Kelmarsh cancelled

[musket]

We were lucky, up in the top corner with Gordons. Horrible experience for those affected though.
Fully concur about the idiots in the jeep, just hooning around pretty fast churning the ground up.A ban from the event would be a fitting end.

[Type16]

I'm beginning to feel sorry for Jeep owning re-enactors. All those eyes looking at them at events. Have to get t-shirts saying "It wasn't me"

[Jim Smith]

Just back from Kel Marsh.....

When I left ( midday), most of the unwanted water features on the main site had gone, but the ground was still pretty wet and the roadways looked like a tank driving course. Some kind of a thank you to the tractor blokes would be a nice gesture I think. Our three vans and one car were extracted quickly and efficiently, which wouldn't have happened without them.

My lot escaped the worst of it but the apocalyptic first sight of the plastic camp on Saturday morning will stay in the memory for a long time.

Should they have cancelled? 20/20 hindsight means its difficult to make a fair comment. The EH bloke I chatted to this afternoon thought it had been considered but rejected. The weather front that brought Friday night/Saturday mornings rain was not forecast to be half as vicious as it was. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.....

Serious issues for the rest of this season though. Berkeley cancelled and Bosworth likely to follow. Put simply, if it isn't going to wash the entire season out then it needs to stop raining. Now.

[gregory23b]

Arrived home a couple of hours ago. Quite a few of us stayed over to dry off, help groups off site and take the opportunity to socialise etc.

The new stream that Type 16 mentioned was indeed a proper body of moving water, I got out of my car and wondered what the long puddle was and then realised the water was moving with bags and things floating on it. That blue tent in the first pics was in the middle of that stream.

EH staff did their best, not an easy call to make and they will have made losses too.

The new streams had fully gone by this morning but the ground is still soggy and churned up.

Poor old Jim the Pot got stuck and then the range rover than came to tow him also go stuck, so a load of us had to push the van out, it was great to see people in such high spirits and very helpful despite the event being a washout.

[Annis]

I just hope the foursome who were zipping round site in their US jeep are happy with themselves as they repeatedly churned up the already saturated and muddy tracks, whilst smiling and not stopping to help fellow re enactors!

That really peed me off. Especially when a couple of EH workers got a ride in it in the evening.

[Cat]

The blitz spirit was quite amazing. We got a push out of the river from some very kind people, helped some guys strike camp before they totally sailed away then went home as my Mum was taken ill on Friday and I wanted to get back to see her in hospital. (To those who expressed concern, thanks, she has a diagnosis which is unpleasant but not life threatening. She is home and feeling a lot better after a blood transfusion.)

As for Bosworth, I was told today that the decision will be made on August 1st so don't write it off yet.
We day tripped to Twekesbury today, and it was going very, very well. The Lancastrian camp was evacuated and relocated effieciently during the battle yesterday, the field where it was is now underwater- impressively so! There is a lovely atmosphere there, although the mood is a little subdued because of the Berkeley news. Poor Chris and Planty Crew, poor traders, poor us!

[Hedgewitch]

Hedgewitch would like thank Kris and his friend and the female (sorry no idea who you are) re-enactor who helped Derek push our van out of the trading/LH area yesterday.
As for the group of 4 or 5 WW re-enactors who walked past us when we again got stuck and happily watched Derek single handedly (and bloody mindedly) shove our van out of the soup and river to the exit - shame on you.
As for the guys on the buggy who woke us at 6am bombing up and down the trading area laughing - you were bloody annoying! As was the guy with the camera who thought it was all a great laugh.
Everyone else was brilliant and we hope you all got home safe and reasonably sound

[houseoffreyja]

We're back from Kelmarsh and we think it was the right decision to cancel. (not happy about it, but right.) The grass was churned up from the re-enactors and traders leaving. On Saturday there was a river running through the tents and standing water every where. It would have not been safe or sensible to open to the public. The plastic camping area looked like a paddy field in the driest parts!
This drought is getting on my nerves now.
Elaine

[Tomsk]

Terrible shame about Kelmarsh,the K.O were on higher ground and so survived the experience relatively damage free.Totally agree about the tossers in the Jeep.I also raise my hat to the tractor drivers who did a wonderful job getting vehicles out of the water/mud.One tractor driver had the K.O line up and cheer/clap him as he drove past towing a 4x4 which was towing a horse trailer which was towing a sports car

[ForTheMarshal]

Terrible shame about Kelmarsh,the K.O were on higher ground and so survived the experience relatively damage free.Totally agree about the tossers in the Jeep.I also raise my hat to the tractor drivers who did a wonderful job getting vehicles out of the water/mud.One tractor driver had the K.O line up and cheer/clap him as he drove past towing a 4x4 which was towing a horse trailer which was towing a sports car

Please tell me there is a photo

[Annis]

...drove past towing a 4x4 which was towing a horse trailer which was towing a sports car

That was funny!

