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The Regimental Newsletter
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The first major of the season at Alton: it was great to see everyone. Thanks to Billy for allowing me to lead the march through town to the battlefield on Sunday; sadly my energy was not as great as my enthusiasm! So, thanks to Thomas for taking over as OC on the field.
I was able to do something new: even after 32 years I'm still learning! Rob let me help on the Robinet; this seemed to prove the turning point from everything going well with the robinet to its only working occasionally (almost certainly down to me). I was impressed with the organisation of the event: well done, Hopton's, for all their hard work. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music that had been arranged in the international tent; I for one would like to see this sort of thing at more musters. Due to heavy work commitments and difficulty in getting time off work to attend Musters Owen and Kayleigh have agreed to resign their commissions as ensign and drum sergeant. I would like to give them my personal thanks for putting the needs of the regiment ahead of their personal interests; they have both given so much to the KA with various roles helping to keep the KA running smoothly. I hope they are both able to attend musters and relax, letting others take up the baton for a change. The event at Wressle is fast approaching; people are working hard to ensure everything goes smoothly. If you are planning on arriving on the Wednesday, please be willing to lend a hand setting everything up on the Thursday. The more help we have the sooner everything gets done and we can all relax! Please could you bring any new unwanted gifts or other contributions to go to Ruth. She is organising a raffle, probably on the Saturday evening. I hope to see you all there but may not make it due to ongoing treatment. From Billy: Thank you all so much for allowing me to lead you on the field on Monday, it was an honour, a pleasure and I was more than a little proud of you all! A few of you were trying out new roles while most of us were trying to recall how to perform our old ones! Well done to Zander for his steady hand on the musket block while Ian C gave the standard a flourish. I stuck mainly with the pike block and was very impressed with the improvements on the second day; it takes a hell of a lot of stamina to face Fenwick's whilst pushing uphill! Welcome and well done to new pikemen Ross and Damien! I must also mention Steve M who kept us well watered when the going got tough. Thanks go to Karen for taking photos at drill and on the battlefield. I’m looking forward to seeing you all in action again soon at Wressle. Yours in the Cause, Billy
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Hi all,
Great news! I have just found out that we have a Major for ABH – Newport Pagnell 28th/ 29th August. The season is now taking shape with plenty of events for us all - see full list below. Well done to those of you who made it to Batts Farm. Despite the cold barn, the event and food were excellent. I hope you got as much out of it as I did. Alton is just days away. We will be taking part at the Church at 4pm on both days following the Battle as part of the Blue coated Regiments; it should take about half an hour. There will be no push of pike only point at the Church, as that is how it was on the day. Some of us were present last time, so will have an idea of what to expect. Anyone able bodied, arriving early, may be asked to help put up the international tent. Things are well advanced for Wressle; Thomas will be sending out an updated warning order soon. 1st / 2nd May - Alton, Hampshire (Major) 3rd / 4th June – Wressle Castle, Yorkshire (Lunsford RIE) 9th / 10th July – Alnwick Castle, Northumbria (Large RIE) 23rd / 24th July – Chippenham, Wiltshire (Major) 28th / 29th August – Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire (Major) Get the dates in your diary, book the time off work before you are too late! See you soon Archie I can now confirm Alnwick Castle as a large RIE on 9th / 10th July. There will just be 4 small cannons allowed so we shall be taking our Robinet only (agreed with Blackwells CO). We may also have requests from other regiments to help with equipment (pike I suspect) due to the distance involved for most regiments. I'm sure we will help where we can. Warning order will follow as and when available. Alton is also coming up fast now: Early May Bank Holiday. The International tent will be going as the main beer tent so we will need help putting up and taking it down as usual. Due to work and family commitments Janine will now take over leadership of the Regiment at the STL AGM probably at Chippenham Major (at the moment the only other major this season). She is already getting up to speed and will be part of all decisions going forward. Meanwhile, Thomas and Billy will continue with their usual support as needed. Finally, it’s time to get your membership paid: I'm sending mine out this week ! Archie Hi all,
