Bradwell Abbey Medieval Fayre

I forgot to mention that on Sunday I went to the Medieval Fayre which was held at Bradwell Abbey. I had only discovered that it was on through Facebook on Saturday and wasn't sure what it was likely to cost to enter and sent a message through the Facebook page to be told it was free. Aldo, who is a science teacher and worked with Carol at Milton Keynes Academy, is involved with reinations of battles and it would seem, medieval one's at that, and is a member of something called Chanz des Reis (translated as 'Song of The Kings.') and was involved with some of the reinactions at the Milton Keynes History Festival a few months ago. So, I decided to go along as it didn't start until 11a.m. and after church I drove straight to Bradwell Abbey. I had heard about it, but wasn't entirely sure where it was, so I used Google Maps and soon found it. I was surprised that it was more or less hidden within a business park and when I got to the place, was surprised that there were so many cars parked along the road and a great many people walking towards the entrance. I suppose being free made a difference. Making a charge can put people off I suppose, and it was a fine and sunny day, which also made a vast difference. I was more than surprised how much was going on and the first person I met as I walked in wanted to know how I'd heard about the event (as described above) and mentioned various voluntary activities going on at Bradwell Abbey. I have lived in Milton Keynes for over 12 years and knew about this place but had never visited. When you see photographs of the place, you only see a small gothic style building (which is part of the now none existent Abbey (actually a Priory) but I never realised there is far more to it than that, a whole range of other buildings, including a barn and what must be more recent buildings, in one of the barns is a medieval interpretation building and a charity which is based there, called InterAction, which used to be near here, just a short walk down the Redway to the Grand Union Canal, and housed in a large house which, when we walked past the other day, has been vacated and has 'keep out 'signs all over the fence. No doubt it was to expensive to keep maintained and this might explain whey they move out to Bradwell Abbey.

Walking in to the event, a sort of courtyard in the centre of buildings and open spaces, grass meadows and the small, stone-built building, which is what I refer to in the above paragraph, a mansion (I assume) with rather attractive garden which is enclosed by a wall, and, further round, open grassed space, and he remains of what looks to me like a medieval fishpond (I may be wrong, or I might be right!) In one of the grass meadows, a sort of area area, roped off, with people watching what looks vaguely like some sort of medieval battle, with men in period costume, some with a variety of weapons, and a man with a long beard, attached to a portable public address system, giving a running commentary of the action, looking to me like it might be from about the period of the Battle of Hastings or at least, the Norman Conquest. Very coincidentally, I'm reading a book on the subject. Apparently, I later heard from Aldo (via Facebook) that he was in amongst this throng of men, although I would never have recognised him, as part of Chanz Des Reis. His children we also there, apparently also dressed in medieval garb. I took some photographs of this reinaction and uploaded some of them onto Facebook, which is how he eventually contacted me. I was looking out for him during the afternoon, but didn't see him. Hardly surprising, because of the beards and other period costume they were wearing. At the end of their session, they all marched off, with banners and so on, which I also photographed and put on my Facebook profile.

Having watching the enactors, I walked round to the rest of the fayre. A range of stands displaying different aspects of the medieval period, from weaponry, making to using, usually in battle, hand-to-hand and otherwise, swords, shields and other weapons I've never come across. There was a display of chainmail and what must have been an accurate recreation of a chainmail shirt and I was surprised how heavy it was. The item of clothing handing on a pole to show it on display and later two medieval costumed men carried it off around the fair, and, because I am currently reading a book about the Norman Conquests, I had seen images taken from the Bayeux Tapestry and was taken particularly by one image which showed soldiers loading armour and other weapons onto ships and carrying chainmail in exactly the same fashion.

I had an ice cream from a stall. One of those jobs which is ice cream extruded into a wafer cone and then has chocolate sauce poured into it. The only problem was that the ice cream was almost defrosted when I received it and it made it difficult to eat, as you could expect, on a fairly hot day, and it was in the process of melting all over my hand and I had to devour it fairly rapidly before the whole lot ended up on the ground and, as I walked around the fair, some of it landing up on some of the items on display. A pity really, because otherwise I rather enjoyed it. But, being honest, who doesn't enjoy an ice cream when it's warm? Not the ice cream, of course (silly man! Who ever heard of warm ice cream?)

I was keen to learn more about Bradwell Abbey and learnt that the last remaining chapel (built to be dedicated to Saint Mary.) was used more recently as a cow shed and has been restored. The rest of the Abbey I presume was demolished at the time of the Dissolution of The Monestaries under that evil king, Henry VIII. There was a model of what it was supposed to have looked like in the barn and this chapel was only a very tiny part of the whole.

One of the most interesting displays was of falconry, a subject that interests me. There was a display of a few different species in a cage and then a full display of falconry, but the one bird that really caught my attention was a vulture, not a bird normally associated with falconry. Most people cower when they hear the word 'vulture' because of the association they have with dead animals and the application of all these associations when used in films, usually Westerns. Usually hot deserts, blazing sun, probably someone tied up by the baddies and then a few shots of vultures circling overhead as the baddies ride off, leaving the innocent victims tied up and unable to defend themselves. But vultures are carrion, they don't attack live animals (or humans, for that matter) and live off the dead carcases of animals which are left to rot. In that respect they are a recycling species and can apparently eat animals which have died of such diseases as anthrax and therefore keep the vicinity clear of diseases that would otherwise wipe out populations of humans and other animals.

One more demonstration, of archery, and that was all I wanted to see. A really excellent event and I trust and hope that they have more. There seem to be a lot more of these type of events all around the country and considering how history was taught when I was at school and the deadly dull 'A' Level History course I was doing when I then went off to Cheltenham in 1969, it makes a change to have what I would call 'hands-on' history, whereby you can actually get a taste of what life would have been like in a certain period of history, with enactors creating battles and showing how wars were won and fought. So saying, I left and went back to my car and home.