Early June, the Marquess of Newcastle’s Regiment of Foote return to one of our favourite venues. The fantastic stately home of William Cavendish in North Derbyshire – Bolsover Castle, with its wonderful indoor equestrian school. This event is for English Heritage and consists of, Living History, Display of Arms & a small skirmish on both days.
Nantwich 2019 – A new Pikeman’s view.
What a brilliant day! I had high hopes for my first battle with Newcastle’s Regiment, but even they were surpassed by the friendliness and camaraderie of everyone I met. Plus the battle felt truly epic -friends who saw the pics said it looked like a movie! I joined up by myself (and didn’t know anyone!), but was never without people to talk with, and had some great conversations throughout the day.
I was loaned pretty much the full uniform, and soon looked and felt every inch the 17th century soldier. The march through the packed town centre made you feel like a celebrity – and even with just basic pike training, I managed to stay in line without dropping it or snagging a telephone wire.

Lining up for battle, with hundreds of reenactors, it was very exciting. Our pike block felt solid and ready for action after marching together. I was very glad for the core of long serving and confident troops.
Then it was time to attack – I’ll be honest, I was surprised (but happily!) just how physical the actual fighting was – all bunching up and smashing into another regiment of pikemen, then shoving until one side was pushed back (or someone fell over). The anticipation of the collision, and then shoving or being shoved was like your favourite team sport, but better! Muskets were firing on either side, through the smoke I don’t even remember seeing the crowd.
Parliament may have taken the day back in 1644, but we certainly felt like we had the better of it in 2019.
In the evening we all went for a meal, and I got a chance to speak with other members who I hadn’t met on the field, or in the pub or town earlier. Everyone was lovely, and it was great to finish the night piled in a hotel room, still chatting – it was like a work Christmas party, but with more interesting people!
I have signed up for the year and will go to every event that I possibly can, I have a new best hobby. If you like history, dressing up, team activities, having a laugh and socialising, then you’ll love Newcastle’s Regimente of Foote. Yeah, I still ache 3 days later, and I was ready to play dead after about 40 minutes of back and forth, but I’d do it all again tomorrow!

If like Ben, you’ve been thinking about giving re-enactment a go, head to our Joining Us page to find out how to get involved and make being a Newcastle your new venture for 2019.
Upcoming Event: ‘Holly Holy Day 2019’, Nantwich – 26th January 2019
Holly Holy Day in Nantwich, the preseason unfriendly as it is sometimes called, is the first battle of the year. It give us a chance to meet with fellow members of the Newcastle’s Foote and friends from other Sealed Knot regiments.
The Battle on Mill Island will be hard fought and probably muddy…
Organisers – Battle of Nantwich | Holly Holy Day
Sponsors – Nantwich Town Council – Holly Holy Day
Upcoming Event: ‘Stafford Under Siege!’ Stafford Castle, Staffordshire – 9th September 2018.
As the eagle eyed amongst you may have realised, we haven’t had a regimental Living History event so far this year, similar to those we did over the past few years at Kenilworth, Bolsover and Helmsley. We’re about to rectify that this weekend with an event at Stafford Castle.
The Siege of Newark, Nottinghamshire: 23rd & 24th June
As the Heatwave continued to scorch Britain, Newcastle’s turned up in relatively large numbers to Devon Park, Newark once again on the Friday afternoon and started to set up camp ready for what turned out to be a great weekend.
The advantage of going back to Newark again is having knowledge of the area and what to expect at the event. We were able to set up camp easily if a little squished in and get straight to the important things such as catching up with friends, having a few drinks and eating!
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Upcoming Events: Marston Moor and The Storming of Bolton
Newark may have only been a few days ago but there’s still no rest for some members of the regiment as we move swiftly on to our next two events.
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June 2018: What we’ve been up to and what’s coming up.
Last weekend, a number of the regiment headed to Pontefract Park again to take part in Wakefield Armed Forces Day. After the success of the event last year, we were very excited to be going back and setting up camp again.
Continue reading “June 2018: What we’ve been up to and what’s coming up.”
Upcoming Event: Wakefield Armed Forces Day, Pontefract Park – 16th June 2018
This weekend we’re going to be taking part in our next event. You’ll find us taking part in Wakefield Armed Forces Day, held at Pontefract Park, next to Pontefract Racecourse.
We’ll be setting up our Living History camp and will have a range of people for you to come and meet, both portraying military and civilian life in the 17th Century.
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The Storming of Bristol, Bristol: 25th – 28th May 2018
Hello, hello! We’re back again after a bit of a blog hiatus, sorry about that! We’re all back on track and will be keeping you updated with what we get up to over the Summer.
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William Cavendish, The Marquess of Newcastle
We thought it was about time to introduce you to the man at the top, William Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle and take a look at the life and career of the man who’s regiment we make up.
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