It was great to see you all at Whitehall, even though I was not able to take part in the march, My thanks to Billy and Thomas for their hard work over the weekend making sure that everything went smoothly. As a regiment we did ourselves proud looking splendid with our new colours and SWP colours flying with pride ! Congratulations to Andrew Newton on becoming the Lord General of the KA I'm sure we will all give him our full support in this challenging role. My congratulations to Eddie Cullen on finally getting a silver griffin for his work making our Website a window on our regiment and keeping it updated and relevant. A silver griffin to Alexander Zugic for his continued work in getting our kit to and from musters, a thankless task which we could not do without! Forlorn Hopes to Janine Heseltine and Lynne McClellan. We should all remember what a privilege it is being able to take part in this event, not many people can say that they have been able to march down the mall and have the use of Horse Guard’s parade. On other matters - It is now clear to me that my cancer treatment will continue to affect my on field role making it unlikely that I could lead a march and stand around for hours on the field. Some time ago, I took over the Regiment from Janine Heseltine so that she could go on maternity leave; she is now willing and able to resume her role leading Lunsfords, so she will take over as Officer Commanding (OC) leading the Regiment on the field with her existing rank of Sgt Major, starting at Alton. Billy and Thomas will give Janine close support with the day to day running of the Regiment They are both fully on board with this plan and will stay in their roles. It has been an honour and a privilege to help manage such a great regiment and, with the above changes, I believe that we will continue to go from strength to strength. Yours Archie Hi All
Season’s Greetings! Me again: another year ending, another flavour of Corona 19 (the gift that keeps on giving). Please get your booster when you can and stay safe. I forgot to thank Tina Bevan in our last newsletter for donating a falconet to add to our collection which could be useful for RIEs and living history. It comes from Life & Times who have sadly disbanded due to lack of funds. We may even get a few of their members joining us: here’s hoping they enjoyed West Acre! Thanks to Steve, for once again stepping up to the mark: for collecting the falconet and storing it with the other barrels. I have an Excel page all set up for names to go forward to the leadership symposium at Batts Farm next Easter: sadly no one has expressed an interest so far! So, if any of you want to progress through the ranks of Lunsfords, you should be seriously thinking of taking part and letting me know. There will be no charge for attending. Details to follow. In the last few days, I have had some car registrations through re Whitehall parking, so the sooner you send them, the sooner I can get the list together. Some of the older members will remember pikeman, singer and sometime sutler Roger Green, who was a heritage Lunsford member Sadly, Roger passed away last month after a long illness. I have attached his obituary. Condolences to Eileen and the family Finally, please have a great festive season. I'm looking forward to Whitehall already (Covid allowing !!) Archie From the Officer Commanding Hi All, Firstly, dates for your diary: · Whitehall 30th January 2022, · 9th - 10th April – Leadership Symposium, Batts Farm, Somerset · Early May Bank Holiday - Major, (Alton) · June Bank Holiday - Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebrations (Oxfordshire) · July 23st -24th – Major Wiltshire · August Bank Holiday -TBA We are looking forward to a great return to a full season of Major Musters - I for one can't wait! Whitehall matters first – although we have not had parking on the mall confirmed yet, you may want to start sending me your Car REG to be sure of being on the permit list. This will be the 50th anniversary of the KA's commemoration of the King's Horrid Murder & we hope that it will be bigger & better than usual. We have all sorts of things planned ... not least that Lunsfords will be the honour regiment along with Hoptons. We will be carrying 2 standards: our new one (made and donated by Sue H to the regiment) for blessing, also a Pennyman’s standard - as the KA will also be representing former regiments. This will be carried by Thomas Zugic, as I feel it is appropriate for a former Pennyman to have the honour of doing this rather than a Lunsford ensign. Any former Pennyman who would like to join us on the day can do so by paying an introductory membership. Members are already booking into the Premier Inn, Tower Bridge Road, for the Saturday night but be aware that the emissions charge and the congestion charge now run 7 days a week. I for one am looking at the possibility of coming by train. I would like to pass on thanks from the Lord General to all who made West Acre a great and much needed event for the KA. Do we have anyone who has an IOSH (Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) qualification, who would be willing to become an ECWS Safety Officer? If so please let AJN or myself know. Have you been reading the new MAs (Mercurius Aulicus) that have been produced by Thomas and Andrew? What a breath of fresh air! It's great to see it back. Please send any articles to Thomas for editing. From what I have seen so far, the bench mark is quite high. There will be more details on the Leadership symposium as and when they are finalised; anybody interested in attending should email me expressing their willingness to attend. I will try to answer any questions you may have. Finally, just to be irritating – “Merry Christmas Everyone!” Archie Website: www.sirthomaslunsfordsregiment.org.uk Twitter: @lunsford_reg Instagram: lunsfords_regiment Hi all,
