Back from Lanark

I'm back from Lanark and trying to summon up enough energy to go to bed. I had a great time, rain not withstanding. It was very sunny on Saturday (I'm feeling it on my face just now) but it made up for it today with a mixture of sun, rain, wind, sun, then more rain and wind which made taking the tents down a bit of a pain.

The festival now spans everything from Roman to WWII re-enactors, and if you want to include the ATC presence it now covers 21st century as well. Due to a series of kit malfunctions I ended up in civvies for the weekend. This meant I was free to take photos which I wouldn't have been able to take while in kit. And I managed to take a large number of photos whch I have uploaded to Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116796&id=709405809&ref=mf . I did do some marshalling, preventing members of the public from possibly getting too involved in the action on the field, but I was free to wander.

The Romans (who were from Ireland) were very cute, and they were accompanied by a pair of senators in purple-edged togas, although I do believe the handbag I saw one carrying isn't entirely period! The presence of the Romans meant that those members of the Vikings who decided to dress up as Asterix, Obelix and Getafix for the Saturday night ceilidh gave us a great photo opportunity.




There were a good number of traders selling such things as amber, leatherwork, jewellery, and all sorts of things, medieval and otherwise. The Green Man pottery was also there http://www.thegreenmanpottery.com/ and he will be there next week at Pagancon.

Today's Sunday Herald had an article today on our Jarl which you can see at http://www.sundayherald.com/life/people/display.var.2526909.0.0.php and which was the subject of some discussion at our campsite.

Saturday was warm and sunny but today was very overcast, raining at times which seemed to coincide with the English Civil War Society being on the field with their cannon and muskets. It was dry and sunny when the Vike took the field both times. The gods must have been favouring the Vikings today, taking exception to the very loud bangs from the ECWS.

Instead of my usual three man tent, I took my two man pop up one which I hadn't previously used. It worked fine as a tent, with space for me and my rucksack but became a bloody nuisance when it came time to take it down. The wind helped not at all as the instructions were threatening to blow away as I tried to prevent the tent becoming a kite. About six of us worked on trying to get it down and in the end I managed to get it into a manageable condition to load into the car I was getting a lift home in. I still need to sort it properly but I think it's going to be back to my trusty three man tent for Largs on the weekend after next.

In short, I had a whale of a time and I'd do it all again tomorrow!

Back from Lanark

I'm back from Lanark and trying to summon up enough energy to go to bed. I had a great time, rain not withstanding. It was very sunny on Saturday (I'm feeling it on my face just now) but it made up for it today with a mixture of sun, rain, wind, sun, then more rain and wind which made taking the tents down a bit of a pain.

The festival now spans everything from Roman to WWII re-enactors, and if you want to include the ATC presence it now covers 21st century as well. Due to a series of kit malfunctions I ended up in civvies for the weekend. This meant I was free to take photos which I wouldn't have been able to take while in kit. And I managed to take a large number of photos whch I have uploaded to Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116796&id=709405809&ref=mf . I did do some marshalling, preventing members of the public from possibly getting too involved in the action on the field, but I was free to wander.

The Romans (who were from Ireland) were very cute, and they were accompanied by a pair of senators in purple-edged togas, although I do believe the handbag I saw one carrying isn't entirely period! The presence of the Romans meant that those members of the Vikings who decided to dress up as Asterix, Obelix and Getafix for the Saturday night ceilidh gave us a great photo opportunity.




There were a good number of traders selling such things as amber, leatherwork, jewellery, and all sorts of things, medieval and otherwise. The Green Man pottery was also there http://www.thegreenmanpottery.com/ and he will be there next week at Pagancon.

Today's Sunday Herald had an article today on our Jarl which you can see at http://www.sundayherald.com/life/people/display.var.2526909.0.0.php and which was the subject of some discussion at our campsite.

Saturday was warm and sunny but today was very overcast, raining at times which seemed to coincide with the English Civil War Society being on the field with their cannon and muskets. It was dry and sunny when the Vike took the field both times. The gods must have been favouring the Vikings today, taking exception to the very loud bangs from the ECWS.

Instead of my usual three man tent, I took my two man pop up one which I hadn't previously used. It worked fine as a tent, with space for me and my rucksack but became a bloody nuisance when it came time to take it down. The wind helped not at all as the instructions were threatening to blow away as I tried to prevent the tent becoming a kite. About six of us worked on trying to get it down and in the end I managed to get it into a manageable condition to load into the car I was getting a lift home in. I still need to sort it properly but I think it's going to be back to my trusty three man tent for Largs on the weekend after next.

In short, I had a whale of a time and I'd do it all again tomorrow!