[Sca-cooks] Butser Ancient Farm

[Mary Denise Smith]

I got to see this place three years ago. The public season hadn't opened
yet, but the very kind man let us in and gave us a personal tour of the place.

Wow. I've been to and worked on historic sites from the Roman era thru
the early 20th century and there's always a moment when you feel like
you are in that "time out of time".

These folks have made the most amazing reconstructions. You walk into
them and you feel like you really have stepped back into the Iron Age.
Y'know, you can walk into some folk's homes and sit down to dinner at a
table made in the 18th Century. You can walk through a reconstructed
19th Century garden and imagine legions of gardeners working. These
things all have an expected sense of immediacy. I was not prepared for
the "reality" of those Iron Age reconstructed houses.

Anyway, if any of you are going to be in the south of England, do not
miss Butser or Weald and Downland.

BTW, there's a conference on Tudor food at Weald and Downland in July.

MD/Marged