It was a good turnout in Bude this weekend, with many people braving the heat to take part in the annual Heritage Festival on the Castle grounds and in the Parkhouse Centre. This year’s event was run over two days, and included demonstrations by the Sealed Knot on Saturday, as well as a family and community fun day on the Sunday.
The Sealed Knot mustered at 10am on Saturday, and pitched their living history camp before enthusiastically re-enacting local skirmishes from the English Civil War – all while dressed in thick woollen clothing and battle gear. The highlight of the day was the skirmish, between Parliamentarian and Royalist forces, which was thoroughly entertaining, complete with muskets firing and canons blasting. The Sealed Knot are hugely knowledgeable about this period of English history, and took plenty of time during breaks to chat to anyone who was interested, talking them through the workings of the living history camp and the day-to-day life of soldiers of that era.
On Sunday, the Castle grounds were full of free, fun activities for children – a magician, circus skills, bouncy castles, vintage fair rides and face painting, alongside many market stalls, live music, and a great range of community groups in the Parkhouse Centre and outside the Methodist Church, who were happy to chat about their programmes and projects. BSTC Cllrs were also available all day, as part of their Meet the Councillor initiative, and they had several helpful conversations with local groups and individuals who popped down their ideas on the Councillors’ Wishing Line.
The event which drew the biggest support, however, was the live ballet performance on the Castle lawn. In the 1930s, there had been a small school operating at the Castle, and pupils used to practice ballet on the lawn and put on performances for local people. This year, 90 years later, pupils from the Jason Thomas Performing Arts Studios in Bude wowed the audience with their grace and energetic performances, even in the heat of the day.
Janine King, the Castle’s Heritage Development Officer, said: “It was really incredibly hot on the Castle grounds this weekend, and we are so grateful for the support that we were shown by participants and visitors to this wonderful annual event.
“We were disappointed we had to cancel the Dog Show and falconry due to the heat – but obviously our animal friends come first. The atmosphere at Heritage Weekend is always so relaxed and lovely and we’re already looking forward to next year – although a few degrees cooler would be just perfect! Thank you to everyone who celebrated the Heritage Festival with us!”
