Wynmerestow

We camped in the Wynmerestow Longhall over Labour Day weekend. The weather was not particularly nice. It was blustery, cool and rainy. The winds drove the rain across the field in a rather formidable fashion at times. We layered on the linen and then the woollen garments to stay comfortable... and we were! We harvested our vegetable garden! Considering we added no compost or other nutrients to the long fallow field, we had lovely baby leeks, an onion, parsnips, turnips and carrots to feed us all. Mainly carrots mind you, they did really well. We turned them into a soup to eat with our spit roasted beef.In order to get the fires going and the beef roasting, we had to put our canvas shelter over the firepits. It gave the boys interesting things to try with using wattle fences and cloaks as wind blocks.
Despite the wind, the cooking fires needed occasional help to get the water boiling for warming tisanes and heating dishwater. It's a good thing the bellows are very effective!
One of our members is a talented potter. He makes us all sorts of neat Saxon period toys to play with. This time it was lovely oil lamps. They are quite safe to use, having just a bit of oil floating on some water. If the vessel spills or cracks, the water extinguishes the flame. There were just a few of these lamps burning all night . The longhall had a lovely, warm and welcoming glow which made midnight trips to the loo much easier to manoeuvre.
Every once in a while there was a break in the weather and glorious sunshine blessed us all. At night the clouds parted with a star filled sky of immense beauty. The smoke of the fires was unavoidable. The smell of slightly damp wool followed us around as did the wet hems. Our boots though were waterproof and our spirits good. It was all too soon we had to pack up to come home. It was a good weekend - too short perhaps, but a good weekend..