Regia in pitched battle with the Norman infantry

Every year, re-enactment society The Vikings hold a re-enactment of the battle of Hastings on the very site of the battle itself. But in 2006 the call went out to groups across the world, as this time it would be one of the biggest re-enactments ever staged in Britain.

I’d been in two minds about going to Hastings ever since Regia announced that we were going to take part. On the one hand standing in an ‘army’ of over a thousand warriors re-fighting probably the most famous battle in English history on the site of the actual battle itself had huge appeal. On the other, I’ve never liked scripted, fixed end combat and the Battle of Hastings obviously has to end in a Norman victory!