Bill ( left ) Aileen and Dave
Founded in 1980 by Bill Hubbard, Dave Bone and JP Roberts at the University of Newcastle -upon-Tyne. Bill had been in the Arthurian Society based in Leicester and the new group was to represent English warriors to take on the British.
Bill ( left ) Aileen and Dave
I joined in the winter of 1980 and one of my first acts was to smash Dave Bone's front teeth with the metal edge of his shield . Henceforth were metal-rimmed shields deemed cool but definitely a no-no for combat. Dave continued the trend by smashing Bills hand with a very heavy sax shortly after. In this way we learned a lot about safety..... It says a lot for the spirit of the group that we all remained good friends.
Me 1982 - we re-used membership cards to save money...
Bill's persona was Cynric, English chieftain, Dave was Wulfric, JP something I forget .. it was very hard not call him JP all the time .. and I was Uxfrea the Anglian. Actually JP had a Welsh name, Cadfan the Generously Endowed. We were really only called 'The Ravens', the warband bit was added later to aid distinction from others.
From the first we used spears - staves before we could afford or locate spearheads. The Arthurians had used spears as a mainstay for several years and we determined to have a proper shieldwall with big round shields and spears used one handed. Although we knew they should be used overarm we used them underarm for safety's sake (phew..)
Spearheads were made of flat metal and tanged, of pipe with welded blades or bought from India - yes we bought and used antique spears folks... A high point in spear technological development was achieved when we developed the 'edging-tool spearhead'. This allowed us to have a cheap, light, safe and pretty authentic spearhead - genius - but I cannot say who made one first. I made one from a welded edging-tool but I think someone else made one from the very cheap pressed variety about the same time
The main thing was that from the start we were a shieldwall armed with long one-handed spears....................................
A lot of effort was put into making a handbook which had information about history, what kit should be and how to make it. Bill put a lot of work into info sheets to help beginners and Dave Bone was a genius in making stuff and showing others how to. The handbook was great - few groups have made anything so good up to this day but... who has a copy still? Not me alas..
I keenly remember how in the summer of '81 I had made a version of the Coppergate helmet - recently dicovered - from the blurred photo's then available. My metalworking skills were rudimentary but it still beat the Firewatcher's helmet type of headgear we had used before. I was quite proud of my effort (which I used for years).
I nearly puked when Dave promptly produced his summer's work ..a perfect spangenhelm reproduction .. I think based on the Krefeld-Gellep finds - or Morken I forget which .. . I must try to get a photo up of that helmet. It was made of scrap, with no power tools and using a tea-chest as a bench..amazing. This aspect was a strong feature of the society though, we made stuff. There were very few sources for ready-made gear. We helped each other, had 'making' sessions and passed info around the group. Todays reenactors have it easy just buying stuff off the shelf. ( We used to live in a septic tank.... etc.)
We had the first properly reconstructed early English shieldbosses which I persuaded Len Sutton to make. I even had some sugar-loaf bosses made .. but they were very silly. The amazing thing is where all that kit went ? Who has it ? Did I sell it when drunk or was it stolen by pixies ?
We did do shows though and earned some money from them to do other things and buy gear. Our show concept was also original and remains unique. We did not go in for just a big line-fight.
In our shows both sides had characters who spoke and a scene was set to explain any fighting. Initial single combats were followed by group fight and this would devolve into fights over the whole field. We choreographed it so that every part of the crowd go to see some fighting close up and details such as shield explosions and throwing spears were built-in. Simple.We were young, we enjoyed it and so did the crowd. A thousand warriors does not necessarily make for a more enjoyable show....
Other distinguishing features of our group were that we had a good number of female members who fought and that we practiced keenly. For a lot of the groups life it was 2 or 3 hours on a wednesday and 2 or 3 on a friday. We had the use of a large room in the university Union building and it was well-used. Too-well-used on occasion -we had some enquiries as to why the plasterwork on the walls was a bit chewed-up. Without explaining they were obviously the traces of frantic line-fighting we denied all knowledge...
