As I write this during a sharp cloudburst a little before 4 a.m., I reflect on what might've been at the Medieval World & Country Show over the weekend, had the weather been poor. With numbers quite robust again on Sunday, Ymlaen Rhuthun/Ruthin Forward will have achieved either break-even or a modest surplus. With weather, things would've been totally different.
With its wide variety of activities and entertainment, there can be no doubting the success of the MWCS. Everyone to whom I have spoken agreed that it was superlative.
I have a theory about people who dress up in medieval-style costumes, carry medieval-style armaments and pitch medieval-style tents & battles. In the same way as stamp collectors or trains spotters, they're slightly fanatical. Medieval re-enactors live and breath the middle ages and they obsess over the finest detail of historical accuracy. Society tends to ridicule train spotters but not the re-enactors.
That's because medieval actors offer us something constructive. We accept their eccentricities because they give something back, unlike the train spotter or football fanatic. On display over the weekend at Glasdir were a number of medieval battles, tournaments, re-enactments, displays, activities and history lessons. Throughout, you had to applaud the attention to detail, from boots to fabrics to implements to the tents used in the medieval village. Indeed, turn your back on the fairy tale new buildings of the Glasdir estate and towards the well placed medieval village against the backdrop of the Clwydian Hills and, with its log burning caldrons, it looked and smelt completely authentic. My blood didn't curdle, as the guidebook promised. Instead, I was simply moved.
And who was not impressed by the professional jousters? Basically stuntmen, they seemed to take knocks and falls in their stride. Those few who stayed for the Burning of Rhuthun reported that the effects were good but, as a finale, it was not the best. At the burning, the Owain Glyndŵr v Reginald de Grey sword-fight could apparently have so easily resulted in two heart attacks. It was as well that St John's Ambulance Brigade was there, though in the event they were no doubt only required for sun stroke. An incident with a bird of prey and a child turned out not to be serious.