[Tomsk]

No photo was taken that I know of.The tractor driver acknowledged our salute with a smile and a royal wave ,the 4x4 & horse trailer owner smiled but the sports car owner looked like he was pretending we weren't there

Tomsk

[Jim Smith]

Sounds like our blacksmith Paul and his dad. Chap in the sports car was a mate of Paul's and it was his first 'sample' re-enactment event.

[Tomsk]

Chap in the sports car was a mate of Paul's and it was his first 'sample' re-enactment event.

Not a good first event to see what it's like

Tomsk

[Jim Smith]

[quote][/quote]

Not really, no....

Mind you.he's apparently well-used to fell walking, climbing and caving so we have hopes that he's not been terminally put off.

[Type16]

Just had one of our members round to the house, He couldn't get to Kelmarsh as he was on a Lifeguarding course.
So that's another flag for our camp! Could come in useful

[lucy the tudor]

[quote="Jim Smith"]Just back from Kel Marsh.....
Should they have cancelled? 20/20 hindsight means its difficult to make a fair comment. The EH bloke I chatted to this afternoon thought it had been considered but rejected. The weather front that brought Friday night/Saturday mornings rain was not forecast to be half as vicious as it was. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.....

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I have apologised elsewhere to you already Jim, and am happy to eat crow here too.
I agree that I would have taken the same decision as they did, based on the forecasts that were coming through on Friday morning.
I was very impressed with the help and dedicated good humour of all the EH staff, and the reenactors. We all showed enough blitz spirit as a group to have been very proud of the community ( with the already noted exceptions) .
I also learned, with another barefoot lady alongside, that if the mud is sufficiently squishy, when pushing a heavy vehicle, one needs to firmly angle the foot, and dig the toes in hard- just as good traction as with boots on.

I do feel very sorry for those who have lost kit, and suffered much more severe discomfort than we did, and sincerely hope that with a good clean and dry out, they may be able to salvage most of their hard earned belongings.
I also confess to having really enjoyed being there, meeting new people, watching the very early morning daftness in the temporary river- I gather the man shark fishing was memorable in both ingenuity and attire.
What a weird weekend.

Had the weather gone through two days earlier, it may have all been OK, the rate things were drying out today was impressive, apart from the seriously churned up bits.
Such a shame after all that hard work.

[ForTheMarshal]

We had four first timers (at re-enctment, never mind Kelmarsh) with us - they're all coming back.

[Mark Griffin]

I'm back. I have put all my pegs in a cement mixer with plenty of water and its tumbling the mud off.

Wish i could do that with a heck of a lot more but ho hum.

Hats off to all, it was probably the best event that never happened considering what we were all up against. When metal roadway tracking starts floating and being pushed by the weight of water you know the right decision has been made. Even at big sports and music festivals I've worked on I've never had to drive around in a buggy slowly because I was worried about the bow wave affecting peoples canvas.

I felt incredibly sorry for all, especially Conquest, The Vikings, Regia and the MSS (especially them, they seemed to get the worst) who were in the route of the new river that appeared and then vanished by mid this afternoon. They were by no means the only ones of course but they seemed to take the brunt. They might take some comfort by the fact that the grass it left behind was really clean but I doubt it. Of course all in plastic were affected too and I hope everyone got/gets home safely and dries out ok.

I have to commend everyone for simply getting on with it and dealing with the situation in an amazing way. There was not one word of complaint (ignoring a couple of twunts on facebook who obviously don't count as rational humans) and the beer tent was great. Same to the mops who hardly kicked up a fuss too. Only a small percentage were a bit miffed and incidences of outrage and arm waving can be counted on 1 hand i think. Well done to the brave gang of EH stewards and managers who had that horrible task.

A special mention to the Gordon Highlanders WW1 who were on duty in the trench doing guided tours and provided a tartan van pushing service to anyone they came across plus the many other groups who rose to the occasion with good humour and a good degree of British pluck. Even if they were Dutch, French, Belgian etc....

Best worst thing was the (insert very derogatory word) who allowed a semi naked (yes, in just t-shirt and pants) boy aged no more than 8 I reckon (yes EIGHT FOR GODS SAKE) to drive a Mitsubishi Shogun across the site at some lick because it was a bit of fun.

Regarding the should we or shouldn't we have cancelled earlier, believe me there were many huddles, heartfelt debates and searching all the weather reports regularly during the days leading up. Even the Met got taken by surprise with the highly unusual cloud formation that sucked in every bit of moisture in several counties worth of airspace and dumped it in our area. A few miles up the road it was reasonable weather whilst a few miles to the east it was WORSE. Those of you who were there can appreciate what that must have been like.

Bed calls, I need to be at Osborne House by tomorrow night for the opening of the summer beach experience. If anyone can tell me where the summer has gone, do let me know.....

[Tomsk]

We had four first timers (at re-enctment, never mind Kelmarsh) with us - they're all coming back.

Sounds like a good catch there!

