Members of The Guild will be present at the following events this year:

APRIL 17                     MUSEUM OF OXFORD  (Town Hall, St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1DZ)
 

Do you know your pauldrons from your greaves? If this is a mystery to you then come along to the Museum where Sir Richard will bring to life the Medieval period by showing how knights prepared for battle, which saints they trusted and which weapons they used. In case you don't have a problem with a local dragon there will be the opportunity to make your own, as well as a shield for defence.Parking can be a problem in the City, so check out the public transport and the park and ride system in advance.

APRIL 19-20              CRESSING TEMPLE (B1018 Witham Road, Braintree, Essex, CM77 8PD)

The Guild are returning to this popular annual Medieval Fair to celebrate St George. The setting is magnificent, with huge Medieval barns, an extensive herb garden and farm buildings. There is a well established Medieval traders' market and a wide range of events during the weekend. Members of The Guild will be cheering on the knights as they go into battle.

http://www.cressingtemple.org.uk/Events/CTevents.htm 

MAY 4-5                   KENILWORTH CASTLE  (Castle Green, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 1NE)

The year is 1377.The Age of Chivalry was the its height. Enter the impressive ruins of the castle and prepare to travel back to a time when the fortress was held by John of Gaunt, building works were in progress and a palace was emerging. In the great Hall, newly completed, a novice will take her vows and become a nun. A Black Knight Historical Event.

Members of The Guild will be providing  the religious atmosphere to a broad spectrum of events.

MAY 17                   BALDOCK MEDIEVAL STREET FAIR

We are delighted to be invited to this extra special 25th Baldock Festival. Although events take place for an entire fortnight, ending on the 18th, the Street Fair promises to be great fun. Guild members will be found inviting you to try your hand at Medieval writing or spinning and weaving, or you may be invited to try marvellous medieval medicines - results not guaranteed. Watch out for Lady Katherine de Burgh who will be trying to recruit children to work in her medieval kitchens. See what you can find out about wages and conditions before signing up!

http://www.baldockfestival.org.uk/ 

MAY 18                 WRETTON FESTIVAL, NORFOLK

Members of The Guild are travelling forwards in time to the closing years of the nineteenth century. What was life like above stairs and below? How did the upper classes fill their days? How did the servants get everything done? What was it like to be a laundry maid, or nurseymaid? Come and find out some of the answers when you visit this All Eras History Fair which is being organised to celebrate the 900th anniversary of Wretton church. Wretton Historical Association who are organising this celebration  have invited groups from the Viking period right up to WW2 and are also offering guided tours of their church.

MAY 24-26          DOVER CASTLE (Castle Hill Road, Dover, Kent. CT16 1HU)

The castle has guarded the port at Dover since Roman times, but for the Bank Holiday  weekend it is returning to the time of the Plantagenet Kings. Henry II is dead, and his surviving sons battle to control England. Watch out for further news about this exciting event.

MAY 31- JUNE 1 HOLLYTREES MUSEUM, COLCHESTER

This  particularly child friendly museum is situated in a beautiful Georgian house in the High Street, not far from the Castle,. It also has an exhibition all about tea, to accompany the Beijing Olympics this year. On these two days it will also house the Georgian tea merchant, with her examples of rare teas valued in the past, who has lots of stories about this wonderful aphrodisiac.

http://www.colchestermuseums.org.uk/hollytrees/holly_visit.htm l

 JUNE 7-8            COLCHESTER OYSTER FAYRE (Lower Castle Park, Colchester)

This widely known and well respected fair really needs no introduction. At any time between the 14-16th centuries fairs were an important part of life: come to this one to find a huge market of authentic, hand crafted items for sale that can't be bought from the shops, anything from pattens to points (essential for holding clothes together) will be available. Alongside the market are all the folk the fair would have attracted; strolling musicians, players, archers and competitors as well as the riff raff hoping for a change in their fortunes. Members of The Guild, temporarily members of the Benedictine community of Barking Abbey, are on thier way home from a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. However, the Abbess still has an eye for events in the outside world.

