Herstomonceux Medieval Festival

At 10.30 on the 25th August, we all met up under the shade of an oak tree opposite the tea-rooms for our first gig of the festival. It was already hot and we had no idea how much hotter it was going to get.



We drummed until the procession halted some way up the road from us and we were given the signal to stop, then stayed quiet until all the horses passed by. When they were about 100 yards up the road, we started again and stepped into the road in front of the soldiers. They looked wonderful with the sunlight shining on their polished armour, and we led the knights through the smelly horse droppings, through thousands of spectators, past the castle and the Buxom Wench, and then turned left into a field. After doing a circle through all the stalls selling medieval wares and clothing, we returned to the castle and drummed until the battle began. So far so good.



At 12.30 when the battle was over, we played outside the castle and although the crowd had thinned out we still had a large appreciative audience. When we finished, we all went our separate ways to get some lunch.



By 2.30 we were back at the tree again for the afternoon procession, and the heat was almost unbearable. It would have been hot enough in normal clothes, but as we were all covered from heat to foot and wearing several layers we were sweating before we even started drumming. We navigated our way through the horse droppings, past the Buxom Wench, and into the field again, but this time we went right across the field to the entrance to the next one. We lined up on both sides of the path and carried on drumming as the knights approached. Suddenly there was a thud as Greg hit the ground. We stopped at once and waited anxiously to see if he was alright. Luckily he was, and came around a few minutes later after having some water. Then Nicky took him to Heather and Gary's stall to have a rest and recover.



Half an hour later we were on again, but the heat was taking its toll on all of us and we weren't at our best. When we finished it was a relief to get some shade, and another drink.



On Sunday it was the same routine, but this time Anya fainted.



Nobody fainted on Monday, which was a bonus.



When the public left at 6 each day, the place took on an entirely different life. The stalls closed up, the horses went to the fields, and everybody let their hair down. Most of the evening's activities centred around the Buxom Wench. On Friday night it was Angels and Devils fancy dress and a live band, Saturday was Cowboys and Indians, then on Sunday there was cricket outside, followed by fire dancers in the evening. There was also a spot of impromptu drumming near the castle from Greg, Anya, Claw and friends, which lasted until somebody asked them to stop so the band in the pub could play. With everybody on site meeting there at some point each night for food and drink, making new friends and greeting old ones, it was a very friendly place to spend some time.



The prettiest sight had to be the castle which looked fabulous in the light of the full moon, with mist hovering over the moat. And the funniest sight was when a group of knights who had been marching into battle, suddenly started dancing as they went past us on their way into the field.



Despite the heat it was a fantastic weekend with good drumming, good crowds, and good friends. Roll on next year.