Just received this message from Llyr Emyr Roberts who joined Newcastles for the first time at Lamport Hall over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.
“I would first like to thank you all for allowing me to join the fold and getting stuck in with the festivities, this sort of stuff is something I’ve been wanting to get into for a good while, and I couldn’t have asked for a friendlier group for me to be joined into.
Everybody’s so enthusiastic and welcoming, which made it very easy for me to fit in. As well as having a real passion for making it so authentic and immersive as possible. Everybody was so knowledgeable and were happy to teach me their tips and tricks so I wasn’t completely useless out on the field. Being out in the field, mind you, was beautiful synchronised chaos. People played to their rolls and expected that of myself, which made playing my part almost instinctual. It was the perfect balance of hard physical graft as well as solid teamwork, a lot more physically demanding than I first anticipated (which I loved!) coming off the field with some bumps and bruises but with the BIGGEST smile on my face. Closest thing you could get to a real battle without the risk of any serious injury added with running cavalry encircling us, cannon fire (like ACTUAL cannon fire) from our rear and multiple ranks of musket firing between us, a fully immersive experience.
What I also loved was that the festivities were not kept only to the field. At our ‘encampment’ back on the camp site the energy was still very much carried on. A warm welcome from all with a good knees up, good stories from previous musters being shared as well as conversations on historical points around the regiment itself. Of course with MANY a few raised glasses to celebrate, perhaps a bit too many raised for myself on the first night.
Obviously a few well earned bumps and bruises have been gathered from my first muster. But now when they ache they only remind of beautiful memories, who knew it felt so good to hurt haha. Honestly though the experience would only have been half as good if it wasn’t for everybody within the regiment. And again I just want to thank them all for giving me the opportunity. I’ve well and truly caught battalion bug and eagerly looking forward to many more memories in the future, as well as putting the word out for any other enthusiasts who are equally warmed by my stories.
I literally have nothing bad to say about my experience, honestly. Even the enemy soldiers were kind-hearted with friendly banter during battles”
Llyr Emyr Roberts – the welsh pikeman