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The idea of time travel is an old British preoccupation, from H.G. Wells’s 1895 novel to the seemingly immortal television series “Doctor Who,†which first aired in 1963, the year before I was born. Although I didn’t travel by Tardis or encounter any murderous Daleks, returning to my native land last month felt more than usually like a “Doctor Who†episode.
It was partly the bucolic pleasures of the Chalke Valley History Festival in Wiltshire that felt like time travel. It’s a medieval fair, complete with tents and amusements, but with the main business a series of talks by historians of more or less all persuasions.
There is something uniquely British about sitting talking about the historical precedents for a war in Eastern Europe while in the background battle re-enactors march past, dressed up for the Battle of Waterloo, bearded blacksmiths demonstrate the craft of armor manufacture and a 19th-century steam-driven tractor roars into life. The verdant fields provide an idyllic backdrop. From a distance, with your glasses off, the cluster of cream-colored tents recalls Henry V’s camp on the eve of Agincourt.
“Nothing like this is possible in Germany,†said an enthused visitor from that country. Considering how much Second World War hardware and paraphernalia there was on display, that’s probably just as well. A Japanese television producer looked equally amazed to see such an unabashed celebration of a country’s past. Yet the real time travel began even before I had set off for Salisbury, the nearest town to the festival — with the announcement of three days of strike action by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, or RMT.
—Bloomberg