Weekend trips in subsidised minibuses allowed us mobility to go and fight in the countryside and meet other groups. Colin Richards' main use to us .. he was a desperately lousy fighter and preferred to spend his time doing tablet-weaving, was that he had a driving licence and was not afraid to use it. From the start we fought other groups and ourselves .. in wild places. We fought not for shows , not for money , not to thrill a public, but for ourselves.
A major exploit was the procurement of a 'sail-cloth hall' or tent. We got a tent so big we could all sleep in it. Mad Steve Blackburn sewed most of it I think but the similarities between it and a very large stage curtain that went missing from the university theatre should be discussed with Bill and Dave.
We held festivals - Dave, Bill and JP put a lot into starting this tradition - and I remember a boasting competition where I described killing hundreds of enemy not with the jawbone of an ass but the Ass-bone of a Jew : so young , so innocent, so crap.
We held Samhain on a wild beach in Northumberland each year and in a ritual fight Bran of Darkness defeated Bel of Light. We danced round a 'Troy Town' maze and generally had a wonderful time.
Onwards.. and upwards....
The Arthurian society of Leicester gave way to the AD500 Confederation and we eventually had 5 groups representing peoples of the period.
We fought in the Cheviot Hills, Lakes District, Kinver Edge etc. We had festivals, found out more and more about the period and occasionally drank a bit.
Times changed and we could no longer be wholely based at the university. Phil, Richard, Fiona, Ian and Paul took most of the reins and a newsletter/magazine - was born and Ravens mag which ran to 20 editions I think ? Who has them all ?
We evolved into a Roman-British militia/warband, The A500 Re-enactment Society but retained Ravens as our Germanic persona. AD500 were GOOD. We had the best kit, best knowledge and best fighters for that era bar none. Groups today are hard-put to equal our kit which was all hand made by us. We used martiobarbuli, formations, Roman commands, had a draco and kicked ass. We had a system of 5-man 'mani' and used missiles, spears and swords. The pictures still speak for themselves, 20 years later.
There are no more Ravens at Newcastle Uni but Phil, Richard, Paul and Ian have kept the flag flying with their research and website ...
Perhaps we can all stand shoulder-to-shoulder in a shieldwall again some day.....
PEOPLE I REMEMBER: ( order is not significant .. )
Phil Saxmund: a byword for doggedness. Not the biggest guy but he persevered ( again says a lot about the groups attitude) and was annoyingly often to be found at the other end of a spear that killed you from somewhere unexpected. Phil made a wonderful Vendelhelm reconstruction. Responsible for one of the most spectacular projectile vomitings I ever saw at a student party.
Andy Bates : a maker extraordinaire like Wulfric. He made a draco standard and late Roman helmets that I have still not seen surpassed. Caught a wierd disease from bone dust as he made things.
Alex Croom : Ricula, genuine English rose. So mild mannered and well-spoken but so tough when wielding a staff or spear. I remember a puzzled group of Arthurians who could not work out why it was soo hard to cross a simple fence guarded by Alex - one woman, one spear. Responsible for much of Ravens rag.
Tara Mallinson : Never far from Alex. Jolly and also in for a scrap. An almost unique connecting link between busses and the fifth century.
Richard Underwood : Annoyingly thick long hair ( probably more annoying now I am completely bald..) Richard was a warrior who looked like one ( no offence to some others ) and threw himself into the group. Laughed like a machine-gun. Maintains the Ravens Warband website.
Bill Hubbard : Real name Will or William or Cerdic or Finn or -- something. Group founder. Member along with me and Gareth of 'the big-nose group' during Kinver Edge battles. Last time I talked to Bill he said he was into renaissance costume stuff. How can that be ? Swapping smelly sheespskin and mud for puffy breeches and silk pah...! I remember Bill's nice leather armour that was created from a car seat-cover. He had the leader's priviledge of remaining uncriticised for his deficient fighting technique and over-concern for the enemy's well-being.
