles to colourful felt hats and insect inspired jewelry. And the creative crafts spilt out of the fayre into Ludlow market where one trader was selling old coins and cutlery that he had cut and hammered into stunning bracelets and pendants.

The huge craft tents at Ludlow taken from the Keep

That's the thing about the Ludlow fayre is that it is very much a town event with market traders and local shops staying open late on the Saturday night with many getting dressed up in their most weird and wonderful fancy dress style 'medieval' costumes. Its not about reenactment style authenticity; its about taking part and having a good time. The whole town seems to join in and maybe that has something to do with the old fashioned air about the place. Many of the shops are very traditional in their displays, including the butchers with their produce still hanging outside their widows. There are old timber framed buildings dotted about all over the place that show Ludlow to have been a prosperous place. It must have been full of rich merchants who clearly liked to show their wealth in the excessive decorative woodwork in their houses; much more than was really needed to make them structurally sound. Our ancestors were into showing off just as much as we are today!

The conspicuous consumption of wood!

More showing off

Yet more over the top yet beautiful wood framing

One of a number of butchers in Ludlow with pheasants for sale

The castle also demonstrates our ancestors need to keep up with the latest fashions and fads and its walls are covered in doors and windows from many different periods. Some are now walled up or the heavy wooden doors bolted shut, which all adds to the mystery of the place.

One of many mullioned windows

There may be some cynics out there who just see it as yet another example of the over commercialisation of Christmas, but I don't think it is. Firstly the crafts on sale are all virtually unique and so show some thought has gone into them. Its not just a case of thumbing through the Argos catalogue or doing your shopping on line. I like that! And even though the fayre is predominately about spending money, many people come for the great festive entertainment.. There is of course storytelling and also archery, falconry and all the other things you'd expect at an historic fayre. But there is also lots of festive music, especially bagpipes. Now if you're like me your early experience of bagpipes was the endless screeching of many a Scotsman on the TV on New Years eve, but these are different. They include Northumbrian and various German pipes which are much softer sounding and are great when played with other medieval style instruments and a big drum! I defy anyone not to be drawn in.

The bagpipe festivities well under way

People were dancing and singing along to the various Christmas choirs on site as well as eating and drinking and being very merry. Unfortunately the weather was not that good and there was plenty of rain, but what stood out to me is that it didn't get people down. Thousands turned up over the two days and every one was smiling. I'm not into the religious aspects of Christmas and prefer to treat it as a winter festival, a time of feasting and fun at the coldest and darkest time of the year and that's exactly how many of the visitors to the fayre seemed to treat it as well. A time to forget about credit crunches and wet weekends and to eat, drink and be very, very merry!

Thanks to Wynndbag and all the other entertainers and volunteers.

Nottingham Robin Hood Pageant

2009-10-26T15:25:00.024Z

Last weekend I was telling at the annual Robin Hood Pageant in the grounds of Nottingham castle. As you would expect Robin Hood and his merry men are here there and everywhere. As is the cruel Sheriff who battles with Robin many times over the weekend in the main arena up in the top bailey earthwork of the castle.

Entrance to the fayre in Lower bailey
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The main action however is down in the outer baileys, a beautiful setting for the fayre with all the tents nestling amongst the trees; their leaves turning golden brown and scattered all about. Row upon row of lights hang from the trees adding color and light on the dark wintry days of the weekend. Much like Ely It has a Christmas feel to it with many crafts represented in the many colorful tents.

The autumn fayre thru the trees in the lower bailey

There are all sorts of traders dealing in all sorts of historical goods, from hand fletched arrows to spindle whorls for spinning wool and even pewter pilgrim badges. And also lots of swords and and pointy hats for budding Robin Hoods! There is also plenty of entertainment including the Crazy Dutch Regulars who come over from Holland every year and get everyone dancing. It doesn't matter that most can understand what they are singing, and all are encouraged to join in. There are demonstrators like Jim the pot who makes pots from all periods and travels the world demonstrating his craft on a hand driven wheel . He makes replicas used in museums and on many a film. And then there is Jack Greene who is in a league of his own...

The Crazy Dutch folk musicians

For Jack Greene is an Alchemist and all round Renaissance man. You will meet many different and very interesting people in my business. Some who wear costume from long ago are admittedly a bit weird, but many have had many a varied career and all sorts of experiences prior to getting into reenactment. Jack was performing this weekend as Dr John Greene; a celebrated Tudor alchemist, but this is just one of many names Jack goes by. He has many different persona's, both in the Living History world and in the real world as well, from renowned potter to best selling author and inventor.

Dr John Greene's Travelling Laboratory

He brings a real touch of magic to these sort of events; tapping in as he does to children's and some adult's sense of wonder. In a session with jack you might get to assist in the making of a poisonous potion or even some dragons blood. Whilst scattered all around his travelling laboratory are dragon skins, dragon teeth, and even pickled dragon babies! To say nothing of the various potions and powders and strange and curious crystals from far off lands.

The alchemist at work

Dr John Greene with assistant cooking up some dragons Blood!

One of the other more entertaining aspects of the fayre is the nightlife, although this is only for the privileged few allowed to stay on the castle grounds at night. As I've said before about places like Battle Abbey, you get a completely different perspective of venues at night when all the public have gone home. Perhaps as with Battle it might be the wildlife who take over when all have left, or in the case of Nottingham, the wilder side of life off site. On this occasion its more about what can be see looking out from the castle and not looking in! The baileys in which I was camped are surrounded by a high stone wall looking out and over the city. And you are so high up looking down that most of the passers by have no idea that you are there...

Looking down from walls on the 'Trip'

That means that you can see all sorts of sights for the drinkers spilling out of the Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem known as the 'Trip' locally, which is said to be the oldest pub in England and definitely a great place to unwind after a long days telling. Their sausage and mash is fantastic, but be sure to get in early as its a popular pub especially with students who fill the place with their love of life and unquenchable thirst for ale!

Robin Hood by day. Standing firm and unmolested!

And just occasionally if you walk round the walls and look down near the entrance you can see a lad or lass making suggestive movements up against the statue of Robin Hood that stands there. They all think that they are the first to have done so and all get embarrassed when they here the laughter from up above!

Nottingham by night from the castle walls

That probably sounds a bit odd spying from the walls at clubbers and pubbers, but most take it in good stead. Some even have a bit of a chat or more correctly a shout with you, for its a long way up. And as i told a small group of passers by this weekend; Its like being Lord of your own castle for a day or two at least!

Thanks to Richard and his staff for yet another great event

Ely Apple Day Festival & Mannington Hall History Day

2009-10-19T22:44:00.017+01:00

On Saturday the 17th of October I told autumnal themed tales at the annual Apple Day Festival in Ely and on Sunday all sorts of stories at Mannington Hall in Norfolk.

The gathering crowds at Ely Apple Festival
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The Apple Day was very different to anything I've ever told at before and was a great experience. Not least because it encompasses all I love about my favourite season, autumn. All around the leaves were falling and there was a feel of excitement in the air. You could smell winter and there was even a hint of Christmas and all the feasting and festivities that accompany it.

The Lady Town Crier Calls all to the opening of the Festival

That's because the festival is very much a celebration of natures bounties. Of enjoying all that the woods, gardens and orchards have to offer and all mixed in with some great cakes, pies and cider. What more could you ask for!

More than just apples were for sale this day

There was a real sense of occasion, with the local 'great and good' parading about in their gold chains. They may have looked out of place amongst the greenary had it not been for the very grand surroundings of Ely Cathedral and the other historic buildings that surrounded the festival 'Palace Green'. And as well as the civic elites the visitor could enjoy traditional crafts, folk music, morris dancing and even some traditional games incorporating many an apple!

Cake stalls outside the West Front of Ely Cathedral

In some ways it was a very traditional scene, but there were some world charities represented at the event including Amnesty International and there can't be many cultures that don't celebrate the changing seasons and the coming of the harvest; even if they don't do it in such an English way!

Telling the Green Man

Many thanks to Aileen and Tracy for booking me and I look forward to returning for the Ely Eel Day next year...

Mannington Hall was also a very different sort of event because although I tell at many historic fairs, most are a celebration of one period. Mannington however was like a mini English Heritage Festival of History; a celebration of all English history with the typical medieval and Tudor stalls, but also classic cars, military vehicles, and a world war II band singing many classics from the time. There were even some girl guides reenacting earlier girl guiding! And all in the grounds of a medieval moated manor house. There's not much more I can say about it, other than I enjoyed telling medieval tales beneath a great oak (one of many fine trees on the estate) nearly as much as I enjoyed having a mug of tea from the 1940s tea stand!

Thanks to Ian Pyecroft of Black Knight Historical and of course Lord and Lady Walpole for putting up with the many colorful if somewhat weird characters!

Orford Castle, Suffolk

2009-09-24T17:02:00.010+01:00

Orford Castle and my storytelling tent in the remains of the bailey
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Over the past few years I have spent a lot of time working at Orford Castle in Suffolk. Telling at both events for the general public and as part of English Heritage 'discovery visits' for schools.

For the most part I tell from my tent outside the castle keep, because space is limited inside, which is because of the keeps unusual if not unique design.. Its actually built on a very small mound and the curtain wall that once surrounded it would have been very close to the keep itself. With buildings inside the curtain wall conditions would have been cramped, but the builders of Orford had some great ideas to pack a lot into a little space, especially in the keep itself...