 http://www.oysterfayre.flyer.co.uk/whatisit2005.html

JULY 4-6           WHAPLODE MEDIEVAL FAYRE (St Mary's Church Grounds, Whaplode, Spalding)

This is an especially exciting event as the whole community of Whaplode is coming together to celebrate  their 700th Anniversary.  The opening day on Friday concentrates on events for the schoolchildren, and the Church is hosting a medieval concert in the evening. Throughout the weekend there will be armoured knights, all sorts of living history displays and demonstrations, medieval animal husbandry, music, dancing and visiting Morris Men. There's no need to remember a picnic as there will be a hog roast as well as real ale/beer tents. This really will be a weekend to remember and The Guild is privileged to be part of this well planned event. There is more information available at this site:

http://www.sholland.gov.uk/leisure/whatson/events/whaplodefayre040708.htm

JULY 20           PAGHAM HARBOUR NATURE RESERVE

This is a wonderful 1500 acre site, home to a wide range of plant and bird life. However, for one day ladies of The Guild are returning to World War 2. Nostalgia and memories are invited of Make Do and Mend, managing on the weekly rations, and the fearsome county billeting officer who found somewhere for all the newly arrived evacuees. Do bring your binoculars and walking shoes though, as there is a lot to explore.

 http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/.../pagham-harbour-local-nature-reserve/

AUGUST 1-2  HOLLYTREES MUSEUM, COLCHESTER

A return visit to this lovely Georgian museum, this time to the Victorian period. Marvel at traditional lace growing on a lace pillow, hear tales about the adventures of the lady Egyptologist who has stories of her discoveries in this ancient land, and if the children are in need of discipline, then the Victorian governess will also be in residence. Was it all good news growing up in a wealthy household in Victorian times? Or was it terrible if you blotted your copy book? 

http://www.colchestermuseums.org.uk/hollytrees/holly_visit.htm

AUGUST 16  JOHN MOORE COUNTRYSIDE, TEWKESBURY HIGH STREET

Anyone who has read John Moore's wonderfully evocative books  about the English countryside will be glad to know about the museum named after him in Tewkesbury. Housed in part of a beautiful 15th century row of merchants' houses, this museum houses a collection devoted to our rural past. Just over the road there is a no less significant 17th century Baptist meeting house. Come here to see the textile worker with her fleeces, to discover some of the cures available in Tudor times and whether they really worked, or to listen to the spice merchant: once you have learned of their  strange journey from the end of the world you will understand why spices are worth a king's ransom.

http://www.gloster.demon.co.uk/JMCM/

AUGUST 23-25 PENSTHORPE NATURE RESERVE, NORFOLK, NR21 OLN (nr. Fakenham just off the A1067)

Another Medieval spectacular, this event has attracted crowds in previous years. Covering the whole Medieval period, from 1066 right through to 1485, this event has everything: a wonderful setting, living history encampments where you can just watch life unfolding around you as it would have done centuries ago, or stop and ask questions; hear tales from the gruesome barber surgeon, watch battles and contests, relax with puppeteers, and of course, dine on hog roast or drink real ale at the dedicated tents. Another Black Knight Historical event, which will provide a full day's family entertainment. Watch out for the ladies of The Guild, who will be proving that widows could get by and survive in what was very much a man's world.

http://www.pensthorpe.com/events/index.htm

SEPTEMBER 6 HOUGHTON REGIS MEDIEVAL FAIR

We are delighted to be invited back to this spectacularly well organised event which we really enjoyed last year. This  established annual medieval  fair has something for everyone: there were children's activities, spectacular arena events, stalls, local knowledge and The Guild will be dispensing their own medieval wisdom, in the form of marvellous medicines - if you are not ill before arriving you could be afterwards, when you discover what went into some of the remedies - rare and wonderful spices (and more tall stories), and the mainstay of medieval economy: wool. Watch it being spun into thread, or try for yourself to see just how time consuming it was to make.

http://www.southbeds.gov.uk/leisure_culture/toursim/Houghton_Regis_Events.aspx

 These are our events for 2008 but do drop back and check occasionally as other events may still be added.