Carisbrooke Castle clashes

Sorry about the aliteration in the title. Right then this report is being written 3 weeks after this event. It was impossible to write a report immediately after this tourney as we went pretty much directly from Carisbrooke to Kenilworth so no time was spent in front of a keyboard.  This was a three day tourney loads to write about, but I will try and keep it brief.

"To the Island!" Sir Edward & Sir Robert deploy Rock Star Hair and head for Carisbrooke.

This event really started on the Monday. We agreed to help EH with their promotion for the event. A group of us all crossed to the island on the same ferry, Red Funnel's Red Eagle. Sir Robert, Sir Henry and I all wore our harness and we were accompanied by two ladies of the Duchess' retinue too. 

Driving a van in full harness is quite amusing, but to the tune of Princes of The Universe by Queen we drove onto the ferry and spent the crossing chatting with the other passengers and distributing leaflets. We also had the opportunity to get on the bridge and meet the crew. this was great way to start the week. Much thanks to the Captain & crew of the Red Eagle.

Sir Edward in the driving seat

Sir Edward, Sir Henry, & Sir Robert on the bridge of the Red Eagle

Some of the Knights' Tourney sailing out of Southampton.

So onto the tourney itself. Carisbrooke is a brilliant venue for this event (with the exception of the REALLY tight entrance through the castle gateway. Apparently castle designers didn't have Long Wheel Base Transit vans in mind when they designing castles. The event was on the 'Bowling Green' a 16th century addition to the castle.it provides a great arena and a nice sheltered area for the Living History village.

Day one was very busy over 2000 vistors came and watched the mayhem. This was a good day for us. Not only did we get to fight and entertain a huge crowd, we also spent the day shooting a segment for the BBC local news, which was great fun. Although there were many holiday makers at the castle there were many locals. The fighting was furious. The squires shot well in the early archery contest, the crests fell a plenty (mine especially, I was rather distracted by my daughter on the back of TV presenter, well that's my excuse) Sir Robert and Sir Adrian were on excellent form. The 
club melee was brutal, and somehow I managed to come out on top, but only by a point or so. The Duchess awarded extra points to Sir Henry of the South, and no matter how much Rock Star hair was used, this day the southerners screamed their lungs out. SO Tuesday won by the Red knight. 

The BBC South news carried out segment which apparently had the ferry companies fully booked for the following two days. Wednesday saw a reversal of fortunes for me. My daughter was no longer on the back of a tv presenter and I was able to concentrate on the job in hand. my squire again gave me a good start and although Sir Robert, in particular did very well in the crest melee I came out very well, especially after winning the four way bout.  This meant that I had a commanding lead and boy did the other let me know it, the first club melee saw every one not in blue lay into us, that was heavy going and in no time I was out.  However my lead was such that the second bout went better for me which meant that on Wednesday Sir Edward (That's me that is) was a run away winner. Huzzah!
Wednesday evening saw a team excursion to the greatest attraction the Isle of Wight can boast (afterr us of course) we went to Waltzing Waters in Ryde. For those who know, do not spoil it for the uninitiated.:0)

After an evening of R&R we were ready for Thursday. A slight change for this one. We decided that we would each represent a point of the Isle of Wight. Sir Robert was from the east, Bembridge, Sir Adrian the West, Freshwater, Sir Henry the south, Ventnor and me, Sir Edward the north, Cowes. 
The day went well it was pretty close, the crowd was far more evenly spread. Even so I still got absolutely steam rolled in the club melees. and it went down to a cheer for the victor. East versus west. And the dashing Young Sir Robert won on his last day with the tour. 

The Living History Encampent from the Castle walls

Sir Edward's Pavillion

The washerwomen

This was a terrific event. We packed most stuff Thursday but didn't leave til Friday and headed off to Kenilworth for the finale event.  The following photos are not of blokes belting each other we managed planty of those this summer. They are of our LH camp a crucial part of the event and filled with expert Living Historians who cover many areas of life in the 15th century from how a knight gets armoured to how he gets his shirts washed.

So Thanks to all at Carisbrooke, can't wait to come back. Hopefully in 2013.