Hello!
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to update anything on here but as it’s the season of new starts, we’re making it a New Years Resolution to do more on here, our Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram.
To anyone who has read our blogs before, we hope you enjoyed the latter half of 2016 and the festive period. For anyone who is new to our blog, hello and welcome! Please have a look through our old posts to get a better idea of what we get up to and stick around as we upload more and more in the future. We’re starting off today looking at what we’ll be getting up to over the first few months of the new year.
Winter
So, 2017 – what does it have in store for Newcastles Foote? Quite a bit already it seems! In a little over 2 weeks we’ll be venturing out into crisp (hopefully dry) January air for our first event of the 2017 sesaon. On the 28th of January you will find us in Nantwich, Cheshire as you usually do at the end of January each year. This annual event is a nice break for people in the close season to get back into kit and have a weekend to get back into the swing of things and catch up with the friends they’ve not seen for a little while.
It’s usually a rather good little event and the welcoming residents of the Cheshire town and surrounding areas are always out in force, no matter what the weather, to see the town come alive to the sound of marching feet, drums, muskets, cannons and the shouts of soldiers. They do this every year without fail and our displays make up part of the town’s yearly ‘Holly Holy Day’ celebrations which incorporate all sorts of activities and community groups. If you fancy a day out to see all this and are going to be in the area, please take a look at the website (click on bold and italicised text for links to other pages) to find visitor information. We highly recommend coming and seeing what we’re up to. If you need a bit more convincing, take a look at what we got up to there last year. Also, in a couple of weeks time we’ll be writing in more detail about the history and significance of that cold January battle and what it means to the society in the modern age, so make sure you come back and have a read!
Spring
It will be another quiet couple of months again during February and March for the regiment but as the weeks roll by we’ll be getting excited for our next Regimental event. On the 1st of April (nope, this isn’t a joke!) we’ll be heading up to our regimental homeland of Chapeltown, just outside Sheffield in South Yorkshire with our best kit on and stomachs ready for our annual Regimental Feaste.
This is one of the few times we get to do an event without some kind of public involvement and no mud (huzzah!) and therefore we can fully let our hair down. We’re very lucky to have some wonderful, wonderful cooks as members of our regiment and they work tirelessly each year to feed us all on fantastic, 17th Century food. Also, every good regiment needs it’s own brewer and that we have, so there’s always good ale on hand to wash down our meal.
We’ll be writing all about it afterwards and giving you a little look at us all dressed up and the lovely food that we have eaten and maybe, if our cooks are willing to part with their incredible knowledge, a recipe to try!
Shortly after we’ve enjoyed our Feaste, a small but merry band will no doubt be heading down to Basing House in Hampshire and braving the Easter chill for the first camping of the year. A popular event in the South, this event is a bit of a niche for a Northern regiment but last year it was lots of fun and it looks like some of the younger members especially, are planning their return.
Over the Easter weekend again this year, it provides a couple of great battles on an original battlefield, the rementants of Basing House. An important Royalist stronghold, Basing House was under seige multiple times and was left to rack and ruin at the end of the war. Luckily for us, the site is now protected and provides a fantastic location and backdrop to this annual event. We’ll give you all the information about the location and information for those who want to come and watch in the run up to the event. Again, if you’re eager to find out more, why not see what fun we had last year?
Summer
Our plans beyond April are still in the process of being finalised, we’ll be out and about over the early May Bank holiday we’re sure, but as yet the location hasn’t been confirmed. Again though, as that weekend approaches we’ll let you know where we’ll be for it; it’s a good idea to keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages for that sort of information too! Here is a list of places we know you’ll be able to find us over the Summer Months (as far as we know, if things change and this becomes wrong then we’re sorry but we tried! We’ll try and get any new information to you as and when we can).
Late May Bank Holiday (27th – 29th May) – Charlton Park, Wiltshire
22nd & 23rd July – Newark, Nottinghamshire
August Bank Holiday (26th – 28th August) – Scampston Hall, North Yorkshire
23rd & 24th September – Edgehill, Warwickshire.
So why not venture out this year to come and watch us? You’ll be able to find out more about this interesting part of British history and have the opportunity to see why we think this hobby is fun for everyone. If you’ve already set yourself a New Years resolution to get stuck into something new this year, then why not head to our Joining Us page to find out more and get in touch! We’re always on the look out for new recruits, everyone is welcome to join our merry troop!
Images courtesy of Rusty Aldwinckle, Nantwich Events Photography, John Beardsworth, Beth Knight and Paul Kneller