Q. How did you find out about the SK /Gerards?

A. From talking to wargaming and folk dancing friends. In particular Nigel Britton, Julian Lander (now in Rupert's) and Twm Jarvis.

Q. When was your 1st Muster?

A. May 1978 - Headington, Oxford.

Q. What happened when you arrived on the campsite? Who welcomed you?

A. I was given a lift by Twm, so don't really remember checking in there. We just put up our tents, then went for a drink.

Q. How did you get kit? What did it consist of?

A. Borrowed a (nylon) jacket. Used my Morris dancing britches, and probably white rugby socks at that first muster.

Q. What did you choose to do on the field?

A. Pike.

Q. Why did you choose this arm?

A. In those days, there really wasn't much choice, particularly for a broke student. Budgies were overwhelmingly a pike regiment then, on occasion putting 100 fighting men on the field, with no more than half a dozen musket at most.

Q. What was your 1st experience of the field like?

A. Confusing, and slightly scary.

Q. What was your 1st social experience like?

A. I don't remember there being a beer tent at that muster (it was a mini). I do remember going to a few different pubs, and being a curiosity for American tourists.

Q. How have things changed since you 1st joined?

A. The kit is a lot more authentic. There is also a lot larger Living History section (both of these across the Knot as a whole, not just Gerards).

The Regiment is quite a lot smaller, but with far more families and children, and more of a mixture of arms. Even with the children, the average age of the regiment must be quite a bit higher than it was when I joined. I don't think the main fighting has changed very much for the pike, although they do more point than they used to. I switched to musket about 11 years ago because it was hurting too much after a pike battle as I got older. That hasn't changed much in those 11 years, apart from minor tightening up, but I don't really remember us having a significant musket presence at all in the 80's.

I think parties are probably getting quieter (except when Les is around), just because of the number of families involved. But there are still plenty of parties, and always some people getting drunk.

Q. What is your favourite memory of being in Gerards?

A. I can't pick just one! A few that stick in my mind are:

Fighting in the snow at Nantwich in '79 or '80.

Dancing in the pub courtyard at Plymouth in '81 or '82. In those days, as well as the general dancing, we could field a full morris team, with myself, Nigel Britton, Julian Lander, Darryl Hurt, Derek Moody, Jonathon Pickup, and one or two more, plus MJ and Ollie with the music.

The regiment being told to take the bridge at Cropredy, with the whole Parliament army between us and it - then DOING IT :) That must have been early 80's

The Llantrisant major musters in the rain. (late 80's?)

Singing in the underground section of Carew Castle. (late 90's).

Q. How did you find out about the SK /Gerards?

A. I Went to college and during Freshers week joined Wolverhampton Polytechnic Sealed Knot Society. It seemed to involve lots of alcohol, dressing up and raised money for charity too ( social conscience or what?), everyone seemed friendly and so I signed on the dotted line

Q. When was your 1st Muster?

A.I missed Worcester 84, as although I was a member of the Poly society, the actual SK membership ran from January. So my first actual muster was Easter 1985, at Stroud, although I'd met quite a few people in the regiment by then, at various parties and drinking events in Wolves.

Q. What happened when you arrived on the campsite? Who welcomed you?

A. I travelled back to Wolves during the holidays from my home in Sunderland, and was given a lift to the muster by Nigel Stroud, along with others from the Poly society.

Q. How did you get kit? What did it consist of?

A. I made my kit as it was cheaper than buying it. Wool from the market (sort of an air force blue colour), skirt and sleeveless bodice (sleeves added later, as I had enough wool left). Debbie Benaiges and Jill Hetherington supplied the patterns. I also made a yoked shift from unbleached calico that I still have and which still makes the odd emergency appearance as we all know better than to have yokes on shifts / shirts now!

Q. What did you choose to do on the field? Why did you choose this arm?

A. I'd tried pike at some of the drill sessions we'd run at Poly and knew I was a danger to anyone standing behind me as the top hit the ground backwards, and guns cost money, so camp follower. Very much the accepted thing that girls did camp following and blokes did pikes - largely because, as a student society, that was the cheapest option!

