The Sealed Knot and Me

A long time ago in a land far away.  No not really. 

Nothing much changes.

I was working for the Beeb, there was a Thatcher government, bird flu, aids, in the process of divorcing my husband, in the Union trying to prevent redundancies or at least get decent payments for those who had been told to go. Working long shifts because if I went home on time I was called a "part timer". Producer choice was thrown into the mix. 

I wanted to hit something. Anything. Hard.

I went to a Sealed Knot re-enactment in a little town called Stony Stratford. It was huge it was colourful, there was fighting, muskets, marching, the participants off the field drank and laughed a lot.

I was walking past a big white tent when the friend I was with shoved me through the flaps  for a joke! Straight into see a large gentleman in colourful striped breeches, who grabbed my hand shoved a pen into it, and helped me write my name on a list.

"My name's John, you have just joined The King's Army." he grinned twisting his impressive white moustache. "See you at the Cock Inn seven thirty Friday."
"But but..." I stuttered as he pushed me out of the next to grab the next recruit. 
"Well," she said as we walked away, "You were looking for something to do, go for it, this might be it."

It was. 

They say if you stay in The Sealed Knot for two years you're in for life. 
So twenty years later here I am.  

Promoted to Goodwyfe of Leven's Regiment of the Kings Guard.

During the early days I was a musketeer. I lay on the earth that had been soaked with the blood of the actual dead and wounded of the Civil Wars. I dressed as a man on the field and off it a woman, wearing some beautiful 17thC dresses to the beer tent in the evening.

At Stratton in Cornwall, my new friend Sue who was pretty much going through the same as me were watching the 17thC rope dance. 
"Wonder how we get into this?" I asked. Didn't have wait to find out, we were grabbed by the hands and pulled into the swirling group of laughing dancers. Dizzy and happy we laughed our way back to our drinks.

My son joined with me and went into the apprentices, he loved the cameraderie of it all. So did I. I felt I had a family again, as my BBC family fell apart so The Sealed Knot stepped up to fill the gap. So many adventures, travels up and down the country, romances, beer tents.
I loved waking up in the morning to open the tent and see a Castle or Historic House right outside, and it was mine to play in!

I have always loved history, and researched every place we went, learnt as much as I could about the part I re-enacted, wrote little articles for history magazines. The rest as they say is....

History. Each medal represents a Sealed Knot event that I attended. I have over 200 of them now. this is a small selection.

The Living History encampment at Claydon House.

 

And as if dressing up for re-enactment wasn't enough, every Bank Holiday, there is a fancy dress theme, where all the regiments try to out do each other. Last years was quite tame - the 1960s.

In the past I have been witness to an iceberg complete with Seals and explorers, followed by the Titanic.  (Disaster Movies theme!)   We had the Disney theme, Little Mermaid sitting on a giant shell followed by an octopus. Hercules leaping round the beer tent back in the day.  We've had Scooby doo and gang, we've had Gladiator,part of the favourite films theme. But I guess we're all getting older and taming down a weeny bit!