Sleet, Sunburn and Steel

Well the bank holiday weekend certainly lived up to British expectations weather wise. We had everything from howling wind, torrential rain and hail to bright sunshine and blue skies.
Not that the weather put folk off from coming down to Folklore, Legend and Myth weekend to browse the fine stalls, sample the best mead in the UK and generally enjoy the atmosphere on the recreation anglo-saxon farm in Jarrow. As well as the stalls there was a wondering troop of storytellers, the superbly talented "Moss Troopers" who kept the crowds entertained during the day and kept the living history teams spirits up during the long damp nights.
Wyld Fire not only had a trade stall, selling our usual fayre of horn and leather work, we also made our debut as a "proper" combat display group in our own right. Much fun was had swinging swords and slamming shields into each other. We were delighted to be told it looked "really real, you know"and to be asked by several of our spectators if we would we be able to train them! More on that to follow over the next month or so, hopefully.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend to whet your appetites for the next events we're at - 1000 years of traditional crafts in Lincoln (no fighting here sadly!) and then Viking Saturday (fighting here!!) with the brilliant bunch that are Viking Chester!

The stall in the glorious sunshine on Monday:

Shields and swords, ready for action:

A hastily formed defence by Gordon and Monty to see off the danger of Jez, the spearman:

It worked:


But he got wise to their tactics in round two and set out to divide and conquer - rather effectively:

Some cutting drills with Mark and Gordon, the key to success with a sword is lots of practice!



And a bit of man-on-man combat. Close fast and go for the kill!!


If all else fails a good old fashioned wrestle will see off your foe!
Thanks to Monty, Mark and Jez for joining Gordon for the combat.
All pictures are provided by the superb Foto Couture.

May Is A Come In!

Beltane blessings to one and all! The Winter has passed, Spring has sprung forth green and bright and now Summer chases hard at it's heels!
We're just back into the workshop after a hectic run up to May. Lily and I got married (well hand-fasted but we don't think there's any difference!) and we've been dashing all over the country for trade events and camps.
We were in attendance at the Hexham Spring Fayre doing some living history pieces and then traveled south to Thornborough Henge to celebrate Beltane with some superb folk. Tales were told, horns found good homes and great foaming tankards of mead and ale were raised in revelry and rejoicing.
There will be pictures aplenty as soon as we get them all transferred and uploaded.
We've got a good number of commissions to be cracking on with as well as sorting all our "stock" items - don't worry we'll be showing you pictures of them as soon as we can!

So now it's all go to get set for Folklore, Myth and Legend at Bede's World at the end of the month.

Keep your eyes peeled for pictures and videos.
Until then, Summer's coming...what are you waiting for get out there and re-connect with the woods!