Bleedin' Re-Enactors!

We went to Pembroke Castle this weekend. We like Pembroke, it's a nice castle and and has a huge open space to work with.

Dream campsite.....?

I wasn't planning to go as Ugly Monster set up home in my head a couple of months ago and has been whispering my inadequacies to me since. But my best friend was going and it was to be My Boy's first time at Pembroke, so I girded my loins and packed the car and off I went.

me and my boy

me and my best mate (and tent landlord)

Wonder of wonders - the sun shone all weekend (bar a couple of big clouds), the rain stayed off, the public were very receptive and friendly, the market did great business and the fighting was very popular. We got lots of fantastic feedback from the people and had a great weekend. There is nothing so remarkable as a small modern boy looking in awe at a medieval Knight, with the Knight's sword in his little hands, while mum and dad snap away with their cameras. Or the lights going on in brains as we explain how people lived in the middle ages. Or the small boy laughing uproariously as the Sergeant at Arms 'took out his frustrations' on a suspected thief......got to love pantomine violence :-)
And the children and adults alike watching the fight with jaws dropped as swords clashed on shields and men fell......and then the traditional applause, raising them from the dead.

A chivalrous handshake between Knights

Funniest visitor was a chap who I was talking to about medieval coins, and he insisted on asking questions about the Royal Mint in the modern day - until I pointed out that my area of expertise medieval money, not the 21C stuff!

Rosaries, luvverly rosaries - get yer rosaries here!

A special mention to a lovely couple who came to see us especially. They saw us a couple of weeks ago at Kidwelly and were so impressed they came to Pembroke as well, this time with their grandson who is mad about history. When we got talking I mentioned the season was coming to an end and our next event was the last hurrah at Caerphilly with the siege engines, and the husband said 'oh, I came from round there!'.....so they are now planning to visit us for a third time in two months - we actually have fans! :-)

I am an experienced First Aider and an instructor at work, but I am still learning how to treat re-enactment injuries. Combine some horrible injuries with stubborn young men and a very comprehensive first aid kit. This time I dealt with a long gash in the scalp, a laceration of the nose, a swollen cut on the shin, a banged nose and a banged elbow. I got used to washing my friends' blood off my hands this weekend.

You know when you say something you never thought you'd hear yourself saying? I had just collected a prop from the kitchen box for the crime and punishment show and was in my tent checking my kit. I found myself saying 'Bowls over there, rosaries in my box, knife in my belt...' and then 'severed hand on my bed....' [chuckle]

cq