I think this may have been the first big St. George's Day festivals in Nottingham after people realised that more was made of the special days from other countries (e.g. St. Patrick's Day) while our own kind of went unnoticed.

Apparently the Nottingham one is now one of the biggest.

A medieval battle re-enactment at Nottingham Castle.

The Robin Hood Festival in 2004

A rainy day in Nottingham, and a double bank holiday due to Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee.

These photographs almost cost me my camera, not due to the activities on the field of battle, but because of the weather. The heavy rain gathered on the camera and got inside; the camera started beeping and shut itself down, refusing to start up again which meant I couldn't get it to retract the lens. After a few tense days with the camera sitting around with its flaps open I put some fresh batteries in and it fired back up.

The Roman Palace at Fishbourne, which was just across town from where I lived in Chichester, put on a day where a number of re-enactments took place - pottery and food, fine, but let's face it everyone was there for the battles.  And I just couldn't resist picking up a sword for myself.  My first, but not my last!