Tales of Robin Hood

A good day at the Tales today,as ever I thought it was going to be quiet but it was in fact very busy.
I started my first living history just after 11.00am and was surprised at the reception I got there was about 60 people all waiting for me to start.
i started of course in the old traditional way by letting everyone know that Robin Hood was indeed a real person born in the twelfth century and so on.
Then started to let them know about the truth behind the legend.
I won't go into that here because it is a far to long story. Needless to say that when I had finishe d I got a good round of applause which is always nice and then loads of people came up and asked me questions about not knowing this and that and going away with smiles on their faces thinking that they had learned so much about Englands greatest outlaw.
It was pretty much like that for the rest of the day, so as I said a very good day at the Tales.
I do hope that tomorrow is the same. It is always nice to know that 25 years of research has not gone to waste. I am sure that some members of the audience didn't believe a word and still think that Robin was a man who wore a little green hat and tights (thank you Mr Flynn) but thats okay to as long as they enjoy thinking that.

Here we go again

half term looms and to be honest I am getting pretty sick of doing living histories at the Tales of Robin Hood
All I seem to be able to do is tell the same old stuff to a few who seem interested, and I want more than that, as you see by the wonderful picture taken by Nigel Elcoat and with the background put on by my friend Denise, I would like to do something a little more up to date aso to speak. i tried to get hold of the York Dungeon and told them what I was doing and thought that seeingas they dealt with Dick Turpin that I might be of some use to them, with my knowledge on English Highwaymen, but alas they seem to be the same as any other tourist attraction and not interested in something that is rea, just how to make as much money by selling as much tat as they can in the few weeks of the summer holidays......bastards.
Still I don't suppose I should complain, at least I am working and with a little luck by the end of the month will have enough money to at least pay a few of my debts off. All thank's to Robin Hood.
I am now really looking forward to the end of August, as I will be on Jersey doing Treasure Island with the UK Pirate Brotherhood, just off Jersey actually on a very small island called Elizabeths castle.
and then of course it's down to Sherwood again for the next Timeline with my good mate Red Rob where we will be doing the highwayman thing .

Monday

What can I say about today, or that should be yesterday in fact.
I was feeling a bit on the down side, so I decided to get the old sketch pad out and did a bit of a drawing of a Templar 1189 style, worked out quite well which cheered me up no end.
Spent the rest of the day watching Cadfael on DVD love that series , some of the costume was a bit iffy but the stories were damned good.

St Georges day parade

Well what can I say about this, I had been looking forward to it all week and then lo and behold I missed it why simple. Although the management had known all week that I was doing this suddenly this very morning I was told that it was really busy and that there were allot of people who were waiting to see my perform one of my "Living History" talks at the Tales of Robin Hood, so a a good trouper that is what I ended up doing.
The day was not a total wash out mind I did manage to get down to the market square an join up with one of my friends there.
It was hot and we were both wearing full maille vests so we stayed around for about an hour having pictures taken, then we left for one of my favorite watering holes the "Trip to Jerusalem" where we indulged in a pint of Nottinghams finest Old Trip Ale hmmm
I then went back to the tales and performed two more Living Histories about Englands greatest hero.
So all in all the day was good.

