Kenilworth Castle, May 6th-7th 2012

A most enjoyable weekend with the Beaufort Companye at the beautiful Kenilworth Castle.

Herbal remedies for all ills

the camp kitchen in full swing

Spot the ball (where did that football go to?)

Mounted swordplay

The end of a busy day

With thanks to Gary Jones for the photographs in this post

Richmond Castle April 21-22nd 2012

A fun weekend celebrating St. Georges day with our good friends the Gloucester Household. 



A celebration day in the village

Enter the evil saracen

St. George drives the Saracen away

But then, just when they thought the day couldn't get any worse.........

but St. George and his noble steed return to save the day

 

and they all live happily ever after (except the Dragon and the evil Saracen).

With many thanks to Andy Essex for the photographs in this post.

Warwick Castle, Easter 2012.

Horses Boreas, Connie and Coco had a fun time on their first holiday of the year camping on their own private island.  Pictures will be added when we find some!

Beeston Castle - 20th-21st August 2011

The time was August 1480; John & Margaret Nesfield had invited their friends & fellows also in the service of The Duke of Gloucester to celebrate Lammas with them. There was Music, Dancing, Games & Competitions together with displays of Horsemanship, Martial Prowess & Feasting.

The weather was kind to us, and we enjoyed camping in the splendid setting of Beeston Castle.   Our friends the Gloucester Household provided a splendid living history encampment, with a variety of activities and weapons displays throughout the day.  A feast of spit roasted duck with strawberry sauce, fine cheeses, and a whole raft of medieval dishes was prepared (and quickly devoured).

The Nesfield fighting men gave a fine display of swordsmanship showing how to win a swordfight (by fair means or foul).

The highlight of the show was the slaying of a fiery dragon by St. George himself, and the rescue of a damsel in distress.

Music and dancing was provided throughout by Medieval Musicians Richard and Elizabeth York, on a vast array of medieval instruments.

With thanks to John Rowbotham for the photographs in this post.

Bromham Charity Medieval Day, 22nd May 2011.

John Nesfields Retinue and friends gathered at Bromham Village Green for a fund raising afternoon of medieval activities in aid of Elisabeth Curtis Riding for the Disabled.

The afternoon began with a demonstration of bill drill from the foot Soldiers of the Gloucester Household, followed by a chance for the local youngsters to join up and become foot soldiers.








The visitors were then served lunch in the village hall, during which they were entertained with medieval music. 









Next came mounted skill at arms - with new horse Coco making her debut appearance alongside old hands Boreas, Contessa and Sahara.

"Have a go Archery" proved very popular with the visitors, who also sampled medieval pastries and sweets, watched beeswax candles being made and handled various weapons and armour.

 The highlight of the afternoon was the joust, fought between Dominic Sewell and Martyn Smith, who both made some spectacular breaks, riding in extremely difficult conditions due to the high winds.

Many thanks to all who participated in this worthwhile and enjoyable afternoon:

Tina, Mark and Zahara,
Dominic and Nicola, Briar and Hawthorn,
The foot soldiers and ladies of the Gloucester Household,
The ladies, gentlemen and horses of John Nesfield's Retinue.

Thanks go to Louis Richardson for the photographs in this post.

Warwick Castle - Easter 2011

Arriving At Warwick Castle on a beautiful thursday evening we set up camp, along with the rest of the households from Livery and Maintenance.

Each of the four days was packed with activities both on camp and inside the Castle;  bill drill, archery, fire power demonstrations and battles.

In the Nesfield camp Paul ran hands on weaponry displays, Kevin demonstrated his artistic abilities, Julie and Eve spent time repairing garments and producing all manner of points, pouches and lucet cords.  Gary completed the leatherwork on his long-awaited maille standard.  Claire spent time between candle dipping as well as cooking, which was much appreciated by all.

During the battle each day Martyn riding Contessa seemed to take a dislike to Captain Ben and ran him down each day, at the gallop, with a Lance.  Whilst Ben was being skewered, Kevin, Will and Gary took part in the battle as archers.  Miranda did a grand job of keeping all the beasts (two and four legged) under control all weekend.

Horses Boreas and Contessa (shown here posing with Martyn and Leslie in front of Warwick's magnificent trebuchet) were delighted to be taken on their first "holiday" of the year.  The rest of the group, likewise, were happy to meet up for the first event of the season and spent the evenings socialising over curry and beer.

The event was well attended by the public, who enjoyed the re-enactment alongside some new attractions offered by Warwick Castle.

With thanks to Mark Tarver from the Clarence Household  for the photographs in this post.

