Large Civil War Re-enactment, Newstead Abbey

MadWoman

MadWoman

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In case anyone is interested, there is a large English Civil War re-enactment taking place at Newstead Abbey near Nottingham next Sunday and Monday (25th & 26th Aug). Battles with muket, pike, artillery and cavalry, plus large living history and displays. As usual I will be riding in the Parliamentarian Cavalry, so do feel free to come and say hello.
 
lol, just made a thread for this - I'll ask it be deleted - I was just searching on sealed knot so didn't spot it!!

I'll be down Sunday so I'll keep an eye out for a madwoman on a horse, although approaching strange armed women asking them if they're madwoman could be fun :eek:

Thanks for the info though :)
 
I should be around on the Sunday too, ill be keeping an eye open for a friend who is participating in the battle :)
 
John, head for the riders with helmets rather than floppy hats, and most of them know who MadWoman is - they all definitely know me as Sue. I am the, er..., larger lady rider!

It is possible I will stand down one day (if we have more riders than horses), in which case I will get the camera out. If it is Sunday, how could I spot you both? I will have a 7D with a 100-400 and be wearing a dark blue polo shirt with a gold Waller's Horse motif.

Have to say it would be great to see some good cavalry photos (hint hint, nudge nudge!).
 
MadWoman said:
John, head for the riders with helmets rather than floppy hats, and most of them know who MadWoman is - they all definitely know me as Sue. I am the, er..., larger lady rider!

It is possible I will stand down one day (if we have more riders than horses), in which case I will get the camera out. If it is Sunday, how could I spot you both? I will have a 7D with a 100-400 and be wearing a dark blue polo shirt with a gold Waller's Horse motif.

Have to say it would be great to see some good cavalry photos (hint hint, nudge nudge!).
Click to expand...

PS I also have long hair in a ponytail.
 
lol, I sould wear a white carnation :)

Not that its much help but I'll be the bald fat guy with way too expensive a camera, a poor harassed looking wife with two kids either hanging off us or running around like loonies!! (they're six and two).

I will pop by as my daughter would die to get close to a horse (or go really shy and hide!)

What I will do though is have a rake through my clean t shirts and find a clean one and put it aside, although this is almost like co-ordinating a wardrobe, nothing I've ever tried before :eek:
 
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hehe, I just mentioned this all to my wife and she suggested the bright orange star wars tshirt... erm perhaps not!
 
I would certainly spot you in that! We are going to have a couple of horses in living history, so you will definitely get the chance to get close to them, even if us Ironsides don't ride through (sometimes we do, sometimes we don't - it all depends on how everything is laid out).

If on foot and before the battle, I may well have a curly-coated black dog in tow, but she will be safely back in the tent when the bangs start. If you haven't been to a re-enactment before, they are LOUD and your little ones might appreciate some earplugs.
 
John, slightly off topic, but I am sure your daughter would like to know about the two horses on Living History. The piebald (splodgy) cob is Poirot and a youngster yet to go into his first battle, and the dark brown mare is Bess. She must be over 25 and is retired and no longer ridden. A few years ago she was presented with a long service medal by our Lord General for 20 years of service in our regiment!
 
Thats cools stuff :)

lol, now my son loves dogs - and all dogs love him, even the grumpy ones, so if your dog suddenly disappears it'll be attached to my lad!

I'll have to ask my wife but in the back of my mind I'm sure she said a college friend of hers did re-enactments, I'll have to find out his name, who knows maybe he'll be there too.

Good idea on the earplugs too, as it happens I'm at work at the moment (I know skiving!!) but its an industrial site so I'll grab a couple for them, we've been to a few before but never thought to bring earplugs!
 
I will keep a firm hold of Pip's lead!

You might be OK noise-wise, but if you are anywhere near the artillery earplugs are a good idea for sensitive ears. It always amuses us to watch the audience jump whilst the horses ignore the bangs (well, the experienced horses, anyway!).
 
haha, I bet it does.

My daughter used to be really bad, we went to one with cannons when she was in the womb and my wife had to leg it because she was kicking the hell out of her - she's much better now thankfully but still whines a bit, so great idea on the plugs.
 
