If I could go back in time I'd love to visit the world of the Tudors. It would be fascinating to mix with the London crowds and watch King Henry VIII setting out on his summer progress accompanied by his favourite courtiers and his household servants. Or to see Queen Anne Boleyn passing by on the way to her coronation at Westminster Abbey.

But what challenges would I face in going back 400 years? I wonder how well I would be able to understand sixteenth century English? Would I like eating Tudor food off a wooden trencher? Would I find wearing Tudor clothes and shoes terribly uncomfortable? And how would I adjust to living in Tudor houses with very little in the way of furniture?

Life for the average Tudor man or woman was very hard - it was no wonder that there was so much competition to serve in the royal household where your livery and meals were provided for free.

I wonder what the best thing about living in Tudor times would turn out to be - perhaps it would be the chance to see the last of the great medieval forests before they were cut down to build the royal navy? Henry VIII adored hunting and riding in the forests. I wonder what it would be like to join him on a picnic expedition and see him talking with his friends, composing a song or listening to a musician play the lute?