Visit to Ordsall Hall 27th Oct

Again, a very successful visit organised by Mary and we were blessedwith fine,warm, sunny weather and strolled from one door to another when moving from the main hall to the star room, which was a bedroom.
There were a few items of 14th Century furniture displayed in the Hall, Star Room and kitchen.
A beautiful table has been loaned by the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has melon legs and carved on the front is a dragon and the carving also depicts the Lancashire and Yorkshire Rose. One on the tailof the dragon and the other at the other end of the dragon shape.
In the Star Room, we were shown a cot which pulled out from beneath the four poster bed. The small children were wrapped in blankets like a cacoon to protect them from the bugs and vermin and the cot was then pushed back under the bed. Hence, children could be seen, but not heard.
Should visitors pass through the Hall as visitors, they would be given Food and Board. The food would be placed on a wooden platter with a small indentation on one side for salt. The salt was passed around in the form of a solid brick and the visitor would scrape some off with his knife. The board would be any flat surface, such as the top of a chest, table, wardrobe or cupboard. Perhaps this was the origination of the term Lodgings.
In the Kitchen we saw a bread oven fixed into the wall and a huge fireplace which could be walked into. There was also a spit which worked on gravity, a most ingenious contraption.
Various herbs hung from the ceiling and there was a fair sample of herbs and spices on a table and the shelves of a dresser.
There was a sample of a woven bee hive and eel basket in the dairy and a number of pot containers for liquids, very similar to those we saw in the Roman Exhibition in the Manchester Museum.
The visit finished with a very pleasant hot drink and biscuits, all in all, a very nice outing.
Elaine.