Oh, her friend was called Matt Littlewood - I know a long shot, but I've found its a very small world.
 
Not that small, I'm afraid, John; I haven't come across him. But then again cavalry is a small and quite insular world.

For recognition purposes, here is one my husband took of me a couple of years ago:


and a couple I took in May at the muster at Blenheim, just in case anyone is wondering what you get to see and what the photographic opportunities are:

Ranter:


Musketeer:


Pikeman:


And this is my regiment, Sir William Waller's Lifeguard of Horse, in action:
 
Cheers Sue and I agree, well worth coming along - see you Sunday (unless work does something horrid - I'm on call all weekend!)
 
See you then, John. I will try to post to let you know if I am riding or togging on Sunday once I know myself.
 
MadWoman said:
It is possible I will stand down one day (if we have more riders than horses), in which case I will get the camera out. If it is Sunday, how could I spot you both?
Click to expand...

Mid 20's oriental looking lad, Nikon gear with 70-200, long hair tied into a small pony tail and scruffy facial hair. I may well be wandering round alone this year. I can update with what I'll likely be wearing once I've dealt with the whole "I need to do washing" situation.

I'm undecided whether to try to acquire a tc as I don't think 200mm will be quite enough, there again I could take my crop body and get it up to 300mm.
 
I will keep my eyes peeled. 70-200 would be perfect for Living History, but might indeed be a bit short for the battle.
 
I'll take a crop body with me as well then, it won't take long to swap them round if I need a bit more reach. What time does the battle start?
 
1100 Living history opens
1130-1330 Arena displays
1430-1600 Battle
1600 - living history closes.
 
Excellent, ill be aiming to arrive around mid day then
 
probably roughly the same for me - in that no matter what time we get up I can't seem to organise my rabble any earlier than 11 :D

BTW I'm thinking of bringing the 24-105, 135 & 150-500, I did consider the 70-200 but I'd probably fall over carry all that lot!
 
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It looks as if we will definitely have more riders than horses, so if I have a choice I will stand down on the Sunday, but I probably won't find out until Sunday morning.
 
Any hints for good vantage spots?


I don't suppose you know Ste applegate? I'm pretty sure he's parliamentarian pike man.
 
Sorry, I have no idea of the lay-out until I get there, and probably won't see the battlefield until I am on it!

I don't know Ste, but I know Deborah Tomlin well whom I think is his mum! Her other half is in my cavalry regiment so she camps with us.
 
Hi, just wondering - just how big is this going to be?

For some unknown reason I seem to think massive but I may have just hyped teh numbers in my head!
 
It should be the biggest muster if the year, but as it is all voluntary we don't know how many will turn up until the day. I would expect there to be 750-ish infantry on the field, and I think we have either 10 or 12 horses (between the two sides) plus owner-riders. Looking at the Warning Order there should be 10 artillery pieces as well. The last major muster turned out to be quit small (500 or so), but August Bank Holiday always tends to be very popular.
 
Most of the ones I've seen have been 50 or so, so this will be vast!
 
Ah, right! Yep, it will be quit big compared to what you are used to!
 
Ah, aparantly the one at Rufford is about 100 acording to she who must be obeyed, still its going to be much bigger, perhaps you could march on Mansfield :)
 
Update, it'll now be a thundercats t-shirt :) (phew, that was close!)
 
I think I'm likely to end up in a cream shirt or a dark hoodie depending on the weather :)
 
Yes, same itinerary for Monday. I still don't know if I'm riding today or not. It is a smalk battlefied so you should get a good view anywhere, but perhaps the far end of the field by the makeshift fort mught be best. The crowdline looks quite small so I would get in place early to avoid heads in the way. I'm camped right next to the battlefield and crowdline behind the Waller's banner. :-)
 
Ps. Bess and Poirot didn't make it due to an accident (no-one hurt), but there may be a pretty black mare called Tilly on living hustory at her first big battle.
 
Sorry, I have to ride today - I will be on a big black horse and drilling on the fiels until the displays start. I look forward to seeing some good photos of the cavalry!
 
Fab ill be wobbling my way down once I've showered and summoned up the energy to move
 
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