and Les Journées Médiévals were a rip-roaring success.
Despite the weather being so filthy that we couldn’t hand out flyers at all the local markets there was a record number of people there.
There was a great variety of stalls from leather jewellery and accessories
to exotic fruit syrups, medieval clothing, supposedly “medieval” leather wear that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Fifty Shades of Grey,
artisanal beer made locally (strangely enough that had a lot of people around it!), a local artist, pottery, manuscript maker, a seller of leather-bound dream books, all the gear a small wanna-be medieval soldier could want
though sometimes it took a long time to make up minds about what colour of sword to have.
The blacksmith was doing his stuff and it seems impossible to think that this elfin creature (she comes up to my shoulder) is a stone mason and worked on the restauration of the doorway at the château.
Lots of people came dressed in the spirit of the day;
This gentleman turned up in a car with “Mage” written across the back.
Over in the medieval camp by the castle there was fighting going on, 
This lady could have been the inspiration for ‘kick ass female’, her opponents never seemed to win.
Brian Blessed’s relation was doing a splendid job of demonstrating basic fighting techniques
and in getting on with people…
Lots of people got to try their hand at archery (more of that later!)
and much use was made of the rack
Out of delicacy I haven’t included the picture where the torturer gave feathers to a crowd of grinning girls who then stripped the victim’s socks off…
And one of the most pleasing things of all: the rescue association for the galgos, Spanish hunting dogs that are treated appallingly, was there.
These dogs are so loving, so forgiving, and there are associations all over France desperately looking for homes for them. One of my daughter’s friends adopted little Cara, the smallest of the galgos,
All being well Cara starts her new life next weekend.
Victoria Corby 
I’m so glad it all went well…and i hope your daughter heals up quickly…such a rotten thing to happen.
She’s being very plegmatic about it – let’s be blunt, brave. I’d be making the most appalling fuss.
It looks a fun day. Thank goodness the weather held! I hope your daughter’s eye injury heals quickly. A good lesson there never to much around with weapons. Thanks goodness it wasn’t more serious!
My father used to shoot and was of the old school as far as safety was concerned none of us were allowed to point anything at anyone, even toy bows and arrows. How right he was.
How wonderful! People who do galgo rescue are awesome. I can’t even read about what they do to the hounds in Spain .. it has certainly put me off ever wanting to go there. They are great dogs – very much like our own greyhounds. 🙂
Love the stonemason! I bet she’s fit!!
The galgos are wonderful! They’re so affectionate but realistically they wouldn’t do for us, there are so many deer around here that if I ever walked one off a lead I’d be terrified that it was about to obey its instincts and disappear into the sunset giving chase. When you have thousands of acres of vineyard all around – off lead doggy paradise – it wouldn’t seem right to have dogs that couldn’t be let free.
So glad it was a sunny day this year after last year’s fiasco!
So were we!
yey. Thanks for sharing these photos. I lap up anything medieval and would love to have a go at archery (probably for the best I haven’t as it happens – otherwise people really would be losing eyes!) The dogs are beautiful and what a wonderful cause to contribute to …
Here’s a link to the album with all the photos of the medieval day on du Cros’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.595577053795980.1073741826.115598135127210&type=1
Luckily the eye is back in good form and seems undamaged.