Q. What was your 1st experience of the field like?

A. I don't remember a great deal about Stroud at all, apart from trying to keep out of the way of everything! I've better memories of my first major muster which was at York , May Day 1985, by which time I'd acquired an (empty) De Kuypers Genever bottle / jar to use. Very authentic looking ( you see similar jars in the Dutch interior pictures of the period) but jolly heavy when it's full of water! And carrying round a snapsack with a pike block's glasses / car keys / watches / inhalers as well, and a spare plastic water bottle and my camera - you could still take cameras on the field in those days - it was a pretty good balancing act! Later that summer, having saved my grant, I bought a drum - I'd seen them and fancied doing that. I had that drum until last summer when it moved on elsewhere within the Regiment - a very emotional moment as I'd had the drum longer than both husbands put together at the time!!

Q. What was your 1st social experience like?

A. From the campsite on Ron Newman's land at Stroud we went to the closest pub for the evening. Lots of singing - which you tend not to get in pubs much anymore - you've to find a pub close enough to the campsite first! - and Andy Tims being very cross with me for some unknown reason. He doesn't know why either, nor did he at the time, but he was. On the way back you had to cross a stream and it'd rained. Andy Burgess lost a shoe.

Q. How have things changed since you 1st joined?

A. The biggest change is probably the number of people arriving via their own transport rather than shared lifts (when you travelled in kit 'cos it took up less space), or public transport. The first several years I was in the SK we went everywhere pretty much with Chris Shepheard who had a land rover and towed the pike trailer. It did mean there was room for the drum! I think the size of people's tents has increased - probably partly because of people like me who wanted a tent they could stand up in to take skirts off (rather than stand outside - in the rain? - and strip as far as the shift.) We've recently given in and bought a caravan as I'm even less use in the cold than I used to be and also can't be bothered to cope with an airbed any more! I think there are probably about the same number of families, but the average age of the Regiment is older I think. When I joined, there were loads of singles, now that's not nearly so much the case. The other thing that's changed is the number of people who now cook - when I joined, traders row for everything! Overall the regiment's about the same size I think, but we probably have more people who don't go on the field than we used to. I think the battles themselves are still about as disorganised as ever, the scripts never seem to work, and the parties are probably just as loud but I probably have a lower tolerance threshold and give in sooner! We don't seem to do as much melodic singing as we used to (with a real tune, rather than pikeman-y shout-y songs if you see what I mean).

Q. What is your favourite memory of being in Gerards?

A. Where to start really? Edgehill 1985, about 50 pikemen in our block. Lyme Regis 1985 and the Royalist (ship) landing for the Monmouth 300 years campaign. Lostwithiel 1985 and the mock wedding in the beer tent - a moment of silence then the tremendous line as one of the bridesmaids turned round and winked at Sparrow 'B** H**, it's a bloke!'

Llantrisant 1986 and all that rain and mud. A New Year party at Julian's with Phil the mouth complaining about all the old people going to bed - then going to bed himself before the rest of us (we were, yes, all older than him). Adrian looking at Di , holding onto a tent pole 'Wife, I think I'm a tent pole' as he slid down it into the mud. Aston Hall, 1985, all the road turnings were right hand turns and all the SK signs were left handed ones so they were all upside down.

Playford Balls in Bristol with MJ, Darryl and Dai - civilised dancing! Dancing myself stupid in various beer tenets over the years. Naseby at Holdenby House and the raspberry wine at lunchtime - it was good drumming, it just wobbled a bit, and had to lie on Nick to fasten his back and breast. Marie being very sick into a plastic bag at Grendon - shame the plastic bag had non-suffocating holes in it! That same muster, Splotte looking very delicate on the Sunday morning. Fyvie - where McSpreedahs was spawned.

Q.How did you find out about the SK /Gerards?

A.I was at college in Taunton where I met a guy who knew Dai Wallington & Mandie. Went round to theirs for dinner, was made very welcome, loved the sound of knotting, tried some kit on, voila!

Q. When was your 1st Muster?

A. 1998 May bank hols at St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life, Cardiff.

Q. What happened when you arrived on the campsite? Who welcomed you?

A. I Arrived on foot and it was before the days of mobile phones, so a nice chap on the gate guard took me to find Gerards, where I met up with Mandie & Dai. It was the middle of the day on the Saturday, so most people weren’t on the campsite. We went off to look round the museum and I gradually got introduced to people as we bumped into them, the first one being Marie.

