ROMAN MIDDLEWICH FESTIVAL

[John Conyard]

Cheers Robert,

Dave's correct. Plumbata can be delivered quickly on target with great force. I can't resist tying a bucket on the front right triplet straps. An axe hammer sometimes hangs on the left front.

I hang nothing on the rear horns. They take the most pressure. In fact at Middlewich the rear right horn was broken, so riding with the kontos with no reins, relying on the legs, was more exciting than normal.

The strung bow case owes something to Maurice, well after our period. It hangs on my left from a belt with the spatha, while the arrows go on the right. My kontos or a lancea is carried, or hung off the right shoulder.

I'd love to try a lasso.

The kit and the armour does restrict movement.

As for helmets, I hesitate to say anything definite. Both Deurne helms really do offer good protection, with your eye sockets deep in the helmet. They are also heavy. The skulls are very large and they both need a great deal of padding out. There isn't that much of the Burgh to reconstruct, but my version from Tim Noyes, fits me like a glove. I've crash-landed head first in it three times, and it's not even got a dent.