Dave Bone : Ace kit-maker, cool fighter, looked like a warrior but needed to stand on a box ( sorry Dave). The stuff he made knocks much stuff available today into a cocked hat. Founder-member. Nice guy. Except for when he threw a replica hand-grenade though the flat window , how droll.
Tracy : Slight and pale when she first joined but like Saxmund a dogged member. Still fighting but now not so slight or pale! Lives in Denmark,like me. Singer and fighter, has thankfully now dropped the grey colour she painted all her kit in the start.
Janice: not now I'm about to be married, not now, I'm about to be married, oh alright then....
Paul Mullis : the only member with Scandinavian connections I think. A penchant for jolly song lyrics and a solid presence in the shieldwall. Had the most riduculously heavy shield I have ever encountered. Made nice drawings I still intend to put somewhere. Why not here ?
Steve Blackburn . Semi-detached group druid and advisor in historical and mythical matters. Agricultural bioscientist of some kind which revolved around growing small plants of a certain fun variety I think. Jolly, balding and gave us a lot of our group atmosphere in the early days. I remember he and his girlfriend forgot to turn off a torch in their tent one night.. The assembled throng at the campfire 20 metres away were treated to a kind of X-rated Indonesian shadow puppet display projected onto the side of their tent. Made us sooo jealous.
Jeff Simpkins : Very nice guy. Mild mannered left handed fighter but vicious when roused. Made great kit including a Coppergate helmet that was better than mine. Left the silhouette of a mail shirt on the lino of a flat we shared after he blackened it in the grill-pan and then dropped it. Jeff had a the very useful talent of making homebrew... kept it warm by piling his dirty laundry round the plastic tubs, yummy. Founded a Lancastian group of Late Roman marines - no-one else has done that to this day !
Colin (Rab) Richards : Sigurd der Hara, best needleworker in the group. His dresses were always immaculate and any woman with a query about the finer points of costume would turn to him without fail. Currently living in the South Seas and working on a project to have his whole skin tatooed in the traditional way with pictures of the members of Halifax town F.C before he dies. Always struggled with anorexia and it was often hard to get him to eat anything at banquets. Quiet and unassuming. A shit fighter due to being born with two left feet where his hands should be.
JP Roberts: scouser so I am partial, but mild mannered warrior with dry wit. First person I saw using a home computer - a ZX 80 in 1980. When I was divorced took me in -- thanks JP and Jess -- but I did have to live with Black Sabbath as an alarm call at 6 each day.
Jackie Rodgers : probably used us all as raw material for her psychology studies. Short but useful in a fight.
Zen . Can't remember full name Andy ??? almost as enigmatic as Gwrgi -- now there was an unusual member.
Rob Savage : champion of flat vowels and down-to-earth violence. Obviously why he studied theology. Great fighter, why did he piss off so soon. But at least hes still active somewhere somehow.
Martin of somewhere with rounded vowels - deepest Cambridgeshoire oy think. Good fighter but did not manage to pass exams so we lost him. Grrr.
Big Eddie : geordie giant. Good fighter and good laugh.
Little Eddie : Margate spiv. Very nice guy who was with us for years.
Sam Middleton : another unpreposessing danger. Slightly built but dangerous in the shieldwall and funny to boot.
Colin Shagreen, Vanessa ( witch ), Jane, Jenny the fighting botanist, Scottish Pete who tried to eat my shield, Al Zhahawe - the only Kurd we recruited, Janice the hamster, Fiona, Ian Stephenson and Stephen Ianson - two who looked similar, Gawain, Sarah L. , Sarah Morrigan (nightmare) , Alan, Simon Green (Oswald), Mandy May,George Keys.. many others it would be nice to be able to remember.
Milestones I can remember:
HASTINGS 1984 - biggest bash we had been to or were to attend for years. We made an impact - as did some of the loonies who attended. Sharp arrows and drunken combatants are now a thing of the past - I hope. I vividly remember seeing a shaven-headed priest being hit over the head with a sword from behind... yuch.
ALEX AND TARAS TULIP - a sacred plastic tulip which makes my head ache to this day. I wasnt drunk enough obviously.
