Time Travelling Shoppers.

Part of the Open Cambridge event over this weekend was very interesting although it rained all day. The talks were held in nearby Gt St Mary's church, so it wasn't completely spoiled by the wet weather. The theme was our local market from the Medieval Era to the Swinging Sixties. The lady on the right is a  Hippie.  The lady on the left could be a college housekeeper and the middle one is in some sort of uniform.
Some interesting facts :-  In 1330, smearmongers sold tallow. 
Butter was once sold by the yard. University officials had an iron rod to check the dimensions of each one and this custom only died out during the 1st World War, due to the butter shortage. The market place was the site of public whippings, the stocks and beheadings as the County Gaol was nearby. On 23rd of June 1626, a fishwife on Cambridge market was gutting a cod. Inside it's stomach was a tiny, half dissolved book wrapped in canvas and covered in stinking slime. The book contained three Protestant religious texts published in 1540. Finding the book inside the fish frightened the people - they thought that God had sent them a warning. In 1849 there was a great fire on the market causing shops and houses to burn down. When the chemist's went up in flames, the chemicals turned the flames into rainbow colours. On 1557, Martin Bucer was burnt on the market square, but he was already dead. Catholic Queen Mary 1 so hated his Protestant beliefs, she had his body dug up from his grave and burnt to a cinder !
There was also story- telling, a debate with some Vile Victorians and a walking tour for visitors to Cambridge. A great day out.