It has not escaped the good folk of Swords and Spindles that 2020 marks 400 years since 102 souls, along with 30 crew, left these shores for a life in the New World. We are proud to be part of a wonderous line-up of folk at an International Mayflower Conference in Plymouth in August.
It is 1670. You will meet our characters, in a slightly adapted guise, as they mull over the events of the fifty years since the Mayflower set sail. What a time it has been, with plague, fire, witch trials and conflict, to say nothing of a king losing his head. Our folks’ lives back in England have not been uneventful, Francis Holyoke trades in salt cod and tobacco. A much travelled man, he was in Essex at the time of the Witchfinder General and in London during the plague and Great Fire. Master Christopher, a ship-board barber surgeon, late of the port of Bideford, saw service with Prince Maurice during the Civil War. He and his goodwife Agnes have but lately come to Plymouth, a city that has seen many changes over the past half-century. Although trade is flourishing, there has been much unrest in Bideford of late, with disputes betwixt those who perceive different routes to heaven. In recent times too, there have been rumblings about witches, best that Master Christopher takes Mistress Agnes to reside in Plymouth, before her dispensing of herbal remedies gets her into trouble.
We will be more than pleased to take this presentation to other venues and are now accepting bookings for September 2020 onwards.
Swords and Spindles Living History 