Almost a year ago next week, Tony, my Aunty Mo and I went to Leeds Castle, to see my first Jousting Tournament! And the other day l realised l had not put this exciting day up on my blog!!! So l have decided to put that right and here it is..in 2 parts.
Part 1
I had always wanted to see a Jousting Tournament, they always look so exciting and lots of fun. I was right!.The day was held in the amazing grounds of Leeds Castle in Kent, England. We saw the 2.30 session...... I am so glad we came. Colour, exciting, funny, noisy....all they said it would be!
The colouful round tents below, were where the equipment was kept and also added to the atmosphere of the event.
The guy in the weird hat below and the even weirder smile, acted as a sort of Joker and rallying the crowd. Quite a character!
There were many people involved in this event, from people dressed up as Lords and Ladies, servants, stable helpers, knights and their ladies to King Henry himself!
People came to see the Event but also to see the grounds around the Castle, which are beautiful and many people bought a picnic, even though there was food available. Luckily for us..the weather was great all day! How un-typical for a British Summer!Ha!
Then some people just couldn't cope with the excitment in the air...and went to sleep!!
There were also addition attractions to support the Event, activities such as showing people how to put on Armour, use the guns and how to use the equipment each of the soldiers would use.
Also had loads of equipment on show. I had not realised that there were so many different times of helmets! Fasinating information!
Then the two men running this event, asked for two volunteers to get dressed up as soldiers on different sides. It was funny, informative and very entertaining!
There were also an area where you could have a go at Archery..luckily for most people, the animals stayed still!
As usual l found colourful characters and l couldn't resist taking images of this guy's tattoes! Obviously he is very proud of his football team!!
Another person that caught my eye, was this man with his beard plaitted!
When l was standing in one of the tents l noticed this young man with his arm in a sling. Funny isn't it that we a tradition where we write on people's plaster casts! I wonder when it starte and why? I saw him again a few minutes later and noticed this time, this particular "written" comment from his Auntie. It reads...........
as follows "My brave little soldier"!
Even going to a Mediaeval Tournament we still have to have modern conviences!!
Before the actual Tournament started, there were the gatherings of the people who would be the "Show"! There was King Henry the Eight and people from his court, all looking very realistic, colourful and very "in" character!
The image below of two small boys was priceless. The two were dressed up as knights. One had all the right kit, right sort of head covering, right plastic sword and shield but the other boy, bless his heart, had tried hard! He had a trilby hat instead of a helmet and his sword(?) was a fishing rod but who cares? They were having fun!
My next entry will be about the actual Jousting..tune in later folks!
1 comment:
This looks like so much fun. I went to fair once that attempted to do something like this. It was no where near as grand; instead it was quite a dusty affair.
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