The polygonal tower Keep forms an 18-sided drum with three square turrets, and a forebuilding reinforcing its entrance. The keep was built to a highly innovative design and both exterior and interior survive almost intact, allowing you to get a real feel for what the castle keep would have looked like some 900 years ago. From the damp and cold cellar that houses a well, you can climb up and around the wide spiral staircase past a maze of passages, leading to the chapel, kitchen and other chambers in the turrets. There is a room once used to collect water from the roof and also the Constable's chamber. The Constable kept charge of the castle for the King and as such had his own room which befitted his station. In truth the room is small, fitting as it does in the walls of the keep, and now it is bare, without the rendering and hangings that would have made it comfortable. But it does have one thing that sums up both the status of the Constable and the unique design of Orford. Its a small triangular shaped opening in the outside wall of the room which was once the Constable's very own private urinal. There are few of these in existence and probably most noble men or women used gaurdrobes (Toilets built into the walls) or had their piss taken away by favoured servants!

The urinal in the Constable's Chamber

I remembered this from way before I told stories and on a much earlier visit to Orford. It's the kind of thing that sticks in my mind! Although I was a little disappointed when at last I returned to Orford to tell stories, for I had it in my mind that the triangular opening was the other way up, forming a wedge shape. I also fancied that this was a conceit of sorts; that the builders were representing the female genitalia (I know that sounds rubbish, but its better than saying 'bits'!) Anyway the idea being that whenever the noble Lord went to piss he was also showing his manliness! That's a rubbish idea I know, but I have been to a lot of medieval sites and told a lot of medieval tales and believe you me they could be just as weird as we are today.

This is why I like castles and any old building for that matter, for you can always find something different and maybe if you are lucky, something a bit weird wherever you go!

St Michael & All Angels Church, Bowthorpe

2009-09-16T19:47:00.002+01:00

A few weeks later and with what I think was a well deserved holiday in between I was telling tales of Saints including the local Saint Walstan at St Michael & All Angels church in Bowthorpe near Norwich

The west end of St Michael & All Angels

The church is now ruinous, but like all churches it seems to have had a checkered past...
In the 14th and 15th century the church was enlarged, despite the black death, but it has seen bad times and it has been said that when times were particularly hard the parishioners even stole the lime mortar from its walls!

Things did however go from bad to worse. Local records show that in1605, it was returned to be a free chapel, that paid no synodals nor procurations, and therefore is exempt from archidiaconal jurisdiction, but the King lately presented to it as a rectory, valued at 6 marks, in the archdeaconry of Norfolk and deanery of Hingham. It was during this time the church was neglected and laid in decay, without any service, it being esteemed as a sinecure, till Matthew Bishop of Norwich obtained a decree in Chancery, dated 23d Feb. 1635, against Henry Yaxley, Esq. lord here, by virtue of which the church was purged of all things in it; (it having been used as a sort of store-house;) the churchyard was fenced in, (being 28 rods round,) four windows were put into the church, and one into the steeple, a porch built, new doors made, the church paved, ceiled, whited, and reeded a font erected, and the pulpit and desk finished, at about 140l. charge; the profits of the whole living were sequestered to repair the church, and it was finished at Michaelmas, 1639; the priest's or chaplain's salary to be paid by the said Yaxley, and all others after him, that shall possess the tithes and glebes; all which was performed accordingly, and ever since it hath been served by a chaplain or parish-priest, as it is at this day, it being a donative in the lord of the manor.

All of this basically meant that the St Michaels was in the hands of a local Catholic recusant family, the Yaxleys, who for whatever reason let the church fall into disrepair. They were in fact at one point using it as a barn, but were forced to reinstate it as a church and make the necessary repairs. Some of these repairs can still be seen today with most notably a series of large holes running parallel to each other and set low on either side of the nave. During a survey of the remains in the 80s that was part of a dig prior to the building of a new church, it was suggested that these holes once took floor beams to support a raised wooden floor. It was suggested that there is also evidence of a gallery above. If this is right the church would have become more like a meeting house than traditional church, which seems unlikely knowing the Yaxley's beliefs. But who knows, for some have suggested that the raised floor was put in whilst still a barn to keep grain away from the damp floor.

The holes that at one time took beams to support a raised wooden floor

That's the beauty of all ruins they all have their secrets, but St Micheal and All Angels has a few more... During the excavations in the 80s, the archaeologists found that the tower of the church had been demolished in the 1700s, but prior to that a kiln had been placed inside it. This kiln had gone out of use, but at some stage a body had been buried inside it and all had eventually be covered by the demolished tower! Now archaeologists aren't the kind to hypothesise on such mysteries, preferring to instead to stick to the evidence and in this case it appears that the floor of the kiln had been leveled and made good prior to the body being placed there. This suggests a level of care and reverence that infers that it was a proper burial albeit in an unusual place and it has been suggested that it was done by a family unable to afford the rite or perhaps because they had been denied burial for some other reason. Myself, I'm not sure for there would have had to have been exceptional circumstances to deny burial in consecrated ground and its more likely i think that something far more sinister took place here long, long ago!

Inside the remains of the nave looking west

That said the ruin is now a very peaceful and beautiful place to come and explore and relax, in an area that most local people of Norwich associate with nothing more than a large housing estate; a rabbit warren of boxes. The housing estate does sprawl out that's true, but its worth an explore, for like everywhere I've been it has its hidden secrets!

Thanks to the Reverend Canon Simon Stokes and all the parishioners and volunteers at the new Church in Bowthorpe for making me so welcome.

West Stow Anglo Saxon Village, Suffolk

2009-09-09T18:57:00.047+01:00

On the August bank holiday I had the privilege of telling Saxon tales in what is all respects a real Saxon hall-house, reconstructed at West Stow Anglo Saxon Village.

Some of the Halls and Houses at West Stow

Excavations on the site have revealed human interaction there since the end of the last ice age, with evidence of stone age hunter gatherers from about 7000 years ago. There is also evidence of a neo lithic burial mound and an Iron age community complete with enclosure ditches and round houses from about 300 BC. The site was then used sporadically until it was settled by the Anglo Saxons in about 420 AD and for the next two hundred years the village grew and 'traveled' about a mile east to its present position; the site of the reconstructed village in the center of the Lark Valley.

There is evidence of medieval settlement on the site but that does not concern us, for what is more interesting to me is that the site was excavated from the 1960s onwards with a view to turning the whole area into a country park. It's worth noting that a visit to West Stow not only takes in the reconstructed village, which is fascinating, but also the surrounding walks which are stunning. We are talking about getting in touch with the past in the morning and perhaps a picnic in the afternoon and all with a great walk in between. Or maybe if you can't walk far there is a great cafe on site as well as a visitors center and museum. Whichever option you choose, you can fill both your mind and bellies if you've a mind to at West Stow!

At the same time as the park was being developed the idea was put forward for a practical archaeology project on the site; the idea being to reconstruct the buildings with a view to seeing how the structures related to the evidence found by archaeologist below the ground. What is now called experimental archaeology today. They reconstructed both Saxon 'houses'; smaller structures of which there was evidence of about 70 on site all centered on shallow pits, and also 'halls'. These were larger gathering places that probably served as meeting places for individual family groups. There is evidence for at least 7 of these from Saxon times.

The 'sunken house', built in 1976

What is interesting is that because it is an ongoing archaeological experiment as well as a visitor attraction, you get to see the changing ideas about our past. One of the earliest buildings on site, but still standing today is the 'sunken house' which was built to reflect the then popular idea that Saxons lived in pits below low thatched roofs. This idea has since been proved wrong not least because the example at West Stow continually flooded. Its now thought the sunken pits excavated on many Saxon sites are the remains of cellars beneath a raised floor, but the sunken house still remains as evidence of the benefits of experimental archaeology.

Inside of the 'sunken house' showing the supposed floor level
Clicking on some images will make them larger

And the experimentation still goes onto this day, for when one of the earlier reconstructed halls burnt down, it first gave the archaeologists a great chance to to study how a Saxon house falls and begins to rot, but also it allowed them to build a new hall in which I was lucky enough to be telling! A new hall that Incorporated all the latest ideas about Saxon house/hall building.

The new hall built in 2005

Inside the new hall
Awaiting the 'Scop', the teller of tales!

I've just mentioned two of the buildings here, because quite simply I couldn't do the rest justice. You just have to go and experience them yourselves. The reason I say experience is because the whole place is an attack on your senses. There are the sounds of wooden latches being lifted and the smells of smoke and cooking, for the fires are lit on many days of the year and there are always demonstrations of cooking, weaving and other Saxon crafts taking place. And if all that wears you out you can even have a sleep upon an authentic straw/fleece covered bed in one of the smaller houses!

The lifted latch leading too....

The fire pit in MY hall!

A raised bed in one of the houses

What really caught my eye though was the attention to detail on site and the wonderful workmanship which planned or unplanned really brought out the beauty of the natural materials being used. From the rough split timber used to clad the outside of the hall in which I was telling......

Outer timbers of new hall

To the smoother adze worked inner timbers that highlight the halls important status and the need for comfort.....