Kenilworth Castle August Bank Holiday 2010

What an event.  We could not have hoped for a more pleasant close to the season.  We set up camp on a glorious friday evening, and enjoyed a spectacular sunset over the beautiful grounds of Kenilworth Castle.   Horses Boreas and Contessa were overjoyed to find that their holiday home for the weekend provided an abundance of lush green grass - something which has been in short supply due to the dry weather this year.  Saturday was spent in the final planning and rehearsing of Sunday and Monday's events.

This was a multi period event, and we (with our fellow member groups from Livery and Maintenance) were accompanied by Normans, Tudors and English Civil War Soldiers.  Despite limited access to the venue, setting up, packing down, and the coordination of arena events ran like a well oiled machine, thanks to the efforts of English Heritage event organisers Charlie Fear and Helen Budd. 

Our arena displays consisted of a display of mounted hunting skills, and training young horses for joust and battle.   A fierce contest at hunting skills was fought between Ladies Margaret and Cicely on the second day, with Lady Cicely victorious. 

Frank the boar, now fully recovered from his exploits in Scarborough ventured into the arena only to be speared with a javelin, knocked down with a lance, and then attacked by a visiting dog!  The use of the warhammer and mace was demonstrated on an unfortunate watermelon, with spectacular consequences (Much to the delight of the grooms - who got to sample an unusual delicacy for 15th Century Englishmen).

 

On camp we provided "show and tell" demonstrations of crossbow and polearms, our smaller visitors tried our armour, sallets and padded jacks for size which gave their Mums and Dads some nice photo opportunities.  The various stages of construction of a maille standard (a protective neck piece worn by archers and billmen) were shown.

The visitors enjoyed listening to and learning about medieval music and instruments, including hurdy gurdy, gemshorn, recorders and psaltery.  

  

Boreas and contessa, when not taking part in the arena displays, stayed on camp to lap up all the attention lavished on them by their grooms and the visitors.

So until next season, it's goodbye from John Nesfield's Retinue, Boreas Contessa and poor old Frank.  We hope you have enjoyed following our adventures this year.  We'll be adding new photographs to the galleries soon, and listing our events for next year - so do keep checking the website regularly.

Please keep in touch:

Contact us

Thanks to Maddy and Anthony Gunn for the photographs in this post.

Battle of Bosworth 21st-22nd August 2010

Boreas and Contessa took a well earned rest this weekend, staying at home whilst their riders forsook the saddle in order to enjoy a weekend of living history, crafts and socialising.

We devoured superb meals cooked from period recipes, including beef cooked with wine and dried fruits, buttered vegetables seasoned generously with fennel seeds, pot roasted pork, and rice pudding.  Yum.

We spent a productive weekend producing fingerloop braids, heddle woven braid made into garters, leatherwork, maille making and basketry.

We enjoyed visiting the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre,  to see the latest archeological finds.  This exhibition seems to get better every year,  thanks to the dedicated staff and enthusiastic local metal detectorists.  Access to such information as this really brings the past alive for us and spurs our enthusiasm for reenactment.

Looking forward to meeting up again next weekend at Kenilworth Castle, where Boreas and Contessa will compete in the Skill at Arms contest.

Scarborough Castle, 24th-25th July 2010

John Nesfield's Retinue attended a fantastic event at Scarborough Castle, where we played the role of a noble household, set in the early Fifteenth Century, so a slight diversion from our normal period.  Much frenzied dressmaking thus preceded the event to ensure that our clothing was appropriate. 

Lord and Lady Nesfield enjoyed being waited on hand and foot by the servants. 

Ladies Margaret and Jane once again excelled in skill at arms.

Boreas and Contessa, as always, enjoyed their holiday, and especially their spot in the limelight where they played the role of young horses being trained to hunt, joust and battle.

Thanks to Louis Richardson for the photos in this post.

Lincoln Castle - May 22nd-23rd 2010

We said we would have sunshine - and we did!

An excellent weekend was had by all in a lovely location.  The castle grounds housed a large living history encampment with the member households of Livery and Maintenance, with a wide variety of activities and items to be seen.

Horses Contessa and Boreas were not with us this weekend, but they did contribute generously to the building of a medieval kiln, built by Sir William Gascoigne's Fellowship, made of a willow frame surrounded by clay mixed with straw and horse dung.

Nesfield's activities were cleaner and sweeter smelling - including painting, embroidery, leather work, rush hat making, making lucet cord and candle dipping as well as a weaponry display, archery and participation in arena displays.

An excellent social weekend as well, catching up with old friends, reminiscing on our exploits in Archeon historical theme park in Holland, and enjoying a trip to the local Mexican restaurant on Saturday evening.

Thanks to Louis Richardson for the pictures in this post.