A walk in the woods and Butser Iron Age Village

Finally managed to find a weekend to visit my old friend Neil down in Sussex. He and I went off to walk the dog on a long walk, not sure if Neil was exercising me or the golden retriever! But it was really nice shady walk through the Sussex countryside with the prospect of a pint or two and a burger at the end.

A Victorian bathing pool, Neil assured me

Bonnie needed a good drink after all that. I settled for a pale ale

Dinner was barbecue on a balmy sunny evening with the family. You really couldn't ask for more to unwind, with a comedy film to finish.

Next morning I suggested a visit to Butser iron age village, given my love of archaeology. This is a living museum, so there are some volunteers doing some reenactment stuff. None of the buildings are genuine - they are all recreations based on archaeological evidence, but with a bit of speculation thrown in. It is quite a compact site, but the whole thing is very well done. Would appeal to children and adults

So the huts start with the stone age. Basically a tent, a shelter with skins 

Moving from Mesolithic to Neolithic, a rather more permanent house, with a massive weight of reed thatch forming effectively roof and walls

In teh middle an impressive herd of primitive goats

When two horns are just not enough....

Bonnie didn't like the look of all those horns!

Then you pass into the iron age village with its roundhouses

This is interesting in that it is a hut you can't get into as it is sort of falling down. All this is experimental archaeology, so this just tests how long one of these houses would last. As you can see, the wall  is buckling

From the iron age roundhouses of the Brits one moves to a little Roman villa. A definite step up in class

And finally to Anglo-Saxon dwellings with an interesting array of reproduction weapons and artefacts. Because everything is a reproduction, you can walk on the mosaics, feel the clothes and handle the armour at will. The shields are heavy, but the helmets are mighty heavy. As is the chain mail.

Yes of course I had to have a go...