Inner timbers of the hall
smoothed with an adze (An axe of sorts)

There was also the shiny and worn floor timbers in all the buildings, smoothed not with an axe, but by the footfall of many a visitor over many a year. Timbers worn smooth by modern feet, but modern feet walking in the footsteps of our ancestors!.....

Worn floor timbers at the entrance to the new hall

Many thanks to Hannah for inviting me tell at West Stow and also to Catherine, Sarah and Chrissy (I hope I got your names right!) for looking after me so well.

I leave you with a selection of other textures and materials from West Stow.....

Looking up under the thatched eaves of the new hall

Thatch on the 'sunken house'

Some Saxon scroll work
framing a door of one of the houses

Old Sarum

2009-09-09T16:41:00.022+01:00

As one half of Past-Imagined Historical Tale Tellers I was telling at Old Sarum in Whiltshire.

Ariel view of Old Sarum Hill Fort

I was telling with Stewart Alexander from Monday to Friday, the 24th-28th August and each day we were telling different tales from different periods of English history, from Viking and Saxon through to Tudor. It was an attempt to try and get across the vast history and mans continued involvement with the place, although in truth it goes back much further than the Saxons to at least 500 BC when an Iron age tribe raised the massive outer ditch and bank.

The sites continued history is of course its main selling point for even the toilets built into the iron age bank are actually the remnants of a second world war gun emplacement! But for all its history, its internal structures are ruinous and so it takes a lot of imagination on the part of visitors to get a feel for how it would have looked at any given time. Although they are ably helped by some excellent interpretation panels that go beyond the straightforward, literal description of various features about the place. The panel next to the well for example talks about it be a meeting point for 'gossips's; a place that linked together the various buildings in need of water and more importantly the servants who worked in them. I thought that was a great bit of imaginative interpretation that brought the people from the past to life, for they too loved to hear the latest news and perhaps have a laugh at another's expense as much as we still do today!

Unfortunately there is not that much to see beyond the mainly medieval remains in the center of the early iron age fort and I don't think that most visitors (other than the dog walkers) get to explore the early ramparts. Perhaps the site needs more to encourage the casual visitor beyond the remains of the Keep and Cathedral. I of course was lucky for working there a full five days I had plenty of time to explore and walk the ancient bank and ditch that defines Old Sarum hill fort. And I'm glad I did, because as you ca see for the selection of photos I took, it gives a great view of the surrounding countryside and a much greater feeling of the dominance of the site over the surrounding area than you get from looking up from the outside. For on driving up to the fort it looks to be an unimpressive hill, but standing on the outer bank you do get a sense of the massive scale of the original enclosure and just how safe and dominant it would have made its Iron Age builders feel. It also helps explain why the site would have continued being important to the Romans, Saxons and medieval peoples to come!

Various views looking out from Iron age bank at Old Sarum
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Telling at Old Sarum all week meant that we had plenty of time to explore the locality and started by looking at Salisbury Cathedral. Although both Stewart and I were nearly locked in the Cathedral Close, because we were so taken at looking at all the different houses, medieval through to eighteenth century and of course the cathedral itself. I really liked the exterior of Salisbury. For one thing apart from the west front which is covered with carvings of Saints and is very ornate; the rest is unusually plain. According to a local man who worked at Old Sarum this is because it was built a lot quicker than most cathedrals; "In one go" (Foundation stone laid in 1220 and consecrated in 1258) and so there is not the jumble of styles you usually associate with medieval ecclesiastical buildings.

The Prisoner of Conscience Window, the east end of Salisbury Cathedral

As to the interior, I wouldn't know where to start, for there was so much going on, from one of the original copies of Magna Carta and also some great examples of early documents now displayed in the Chapter House. It includes a very early 12th century indulgence sold to a wealthy patron to lessen their time in purgatory whilst boosting the Cathedral's coffers! But of particular appeal to me was the Prisoner of Conscience window, which the photo above can not do justice too. It was designed by Gabriel Loire in 1980 and from the West end is the deepest blue, but up close it is a mass of detail; of faces, which I think represent men and women imprisoned all over the world for having stood up to corrupt regimes.

Sixteenth century tomb in Salisbury Cathedral

There was also the tomb of Gorge Sydenham above who was a chaplain to both Henry VII and Henry VIII. It is one of two that is very unusual in that it shows Sydenham as a wasted corpse. I have seen many 'transi' tombs that show the dead person in both a likeness from life with a corrupted version hidden below, but never one that shows them only in decay. Perhaps it has something to do with the times; with the reformation and heightened Protestant feelings, or it could just be a local fashion?

The Tisbury Tithe Barn

We also took a trip to a very old pub near by where we were staying. But we got lost and happily happened upon a medieval tithe barn at Tisbury which turned out to have the largest thatched roof in all England. It was whilst googling this on his I Phone that Stewart also discovered that Tisbury was famous for the ancient Yew growing in its churchyard that is said to be over 4000 years old! It has been filled with concrete which looks ugly, but its still wearing well for something so old. It was still bearing fruit; bright red berries on the night we went to see it.

As the photo says, the concrete filled Tisbury Yew,
Tisbury Churchyard

So there you go, lots to see, including a happy accident with the tithe barn, but also an ancient Yew, which proved Stewart's devotion to his I Phone was well justified!

Thanks to all Naomi and all the other staff at Old Sarum who made Stewart and I feel very welcome.

And also a very special thanks to Helen and Paul of Discover History who kept us company all week and supplied us with lots of treats courtesy of the Premier Inn!

Colchester Castle

2009-08-22T13:32:00.008+01:00

I have been very busy lately traveling from one job to the next and so a bit lax at blogging. I will however endeavour to catch up with some of the events I have told at in August this coming September (I hope that makes sense)

Last week however I spent telling at Colchester Castle in Essex and had plenty of time to think about the place and what it meant to me.....

Colchester Norman Castle Keep
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Its an interesting museum crammed into the remains of a Norman Keep which is built from the earlier Roman material and on the foundations of an earlier temple dedicated to the deified Emperor Claudius; a temple that was destroyed during Boudica's revolt. It covers much of Colchester's history including the the civil war siege mentioned in my earlier blog on
St Botolphs Priory in Colchester. The different periods are cunningly set out in winding streets spread out around the lower floor of the Castle.

The museum is however dominated by its pre-Roman 'Celtic' and Roman history, because in both these periods Colchester seems to have been an important area of settlement for the Trinovantes, the Celtic tribe and then as both an early Roman fort, then a retirement complex for old soldiers; many of whom lost their lives during Boudica's revolt. Not only does the museum focus on this period, but it has some wonderful and unusual objects on display from this period, and here are some of my favourites:

A Roman lead coffin which is not that unusual in itself except that this one had a lead pipe attached that once led to the surface so that the family of the deceased could continue to pour wine and other offerings down to their dead. This is one of only three such examples found in this country although the museum also has a pottery vessel full of cremated remains that also had a lead pipe where future offerings could be deposited. Unfortunately I did not get photos of theses, but it shows a continued relationship with the Roman dead; it was certainly not a case of being "Dead and Buried"!

The museum also has a collection of worked bone and other materials used to decorate furniture and costume. In particular I liked seeing the pieces that were unfinished because they represent a moment in time and leave you wondering why they were not finished, what happened that resulted in the pieces being discarded?

Partially worked bone and waste

There is also a display of Roman pots some of which broke and deformed in the kiln. I like seeing these, because there is always a temptation to think of cultures like the Romans as being perfect. Yet they too made mistakes and their innovations were often the result of trial and error like ours today.

Roman ceramics including Kiln waste

History is written by the victors, hence the Celts are still seen by some as uncivilised barbarians today, yet some of the objects on display from the Bronze and Iron ages go against that view. In one case, which I think contained objects from a place called Lexham, there was a wheat sheaf or ears of wheat delicately cast in metal that were probably stitched to clothing. A recognition perhaps of the importance of wheat to early societies, although it may also be a recognition of its beauty?

Even more interesting to my mind is the bronze cauldron found at Sheepen. It was made c.1250 BC and is one of the oldest examples found in the UK. I like it because of the cauldrons close association with western myth and legend. In particular its associations with notions of magic, rebirth and even with the grail. Like any other object in any other museum, the cauldron has a story both personal and cultural that no museum label can ever do justice to!

3000 year old Bronze Cauldron

This is certainly the case with my last choice; a carved wooden figure said to be over four thousand years old and now known as the Dagenham Idol. The two things that can be said with any certainty about it, is that its carved from pine about 2250 BC. Other than that there is little that is known about the figure. It is one of the earliest human representations to be found in the British Isles which has given the the figure a kind of reverential, mythic status. Hence the name 'idol'. This makes me laugh a little, because for all we know it could have been a very simple child's doll! That said I don't know either and it could have been much more; perhaps even a representation of one of their Gods and I suppose that's why I liked it so much- the fact that I could stand and wonder about its use, its origins, who made it, who owned it and what for. I like that a lot, for there should be a little bit of mystery and a whole lot of wonder in the world!

The Dagenham Idol

Hornsea carnival

2009-07-21T10:56:00.023+01:00

I traveled up to Hornsea in East Yorkshire last weekend to tell at their annual carnival. I did get the impression that they had forgotten I was coming, but still I was made very welcome and I think it was just that everyone was very busy getting everything ready.

