Monday 2 September 2013

Tent Events At Carisbrooke Castle

Once again, I am taking you back at Carisbrooke Castle as I wanted to show you some of the other events there Sharon and I saw there.  all in all it was a very colourful and entertaining event and something for all the family to see.  Everyone of the people taking part were in period costumes.   The event below is showing how they turned wood and at the end there is a short video of this.






This guy was showing and explaining about the different bows and arrows that they would have used.


Now this guy had dung and to tell you the truth I cannot remember much about it as one little child thought it was real and therefore disgusting.  I laughed so much I had to move away as did others!!!


This lady was showing all the equipment she would have had in the kitchen and  how it all worked.


Each tent of the Knights and a Falconer had a Lady present, all dressed beautifully.  This was the Lady who did the commentary for the Falconer.  Most tents also had a dog present, like a Lurchur or a Labrador.


This is another elegant Lady.


I spoke with this girl as she was dressed somewhat ordinarily and I wondered why.  She was a servant and she said her job was to serve all the knights and their Laddies.  At one time I noticed after the first jousting event, she went round the arena and with an old fashioned brush and dust pan, lifted all the horse dung off the field. 

By the way, I think I forgot to tell you in a previous post  (Jousting on 29 August and Falconry on 31 August), that these events all took place in an area called 'The Bowling Green'.  I photographed the blurb on the Blowing Green that I thought you might be interested to know.  I hope you can read it.  There will be more regarding King Charles 1 in the next post.





Sharon and I meet the Jester on our way in and had a chat to him, never thinking that he was going to make us laugh so much later on
 I did take a short video however I am not showing it as it does not do justice to all that he did in his half hour session at lunchtime and I have only given you a few photos to see him.  He engaged the audience at all times and in these photos below, he got 2 strong men up to help him get into stilts and  then pretended not to be able to walk in them nor use them and would make the audience think he was going to fall into them.  Of course the children all screamed and everyone laughed.  The 2 men were brilliant and if I had never seen anything else, this was worth the money and was very good for the heart!





He later preceded to do 'fire eating' which was very dramatic the way he did it!


The castle's most beloved modern residents are undoubtedly the renowned Carisbrooke donkeys. These still operate the tread wheel in the Elizabethan wheelhouse, which raises water 161 feet from the castle well. They give daily demonstrations, and their story is told in a film hosted by Jupiter the cartoon donkey, voiced by locally-raised comedian Phill Jupitus.
All the donkeys names begin with the letter ‘J’. This tradition was started when Charles I was a prisoner at Carisbrooke. When Charles I wrote letters or was planning his escape route, he always signed his letters with a ‘J’. So for 150 years all the donkeys at the castle have had a name beginning with ‘J’.  This is a tradition that continues to be upheld!   They are called Jack, Jill, Jigsaw and Jimbob
Jimbob (donkey above) is Jigsaw’s boyfriend, and is a real ladies’ man! He is very handsome - the real George Clooney of the donkeys.  He’s quite a catch as he used to be a show donkey.   Jimbob also has the best singing voice and can be heard all over the castle




 These are some still shots I took when I spoke with  a few of the Knights when they were getting dressed  before going into combat at their tournament.




Imagine wearing this armour on an extremely hot day as this was. 
Must have been exhausting for them.


I just love this part of their armour. 
I fear if you were kicked with one of these shoes, it would hurt, to put it mildly!!

The short video can be accessed at

If the space below is black, click it and the video will appear



I hoped you enjoyed this post and tomorrow (hopefully) I will show you the actually Carisbrooke Castle and tell you a little bit about it.

Sorry I did not know I had put the same video on twice!!!



Thank you for visiting and hope you will return tomorrow.

33 comments:

  1. I suspect all of the people in period costumes were glad to return to zips and buttons (and lighter fabrics).
    A wonderful sight though. Thank you.

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  2. looks like everyone takes their part very seriously; well portrayed and a good day out in perfect (if not hot) weather it seems

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    1. Hi Carole Yes it was HOT! Thanks for comment and glad you enjoyed it

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  3. This is a marvelous post Margaret. The costumes are so colorful. Photos are great and video too. Thanks so much! A real treat!

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    1. Hi Denise Goad yu enjoyed the post and thanks for comments.

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  4. I always wonder how the knights that fell over ever managed to get back up again!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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    1. Hi They always have someone with them to help. thanks for comments

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  5. It's a long time since I've seen a pole lathe. It's wonderful.
    I love days out like this.

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    1. Hi Adrian Glad you enjoyed this post. I have never seen a lathe like this so this was a first for me.

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  6. I love the part about the donkey names all starting with J. That is such a LONG tradition... I imagine they had to start having repeats or I, II, III, etc. Fun photos, Margaret. blessings ~ tanna

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    1. Hi Tanna Donkeys were great and glad yu enjoyed the post. Thanks for comments.

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  7. This must have been a very interesting event to attend.

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    1. Hi Linda Yes it was interessting and entertainling. Thanks for comments

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  8. it is neat that so much history is retained and related in person at these events.

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    1. HI Tex Yes it is good to know the history that surround places like this. Thanks for comments

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  9. A great post Margaret with lots of lovely pictures,a brilliant commentary and bags of information.

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    1. HI Phil MAny thanks for your kind comments and I am glad you enjoyed the post.

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  10. Ah, those were the days, ha ha. Brilliant photos.

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    1. Hi Bob Gosh! I didn't know yuo were that old!! Thanks for comments.

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  11. Margaret - what a fascinating place. Thanks for sharing this.

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    1. Hi Marcia It ws my pleasure to share the event with you adn thanks for comment.

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  12. Your pictures are so good! Is this part of the jousting tournament or a Renaissance Fair? I love the Jester and the snap you got of the fire eating! Oh my goodness to those pointed armor shoes! And this man has such a thin waist that it almost looks like a woman in there.

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  13. Hi Ginny If you go back to the posts on 27 & 31 August you will see more that went on at the Castle over a 3 day event there. The castle is alaways open to the public however occasionally they run these events which are geared to all the family. Your grand children would love to see the video in these posts. I have another postTuesday about the castle adn then one on Thursday. Wednesday I keep for shoing a bird from Australia. Thanks for comments.

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  14. Looks like a fun event . . . Not sure how the knights withstand the heat in their suits of armour . . .

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  15. Great event, and beautiful pictures.
    This really enjoy.
    Greetings Irma

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    1. Hi Irma Glad yuo enjoyed this post adn thanks for comments

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  16. Looks like a lot of things to experience here.

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  17. HI Pattis All in all a wonderful day. Thanks for comment

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  18. That was so cool. Great party tent event. I enjoyed browsing the pictures.

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