Well-done to everyone for your efforts in making the final West Acre a great event Thanks go to: · the Guard tent volunteers for their sterling work · Jack Conway for running the tent rota · Alex and the lifting and shifting crew · International tent, party tent and kit loaded/ unloaded · the toilet cleaning crew (I think it was mainly Billy!) · Norman (and Victoria) for a lovely stew, also making the wheeled bit for the robinette (under Budget as well) · Ian and Olga for Powder store · All those with roles on the field · Anyone else I have forgotten! We gave the whole of the KA a Lunsford welcome, and the only chance many would have of attending an event this year. It was a real joy to see some old members turn up and catch up with them, also several new people who joined. A massive thank you to Mike and Billy for their hard work in making this a event open to all the KA. Dealing with all the stuff from important to nonsense takes a special skill and they are masters of it! We would have been happy with our own small event but was it not wonderful to see all our friends from other regiments as well? Archie From the Officer Commanding Hi all, Attached is the Warning order for West Acre, ABH weekend (It's nearly here!) Wressle was a great event; it was lovely to get together at last and meeting up with friendly people from Loudoun’s and Blackwell’s made it all worth the efforts by many to get the thing arranged. Welcome to the new and not so new members who joined up at Wressle and thanks to everyone for helping with the various loading & unloading, putting up and taking down, making and mending, also the toilet cleaning team for keeping the toilets cleaner than I have ever seen! It is only by the willingness of these people to take on thankless tasks that we have a regiment to be proud of. On to West Acre, where we are hosting the whole KA; we need to remind the KA how good we are at running a large event. We want it to be as well-run as the last Lunsford Major at Sunderland. The better we do it, the harder other regiments will have to work to reach our benchmark standard. We will be manning the Guard tent throughout the long weekend hope that all adult Lunsfords will volunteer. A rota (2hour slots of 2 people) organised by Jack Conway is being designed even as we speak (The earlier you get your name on the list the more likely you are to get a good time slot). Toilet cleaning will also be required (we are getting the toilets free of charge so it is up to us to look after them) again a list will be available to add your name to. The International marquee will be the KA beer tent for the weekend. It will be arriving on Thursday: any early arrivals will be expected to help put it up, late arrivals will be expected to help tidy it up each morning as required! With the willingness of everyone we can make this another great Lunsford event while having fun and meeting friends from other regiments at last. I am looking forward to seeing you all there Archie The King’s Army being part of the English Civil War Society Warning Order King’s Army Training Muster West Acre 28 , 29 and 30 August 2021 COVID-19 REGULATIONS PERMITTING Organised by Sir Thomas Lunsford’s Regiment of Foote The Event The event will take place in the picturesque village of West Acre. The idyllic surroundings include priory ruins, forded streams and a CAMRA award winning pub! This event is self - funded by the King’s Army. All paid up members of the King’s Army are welcome (introductory membership will be available). The event is not open to the public. There will be a full programme of activities, the details will be on your welcome sheet on arrival. There will be skirmishes on the Sunday and Monday afternoons. The King’s Army AGM will be Monday am (tbc) The Saturday will be, in the most, free time. Campsite The guarded camp will be open from 12.00 noon Friday 27th August 2021 until 10.00 Tuesday 31st August 2021. All the usual Event facilities will be present – beer tent, caterers, etc. Campfires will be allowed on prepared sites. The town of Swaffham has a full range of banks, supermarkets, takeaways, garages, etc Directions Nearest railway station: Kings Lynn. Buses run to Swaffham. West Acre lies just north of Swaffham off the A47. It is best approached from the South or East by entering Swaffham and then following signs to Castle Acre on the A1065. After about 3 miles West Acre is signposted to the left (before the turn to Castle Acre). Follow signs to the village (about three country miles) where you will see ECWS signs. From the West or North follow the A47 from Kings Lynn signposted to Norwich. Pass Narborough Trout Farms on your right. After about 1 mile the West Acre road is signposted to the left. Follow local signs to West Acre. Address for Sat Nav: West Acre PE32 1TP Muster Organisers: Mike and Billy Smith Tel: 07917275457 e-mail: lunsford@btinternet.com Explosives Officer: Ian Coleman Tel:07952 126 930 e-mail: iocoleman@talktalk.net Hi All,