[timbobarnacle]

Thanks EH for all the support and it was indeed a great atmosphere - we got off lightly but I feel for all the others badly affected. Most of the mud has wiped off and our tent is dry, being plastic the mud will brush off too. the contrast between the help at Kelmarsh and a show at Shugborough hall a few years ago is remarkable. we were towed off yesterday after a 10 minutue wait

[Anthony of the MSS]

Griff - can I apologise for waking you so early in the morning, ironically when the MSS encampment turned into the sea I was actually concerned about repitching in the wrong area and annoying you!!

We copped it very bad, but everyone is remarkably chipper about it. The fact my tent was one of the contenders for "kelmarsh's most flooded" did allow me to look the east end in the eye with my folk as it were. We have nothing but praise for EH.

Can I also apologise to Allan H, Ghost, and other friends in the MSS whom I didn't get a chance to talk to this weekend. I'm sure you can understand my priority was making sure my mob were okay and getting them off site

[Mark Griffin]

No worries Anthony, yours was not the earliest call I had. Although I did think that my clock had gone wrong!

By 6.30 i was hauling myself up and was on site for about 7.00 so I consider myself lucky in that respect.

[Anthony of the MSS]

Errata: that should have read friends in the FED. It's been a long weekend

[Pelican]

Went to bed at midnightish, aware that there is a trickle running under my plastic ground sheet. My car was still parked outside, and I considered bailing just in case. Instead I fell asleep for an hour. Woke up at 1:30 with a tide mark on my face and in 4" of water. Everything soaked. Jump into car, save purse, save iPhone, grab Ikea bag with two pieces of fabric due to be made into hose, and holdall that was only damp inside rather than saturated, jump into car boot and lay awake under a bit of cloth in wet pjs. Fall asleep at 3:30, am woken by fellow group member poking my car window with a 10ft pole at 4:30, requesting rather politely that I get up and wind the window down. I look out and realise that now my car is in a good 10" of water. Car is removed thanks to skilled driving friend who is carried to my car by someone in welly boots. Then realise that tent is in 12" of water. A thousand thank yous to the kind Vikes who were wandering past, and without question or being asked, sauntered into the flood water and began to collect the debris (bedding, all my food etc) and move the tent to higher ground.If you're reading, I was the short girl with highlights who repaid you with tins of beer, which were opened immediately. Next door was also flooded, and as a group we were taking tents down just as they were flooding too. But what an amazing blitz spirit from all, great to see everyone helping each other out, lovely tractor driver removed our main group van too. I also have to thank the chap and his friends with the silver Fabia estate who gave me a push when I found out that fully laden Peugeot estates cannot skim.

I must however echo the comments of others about the thoughtless behaviour of some of the jeep drivers. Seriously, you watch people run from four directions to help someone trying to get their ruined kit home, whilst whizzing past and causing bow waves in the water and making it worse? Sweet zombie Jezuz.

Thanks to some nice sunny southern weather yesterday I'm nearly sorted. My tent is clean, dry and ready to go again. My bedding is dry but definately needs a visit to the dry cleaner. My non-soft kit has been sterilised, soft kit is on washing load 2 of 3 and I've eaten something.

I've lost pegs, hammer, and my pee pot. Which is a touch annoying.

But just remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

[Martin]

Please cross fingers, toes and send love gifts to the deity of your choice. Just found out that where we are going to trade at the Secret Garden Party is in a nice bowl shaped bit of land, by a river that is very full and its hammering down right this second. its 5 days before the festival but we're setting up on Wednesday, also lost half my tent space cos the lorry that was parked near there started listing in the mud and had to be moved half over where the back of our stall is

[Mark Griffin]

Having lost parts of my pirates set to keep a horse box from sinking any further at Kelmarsh i can sympathise. Fingers duly crossed!

[Skevmeister]

Wow, is al I can say. I am glad you all got home safely. It could have been so much worse looking at that water. Sat here in my pissy wet through trousers yet again from walking the dogs; I think that with the recesssion, bankers being w@nk3rs, and a lousy indecisive goverment the last thing re-enactment needed was the weather we have had. Whe I live on a hill in Nottinghamshire the fields are so sodden here that I have standing water puddles on Slopes !!.

Maybe we will have to think about moving the season to October....

Tombo.... maybe we need to get you to build boxes with polystyrene bottoms, so that in the case this happens again the stuff floats.

Well done to all those who survived and to those who struggled through everything to help others worse off than themselves.

And to the tossers who were driving round in a jeep and not helping out. May your axles drop off so that we can all stand by and laugh.
Skev

[Dingo8MyBaby]

Best worst thing was the (insert very derogatory word) who allowed a semi naked (yes, in just t-shirt and pants) boy aged no more than 8 I reckon (yes EIGHT FOR GODS SAKE) to drive a Mitsubishi Shogun across the site at some lick because it was a bit of fun.

.

Of course they realised that they voided their insurance the moment they put control of the vehicle in the hands on an juvenile.

If anyone can tell me who that was I'll have all of their UK vehicular policies cancelled and them marked as a high risk for any ABI members they might approach requesting to take out a policy with.

[Mark Griffin]

i think the stern telling off they got was enough. This time....