USE OF THROWING SPEARS AND AXES : Most of our shows involved chucking real spears or axes at each other inthe 'fight of champions'. Thrilling and dangerous. When two less trained members tried it once it led to an ambulance ... but nothing too serious.
OSMOTHERLY WEEKEND MIDSUMMER 1982 - Only Rab and I turned up ! But we did it anyway. Fighting with javelins from trees, drinking in the pub till 4a.m. and bivvying in the woods.
DAVE BONES DEATH PLUNGE - fighting in Halifax around overgrown abandoned quarries our shieldwal flank was secured by a precipitous drop. Part way through the scrap Wulfric (for it was he) evaporated - seemingly beamed-up to the Enterprise - he had in fact been beamed-down, by gravity , but landed in leaves and was OK.
WEST STOW 198..6 ? Ravens plus Midgard and odds and sods - including a Hawaiian - attacking uphill into superior numbers of Regia creamed them (video available). Also the fighting across a ruined bridge where the combat was so close and dense that the noise of weapons on shields made it almost impossible to hear our shouts -- epic.
HINCKLEY CRICKET CLUB PAVILION 1985 ? My trousers caught fire in the night ( I was not wearing them at the time) and nearly suffocated us all .
THE GREAT WOK : Someone thought a giant display wok from a department store would be good for communal eating. Good idea but just imagine bacon and eggs for 10 people piled up at the bottom of a wok .. doesn't really wok.
etc... yawn.. sorry am I keeping you up ?
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OR.....
PART 2 - MORE ON AD500 R.S.
After discussion about the name of the society we changed
to AD500 Re-enactment Society , partly because our research now showed how
tenuous any Arthurian history was.
We also had a keen interest to create a Late Roman army
unit – to represent the British who were trying to fight off the English
invaders.
So that was done – we transformed – miraculous. The
Arthurians crammed into a phone-box and emerged as Numerus Aelianus AND their
Germanic enemies. I actually spent one weekend as a Scottic javelinman
skirmishing, that MUST have been a first.
Numerus Aelianus appeared on TV , some god-awful kids
programme. The only good thing about it was that we had a good photo opportunity
at South Shields Roman Fort. These pictures show the quality of our
group.
Weekend
‘bashes’ continued and we had enemies in
The Kinver edge battles of 1986 ( I think ) show a
snapshot of the AD500 Confederation. Different groups interested in the period
meeting to fight and have fun. No red tape, no factional
fighting.
About this time the Federation of Dark Ages Societies and
NFPS and Regia were conducting internecine warfare against each other.
Another place we used for bashes was Borrowdale in the
Lakes District. Great place to fight. Very wet. Here is a photo of a bog in a
bog, being rained on. Some of us actually slept in
it…..
Our shows with Numerus Aelianus evolved.. From the start
we used the original Roman army commands, in Latin, and practised formations
such as the ‘fylkon’ (Roman shieldwall) and wedge.
The fylkon was formed and the Germanic warriors would
shoot arrows at it and throw javelins to prove its
strength.
This impressive picture shows Andy Bates leading a
charging ‘cuneus’ (wedge) of two ‘mani’ ( 5-man groups). We even appear to be
running in step – beat that !
We used Roman lead-weighted darts – martiobarbuli – and
did some experimental work on how far we could throw javelins with or without an
‘amentum’.
The separation between the university members and the
older folks continued and took its natural
course….
The university group became TESS – The English
Settlements Society ( after Collingwod and Myres famous book ) and AD500 was run
down as we had less time and were more geographically spread
out.
Jeff
Simpkin was successful in creating a unit of Roman Marines at
I think the
last event were in about 1993.
I was then away from the group but resumed re-enactment
fighting with Vikings ( terrible people …) . Phil, Ian, Richard and Paul
continued the English theme and have produced books and set up the Ravens
Warband website which perpetuates the name and spirit of our original
venture.
It is now 27 years since I got into re-enactment
fighting. Will I never grow up ? No…. I don’t want to, it’s too
enjoyable.
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