It looks like we will be able to meet at Wressle 7/8th August, with restrictions being lifted by the government it is becoming a little easer to arrange, please see the Warning order attached to this newsletter. We will still need to know who will be attending so we are covered should any new restrictions be in place, be aware if you are not on the list you may be turned away ! It will be necessary to comply with track and trace and arranging the food for the catering, so as said in the last newsletter let your ensign or sergeants know in advance ( if no one registers we may call the whole thing off so be warned) Having had new tyres put on my caravan I plan to be there ! I cannot tell you how relieved I am that we will be able to meet up at last ! It will be great to see everyone again in real life (face to face in the meet zone) rather than zoom, my feelings about zoom are well known. We will be holding Lunsfords AGM at Wressle, this will save us having to fit it in at West Acre where we will be busie doing everything as the organising regiment. Get your kit out it is happening at last …. Archie Warning Order: Wressle 7/8th August 2021 Sir Thomas Lunsford’s Regiment, in conjunction with Sir Thomas Blackwell’s Regiment and the Earl of Loudoun’s Regiment will be holding a drill, training and social weekend in and around Wressle Village Hall. This will not be a public event although it is likely that some local villagers will be watching. We are planning various events to give some structure to the weekend. We have a very large field which will enable us to undertake some (sorely needed) drill and (hopefully, Covid regulations permitting) some fairly active training. It is also envisaged that the Friday will be something of a workday – checking equipment, tentage etc etc. There will also be scope and time to work on finishing off our new marquee pole. We can use the village hall as a base whatever the weather. At the time of writing, we have a caterer to serve us breakfast and evening meals on Friday evening, Saturday morning, Sunday morning and Sunday evening. There will be a barbecue on the Saturday night (contributions to Emma Moll’s charity please) together with a licensed bar. IF there are sufficient numbers, this will actually be a hog roast – SO if you know you are coming, it is essential that you let you CO know as some notice will be needed for this. There is no pub in the village but a1and 1/2 mile walk/march through the countryside is another possibility. Some camping for early arrivals from the Thursday – otherwise Friday through to Monday. Directions and camping You are aiming for the Village Hall, Wressle, YO8 6ES. This is about 10 minutes from Junction 37 of the M62 – whichever direction you are coming from; i.e. from the West: pick up the M62 from Liverpool, Manchester, Halifax, Leeds etc. From the North: A1 to the junction with the M62 at Ferrybridge. From the South/South East: M11, A1, M1 to the relevant junction with the M18, then M62 as above. From the Southwest/West: A34, A38, M42 – again to the M1. Once at the M62 junction 37, turn left on to the A614 (direction Goole), at the roundabout before the bridge turn right (direction Selby/York) A63. Then travel along for about 3 miles and take a very shallow right turn (signposted Bubwith and Breighton but I’ll add an ECWS sign). It is then just over a mile to the Village Hall and the campsite is across the road from there. Hard-standing for some caravans will be opposite the village hall and a little further along in front of the big barn. There will be toilets at the campsite (open from Thursday until Monday) together with access to those in the Village Hall (also for water). Please do not empty Elsans etc. into the Village Hall toilets. Please note: there are no shops in Wressle – nearest are at Howden (4 miles). First Aid will be provided by regimental First Aiders/First Responders Contact Details: Thomas Zugic: (thomaszugic@gmail. 07795831494/01757630050) The Birches, Main St., Wressle YO8 6ET (and, yes, please remember that I have to live here!) Hi All,
Due to the Government extending Covid restrictions the Wressle RIE on 17th & 18th July has been cancelled. Due to the hard work of Thomas, Wressle has been resurrected for the 7th & 8th August 2021. He has even cancelled his holiday abroad so we can have these dates (what a star !) this means the event will be during the school holidays so more of us can attend (Covid allowing). We will be asking those who are able, that want to turn up on the Thursday 6th to help with some equipment mending /checking on the Friday, please bring sturdy gloves with you. I also intend the Lunsford AGM to be on the Saturday early evening. I would like our Ensigns and NCOs to start thinking what they want to achieve from this weekend. We will need to know within the next 2 weeks so that we can timetable things (email to me with a copy to Thomas please) Details are still being worked on: we have to factor in that there may still be some c19 restrictions in place by then. I need everyone who plans to attend to register with their Sergeants/ Ensigns so we are able to plan proper camping spacing (they will then pass that information to Me/Thomas). This is also just a reminder that you will need to be a paid-up member for 2020/2021 season or be prepared to pay on arrival. We are still working on the details of the KA training weekend at West Acre. We will have more information by Wressle if not before. I'm starting to get excited as we may at last be able to meet up again, fingers crossed ! Archie. |
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