SethStarkaddersMum, we need to hear more about your historical camping re-enactments

[Slubberdegullion]

and the Viking ones

so we can mock you

because they sound very interesting

Were you a bawdy wench?

ooooo is there anohter Viking on here. Cool

You are getting your periods mixed up Slubber. Bawdy wenches are much more middle ages. Us Viking women owned and ran the farms and told the men what to do and we divorced them if the didn't

hahaha

On the camping quiz thread Seth mentioned she did historical re-enactments (no historical period given) and she also had a mate who did the Viking ones.

dh wants to be a Roman Centurion more than life itself so I want to find out what such camps would involve.

Hey Slubber, here I am at last, just hoping baby won't wake up before I answer your questions.

It was all part of bigger historical re-enactments/re-creations and you would generally camp normally but ultra keen people would get into the authentic camping side of things and have proper historical tents.

I used to do daily life type re-enactments but got sucked into the battle ones despite my natural pacifism, and it has to be said they are brilliant fun.

Sociologically it is all very mockable interesting as you have different groups that do different periods and are always being very superior about the groups that they consider less authentic, so for instance the English Civil War Society are always slagging off the Sealed Knot for an insufficiently purist attitude towards artificial fabrics.

I only ever did things between the 15th and 18th centuries myself but I have met Romans (the Ermine Street Guards are the main ones) and they were all a bit geeky and obsessed with the minute authenticity of their kit and drill, and didn't have very much daily life re-enactment going on, just the military stuff. They were also very strict about only letting people join if they were the right height etc for the actual Roman army, whereas other groups are much more chilled about eg letting women be soldiers.

The scariest re-enactors I ever met were some people that dressed up as Nazis

in general, the question about what it involves:
-it involves spending more money than you can afford on costume, bits of kit, etc
-it involves dressing your children up and them looking extraordinarily cute
-it involves long drives to meet-ups, musters, re-creations held at lovely country houses etc
-it is brilliant fun and you make really good friends

Aha! here you are! I thought I had offended you.

You know I think I could actually get into this. I quite like dressing up. You don't have to put on funny accents do you? Or drink mead? I hate mead.

I'm not sure about doing battles either. Can you just pootle about in costume making a heart stew over the fire?

Do you have to actually buy all your stuff? Is there a historical re-enactment venture like eurocamp and you can just go along and do the dressing up and pretending?

I fear dh is in for heart break. I'm fairly sure he is not regulation height to be a centurion

hearty stew, although I'm sure in days of yore there would have been heart stews [valvey]

a good article - the bits towards the end are probably the most helpful.

it would be very easy to get involved - people who do it are always very scarily evangelical about it. Probably the best thing would be to go along to some event as a member of the public and get chatting to the people there. Usually you do have to provide your own costume and other basic kit but you can sometimes get people to lend you things to start off with, and some of the military groups supply armour etc.
what period would you be interested in doing?

(oh, I've just seen there are loads of re-enactor forums online, which didn't exist when I used to do it )

sigh DH hates dressing up so my opportunities for getting involved again are currently rather limited.
There are a couple of folk museums near us that have fabulous reconstructed buildings which they sometimes get re-enactors in on Bank Holidays etc and I just yearn to be in there in a long woolly skirt cooking things over the fire.

oh, re doing funny accents - there are some groups which do this but most don't. Mead is not compulsory but tbh I don't know what re-enactors mostly drink these days - in my day it was mostly cider (Merrydown for preference)....

sigh again.
I spent a very happy Easter when I was 17 working in a 17th century kitchen with this person.

Thanks for that link. Will have a good read through later. Yes good idea about going along to one first. Is that what usually happens, that they are open to the public?

They have a mini one at the ampitheatre in Chester now and again, dh's eyes always light up. The gladiatorial fights are deeply rubbish and highly hysterical (particularly when someone gets over excited and clobbers his opponent with his fake sword too hard and a member of the St Johns Ambulance comes running on with his bag and his hat).

I have no idea what period I would be interested in. Something very basic without many gizmos or gadgetry (gcse history only). I'd put money on dh wanting to do some sort of fighting though.

Being in a reconstructed building sounds fun. Cider also sounds fun

ooooooh 17th century kitchen also sounds cool

This reminds me of when my sister was at university - she joined a group called the Dark Age Warriors. They used to dress up as Celts and Saxons and fight each other. My sister was a Celt.

If you work in a 17th Century kitchen, do you have to use a 17th century toilet too?

we didn't that time.
sometimes there is an authentic replica toilet that someone has built but you're not allowed to use it because of health and safety
Naturally this is a source of great frustration to the re-enactors who simply long to use it.

I'm not sure I'd be queueing up for it!

yes mostly they are open to the public but there is usually quite a bit of time before you open/after you shut when you are just pottering around being historical and drinking cider.

I was just wondering how people know what accents everyone had in days of yore....

maybe you should find out who does the ones at Chester and if it's someone other than the Ermine Street Guard there may be opportunities for being Roman. I should imagine the clothes would be pretty easy. Do you sew?

I do not sew . But I'm sure if I put my mind to it I could cobble together some sort of peasanty sack and cinch it in at the waist with a rough bit of authentic barky twine.

lol at health and safety loo

The Romans in Chester I'm quite sure are not fanatics. They wear glasses for a start.

slubber, it sounds as though you may be needing this

we are about to book, can't decide if one day or both as we are quite a drive away.

dusty that is EXACTLY what I want. That looks totally fantastic. You are a complete star, thank you so much for linking that.

you're welcome .

I shall keep an eye out for someone cinched with twine and carrying delta pegs.

Have just shown dh the link. His eyes lit up and his toes were doing the little curls of joy. I think we shall camp somewhere near (traditional camp mind, with the delta pegs natch) and go and have a look at the 1000 re-enactors.

SoMuch, no romans in the house. DH does have 2 or 3 centurions, a roman horse and a barbarian on his desk at work .

Lol at your dh having Playmobil at work - mine wouldn't be seen anywhere near the stuff (although he has been mildly amused by the Playmo election).

Hope you enjoy your camping - do your dcs share your enthusiaism for camping and historical re-enactments?

Hiya SoMuch - I did enjoy your playmobil election thread v much.

Yes dh has a minature battle scene in his room somewhere. He says it's up on a shelf but I suspect sometimes he gets them down at lunch for a little play. Whenever we go to his parents' house the GIANT box of playmo knights comes down and he attempts to instruct the girls on how one should defend a castle properly. Much going on.

The dds love camping. I have yet to show them a re-enactment. I suspect they will be attracted to the dressing up angle and the battles not so much

Thanks slubber! I have posted a couple of new pictures on my profile today (with reference to the election results thread).
Our ds also likes camping, but isn't particularly into the knights/castles etc. He prefers emergency services and transport-related themes - although he could be persuaded to buy some Romans and knights for the riot shields.

Dh on the other hand thinks we have far too much Playmobil - how can he be so wrong?