Yea verily, t'was a scorching hot day of action at the castle!
Loins firmly girded (LOL) and armed with our trustiest coconut shells Kayleigh and I made off for Scarborough Castle in a quest for action and adventure... It's a pity, however, we hadn't thought to pack our sun screen. Gad zoots! 😳
I am finding it hard to avoid the Monty Python references here - 'Ni!' - but yesterday's visit to Scarborough Castle was a wonder day of knightly re-enactment that - being firmly aimed at kids young and old - was an entertaining cross between WWE and a pantomime (and if anyone can tell me the difference between those two I'd be grateful)!
Naturally, the main audience for this re-enactment was school aged kids so the 'knights' duly hammed it up a bit for them, but this was hugely appreciated by a very excited crowd. 😄
Bring Us a Shrubbery!
Scarborough Castle is a wonderful venue for these sorts of historic re-enactment evens, the central space inside the castles walls is a huge mostly empty field. The knights' encampment was created inside a mowed area surrounded by high meadow grass and despite there being plenty of space for the activities the event only took up a small portion of the enormous open castle interior!
The day commenced with a competitive display of archery by the knightly contenders and the crowd was loudly urged to pick their favourite champion for the day - Blue, Gold, Green or Red...
While the crowd enthusiastically immersed itself into the 'Robin Hood' inspired archery contest, the reenactors once soon showed that they knew exactly what their core audience really wanted and this segment of the morning was capped off with a 'nerf'-style human target competition!
The poor knights' squires had to endure a barrage of (soft-tipped) arrows shot at them in a highly amusing game of human darts! Loud cheers resulted from the audible 'klangs' as arrow struck steel helmets, much to the delight of the young spectators! 😆 [Though my daughter and I did wonder how many kids would attempt to recreate this spectacle at home later courtesy of the toy bows and arrows available in the castles shop!]
Twas Nought but a Flesh Wound!
After a lunch break - which was much appreciated due to the now blazing sun - we were onto the event that most of the crowd was champing at the bit to see - the knightly jousting!
The battling took place on foot gladiatorial style and once again the young (and young at heart) crowd were coaxed into a frenzy of partisan support of their favourite champions, with the additional of some classic pantomime villain performances by the baddy of the day... Who was soundly booed by the audience! 😅
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| Above: The Red Knight.... Booooooo, hisssss! 😆 |
The action was well enacted with plenty of bellowing and clanking of pummels against breast plate, and a good smattering of hammy villainous behaviour so as to wind up the youngsters! It was all good - safe - fun.
I should note that - by this time - the sun was at it's highest in a cloudless sky and we are all starting to wilt under the blazing heat, so I can only imagine how brutal it must have been for the performers in full armour! 😰
My father - who served in the desert in WW2 - used to tell me that it could get hot enough to fry and egg on the hull of the tanks and I'm better it was similarly sizzling on the armour of the knights.
By the end of the joust segment - as wonderfully entertaining that it was all being so far - the sun had gotten the better of us and we had to beat a hasty retreat home! There were still two segments left in the day's activities but neither of us felt like we could make it through the rest of the afternoon.
So, with much sadness, we had to say farewell to the tournament and head home for some shade and a nap! (We actually did crash out when we got home!)
It was a truly excellent day and all credit to both the re-enactors and the castle staff for soldiering on despite the merciless sun! We are looking forward to the other English Heritage summer events, but will definitely be packing plenty of water, sunscreen and taking a hat (bald men shouldn't go out in the midday sun)! Ouch!
Link to Scarborough Castle: Scarborough Castle - English Heritage
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