Overview 2012

Last year was a quieter one for many re-enactors, due to financial constraint in the market. However despite the poor economy, 2013 looks like it will be a busy year.
Looking back, we had great fun attending events around the country. We started the year off at the Yorvic Viking festival, as usual. A chilly but large event set in York, ending with a spectacular firework display. After the spring training weekend near Ashby-de-la-Zouch we went to Greenwich to commemorate 1,000 years since the martyrdom of St Aelfage. There was a significant ecclesiastical presence for this event & we were honoured with a visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Conroi de Vey joined Conquest at the Chiltern open air museum for a later period show over the May bank holiday weekend. The following weekend was a lot closer to home with the annual bring & buy sale for re-enactors at Rufford Abbey. This is quite a low key event for us, with a small LHE & some military training.
The national show at Whitby was closely followed by our local village event, held on the site where we often train.
We set up at Kelmarsh, but the rains came & the site was flooded. Some poor folk woke up to find that they'd apparently camped in a stream, with their kit floating around in the tents & across the field. Quite a disaster, with the event being cancelled & alot of unhappy people.
Our next show was a local one at Newark castle. This is a multiperiod event in a good setting in the castle grounds next to the Trent.
We joined up with Conquest again for a show at Hawkestone in Shropshire. An interesting & delightful setting, with a few competitions to spice up the August bank holiday weekend.
The end of September found us back in Sherwood forest for the Sherwood through time. It is alway a pleasure to return to the forest as a magical place for us to stay.
October saw us down on the south coast at Hastings for the battle re-enactment. Large numbers of people gather for this event from over Europe & further afield. Despite the rain & soggy field the event took place on the Saturday, but the ground was so poor that the Sunday event was called off, a real shame as this would have been the anniversary of the battle. My main consolation was that it gave me time to meet up & have a natter with Helen Hollick, a lovely lady & enthralling author.
Our season ended with the Robin Hood pageant at Nottingham castle. Always damp & chilly, but great fun at a more relaxed show, with lots of other entertainment happening.
All we had to do then was dry out our kit for 2013!

Nottingham Castle show

Due to the launch of the new Robin Hood film (starring Russell Crowe), Nottingham city council decided to make May their Robin Hood month. Subsequently we were quite busy at various events throughout the month, culminating in a national Regia show at the castle.  To fit in with Robin Hood, our dateline was much later than usual, being 1190s. This enabled our norman ladies to wear their fashionable droopy sleeved dresses. 

It also meant that we were joined by some friends depicting a Knight Templar & a Knight

 Hospitaler (the green cross depicting that he works with lepers). 

He is holding a turkish style mace/club, which Trevor turned on his pole lathe at the beginning of the show.

In the morning, a series of one on one tourneys were held. This was a new type of competitive fight for us as they were marshalled, with points being awarded. 

The winners then fighting against each other in an elimination contest. 

As usual we had the wic set up, cooking on some days, with 

pre-cooked meat pies & other cold dishes on others. When not cooking, folk kept busy with craft work, or catching up on gossip (or even discussing things of great portent!). An exhibition of items from the film was on display in the castle, as you can see from the poster in the background.

In the afternoon we had a Robin Hood themed display in the arena, with Will Scarlet & Guy of Gisborne verbally & then physically abusing each other.

A masses fight was then staged.  Debs & Jamie valiantly helped block a boar snout attack by the opposition.

In the aftermath there will always be a few bodies & Sarah played the part of the grieving widow to good effect.

At the end of the day we gathered together for a Regia group photograph, before packing up & heading off home, tired but happy.

St Ives

We had a lovely setting for the St Ives show, alongside the river in a pleasant meadow. Sadly the weather wasn't of the same caliber, and the Saturday was particularly wet & cold. However, it improved after that & by the May bank holiday Monday, we had a bit of sunshine, even if still chilly in the shade. 

The proximity of the river meant that we could row one of our new ships down to the 

site, giving Regia members chance to examine its sleek lines & construction. 

There was sufficient space for the horses to be deployed. After showing the development of the mounted knight over a couple of centuries, some 

horseback skills were demonstrated before mounted combat ensued.

The warriors of Regia then had their chance to display their skills in the arena, with some line fighting. The mounted knights continued their own battle.

Trevor donned his ecclesiastical robes to bless the men and give absolution to the dying.

We had the chance to do some more woad dyeing on the Sunday. Hanging round the fire was a popular pastime!

Doing a 3 day show is always good as it enables the group to settle into the lifestyle more. After all, we're there to try & feel what it was like to live in that way, a thousand years ago.

Robin Hood Pageant

We spent the week running up to the Robin Hood Pageant avidly watching the weather forecast. In the end, the weather was about as good as it gets for the end of October. It was a bit blustery, but not too cold & only a few light showers on the Saturday. 

The show is run by the council at Nottingham castle to coincide with half term. There are all sorts of traders, musicians, storytellers, craftworkers and folk like us making up the 'village' as well as displays in the arena from jesters, jousters, men at arms & the like. Our dateline is around 1193 to coincide with Richard the Lionheart's return from captivity after going on crusade.

We pitched the tents on the Friday afternoon, ready for an early start on the Saturday. We soon got a fire lit & were cooking the usual bacon & sausages for breakfast. Once that was all done, our cook could start her work. She researches food from the period & then proceeds to produce wonderfully authentic fare from over the fire. (We had meatballs one day then lamb with apricots the next, as well as lots of accompaniments). 

We were joined by some friends in other groups of Regia Anglorum, who helped with the tasks  needed to put on a show. We were allocated two slots in the arena each day. This year we decided to have a tussle between the earl of Leicester (loyal to King Richard) & the earl of Nottingham (one of Prince John's men). After some heated discussion as to whose men were best, they decided to decide the matter by combat. However, the earl of Leicester's men were rather off colour & didn't fight particularly well. Leicester's men then spotted a woman in Nottingham's camp (referred to as 'the old hag'), who had been seen in their kitchens. She was accused of poisoning their men to ensure defeat. Needless to say the Nottingham camp refuted this & defended her. More fighting! Gary did a fine job with the commentary & got the crowd shouting for Nottingham, Leicester, &, at one point, even the old hag! On the Sunday we had a shire reeve trying to see fair play, but only just succeeding.

Josh brought his film crew up from his university & they were around all weekend, filming various aspects of the event. We await the end result with anticipation! 

All too soon, the weekend drew to a close & we were packing up again. Due to the clocks going back overnight, it was dark by the time we'd finished, so the last check round was done by torchlight!