rticle reproduced with kind permission of

very now and again even we hardened scribes get surprised and this, pleasantly, was one of those times. The assignment was to research a feature on Gosport's 17th century village and after two or three attempts at trying to find it open I gave up. My editor though is made of sterner stuff and she continued to remind me it had not yet been written, and so with the sound of her voice still ringing in my ears I gave it one more go and, wow, was I in for a surprise?
The 1642 Living History Village, as it is less romantically known, has recently won the award for Gosport Best Tourism and Leisure Venue and it is totally deserved. The whole venture began as a civil war re-enactment society but after an accident involving two horses they were, quite sensibly, told by the local authority to cease the war part. This left them with the odd period building in the middle of a copse. Gosport Borough Council not only allowed them to continue to build the area into a village but let them have the land at a peppercorn rent.

Yvonne Hoskin, better known as one Mistress Eve, gave Solent Life a further insight to the history of this wonderful village. 'Well, you see, Master, the civil war people began building the village in 1984-85 and over the period of time the buildings have just been added to,' she said in a strong Hampshire accent; you will discover it is impossible to get any of them out of character when talking of their village. 'The Gosport Living History Society was formed when the civil war society packed up, Master.' I was getting used to this Master lark; please take note, editor! 'Our Society was formed and developed in the mid-1990s so out of an unfortunate event the Living History Society was formed. Now over the years since then we have gone from strength to strength and also added to the buildings and extended the village.'

s with all things it has not been smooth going and sometimes it is difficult to understand how the minds of some people work. When you go to the village - and please do go because the only funds they receive are from visitors - you will be amazed at the quality of the buildings and their re-creation of the life of villagers in 1642. It is simply staggering then when you also learn that they have had to rebuild and repair on more than one occasion because of mindless arson attacks. What it does demonstrate, however, is the fortitude and the strength of character of the members and friends of the Society, especially when you realise that the only trained member of the team is an architect and quantity surveyor; he acts as the building supervisor to ensure that anything they build gets built safely, as it should be for the safety of the re-enactors and the visiting public. Mistress Eve continued to explain how the village of Little Woodham works. "Well, Master, the only money we gets in is from the gate takings and all the Society members give their time for free, see. Then as we gets more money then we can go out and buy some more green oak beams and start another building. See, it's simple, yeah; as the money grows, so does the village. "We have a five-year plan which is nearing its end now, and part of that is to rebuild the ale house following one of the arson attacks. We have enough money now to build the green oak framework and we are starting to raise funds for the expensive thatch that will sit on top of it.
"We all muck in together with the building work or at least those with the muscle-power do and over the years we have all become self-taught with the building skills necessary to complete the project. Well, there weren't no building schools to teach us in 1642, now were there?" she chuckled. "We carry out the wattle and daub for the walls as well as the carpentry and joinery; the only professional help we needs is with the thatching." For a moment Mistress Eve took a back seat and Yvonne took over.

"During a recent discussion among the members we realised we were made up of eccentrics, mad people and a few just ordinary folk. We are not actors because we do not work to any laid-down script; we like to be referred to as re-enactors."

"There will have to be a new plan to keep us going forward as we do not plan to stagnate and the eventual village size will be determined by the size of the space here in the woods. That space is here because of the support we get from Gosport Borough Council which is wonderful." When Solent Life visited it was not really an open day, but the Society were playing host to dozens of schoolchildren. The village looked pristine and the re-enactors looked wonderful in their costumes and all were in 1642 mode. The children were literally mesmerised, some of the younger ones had also been dressed up and this was a living history lesson for them and they were enthralled. Wandering among the houses with the white walls reflecting the midday sun it truly felt as if I had stepped back in time and had entered another world that had only been in books before. I entered homes that were as they should have been in the 17th century and was fascinated by it all. I questioned Mistress Eve over one or two things and was firmly put in my place, especially when I was surprised to see a winter vegetable in the middle of June.
"Ah, well, you see, Master, this parsnip is beginning to go off a bit; you feel it and it's all soft and goin' a bit mouldy." She was well and truly back in character now. "What we does is mix it up with a bit of nut and then we serves it; now you try some - it's lovely." And it was! The 1642 Living History Village is open at some strange dates but this is because outside the village the re-enactors do all have real lives to live and a living to make. Pick one of their opening dates and go and visit Little Woodham; it is a true test of what people can achieve when they set their minds  to something and it is a great few hours of entertainment and education. If only history had been that much fun when I was at school!