17th Century Day in Huntingdon

Visited 27th April 2003--------

Report by Shimmer & Midgey

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For those who don't know, Huntingdon was the birthplace & headquarters of Oliver Cromwell. This is celebrated by the hosting of a 17th Century Street Party once a year.

It was not exactly what we had hoped for, there were some period market stalls in the streets but a lot less than we expected, and they weren't selling much of interest. Although the Sealed Knot where there, they seemed to be re-enacting the lives of off-duty soldiers rather than bothering with any of that nasty fighting stuff. There were a few displays, a passable juggler, some birds of prey that flew about 20 feet before being put away and folk in various costumes of the period.

The Cromwell Museum consists of a single room that holds a few bits and bobs from the Civil War, the odd painting and Cromwell's Helmet. Handy for getting in out of the rain, but not of much interest to the casual visitor. There is a nice wall outside where you can sit and have a bite to eat though. Erm that's about all we can remember about it, sorry.

The one highlight was the camp, where several professional stalls had been pitched to recreate the C17 atmosphere. Rather than flogging goods as the stalls in the high street were, these merchants were more inclined towards providing entertainment and were definitely worth a quick look round. The apopothocracy stall was of particular interest, I even saw two St John's Ambulancemen there, although I don't know whether they were there to learn or to help someone who'd tried one of the "remedies".