The stunt team doing their thing
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The carnival had lots going on including a motorcycle display team, dancing, falconry, a chain saw carver, live music and even a magic show. But the weather was against us for most of the weekend and so some displays had to be cut short, although this didn't stop the stunt team jumping their bikes over twenty people and a car as well. Although due to the wet conditions, the safety barriers had to be moved back to my telling tent and i was worried that one of them would end up inside it!

The chain saw carver, chain sawing an owl

The chainsaw carver also kept going, using various size chainsaws to carve bears, dragon flies, foxes and all sorts of creatures. I'd never seen anything like this and being a carver of wood myself was amazed at the fine detail he could make using a chain saw. That said I still prefer chisels, because you really get a feel for the wood.

Music at Hornsea Carnival

Grey skies looming, but still still some stayed to listen to the bands

The interdenominational church service

The rain couldn't even dampen the spirits of those who gathered for the interdenominational church service in the main arena on Sunday morning. I'm not religious myself, but I was impressed by their staying power. From the safety of my tent I watched as the heavens opened upon their service, but still everyone kept singing and stayed until the end. All I will say is that no sooner did the service end, than the sun came out. What that means I do not know although it might suggest that their God has a sense of humour!

Sam playing crazy golf. He's crazy!

Certainly the weather went from hot sunshine and cold showers on both days, but I think the Yorkshire folk must be much hardier than southerners like me and many stayed to listen to music, ride on the various funfair rides and come and listen to my tales. In fact the more it rained, the more people came into my tent!

And not all southerners are soft for Sam came with me and braved the crazy golf when no others would dare. His three main passions in life are his band, Paleopathology and crazy golf!

A stock photo of Hornsea seafront

As for Hornsea itself I was really looking forward to it because I had told last year up at Scarborough Castle and really like the dramatic coastline up that way, much more than I like the sandy beaches of Norfolk. But I was surprised to find that the beaches of Hornsea are flat and sandy and driving along that stretch of coast it was surprisingly like Norfolk. I found out later that this is because Hornsea is set within a large natural bay.

The town itself however is not like a Norfolk seaside town and is funny in that it doesn't look like a seaside town at all. In fact you wouldn't know it was until you walked right down to the beach with its one large main amusement arcade and fish and chip shop which incidentally served fantastic fish and chips! I think that most people probably come to Hornsea to visit the mere, a large open stretch of fresh water formed during the ice age that has its own wildlife reserve, many walks and an island or two.

Sam's pebble before....

And after!

Sam's second and more well worn fossil ammonite

Hornsea is also every different to Norfolk in that its beaches are littered with fossils, which are presumably eroded from the cliffs further north at Ravenscar and washed down south by the waves. Certainly many of the fossils were well worn, but on Saturday evening when day was over, but night time had yet to begin Sam and I explored the beach and he found a well rubbed pebble with a fault line all the way around it. We took it back to the camper and the following morning as I was cooking breakfast Sam took a hammer I keep in the van for such occasions and tapped, tapped, tapped until the pebbles split and the partial remains of an ancient ammonite was displayed for all to see, meaning me and Sam. The first humans to look upon something that died perhaps hundreds of millions of years ago!

Humber Bridge looking across

Humber Bridge looking up

Leaving East Yorkshire behind for the even rainier Norfolk

Hornsea Carnival for all the rain was excellent and I love the friendliness of Yorkshire folk and the fact that they are better at riddles than many down south I have met. We drove home wet and happy, especially since we decided to come back over the Humber Bridge, and I really like bridges!

Thanks to Colin for inviting me to tell at Hornsea and to all the other carnival organisers for their hospitality.

Battle Abbey & the New Forest

2009-07-16T14:20:00.028+01:00

Main and very grand entrance to Battle Abbey
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Last weekend I was telling at Battle Abbey near Hastings in East Sussex, before traveling further down the south coast for few days off in the New Forest. We arrived on Friday night and set up my tent at the east end the novices (Trainee monks of sorts) chambers just next to the abbey latrines. Just as with many other medieval abbeys, the young monks to be slept near the toilets and other smelly places such as tanning pits, in order I think to test their resolve, before they were accepted into the cloistered life as Monks proper!

View of Abbey gate from the main street

The Abbey was founded by William the Conqueror as atonement for all the blood spilt during the battle of Hastings fought on that very spot between the invading Normans and the English and it was clearly meant to impress as you can see from the grand and very imposing Abbey gate. The problem is that there is not that much of the original abbey complex left and the site is a bit of a mish-mash, being made up of Abbey ruins, Senlac hill which was the name for the ridge where the battle was fought and a Private school which sits slap bang in the middle of every thing!

A plan of Battle Abbey

That's not to say that its not interesting, because the undercrofts to the novices chambers are impressive, especially when everyone else had gone home and in the gathering dusk when they took on a decidedly spooky air! There are also the remains of the crypt that was once under the chancel end of the now lost church. Its significance being I think that it was the place where many of the abbey's sacred relics would have been stored, perhaps even directly beneath the Bishops throne so that he might absorb their powers! There is also a museum in the great gatehouse with objects from the abbey and pictures which chart its history .

Just set up at the end of the east range-
The Novices chambers next to the remains of toilets on right.

Then there is Senlac hill itself now partly covered by the abbey. As with the abbey ruins its well interpreted with panels dotted about the whole of the battle field and also with the aid of interpretive 'wands'. Although I'm not a fan of these as everywhere you look you see people with them struck to their ears, not actually looking (Unless directed too by the wand) and also not talking to each other. I think that that's a shame, because people get so much more from a site when imagining how it was for themselves. And that's all the more important at Battle, because there is so very little to see-after all its is a hill just like any other in Britain! And being just a hill, its very hard to picture the momentous events that took place here nearly 950 years ago. Events that certainly reshaped English history and culture. Certainly there is lots of information on both the wands and in the newly built visitor center, but no amount of facts can really get across what happened when in a few short hours up to 7000 men from both sides lost their lives...

The actual field of battle between Normans and Saxons
Looking up towards Abbey

The battle field looking down from the Abbey

One of the many interpretation panels doted about the battle field

It was one of those occasions when being privileged enough to stay on site when all the visitors had left, certainly came into its own. For one thing to walk about the hill side at dusk gave the place more atmosphere and it was peaceful enough to try and imagined the sights and sounds; the screams and shouts, anger and fear that such a hard fought battle must have caused. But standing there also made me realise how in the long run, Senlac hill was just a grass covered hill like any other. The Town and Abbey are called 'Battle' now to commemorate an event that took place in little more than six hours, about 950 years ago. But of course the real battle still goes on to this day, the battle for survival!....

For standing there at dusk, we watched as a barn owl glided and swooped its way across the field hunting for mice and who knows what else. Then a leggy young fox came trotting around the side of some bushes. The first time it saw us it ran straight back the way it came. But after ten minuets or so it returned and stood regarding us for a good while, before deciding we were no real threat and continuing on its way to go hunting for his supper on Senlac hill. I was telling a version of Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale that weekend, about Chanticleer the Cockerel and the sly, cunning fox. The fox we saw, was I think a Raynard in the making although perhaps a tad more laid back!

The private school on site

The really big pond

The undercrofts under the Novice's chamber

The remains of the crypt at Battle Abbey

Interpretation panel about the crypt

The New Forest

From Battle we continued along the coast to the New Forest. I had passed through the forest last year when traveling over to the Isle of Wight and really liked the look of the place. And I wasn't disappointed. I really loved the history of the place, because its not history! Meaning that there is still a link today to ancient customs, and the locals, the 'commoners' as they are known still have a well used right to graze horses, cattle and pigs in the forest. These rights are still protected and managed by the Verderers Court and five 'Agisters' and other forest wardens to this day. This was all news to me and I've never seen so many horses in one place, even trotting about the campsite!

The many headed monster of the New Forest...

As close as I dare get!

Kim as a sacrifice to the Hydra to ensure peace!

What I really liked about the place though was the lack of things to do and by that I mean some places are awash with museums and all sorts of other experiences that can drain you body, mind and wallet! In the New Forest there are a few visitor centers and the odd museum, like Bucklers Hard where they built warships in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but apart from that the only real option is to wander in the woods, and relax. And that's precisely what I wanted to do, going over a few stories for the coming months and exploring. And it was a real sense of exploration, because unlike some other woodland sites, there aren't lots of well worn marked paths that take you to the same places everyone else has been before.

We had a great explore and the woods were beautiful. Not least because the woodlands are covered in dead wood, which helps attract wildlife and just looks very sculptural. Obviously in times past the dead wood would have all been cleared by locals who had rights to wood as well as the grazing, but luckily for us no more. We came across an oak, still whole that must have died a long time ago and now looks like the skeletal remains of a many headed Hydra guarding the gates of Hell! Also a fallen tree which must have fallen long, long ago, for it appears that another large oak has grown in the very spot where the dead one once stood. The New Forest is certainly the place to do some serious ancient tree hugging with an oak dating back to the 1600s and a yew in Brockenhurst churchyard which is said to be over a thousand years old.

Sculptured dead wood everywhere...

An oak that fell long, long ago..

