The so-called 'Ladies' Bath', at Dudmaston, after clearance,
probably nothing to do with ladies or bathing!
So for starters back at Hanwell saw some work on site, this was
partly about tidying things up and partly about having a section of
the dig ready to excavate publicly without the public falling into
any deep holes.
Tents of various persuations went up from modern marequees and
gazebos for our pop-up museum to equally modern canvas tents styled
in seventeenth-century fashion
Then the 'doors' were opened and
the vistors flooded in, well more of a trickle really, but they
were there in goodly numbers to view members of the Sealed Knot
and particularly Lord John Robartes, hys Regiment of Foote
indulging in such period activities as cooking and coffee-making
(really an authentic seventeenth-century thing), book-binding,
bodging, potting and fabric trimmings and fol-de-rols....
Our pop-up,museum was also revitalized with many of our
choicest finds on view.
Anne-Marie: oboe, Stephen: hurdy gurdy
Felicity: violin, Richard:
theorbo
We were thrilled to be able to keep the music going pretty well all
weekend with performances varying between oboe and hurdy-gurdy,
violin and theorbo and piope and string drum and bagpipes, may
thanks to all our musical helpers.
It was particular bonus to have music played on site by Thomas
Baltzar, probably for the first time in nearly 350 years!
Dave: pipe and string drum and bagpipoes
There was a lengthy trail round the gardens taking in all our
excavation sites, past and present with real life archaeologists
digging down on the House of Diversion, well they were meant to be
digging but I believe an awful lot of time was spent chatting to
visitors... which is how it should be
... and then it was all over and a was back to the archaeology and
the start of the battle to complete all necessary excavation before
the weather turned bad and the waters rose....
