Sunday 10 August 2014

Weekend of Mayhem!

We've certainly packed it in this weekend! On Saturday we took a trip into Sussex. Anybody recognise this view...

 

 

Senlac Hill anyone? Imagine an Anglo Dane shieldwall stood on the hill with William's cavalry charging the left flank and a rain of Norman arrows dropping from the sky... This place has became very famous indeed.

 

 

Whilst the true facts surrounding Harold's death will forever remain a mystery, his reign as King of England most certainly came to an end on 14th October 1066.

 

 

There's something that makes the hair tingle when you walk around one of the most famous battlefields in the world. Looking at the site now, with its rather tame terraced hill and crumbling abbey, it's difficult to imagine the ferocity of the battle that took place all those years ago. Although English Heritage (who now manage the site) had no re-enactments organised during our visit, a chance glimpse of a sign earlier in the week revealed that The Free Men of the Blean were holding an event at Druidstone on Sunday. Fortunately for us this is just up the road from where we live (close to Canterbury).

 

Despite poor weather Sunday morning (the tail end of Hurricane Bertha would you believe), the afternoon proved bright and sunny. Vicious Norse Vikings have invaded Kent, even going so far as to set up winter camps on the Isles of Sheppy and Thanet. After successfully landing they sent raiding parties inland, where they found a lightly defended village...

 

 

The Viking berserker was a bit lethal with his Dane axe...

 

 

Luckily, the Anglo Saxon reinforcements arrived just in time.

 

 

It was certainly action packed!

 

 

As the Hirdmen charged, who was stood facing them in the shieldwall?

 

 

Mighty Kyle!

 

Well not really... What a great afternoon though, we really enjoyed the battle and talked with the participants afterwards learning all about the correct use of spears, shields and of course the awesome Dane Axe.

 

 

My own Anglo Dane warlord doesn't look quite so impressive now...

 

 

5 comments:

  1. Nonsense! Your Warlord looks fine. I probably will never get a chance to visit so thanks for sharing the photos of the reenactment and the battleground.

    Cheers
    Kevin

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    1. Thanks Kevin. There are quite a few important historical sites in Kent and Sussex. Bigbury Camp (where Caesar first encountered Celts) is located in the woods just outside Canterbury. I'm hoping to post a few more photos of various locations over the next few weeks.

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  2. Looks like a very cool weekend. Great action shots! :)

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Will. There was certainly a lot of action! One of the actors was missing half of his front tooth, whilst another had a shield with a hole. The hole having been made by a Dane Axe, that also broke one of his ribs!

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  3. Hmm, can you form a shieldwall when on your own? I suppose that if anyone can do it then Mighty Kyle can!

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