We did do a little bit of traveling round to Bucklers Hard and also to the Rufus stone, which marks the place where William Rufus, the 2nd Norman King of England was slain. I tell a version of this tale which includes all the sons of the Conqueror, so I had to go and although the monument itself is a bit lackluster, the surrounding countryside is lovely and just how I describe it in my version of the tale! A long open avenue or 'chase' between the trees, pointing west towards the setting sun and ideal for hunting deer. The very place where the King was killed by his friend Walter Tyrrel. Or was he? Was it an accident or perhaps greed on the part of Tyrrel, or was it perhaps that no mortal hand killed the King? Perhaps instead it was the spirits of the woodland; the Greenman or Herne the Hunter who killed Rufus as a punishment for his greedy ways and as a blood sacrifice to ensure that thew woodlands of England remained forever green...

Re-enacting the slaying of Rufus!

Myself I couldn't be sure, so I re-enacted his death in an attempt to feel the Kings pain, to put myself in his shoes-It was a role I felt that I could really get my teeth into... But whether it was the lack of a real arrow or my festival trousers that I'm certain no King of England would have worn and in the case of Rufus would not even have been seen dead in, I'm not sure. But what ever the reason, I could not get a feel for what happened. Which is just as well, for I like my version of the tale too much to have to change it!

The Riverside Festival

2009-07-06T11:39:00.022+01:00

Birds eye view of Stamford Meadow and Festival
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This was my first year telling at the Riverside Music Festival at Stamford Meadows near Peterborough.

The Riverside Stage

The Acoustic Stage

Unfortunately I was on my own at this one day event and didn't get a huge amount of time away from my telling tent and it was a real job getting through all the crowds. As you can see from the birds eye photo its not a huge site, but I think that they have about 8000 people on site at anyone time and over 25,000 over the course of the whole afternoon and the festival only runs from 1.00 pm to 11.00pm!

Just some of the 25,000 visitors!

As festivals go it was quite small in size, but they still managed to pack in 3 main stages and a smaller buskers stage. Also a children's area with crafts, puppetry, circus skills and me! There were plenty of traders, food stalls and a huge beer festival and there were plenty of very merry people chilling out - many lounging around my tent, one of whom had a go at telling a story or two!

The beer festival in full flow

One of the beer festival visitors in full flow in my tent!

That's about all I can say about the festival itself, but what surprised me more was the town of Stamford. It wasn't what I expected at all especially since I had to drive through the Lincolnshire fens to get there and expected more of the same flat landscape. If I'm honest I'm not a great fan of the Lincolnshire landscape not least the area that can be seen from the A17! But as I turned off that road and made my way toward Stamford, I began to see a few hills and the landscape began to change. So too the buildings; for they began to be built of what looked to be a beautiful yellowish stone in the bright sunlight and more and more it reminded me of the Cotswold's. Especially when I passed the entrance to Burghley House, which looked very posh. Certainly when you drive about the Cotswold you do get a feeling of grandeur although its a place I could never afford to live and whilst I like it to look at it I'm not sure I would like living there!

The grand facade of Burghley House

I then drove through a village called Uffington, which made me think of the village in the Vale of the White Horse, not that far from the Cotswold. Again it made me think that I'd lost my way and was somewhere much further down south, around parts of Orfordshire and Gloucestershire, just north of the Berkshire downs. Especially when I drove into Stamford itself. It's a beautiful place and as with many a Cotswold town its packed full of antique shops, cosy pubs and the like and has a very grand bridge crossing the river.

Stamford Meadow in quieter times!

The grand looking bridge

Some ancient almshouses just off the bridge

A real Georgian feel to Stamford

Part of the high street

Not all of Stamford was so grand, but still good to see

I suppose if you are local to the area you would be surprised by my surprise, but having driven through Lincolnshire many times and having never been that impressed I have to say that I would recommend leaving the A17. If you do you might be pleasantly surprised, especially if you drive towards Stamford; a little bit of the Cotswold, just west of the fens!

St Botolphs Priory, Essex

2009-06-29T10:31:00.017+01:00

Me looking like a small yet rotund Henry VIII and my storytelling tent
inside the remains of the nave of St Botolphs Priory church
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On Saturday last I was telling at St Botolphs Priory in Colchester. Its one of the earliest Augustinian foundations in the country (Built c.1100 it adopted the Orders Rule some time in the 13th century) And although now ruinous the remains of Norman arches, blind arcading (Filled in arches) and especially the huge circular pillars gives what's left a sense of permanence!

The West Door

The brick built blind arcading

Still a solid structure in places...

But what really stands out is the use of red brick in such an early medieval building and it turns out that its reused Roman brick. Colchester is after all a Roman town and talking to a the local history group who had a stall on site, it turns out that the early town was built almost entirely of brick because there is not much in the way of good quality local stone. This lack of good stone meant that the roman brick was much valued in medieval times and turns up in many buildings including the Priory and Colchester Castle, which is now a museum. They also pointed out that what little local stone was used was of such poor quality that it has eroded much quicker that the brick, thus making the brick stand out even more. And its true the remains do have an unusual red appearance that really stands out on a bright sunny day. I liked it because it made a change from many religious sites I tell at, which are dominated by fancy ornate carving and frilly bits! The ancient west doorway was enough for me and the simple carved chevron pattern gave it a truly ancient feel. The lack of good quality stone to carve gives St Botolphs a rustic feel; a no nonsense, unpretentious building, although I think that its sheer size would still have made it impressive to the early medieval visitor.

Close up of reused Roman brick

Detail from the West Door

In truth beyond what is here in my pictures there was not a lot else to see, so Sam and I contented ourselves with rooting about in the undergrowth to see what we could find. We both found bone; Sam finding a flattened piece that if human we think may have come from a shoulder blade, or perhaps from the pelvis. I found a bit which looks to have formed one end of the thigh bone of a large man! It might not be human though and could have come from a butchered animal, although even that would be good, for who knows it might have been from the last joint of meat served up at the Priory before it was dissolved by a greedy King called Henry and his even greedier men. Perhaps the Friars themselves were so discontented that they served up their own Prior! We can't be sure what age the bones are or from whence they came, although I have rooted about in enough churchyards in my time to know that there are plenty of human bones about!

A good days rooting about with bones, oyster shells & iron mystery object (See below)

We were on more certain ground with the huge amount of oyster shells we found. Certainly these were a common enough food in medieval times but also turn up on monastic sites like Bayham Abbey in Kent with pigment covering their inside surfaces. It seems that they made handy containers for pigments used for colouring illuminated manuscripts and perhaps for wall paintings as well.

The Oyster shells were good, but then Sam found a small metal ball which we first thought was a musket ball. We already new that Colchester had seen action during the English Civil War. But musket balls were made of lead or stone and from the corrosion we could see that this was clearly iron. Luckily local archaeologists from Colchester Museum were on site and they identified it as a bit of grapeshot; a collection of iron balls and other shrapnel, packed into a canvas bag or wooden cartridge and fired out of a cannon to do the greatest possible damage. And talking to the local history group they told us how the in 1648 the Royalists had been trapped in Colchester as they had marched north to meet up and form an alliance with the Scots (It wasn't really and English Civil War at all!) The Parliamentarians camped outside the town walls and lay siege for twelve weeks to the Royalists trapped within. And it just so happens that St Botolphs Priory lay directly between the opposing forces and was destroyed by their canon fire. St Botolphs was caught in the opposing forces crossfire. It was at this point that Sam reached into his pocket and brought out a little bit of that crossfire for the group to see and all fell silent!

History in your hand- Sam's 17th century grapeshot

So there you go, although the ruins themselves were impressive, they were not so impressive to us as a small iron ball. . Sam's little bit of crossfire in his pocket, a little bit of 360 year old history in his hand!

Thanks to Clive from Colchester Museums for the invite and his great choice of locations for my storytelling tent!

Knaresborough Castle, nr Harrogate

2009-06-22T16:45:00.027+01:00

This Sunday last I was telling at Knaresborough Castle and Museum Medieval Day.

The medieval entrance towers still stand, although the outside 'curtain' wall is long gone
Click on any image to make larger!

I've never been there before and had no idea what to expect, but it was very different to Dover. For whilst Dover Castle like many of the south coast defences just kept on being modernised and getting bigger and bigger, Knaresborough was embroiled in some of the thickest fighting of the Civil War and after a long siege in 1644 was destroyed upon the orders of Parliament. That was not an uncommon fate for many a small and not so small castle about this time. At Knaresborough the original outside curtain wall and some internal structures were'sleighted' and the stone robbed out, presumably to build and repair many a house in Knaresborough town . Although as with many other castles I've worked at the keep was kept, because it served as a center for local administration and made a handy prison. Unfortunately most of the keep is now lost, but we did have a look about the cellars and 'dungeon' beneath the now ruinous 'King's Chamber' and in the original buttery; a small room of about 8 x 10 feet it is said that at one point it was a cell for 26 people.

The remains of the Knaresborough Castle Keep

The other side of the Keep and a great setting for my storytelling tent!

