Weald & Downland & Nelson

Weald and Downland

This was one of the rare no-combat shows, well officially anyways. Mysteriously, my sword and shield did manage to smuggle their way into the over-packed car. Most of ØC was at the Folkestone show, but Katya, Izzy, and I had opted for the Regia one at the Weald and Downland Museum. This was an amazing site. The place is a museum for historic buildings, so every time an old building needs to be destroyed to make way for a new highway or reservoir, the site will take apart the buildings, move the pieces here, and rebuild them. There were 15th century farm houses, a Tudor market hall, 19th c school houses, churches, workshops, a working watermill and plenty of others. A few houses were outfitted with sparse furniture or other decorations, but they were mainly left as shells, mere suggestions of the lives that would have unfolded inside them.

Our small Anglo-Saxon settlement was a hive of activity, with everyone working on various crafts. We had had displays doing woodworking, writing, making fishing nets, cookings, embroidery, fire starting, antler carving etc. Katya and Amy were working on a dye display, using madder to dye Katya’s wool leg wraps in a very beautiful bright orange. They were Mike Everest approved. I had a chance to play on some medieval harps and managed to pick out a few songs. A harp might be on my ‘kit to get’ list in the near future.

Tom’s sword had also surreptitiously been packed along, so he and I had a few really good clashes until we were rudely interrupted by the singing of ‘Happy Birthday.’ Katya and Izzy had brought along a birthday present and a pan of brownies for my 26th! I got a beautiful Viking comb and a lovely evening around the fire with everyone.

I was in love with one of the houses on the site, the Bayleaf Farmstead, a 16th century Kentish cottage, which was right behind our encampment. It had been refurbished so it felt like a home as soon as you walked in. During the second day, there was a dog, Tracy, hiding under the table because she didn’t like the crop cannons, so I sat down there and petted her while chatting with the staff member. We also did a mini photoshoot, because of course we did.

Fort Nelson

This was another smaller show, Regia had a national show at Fort Nelson in Portsmouth. Now, a Victorian era fort isn’t the usual setting for a medieval battle, but why not. Rob, Katya, and I, set up our tents as the sun set over the massive fortifications and cannons. I had climbed up one of the guns to take photos, because, as Rob put it, there was mortar see.

This show had something no other show I’ve been to has has had before. Ferrets!!! There were two ferrets who were being introduced to see if they could live together. The female ferret, Merkin, had recently been rescued, and had come along to meet Leonard. I spent a good portion of both days enjoying ferret cuddles and basically keeping them occupied - or they kept me occupied- it was rather hard to tell. There was one hiccup in this loving relationship, mainly, that at one point Merkin (who had just had surgery and who’s stitches had popped so I can’t really blame her), decided to share her pain by clamping down on my finger. Apparently, I made some very amusing facial expressions for the few minutes that I could not rescue my poor digit from the furry jaws of the carpet shark. We eventually had to waterboard the ferret - which does sound like a euphemism for something - pouring a cup of water on her head so that I could once again point at things. (Photo is of the non-bitey ferret)

The fighting both days was brilliant. We’ve started doing more dramatic deaths, which, at little shows does make a big difference in the showmanship of the fights. Plus, a little bit of theatrics never hurt anyone, it just looks like it does. For the larger afternoon fights, we were viking traders, who after offering our honestly-gained wares, were horribly mistreated and robbed by the nasty Saxons, so we had to fight. On the second day, much to my and Katya’s chagrin, we had to join the Saxon side (well we had to give them a fighting chance somehow). That time, the Vikings also brought a slave, masterfully played by Roland, who turned out to be our leader’s beloved if-somewhat-cooky uncle so of course things kicked off again. I got to do another champions fight with Greg, this time the knee-to-the-face went over a bit better, mainly because it didn’t actually connect, but still looked awesome. I also managed to win a circle of honour :D

(Photos Alison Offer)

Smaller shows have a calmer pace, you can talk to more people and wander around the sites more. During the few moments when I wasn’t occupied with a ferret I was embroidering, decorating my comb, snacking, and putting on a very convincing ‘sleeping Viking display.’

While the calendar for July had seemed like it was going to be a quiet one, I’m really glad I had a chance to go along to these smaller shows.

Also, in conclusion, here’s Will introducing the ultimate after-hours Regia dad look.