Q. How did you get kit? What did it consist of?

A. I was lent girlie kit by Mandie. Splott very kindly lent me some men’s kit for the field which I was amused to discover consisted of a curry-stained shirt, a hat that kept sliding down across my eyes and some hose with big toe-holes in that spent most of the battle round my ankles due to the breeches being too loose to hold them up. Being a student I couldn’t buy any kit for another 2 years, so I was very grateful for all the loans from various people.

Q. What did you choose to do on the field? Why did you choose this arm?

A. Penny didn’t waste any time in recruiting me for baggage, and as it was my first time on the field and Mandie was also watering, it seemed to be the best choice.

Q. What was your 1st experience of the field like?

A. I was nervous to start off with, it all felt so chaotic, and we seemed to be constantly trying to get out of sticky situations, but Penny seemed so confident I knew I was in safe hands, and we had the cart to hang on to (there were a lot more people trying to attack us in those days!). After acclimatising to the noise and smoke I relaxed and started to have fun, there was lots of banter, a nice amount of adrenaline and I was buzzing by the end of it! It gave me the confidence go “into the thick of it” and water musket the next day.

Q. What was your 1st social experience like?

A. My first social with Gerards was actually the stomp and stuff banquet at the end of 1997 - everyone was really friendly, Les was the first one to come over and introduce himself (surprise surprise!) I remember meeting Penny and liking her kit, Gilly and Alison serving me yummy veggie food, I danced Strip the Willow for the first time, and the marshmallow game seemed to be played with plums that night!

First night at my first muster at St Fagans I have memories of the Beer Tent, Drinking Beer out of a Willy shaped yard of Ale, bouncing up and down with Nick, Marie & Penny to a band, falling asleep drunk against some empty barrels outside the beer tent and waking to sounds of “I like spanking” being sung very loudly. Going back to the campsite for some more singing!

Q. How have things changed since you 1st joined?

A. I’m honesty not sure if the regiment is bigger or smaller numbers-wise, but I feel that now I’m more involved in it, have known some people for over a decade, and have developed many close friendships (and met my husband-to-be!), in a way the regiment feels bigger to me. One change is that more and more of my age group are now involved in the breeding programme! I think as a regiment we don’t go down the beer tent as much as we used to. I do love the chatting/singing circle, and I know some people have babysitting commitments, but I’d love to get down there for a dance a bit more often.

Q. What is your favourite memory of being in Gerards?

A. Arriving at Fyvie Castle in the beautiful evening light, my first ever visit to Scotland, after travelling all that way, seeing Gerards made me feel instantly at home. I wasn’t sure whether anyone knew about me & E getting together 2 weeks before and not sure how we were going to play it, but in front of everyone he walked over to me and we disappeared under his floppy hat for a very long kiss!

Q.How did you find out about the SK /Gerards?

A. My fiancé introduced to me to the SK - he has been in the SK most of his life.

Q. When was your 1st Muster?

A. Belvoir Castle - 2008 August Bank Holiday

Q. What happened when you arrived on the campsite? Who welcomed you?

A. Everyone was really friendly - by the time I got to my second muster I felt like part of the family!

Q. How did you get kit? What did it consist of?

A. My partner's mum makes kit, so I pretty quickly got hold of basic soldiers stuff (Coat, Shirt, Breeches and Hose).

Q. What did you choose to do on the field? Why did you choose this arm?

A. I decided to do pike - it looked like the most fun, and I was right.

Q. What was your 1st experience of the field like?

A. On my first battle I got a bit bruised but still carried on, it was quite scary at first, but really exciting once you get into it, and everyone took good care of me.

Q. What was your 1st social experience like?

A. Really enjoy the atmosphere - love all the drinking and singing!

Q. How have things changed since you 1st joined?

A. Since first joining I have got quite battered on the field several times - but nothing is stopping me getting back on! Every muster has offered something different.

Q. What is your favourite memory of being in Gerards?

A. Loads of things - probably the first battle with Gerards will stick in my mind, but also all the great places I've been and people I've met!