Down, down, down to the 'dungeons'

Some arrowheads- Looks to be prisoner graffiti

View out of the keep cellar

The now ruined top 'Kings Chamber' of Knareborough Castle keep

The castle itself is mostly lost, but what remains is excellent; a bit like one of those romantic ruins you see in old engravings and because its remains are in a public park there is plenty of access. I liked it because although there were some interpretive panels and various maps and documents in the museum, it was one of those places where its left to the visitors imagination to see it as it was. That works for me, because it allows for a little bit of colour and who knows what. Knights, damsels and even the occasional angry dragon intent on the destruction of man, which may well help explain why so much of the fabric of Knaresborough is now destroyed. Well those Roundheads couldn't have knocked it all down, after all they were far to busy giving the Cavaliers a right good kicking!

What was really exiting is that Knaresborough Castle really does have a tunnel leading out to who knows where in emergencies. For many years whilst working as an interpreter at Norwich Castle I had to endure many earnest tales about the tunnels that joined the Keep with the Cathedral and other places of local importance. But it is simply not true and I suspect most of the stories about tunnels from other castles dotted about the land are nothing more than tall tales as well. But not Knaresborough and I only wish that it had been open on Sunday so that I could have seen where it led. I like to think that it would have been a treasure laden tomb of one of the ancient Kings of Briton, or perhaps a druids temple. Either would have been good!

The entrance to the castle escape tunnel!

The small museum on site was also just my kind of place. It was originally the local courthouse, but now it is more like a really, really big cabinet of curiosities! There is all sorts to see including a model of 'Blind Jack'; a local character who in the 1700s walked from London to Harrogate and presumably the other way as well with his pedometer. He did it as a bet. Blind Jack was very famous locally and has a statue near the market cross in the center of Knaresborough town. But even this is different, because unlike many a statue where the local dignitary towers above us small inconsequential folk, 'Blind Jack' is set reposing upon a bench. You can sit next to him whilst you enjoy your fish and chips.

Certainly there is a relaxed feeling in Knaresborough and reminded me more of a Cornish village than a Yorkshire town. I say that because although I love the North of England some of the towns can be a bit austere; built as they are of imposing dark stone. Knaresborough however is a mix of all styles with a lot of what appear to be ancient timber framed and brick buildings dotted about here and there. There were also lots of little cafes with outside seating, all of which added to the relaxed laid back feeling.

The town square with Blind Jack enjoying a well earned rest upon a bench!

The road leading up to the castle gate

The other curiosity which really caught my eye in the museum was the shirt of the local Royalist, Sir Henry Slingsby; the shirt he was said to have worn at his execution on tower hill in London. He was accused of treason for his part in a plot to help the exiled Charles, son of Charles 1st to the throne. He was beheaded in 1658, although disappointingly there isn't a drop of blood on his shirt. That might sound a bit macabre to some, but I love objects like this. For one thing they are very personal and help you get closer to the past and for another they provide a 'hook' into history for kids and adults alike who can be put off by dry dates and facts.

Knaresborough Museum

The museum was excellent, but best of all was the view... We parked up and started unloading, not aware that immediately behind the Keep where we were to set up was a view like no other. It looked out over a gorge and train viaduct which spanned the river Nidd. And there was the wonderful sound of gently flowing water spilling over the rocks below. It was so peaceful and all I wanted to do was sit upon one of the many benches that overlooked the gorge and sleep. And below there were many terraces overlooking small cafes with yet more outside seating filled with people just sitting; just taking it easy and enjoying the view. All I wanted to do was sit on one of those chairs, enjoy a cool drink and do what everyone else was doing. But I had work to do and to be honest I had a really good days storytelling with a great audience and plenty of breaks in between to sit and stare..

View from the castle looking down over Mother Shipton's Cave

Alas, no interesting facts from Kim this day as she was just far too relaxed enjoying the view and playing with the castle ravens. We met the official keeper of the ravens and Kim held one and got pecked by one and was totally and utterly taken with them both! Its no wonder there are so many raven tales out there, for you've only got to look into their eyes to see that they are far wiser than any common or garden owl!

Kim with 'Gabrelle' the castle raven.
Normally free to fly, but tethered this day for their own protection

I did manage to drag her away for a look about the Keep and even to sneak a picture of her sitting in the garderobe (Toilet) There is a sign pointing out that it was the job of the gongfarmer to remove all the resulting waste from the castle and that was good because I was telling a story about a gongfarmer this day! The sign also pointed out that the garderobe holes were a weak point in the castle defences and that would be attackers might send boys or small men up them to get in and open the gates... So there's an interesting fact after all!

Kim sitting on the lav.
I suspect that there are many photos out there like this one!

Thanks to Diane for the opportunity to tell at the event and to all the staff who made us both feel so welcome.

Dover Castle

2009-06-16T11:13:00.005+01:00

Last weekend I was at Dover Castle telling tales with a group run by Ian Pyecroft of Black Knight Historical. It was an event to celebrate the five hundred year anniversary of Henry VII's accession to the the throne and I was telling stories about the rise and falls of Kings.

Other than that there is not a lot I can tell you, because I didn't heed my own advice and have much of a look round. There was so much else going on. All I can say is that it is in a way a much bigger version of Southsea Castle, although its history does extent much further back. It has the remains of a Roman Lighthouse, a Saxon Church and a massive Norman Keep, which unfortunately is still being redisplayed and so inaccessible to all. I suppose this evidence alone is important as it clearly shows that the headland on which Dover Castle sits has been important to people for a very long time. It reminds me a lot of Scarborough Castle where I worked last year, which also has a Roman Lighthouse and Saxon remains and also has evidence of much earlier bronze age and Iron peoples too. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if there isn't similar evidence of much earlier activity at Dover.

To sum up... Come to Dover Castle, spend the day at Dover Castle, for Dover Castle is really, really, really big!

Many thanks to the Sea Cadets who made us feel so welcome at their clubhouse and especially to Sheila, who cooked us some superb breakfasts...

Wychwood Festival & the Strawberry Fair

2009-06-10T18:19:00.031+01:00

Although I did some storytelling on the Kidz field at Glastonbury last year, this is my first full season of telling at music festivals and this year I've already told at the Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham and at the Strawberry Fair in Cambridge.

Kim came with me to both festivals and having made good time, we stopped just outside Cheltenham to have a look at Notgrove longbarrow. It was one of those unplanned stops, where we just came across a sign to the longbarrow and being the history nerd I am and starved of prehistoric sites here in Norfolk, I just had to stop. Although as you can see from the photos there was not much to see - Just a weed strewn, eroded mound now filled in because of vandalism. That said, I had a cup of tea and sat there smugly drinking it and being smug, because I could make a cup of tea in our camper van. Little things please little minds I suppose, but I like celebrating the little things!

Entrance to Notgrove Longbarrow

The now very indistinct Notgrove longbarrow

We arrived early on site and straightway noticed that there were many families and older people collecting their tickets. Wychwood prides itself on being a family festival and I'm sure there are some who remember the older festivals and would criticise it for that. But it became apparent that even though there many children on sight it didn't detract from the adult entertainment with late night storytelling and some very funny and very earthy comedy courtesy of Mundo Jazz and others. In a brilliant start to the comedy on Saturday night a child called Ollie was called up and asked the worst swear word he knew in order to set a benchmark for the evening and perhaps to deter the more feint hearted parents. Suffice to say that Ollie knew a pretty rude swear word!

I really enjoyed the comedy and to be honest I'm happier in the the smaller alternative tents than listening to the headline bands. And there was plenty of alternative stuff going on at Wychwood. Tom Robinson (He of War Baby and Glad to be Gay fame) was running his Fresh on the Net sessions in the Old Hooky Bar, so you could enjoy a drink and some great and very diverse music played by independent artists who are as yet unsigned to the big record companies and happy to be so.

Circus skills on the 'Meadow' area of the Green

I was based in the the 'Green' area which had a number of spaces and tents dedicated to different types of performance and workshops. The Willow tent focused on dance and movement, the Sycamore on music and jamming, the the Oak on Cinema, the Hawthorn on the arts including storytelling, the Ash on making/crafts and the Meadow area on all sorts of activities - from Circus skills to yoga and sports. Its all of the workshops held in the Green area that I enjoyed the most. From having a go at Milonga dancing, which is a folk dance that the Argentine Tango developed from, to drama workshops and my personal favourite, the drum circle. It was run by Inta Africa over both days and they supplied plenty of extra djembes for anyone and every one to have a go. Starting with a simple beat they got faster and faster, the beats getting ever more complex. Well, more complex for me and a few others. Although I use a drum to draw a crowd, I couldn't keep up, but had a lot of fun trying!

Drum Circle workshop led by Inta Africa in the 'Willow' tent on the Green

Kim enjoyed it and unlike me could keep up with the drumming. She was so involved that there was no interesting facts found out, although the site itself was interesting, because it was set on Cheltenham racecourse and so an insight into another world for people like me who have absolutely no interest in watching horses run round and round in big circles! Also the site is surround by some beautiful craggy hills, one of which is called Cleeve hill. They were reminiscent of something you'd find up in Cumbria although on a much smaller scale! All in all a great event. many thanks to Jem and all the staff and volunteers in the Hawthorn tent for making me feel so welcome and and for helping me in setting up my sessions.

The Strawberry Fair...

