Castle Cornet heads back to medieval times
WHILE England’s women battled for the football World Cup yesterday morning, at Castle Cornet battles of a more brutal and ancient kind were being evoked as part of the annual medieval Fete d’Etai.
King John was on-hand to welcome people to ‘his’ castle as well as to hand out picture trail sheets for younger visitors along with ‘special medieval pencils’. Nearby, tales were being told by Richard York, making his first visit to the event in several years to regale listeners with stories and music. As always, Guernsey’s ‘Knights of the Green Isle’ Tol Galen were a big attraction with their display of medieval weapons and armour with many youngsters – and their parents – keen to try on the costumes and wave the weapons around.
Tol Galen was founded as a Tolkein appreciation society in the 1980s, said ‘quartermaster’ Phil West, but transformed into a larping – live action roleplay – group by the end of the decade, and started doing displays about 18 years ago.
One young enthusiast was Dominic Wooldridge, visiting with his family from Gloucestershire. He enjoyed wielding one of the swords and shields on display, along with mum Gillie. Dominic said he enjoyed drawing knights and dragons.
‘I get some of my inspiration out of books,’ he said.
Joining the Guernsey medieval re-enacters were members of the Company of Duke’s Leopards from Jersey who had set up a stall nearby on which they were cooking a joint of beef over an open fire, as well as making potage. There were also some medieval games for people to try. Member Pat Clarke said one of these games had no name and was found carved into a barrel on board the wreck of the Mary Rose.
Traditional weaving was the focus of the indoor crafts section of the event, with different styles being demonstrated and children given the chance to make a paper flag to take home.
Hugo Dove, 8, was something of an old hand at the skill, having made a ‘rocket’ and a bird feeder previously under the guidance of willow weaver Rachael Bearder of Rae’s Willowcraft.
Mrs Bearder’s full-time job these days is teaching people the skill of weaving, for which she uses willow she grows herself.
‘There’s an increasing awareness of the value of willow as a sustainable resource,’ she said.
