second holiday blog
Waking up on sunday morning was not a nice experience nor did I sleep well that night. The heavy drum obviously did not agree with me. And I did not feel up to going to the field today. So as I promised myself I would listen to my body I told the boys that I would stay at home and to go on without me. I relaxed that morning and around one I was feeling better. As I did want to see the battle but from the civilian side I decided to go to Basingstoke after all. I had already found out by walking the ground that walking to a busstop would be too dangerous. countryroads there are not made for pedestrians or cyclists. We are so spoiled in the Nethe
rlands. Because we had wireless internet I was able to find the phonenumber for a local taxi company and traintimes to Basingstoke. Ordering the taxi was no problem and the trains ran frequently enough. As I expected it was no problem to find a taxi again at the station in Basingstoke. So I made it to Basing House with over half an hour to spare before the battle started. I found a good position and made sure I was ready with my camera. Now this gave me a happy feeling. I had not felt whole without my camera the day before. The battle started on time. Today parliament t
roops would be defending and royalist troops would take the house. As we are with Hawkins regiment of the royalist forces, this is a good idea. It started with just a few troops going against the fortress and mostly musket fighting. But soon the pike blocks joined in and Hawkins ma
rched on the field. From my position I could not see them very well. So when the action died down were I stood I moved over to the lower part of the field to take better action pics of the regiment. My friends Sarah and Dru were drumming. Robert was coordinating the battle together with Chris and his brother. Koen and Martin were in the pike block. I was amazed at how tough that was. The blocks went at each other at full force, and on occasion people do get hurt by this. Pikes are listed as an extreme sport apparantly. But it was amazing to see and I enjoyed myself a great deal watching and taking pictures. Even though it was not too warm, the participants were soaked with sweat and exhausted at the end. We didn't stay much longer as they wanted nothing more then a bath and some rest. We drove back to Winchester and decided to dine out as nobody wanted to cook and it was easter with shops closed. Most of us went to bed early that evening.
Easter monday I did participate in the reenactment. I was a watercarrier. That sounds easier then it is. It is also your job to watch the troops and to
notice if pieces of clothing or shoelaces come undone, as that can be dangerous on the field. But you also have to watch out for you own safety. Other regiments can suddenly come your way, muskets come too close and even your own troops can hurt you with the pikes. Today it was a very hot day and even after an hour on the field in battle I was totally and utterly exhausted. I don't take heat very well and of course I could not wear sunglasses. I just made it home, had some take-away and then rolled into bed, dead to the world.
TBC
rlands. Because we had wireless internet I was able to find the phonenumber for a local taxi company and traintimes to Basingstoke. Ordering the taxi was no problem and the trains ran frequently enough. As I expected it was no problem to find a taxi again at the station in Basingstoke. So I made it to Basing House with over half an hour to spare before the battle started. I found a good position and made sure I was ready with my camera. Now this gave me a happy feeling. I had not felt whole without my camera the day before. The battle started on time. Today parliament troops would be defending and royalist troops would take the house. As we are with Hawkins regiment of the royalist forces, this is a good idea. It started with just a few troops going against the fortress and mostly musket fighting. But soon the pike blocks joined in and Hawkins marched on the field. From my position I could not see them very well. So when the action died down were I stood I moved over to the lower part of the field to take better action pics of the regiment. My friends Sarah and Dru were drumming. Robert was coordinating the battle together with Chris and his brother. Koen and Martin were in the pike block. I was amazed at how tough that was. The blocks went at each other at full force, and on occasion people do get hurt by this. Pikes are listed as an extreme sport apparantly. But it was amazing to see and I enjoyed myself a great deal watching and taking pictures. Even though it was not too warm, the participants were soaked with sweat and exhausted at the end. We didn't stay much longer as they wanted nothing more then a bath and some rest. We drove back to Winchester and decided to dine out as nobody wanted to cook and it was easter with shops closed. Most of us went to bed early that evening.Easter monday I did participate in the reenactment. I was a watercarrier. That sounds easier then it is. It is also your job to watch the troops and to
notice if pieces of clothing or shoelaces come undone, as that can be dangerous on the field. But you also have to watch out for you own safety. Other regiments can suddenly come your way, muskets come too close and even your own troops can hurt you with the pikes. Today it was a very hot day and even after an hour on the field in battle I was totally and utterly exhausted. I don't take heat very well and of course I could not wear sunglasses. I just made it home, had some take-away and then rolled into bed, dead to the world.TBC
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