It was my first time at the Strawberry Fair, set on Midsummer Common in Cambridge and I was telling with the renowned storyteller, John Row. I was particularly pleased to be there because the in recent years the Fair has had its share of problems, with some residents complaining about anti social behaviour. That and also higher levels of charging to police the event threatened to put a stop to the Fair. But the organisers have introduced the Your Fair, Play Fair scheme in an attempt to curb the excesses of a minority of festival goers. At the end of the day its a free event taking place in a public park so the organisers are at the mercy of everyone and anyone who chooses to come along intent on selfish behaviour, but it seems that most were willing to play fare and have a good time. I did....

The crowds gathering along the river for the fair

We arrived the evening before to set up and went for a walk around Cambridge. I'm not sure whether its the classical and often ornate architecture or something deeper, but there is still a perceptible elitism about the place which doesn't sit well with some of my own feelings and ideals. But as you walk about the place its is quite clear from the posters fixed here there and everywhere that there is a lot going on in Cambridge beyond the colleges themselves. And whilst some of it is certainly influenced by Cambridge students it doesn't appear to be aimed solely at other students and I got the feeling that anyone with the aspirations towards self improvement could learn lots in and around Cambridge as well as having a great time at all the other events happening around the town.

Telling tales with Master Storyteller, John Row outside my tent in the Kidz area

What I especially liked about the Strawberry Fayre itself was the incredible optimism and positive messages that can be found on places like the Green where all sorts of groups made you stop and consider your environment and your health, well being and the well being of others. There's still a feeling of political awareness; although the Fair itself has no political affiliations, there is I think a concern for the good of all, which seems lost in mainstream politics and in the ever increasing complacent world we live in. Many people seem to be getting very uptight about how much MPs are fiddling on their expenses, but many of the same people have very little concern for the plight of the world we live in or the other people who live in it. You see what I mean, a good festival or Fair can reawaken something in all of us!

What also stood out was the commitment of the volunteers on site who worked hard all day to make sure everyone had a good time. What has also become apparent to me is that this is a year long commitment with benefits going on over many months.

The crowds gathering

As I said earlier I'm not so interested in the big names playing at festivals, but what was also good about the Strawberry Fair was the line up of local talent, especially in the acoustic tent where you could get up close and personal to the bands. If you want to get an idea of who was playing a pdf version of the line up is I think now available on the SF website and all the bands seem to have their own myspace sites.

The main stage

Unfortunately I was very busy on the day, as it wasn't the kind of event that lent itself to timed sessions from my tent. And so like John Row I ended up stalking my prey; telling to unsuspecting families and small groups of chilled out festival goers. For that reason I missed quite a lot and my biggest regret is missing the Interknit- where as part of the Arts Area two women, Cathy Dunbar and Helen Judge were sitting on the sofa, drinking tea and teaching others to knit. I for one am looking for a new skill to see me through the long winter evenings and had I had the time I might have started something and maybe just maybe I might have been able to knit myself a new storytelling costume for next years Strawberry Fair!

The 'Green' area

A trader in the 'crafts'' area selling beautiful prints outside their lorry home

Kim doing her bit-doing some face painting in the Kidz area

Thanks to both Kate and Kath who did a most excellent job in running the kids area and all those volunteers who made the free lunch for everyone else working on site. It was delicious!

Southsea Castle, Southsea

2009-06-02T18:18:00.048+01:00

The weekend before last I was telling at Tudor tales at Southsea Castle in Southsea by Portsmouth. Its one of a series of Tudor forts built along the Solent, both on the mainland and on the Isle of Wight. And like so many of the places I'm working this year its a a bit of a hidden gem, for as you drive into Portsmouth there are brown signs here there and everywhere directing you to many different museums. In fact I don't remember driving into a town with so many museums. And there is off course the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with the Victory, the iron war ship, the Warrior and also the remains of the Mary Rose and museum dedicated to all her finds. And so it was I kept driving and still no signs for Southsea Castle until I was right upon it and even then it wasn't easy to find; hidden as it was at the end of a great wave of heritage, but tucked neatly away behind a modern car park! But as soon as I entered I got a good feeling. Every one was very welcoming, the museum was free and there was clearly lots going on...

Southsea Castle Tudor Keep

There was the solid stone Tudor Keep housing its own museum and some excellent interpretation about how the early castle functioned. For this weekend it also housed some staff from the Mary Rose Trust who amongst other things were teaching the children how to stabilise a Tudor warship, which rose up high out of the water. Although both vehemently denied that the Mary Rose sank when all the sailors rushed from one side to the other to get a glimpse of King Henry VIII. Probably not true, but once again it has the makings of a good story!

Inside the Keep overseen by Henry VIII himself!

A window in the Keep showing the 10 feet thick walls

One of the 'vents' in the roof of the keep:
To allow for easy movement of canon balls up to the defences.

The contents of the excavated well in the Castle:
Includes stone canon balls and the broken pail for carrying water

Just to the side of the Keep the local archaeological group were showing all sorts of items found upon the seabed and also letting the kids have a go at facial reconstruction. It involved applying play dough to a resin skull to make a face. I really liked this activity although most of the kids couldn't resist adding horns and all sorts of other grotesque features to their faces. But then they had a go and its something that hopefully they will remember for a long time...
And from there all could explore one of the later additions to Southsea, a tunnel called a 'caponier' which was the last resort if attackers breached the outer defences. It was basically a tunnel with inward looking holes from which to shoot the enemy. Hope that makes sense, if not just read the sign below. I liked it because it was dark and cool, which was great because the weekend was very, very hot. I also liked it because I was in Tudor kit and gave quite a few already nervous people a bit of a shock, especially when i banged my drum in the darkness!

The entrance to the 'caponier'

The very dark 'caponier' tunnels

Looking out one of the 'caponier' windows

Southsea Castle was one of many forts built in Tudor times but even it has its unique points. It was for example built to a new angular design as opposed to the older round gun emplacements in order to increase the angle of fire by canon (You can see a reconstruction of the castle below) Thinking about it, that will do from my interesting fact about Southsea although there are many more. Indeed you can go on a tour of the castle with the ghost of John, Master Gunner at he castle in Henry VIIIs time. Not only do you get to meet Henry himself complaining about the time it took to build the various forts, but also stop and hear about the castles history during the time of the Civil War and even when in the 1800s part of the castle was accidentally blown up killing seventeen people including women and children. It seemed that some of the wives and children of the garrison were cooking supper when some of the embers from the fire fell through the floorboards onto gunpowder and up it all went. In the tour reconstruction it appears to be a homely scene (As homely as you can get in a castle) Then suddenly some flickering lights , a loud bang and some smoke are puffed out, although this was enough to make one young lad cling to his mothers leg! Some might not approve of this form of interpretation, but I enjoyed it and it helped get across the human story of what would otherwise have been a great mass of brick, stone and iron. And there were many tales to be told, such as how the castle was so poorly financed in the 1600s that the garrison was forced to sell the lead from its roof s and how at other times they were reduced to selling ale and cakes from the castle to make ends meet. These are the stories of the people that I think really bring the place to life even if it does require a ghost to tell them!

The outer defences with later eighteenth century modifications

Two views of the Castle: The first from a Tudor picture. The second a modern reconstruction

View looking down on the Keep from later brick defences.

What I liked about Southsea straight away was its honesty, meaning all the different periods of its use were there for all to see. And Southsea castle has a lot of history, because it didn't actually go out of active military service until c.1960! It just goes to show you how the whole history of Portsmouth is dominated by its vulnerability to attack, fear of invasion and need for defence. From the Remains of the Mary Rose built to fight off French attacks, to the Tudor castles, the nineteenth century forts built onto the seabed of the Solent and the various modifications to Southsea castle itself during the Napoleonic wars and later threats of invasion. Portsmouth is very much a town whose heritage even today is dominated by defense. Just outside the castle entrance is the D Day museum with a 2nd world war tank and anti aircraft gun standing outside. Just down the coast is the Royal Marines museum, whilst the other way there is the largest monument to the fallen of the two world wars that I've ever seen and also the remains of the 16th-17th century 'redoubts', the defences that are now crisscrossed by modern stainless steel bridges. They do in fact add a bit of mystery to the seafront, because every now and then they are pierced by short tunnels presumably built to access ships anchored off shore.

But although Portsmouth military history is so obvious it isn't by any means a place today racked by fear or inward looking in any way. In fact its precisely the opposite and there are few seaside resorts that I've been to where I've felt so relaxed. You can still park up anywhere along the seafront (For a price of course) and also on the great swathes of common that run along the opposite side of the beach roads. Great expanses of grass which seem to have their origins in Portsmouth's earlier military past; providing as they do space around the earlier gun emplacements and the town itself. But now for the price of a car park ticket you can set up an awning and barbecue and spend the day relaxing, which is what many people did. Watching from the castle I saw a French group who had spent the morning at Southsea, spend the afternoon playing a game where they all stood in a great circle and took turns at falling over. It looked fun although I still prefer British Bulldogs! They played whilst others flew kites, read books and slept; all in all a very chilled out scene. Although for the more energetic there are also volleyball and basket ball courts just opposite the beach. I don't play either, but still appreciated that both must be appreciated!

