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King's Landing Historical Settlement in New Brunswick
Rate it! Votes (0) | Comments (0) By Bob Carter Posted August 6th, 2007 Bob Carter is the author of California Travelers' Trivia: Historic and Contemporary--Fabulous Firsts, Fascinating Facts, Legendary Lore, One-of-a-Kind Oddities, Tantalizing Trivia, (2001, TwoDot)	California Travelers' Trivia: Historic and Contemporary--Fabulous Firsts, Fascinating Facts, Legendary Lore, One-of-a-Kind Oddities, Tantalizing Trivia

FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA - For six weeks in the fall of 1995, Kings Landing Historical Settlement in New Brunswick became a giant movie set. In January 1998, your PBS station presents A Midwife's Tale, filmed at the settlement. I'd like to share a few of my personal observations made during my visit. I encourage you to check your local PBS listings for dates and times of the film, prepare a tasty bowl of popcorn, and sit back and enjoy the show along with me. I was hooked the minute we drove down the twisting drive into Kings Landing located 20 minutes west of Fredericton, New Brunswick. I know it's a cliche, but it really was like driving back into time: autumn colors; blue skies; and a brisk chill filling the air.

Kings Landing Historical Settlement recreates life of the nineteenth century in a way that entertains visitors of all ages. It's a chance to step back in time when people and the community worked together to survive. During the settlement's open season, the restored homes, farms, mills, school, churches, and factory, each architecturally significant, are filled with antiques and historically accurate interpreters.

The setting on the banks of the Saint John River is breathtakingly picturesque. All Kings Landing employees are in period costume and speak in a manner depicting their particular era (different time periods are represented in the various structures in the settlement).

About The Film
The film, A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballad, tells the story of Martha Ballad, an extraordinary woman who was two centuries ahead of her time. Martha lived during the Revolutionary War. She delivered 814 babies in 27 years, spent long, dark nights nursing the sick, and prepared the dead for burial.

Martha wrote about her life and work in a diary kept between 1785 and 1812. Laurel Ulrich, a history professor at the University of New Brunswick discovered the diary in 1982 and produced a biography based on its contents.

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballad won virtually every award available for books of historical research, including the Pulitzer Prize. Film maker Laurie Kahn-Leavitt optioned the book and recruited director Richard Rogers, a Harvard University film professor to assist her in selecting a site suitable for filming the story. After scouting in New England, the pair arrived at Kings Landing Historical Settlement and declared it a perfect location for filming.

Fast Facts About Kings Landing Historical Settlement
Location: On the shores of the Saint John River 23 miles (37 km) west of the capital city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, off the Trans-Canada Highway (Route 2) at exit #259.

Season: May 30 to mid-October.

Contact: 506-363-4999; Website: www.gov.nb.ca/kingslanding

Award winning author, the late Bob Carter (Food Festivals of Texas, Food Festivals of Northern California and Food Festivals of Southern California to name but a few), was also a huge camping and RV enthusiast.

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