Latest Events

Ysbyty Ifan, St John's Church, 19th September.

AThe weather was very different from my visit in April. The rain was coming down horizontally and the autumn colours were showing. Once again Eirian provided hot drinks and delicious home baking. A couple came all the way from Derbyshire to revisit childhood haunts and really enjoyed the experience. The local school turned up in full and the church was packed. Later AotP had a guided tour around the village which really brought home how beautiful the area is and how friendly the people are. Diolch yn fawr.

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Caerhun Church, Conwy, 11th September.

Another stunning venue! And a change of scene for me in more ways than one. I'd never been to the church before or dressed as a roman!

When I arrived at Caerhun church the views were spectacular, all down a winding wide river valley the curtains of rain drifted across the scene. The church sits in the corner of the roman fort that perches above the river Conwy. At the river's edge the romans had built, a still visible, harbour  The roman cut stone from the fort was re used to build the beautiful medieval church which was full of character. Simon and John and various other friendly faces made me a cup of tea as I unloaded my gear (thanks to Knight Fever). We had a steady stream of visitors throughout the day and feedback was very possitive. We were all pleasantly suprised by the number of people of all ages who came along because of the weather and secluded nature of Caerhun. Another excellent day. Many thanks to the parishioners for their hospitality.

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Glyndwr University, 5th September.

A very international audience provide the kind of linguistic challenge I relish. At one point during the evening, I was addressing an audience of Asian, African, Northern European, Russian, Romanian and Spanish delegates of the fourth International Conference on Internet Technologies and Applications. I think it worked well because they all laughed in the right places! This event, meeting Computer Science Delegates from around the world has become a firm favourite because being academics, they are keen to absorb knowledge and are great listeners. Once again my thanks to Nigel and the team for the invite and the supper of sandwiches, quiche and a slice of one of the finest cakes I've ever eaten!

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St Grwst, Llanrwst, 3rd September

What a venue! Adjoining the church is the mausoleum of the Wynn family of Gwydir Castle and this was our home for the day. Rich in atmosphere, enhanced by some ancient woodwork, unique brasses and best of all the tomb of Llywelyn Fawr. Dressed as Llywelyn, I greeted a wide range of history enthusiasts from academics to yougsters with a passion for all things medieval. Even some of the church elders came along to try their hand at medieval writing or wearing armour. Another very warm welcome which the constant rain couldn't dampen. The setting was beautiful, the church sits next to the Conwy river and looks across to the famous Tu Hwnt I’r Bont tea room and ancient bridge. As venues go, one of the most remarkable and historically significant I've ever been too. 

'There was a lovely feeling on Saturday morning of excitement and anticipation when the actors arrived at the Chapel my imagination was running wild it was just like a journey back in time it was like being in a time capsule every thing fitted in place just as if the Wynn’s were about to walk in FANTASTIC.
Thank you so much.'

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History Alive, 21st August.

Off to Bersham Iron Works near Wrexham for this one. We shared the field with Samhain Medieval Society and a host of vintage machines from diesel pumps to a fire engine. Sadly, I could identify a lot of the vintage cars, from my childhood...There was a real buzz in the air, with the small travelling fairground adding to the atmosphere. The weather was good and we drew some large crowds. Thanks to John and all from Wrexham museum for the invite.

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Flint and Denbigh Show, 18th August.

This event was a biggy! There were hundreds of stalls and events and thousands of visitors. From the moment we arrived, we were busy. I met some very old friends and made some new ones. Setting up between a cooper and a chainsaw display team, we fitted right in, talking about medieval rural life, with our green oak worker and forester. Our scribe was on hand too as was our doctor, who spent a lot of the day wandering around with a severed head in a bag...(he uses a special tool to extract an arrow from its face!) Excellent day was had by all and the icing on the cake was having everything packed away before the late afternoon rain came. See you next year!

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Henllan Extravaganza, 13th August.

Lots of visitors, great feed back and it didn't rain! The venue was very picturesque and the welcome was very warm. There was a wealth of stalls and rural activites. My son nearly talked me into buying a ferret form the ferret display. I was very tempted... Many of the visitors to our display returned throughout the day bringing fresh faces to try on armour just to ask questions. We never had a dull moment. AotP would like to thank the organisers for inviting us.

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Deganwy Castle, 23rd July.
What a superb venue! Surrounded by seascapes and mountains. The weather was glorious and the crowds of people all keen on history. Adele Thackray, from Cadw, booked AotP again to provide historical interpretation alongside Cadw and archaeologists that proved very successful. The event was well recieved by the many visitors.
AotP had the chance to meet up with some old friends too, The Knights of Longshanks, particularly Gerwyn Jenkins from South Wales.

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Caergwrle Castle Event Year7 and 8, Castell Alun High School.
One of my favourite places in the world, well I did grow up here. The weather was kind to us and the pupils and teachers had a great time. We split the Year into four and provided four seperate experiences, history of the site, archery, medicine and the arms and armour. The occasion was made evenmore special because Mr Healey, the organiser (Head of Humanities) was retiring. We gave him a rousing send off. Everyone agreed, his hard work and dedication had resulted in history coming alive for all his pupils. As a teacher he will be missed.

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Ysgol Glanrafon, Wildlife Illustration Year 3, July 11th. Strange to give a talk without my medieval attire. I brought in lots of examples of my illustration work as the class had been studying birds in art. We talked about the process of producing illustrations, techniques etc and how they end up in print.

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Treuddyn Village Festival, 9th July.

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Llangollen International Eisteddfod, 5th July.
The Welsh Government booked AOTP to appear on their stand. The interactive hands on presentation proved popular with the hundreds of people who gathered around me during the day. Even when I managed to grab a quick break and got the chance to wander around the field, I ended up sitting on the grass with a large group of children gathered around me, listening to me talk about my clothing and contents of my pouch!

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Ysgol Glanrafon, Medieval Day Year 3. Set up outside with a tent and an awning. We split the group into two and spent a very pleasant day delivering our presentation as bilingually as possible. School lunch was excellent!

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