So laid back is Portsmouth I noticed that a lot of large camper vans were parking up at the seafront at night. I had planned to find a proper campsite, but seeing this and being the kind of person who likes to saver some money if he can, I drove out of the main beach front to where there were less lights and settled down for the night. And it was well worth it for not only did I save some money, but in the morning I was greeted by fantastic views of the Isle of Wight and the ever busy Solent. I sat on the edge of my camper watching all the joggers pounding the pavements, whilst thinking that they should stop a while and enjoy the view. Maybe they do, but I doubt it as the grass is always greener elsewhere.

Relaxing on the Sunday morning overlooking a very peaceful Portsmouth beach

That's certainly what i find, because although I love Norfolk especially its winter skies, the beaches aren't what I want from a beach, where as Portsmouth beaches are. Firstly there is a different smell to the sea and one I first smelt last year whilst traveling on the ferry over to the Isle of Wight to do some Discovery Visits for English Heritage. I'm not sure how to describe it, except that its enticing and smells of adventure! I also like the busyness of the place; In Norfolk you might get the odd glimpse of a tanker out on the horizon, but the Solent was heaving with craft... From small dinghy, to tugs, ferries looming out of the water and even Hovercraft. On Saturday night as I promenaded along the seafront one came hurtling out of the sea and pulled up right in front of me. I've never seen a real hovercraft before, it was huge and a number of people including myself waited for it to leave again. It suddenly swelled up to three times its normal size, swung round and was gone sending pebbles and foam everywhere. Some cheered whilst others (Presumably the locals) just kept on walking; but then the grass is always greener...

The Isle of Wight Ferry and hovercraft having a race!

All in all it was a great place to spend the Sunday morning and also the evening before. I had planned to spend the evening working on my new version of Beowulf, but the allure of the seafront was just too much for me.. As well as seeing the hovercraft, I explored the old redoubts, enjoyed an ice cream complete with flake and really tasty pie and chips, skulked about the amusements with its loud whizzes and bangs, and even louder music, it was an assault on all the senses, but one that always makes me feel oddly at peace. Probably because I spent my holidays as a child at a local seaside resort called Hemsby and spent most of my time in the amusements, even when I had no money to spend. Skulking about in the hope I would find the odd penny or if lucky 10 pence lying lost upon the floor just waiting for me to come and waste it in one of the whizzing and banging machines! I had a wasted childhood and loved every minute of it! And walking down Portsmouth seafront reminded me of it and how I had forgotten just how much fun the seaside can be!

In fact the only downside to my visit had been a run in with a local traffic warden. I had been given a ticket that you scratch off the date on to park for free on the carpark in front of the castle. I in my rush had thinking about stories had scratched off the wrong date and luckily was having a break in my van when the traffic warden noted my mistake and threatened me with a parking ticket. I pointed out that i was working in the castle and would get another ticket from them, but she did not believe me and was only willing to give me minutes to return. She was not the friendliest person I've ever met and even the fact that I was wearing full Tudor kit and carrying a drum did not sway her; as far as she was concerned it was all a con so that i could park for free on Portsmouth seafront. Hmmmm... I liked Portsmouth a lot, but not that much!

Many thanks to Andrew, Chrissy, Liz and all the other staff and volunteers who made me and the public feel so welcome at Southsea Castle....

Ufton Court

2009-05-19T10:33:00.020+01:00

Ufton Court Educational Trust

Last Sunday I traveled down to Ufton Court, an educational trust based in an Elizabethan Manor House, which grew out of an earlier medieval property. I was telling stories at their annual open day which combines historical entertainment with educational and commercial stalls.

There was all sorts going on. Some school children were demonstrating the complexities of maypole dancing; the fact that its customary moves are now lost to us was made all the more apparent when the adults spectators were asked to join in and got into all kinds of knots! There were also two separate and very different theater groups on site performing very different plays. First there were the 'Pantaloons' who reduced many of Shakespeare's plays to very short but very funny songs and secondly the 'Melford's Men', a re-enactment group based at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk who gave us a bit of Chaucer performed in home made costumes and in a bawdy form that the original builders of Ufton Court would have known and enjoyed!

The children making the maypole dancing look diceptively easy!

The house itself is an odd, but wonderful mixture and is reflected in its layout. The House hosts Weddings, both in the various fine rooms of the manor house itself or in the incredible tithe barns with much of its medieval timber roof intact. It also hosts corporate events and there are lots of activities set within its sixteen acres of grounds-from canoeing to mountain biking and nature walks. But what interests me most is its role as an educational trust. There are many school visits, both for the day and residential stays. The children can get involved in sessions covering a number of different subjects, from geography and science to team building and art.

Interior of the tithe barn

But the house really lends itself to the study of Tudor history. Kids get to wear Tudor costume and have a go at early dancing, enjoy an Elizabethan banquet and have a go at traditional crafts including hurdle making (Making fences) They also have a go at being history detectives, exploring the house looking for clues to its earlier plan and Ufton is excellent for this! Unlike many period houses Ufton is not frozen in time. There are no signs saying 'do not touch' and rope barriers fencing off dry and dusty rooms set up as they would have been five hundred years ago. There are doors say 'private' and 'no entry', but that's because Ufton court is a living, working place. As you walk through the house you come across modern dormitory's and bathrooms , reception rooms and the like all built into the old structure to accommodate schools and corporate events. But behind theses modern conversions are some real hidden gems.... In the mens loos there are dark stones stairs leading down. They are just calling out be explored, although you would need the obligatory flaming torch, nerves of steel and the sense of adventure of the hero from many a medieval tale to go there! They lead to what I assume was the original stone under-croft set beneath the original Medieval Hall. Certainly the archways and doors to the medieval pantry and buttery where food and drink passed through are still extant at the low status end of the hall although the main hall itself has been lost under later eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century decoration. Just as the original hall itself has been absorbed into the later Tudor remodeling which as with many other houses of the time involved adding great wings either side of the earlier hall. These wings became the main focus of the house; subjugating the once important hall where people once lived, slept, ate and enjoyed all sorts of entertainment into nothing more than the mere entrance hall that you can see in many houses today. And there are many more clues to the houses earliest layout; in one of the dormitory's upstairs there are the huge cruck timber frames of the hall, hidden now by inserted floors, but as with most medieval halls once open from ground to roof. And just off from this room a nursery which was once the Solar of the Lord who lived here and one of the few private rooms there was in medieval times.

One of the many nooks and crannies at Ufton

But as well as the medieval clues, there are also hidden treasures from the Tudor conversion now buried beneath eighteenth century paneling and later conversions. In one room the later paneling opens up to expose the sixteenth/seventeenth century painted paneling. Most people imagine earlier buildings to be nothing but dark oak beams, but in actual fact many were painted in bright colours and would have appeared gaudy to our eyes. . The panels on display include the initials MR which I think stand for 'Mary Regina' (Catholic Queen Mary) and give an insight into the history of the Perkins family, who lived here in Tudor and Stuart times. They were devout catholics who were raided by the protestant authorities on at least two occasions, looking for hidden priests. They didn't find any, but they did find the priest holes where they hid. But they didn't find all of them for Ufton had four and there are also the remains of an escape tunnel! You can still look in these priest holes today, all cleverly hidden and one I think I'm right in saying rediscovered with a four hundred year old ladder still in place for the priest to climb down. These were not comfortable spaces; little more than small cramped holes set behind exposed wattle and daub walls. They are untouched, undecorated places that you were never supposed to see, and looking at them now you really get a true feel for the past! Especially since you still reach these hidden rooms via creaky seventeenth century staircases and even even creakier and very big sixteenth and seventeenth century floor boards roughly hewn from great chunks of oak (You should be able to tell by now that I really love sixteenth and seventeenth century buildings! and anything crafted from oak!)

There is so much more I could write of here; from the small but beautifully painted paneled room which served as a confessional for the devout catholic family who were willing to risk all for their faith. To the reconstructed Elizabethan Knot garden and other gardens filled with herbs from the time. It's one of the trusts future plans to develop this further as well as to reinstate to earlier medieval fish ponds that provided fish for the table. Also to to provide holidays for disadvantaged children as well. They have big plans and the building itself still requires a lot of work, although I like it as it is. We can all be history detectives whilst walking around Ufton Court!

Traditional hurdles fencing off herb and knot gardens

That's it except to say that once again Kim came with me and found out a few interesting facts...
Firstly the grounds are covered in oak trees and there is one that is datable to c. 1350. It was pollarded in the past which means that the young branches were regularly harvested at a certain height for many uses; from production of fire wood to staves used in the production of hurdles and wattling for in-filling walls. And secondly the Tudor conversion was carried out by Lady Marvyn who brought carved beams from her old house to incorporate into the new build (This could be simply because she liked them or because she was trying to save money-Grand Tudor houses were just as much about pretension to greatness as they were about actual wealth) It is also said that once Lady Marvyn got lost in the woods nearby and was only found with the help of local people and that she was so grateful that she instituted an annual dole of linen and corn for the local poor. The dole is still handed out to this day and the current landlord can be found every Maundy Thursday handing out bread and sheets to the parishioners of nearby Ufton Nervet. There are some that still say a curse will come upon the first owner of Ufton Court to break the tradition. I'm not certain that many believe that now but it think its a great way to end this blog; for who am I to let truth get in the way of a good story!

Many thanks to Mary, Karen and all the other staff and volunteers at Ufton Court