Photos from the Knights Tournament final in Tynemouth Priory

[nerfherder]

On Sunday, I went to see the Knights' Tournament in Tynemouth Priory. It is a non-choreographed competition involving archery, mounted skill, man-to-man combat and jousting.

Unfortunately, I missed the archery at the start and the jousting at the end, but I did see the falconry displays - sometimes at very, very close range...

I took my new camera, and took nearly 100 photos. I am still learning what shutter speed/aperture works in different situations, so I got some nicely composed shots, and some nicely exposed shots, but very little that was both! This is the best of the bunch, and for the technically minded, the Exif data is still embedded in the JPG files.


OK, here's a bit more detail about the event.


There were 4 teams - Red, Gold, Blue, Green - each with a knight and some squires. There were also a number of judges in livery.


The first event was archery at 66 yards, but I arrived too late to see that.


Next was mounted skill. Each horse and rider had to ride twice round the circuit, gaining points for hitting the cabbage with sword, hitting another cabbage with mace, hitting straw target with javelin, then hitting the quintain with lance. This was timed, with the fastest rider gaining extra points. I think there was also a bonus for hitting the straw target in the head with the javelin, rather than just the torso. Oh, and you got more points the more times the quintain revolved. Each team rode the course twice.

Sword vs cabbage

Changing from sword to mace

Mace vs cabbage

Javelin vs straw man (not in the debating sense)

Charging

More charging (what can I say - I was at that end of the field)

Lance vs quintain

This event was followed by the foot combat. Each combatant was armoured in plate and they fought each other round-robin with a variety of weapons, including maces, axes and glaives. One point was awarded for each solid hit, and the winner of each round was the one to score 10 points first. Combat seemed to comprise a bit of jockeying and bluffing, followed by a few blows, followed by grabbing each others weapons so they couldn't hit you, at which points the judges stuck a white stick between combatants to indicate for them to "break".

Battle axes

Interesting black armour

After that was the jousting and general melee, but unfortunately I had to leave before it started.

cont'd...

 

[nerfherder]

...cont'd.

Interspersed amongst the competitions were some music and flying displays by Raphael Falconry. I've seen them fly before, and they were very impressive again. They're based in Norfolk, but work all round the country. They train and fly various falcons, kestrels and a European owl. As well as displays, they also do courses, which sound interesting. I can identify the owl, but didn't really listen when they were describing the other birds as I was too busy trying to get shots of the speedy little buggers!

This was the first one to fly.

Hopefully this gives you some idea of the speed.

And this gives you an idea of how close to the crowd they flew!

Owls were used as lures - other birds don't like to see an owl out in daylight and will mob it, at which point you release your hunting hawk or falcon to pick off those birds. As we were right by the coast, the local seagulls were getting agitated, so they couldn't fly the owl very much.

This was the final one to fly.

And this is where I nearly had a mouthful of falcon. A fraction of a second after I took this shot it flew at full speed at head height between me and the person stood next to me. I felt the wind on my cheek as it passed and the crowd gave out a collective gasp...

Cheers,
Liam

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Those people, even armored, were actually fighting for real with real weapons? And no one left in Ye Olde Ambulance?

(cool pics btw)

AR

 

[nerfherder]

Those people, even armored, were actually fighting for real with real weapons? And no one left in Ye Olde Ambulance?

(cool pics btw)

AR

Yup. I didn't get to see any of the weapons up close, but they were wacking each other pretty hard. Hard enough to dislodge bits of armour. They did say that one of the guys fighting was a replacement for one that had been injured previously. There was a group of St Johns Ambulancemen gathered behind where I was stood - I think they were quite hopeful that they'd be needed

Cheers,
Liam

 

[Theron]

Those people, even armored, were actually fighting for real with real weapons? And no one left in Ye Olde Ambulance?

(cool pics btw)

AR

Armour works. In fact, armour works a lot better in real life than it does in games or fiction. That's the main reason people wore it. If the weapons are blunted and the armour is properly made and worn, then the chances of serious injury are actually pretty slim unless you're actively TRYING to harm the other guy (and swinging a blunted axe at him doesn't actually count as trying to hurt him, oddly enough.)

 

[jaerdaph]

Very cool. Add the Knights' Tournament in Tynemouth Priory to the list of things I want to see before I die.

 

[nerfherder]

Very cool. Add the Knights' Tournament in Tynemouth Priory to the list of things I want to see before I die.

It's actually a set of events across England - Tynemouth was the location for the final. More details here: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.9397

Cheers,
Liam

 

[jaerdaph]

It's actually a set of events across England - Tynemouth was the location for the final. More details here: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.9397

Cheers,
Liam

Thanks - this is too cool. I have to see this!

 

[Meds]

Great photos thanks! I so want to go to the Knights Tournament.

I can identify the owl, but didn't really listen when they were describing the other birds as I was too busy trying to get shots of the speedy little buggers!

The first looks like a female European Kestrel (that's just 'Kestrel' over there). They're the raptors you see in the wild hovering alongside Motorways.

The last I'm not really sure: maybe a Lanner Falcon with a little Peregrine blood mixed in. Either way, they're fast, fast birds so I'm glad you weren't hit (the Peregrine can reach 200 mph).