What do I do

There are so many people in this world who, through no fault of their own end up doing jobs they would never do, why because they have to pay bills or have families or somthing like that.
Not for me I am afraid, I am one of those people who could never settle for a job that I couldn't love. That is why I became an actor.
At school I was always the one who was messing around in class I would tell stories of who I was going to be and what I was going to do and I don't think that anyone ever believed me.
I didn't do that well at school althoughI left with a handful of A levels and then went on to uni. I was never the brightest of students.
Not until it came to the school plays that we put on two or three times a term, that is when I thought wow I could do this for a living.
It was then that I decided to become an actor, I wanted all the fame and all the stardom etc. Until one day when I was talking to my dad and he said to me " Acting eh hmm, so wjat do you do if you do make it big. Could you handle the fame and be in the limelight 24/7 I know I couldn't. When you have people wanting a piece of you all the time. when everyone is waiting to see you make a mistake. No not for me"
I went away pretty gutted but I thought about it and though well if I don't want that kind of fame how about another kind and decided that I would work behind the camera instead of in front of it.
I see the unsung hero's of the film and television industry as the people who make the films and such. An actor has a hard job this is true but what about the people behind the scenens who are the ones who make an actor look good.
For instance what about costume, props, sound, lighting, camera, location, what about the lady who makes the tea. I decide that I would do something else and then it struck me. I wanted to be a fight choreographer or a stunt man. Every boys dream , well friends that is exactly what I did.
I am lucky enough to be able to say that I did exactly that I joined a Sol in Holland and after three years of hard work (and I do mean, hrd work) I came back into England with all the proper certificates and papers that said I was good enough to teach weapons.
I have also been lucky enough to work with some really good people (here we go with the name dropping)
Brian Blessed
Jason Connery
Sean Connery
Christopher Lambert
Sandy Walsh
Pavel Douglas
Ian Cuthbertson
Tony Robinson
Helen Baxendale
and not forgetting Oliver Reed, to name but a few.
I will put down a bit of a on line CV for all that are interested a little later.
That was a few years ago now mind, what do I do now well you will find me most days dressed as Robin Hood outside The Tales of Robin Hood on maid Marianne way in Nottingham, yes I do the whole Robin Hood thing and I don't mean the man in the little green hat who wears tights I mean the real Robin Hood in deer hide's and good wool and linen.
I have been doing research for over twebty years into the outlaw and have found out all sorts of things that the general public don't know or don't want to know.
I also run a couple of societies (all historical of course)
Seathieves pirate association, a group of cutthroats who live the life of early 18th century pirates (sorry no Jack bloody Sparrows here)
Spirit of England a medieval theatre group who deal with the stories of Robin Hood and King Arthur not just those two but anything of an medieval theme really
Company of the White Boar (Sir Ralph Asshertons Houshold) a 15th century houshold at the times of the Wars of the Roses
and last but by no means least Stand and Deliver the English Highwaymans Association.
I think I like doing this the best, why because it is just half a dozen of my best friends living like a group of Highwaymen in the forests of England.
We are also fortunate enough to have appeared on the television in the Real Lfe darma documentary "The Real Dick Turpin" where we portrayed the infamous Gregory Gang . I played Samuel Gregory a murdering rapist thug who had no respect for life or the law. a wonderful role to play.
Well I have gon e on for long enough so I will leave it here and let you know more about what I do and where the next time I get round to being on here.
Thank you for your indulgence.

It'a a hard life in the city

Hello to you all,I don't know who is likely to read this but if you do I hope you get some idea of who I am and what I tend to rant about.
So the first thing is why "A hard life in the city". To be honest that is a pretty simple question to answer.
I have travelled all round the world from pole to pole and round the equator more times than I care to remember ( I had filled two passports by the time I was 22 )
Why so much travelling, because I love to travel, not so much these days because there are very few places I have not seen.
I now live in Nottingham , which by the way is a great city although like most cities it has it's troubles and trouble spots. The secret is to stay away from those spots.
I have never been much of a city dweller, I love the great outdoors and the sea is one of the modt beautiful things in the universe.
All sorts of people say "Well one bit of water is much the same as the next" . Not so, not so at all how on earth can you say that the North sea is like the Caribbean sea, for one there are very few thing in the North sea that can eat you. No my friends water all over the world is different and very beautiful.
Excuse me I am straying from the topic of hard and city.
I can live almost anywhere and have done, but cities to me are places where there is never enough time and everyone is rushing about trying to do three dozen things at the same time.
They never have time to just sit and talk or look up at the sky or just stop and think "you know there is more to life than this, and why because they are city folk and that is something that is quite different to most folk.
How on earth people can live in London or Birmingham is beyond me.
I remember when in the 1980s I was doing some work for the BBC and ended up living in Chelsea, oh yes people these days think it is a fine address to have but let me tell you this . I lived in one room which I could sit on the edge of the bed and touch all four walls around me and this room was costing £375 a week.
A fine address indeed but a proper shit hole. I stayed there for about 18 months and was glad to get out.
You see this is what I mean by a hard life in the city, people ned to slow down and relax a little never mind doing things that need to be done yesterday, if thats the case why weren't they done yesterday in the first place.
I will be adding more thoughts soon.
Please forgive my spelling and punctuation as it is not very often I get to type anything least of all do this kind of thing.
I will tell you more about me and what I do and have done in the past, also what I am hoping to do in the future, some of it I am sure will make you smile, some of it may make you weep but at least you will get to know me as one of those people that may just have something to say.