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Mission Visits the UK - England & Wales, May 2013
Chapter 3rd: Lee and Jules 2
Chapter 3rd: Of the reenactment in Conwy on Saturday morning and early afternoon; Conditions there and comments on waterproofing; Reenactors and hail;
Following Jules (red car) into Conwy.
Some notes on terminology; Visiting Conwy Castle and discovering the trouble with prams; and Heading for the pub.
Today was the big day –the reenactment festival in Conwy. Conwy seems like the perfect place to hold a medieval festival with its castle walls enclosing the main part of the city and the ruins of the castle itself overlooking it all. It was also a nice place to hold a Pirate gathering.
I had followed the Morrisroe family car containing Lee and Jules, their daughter Jasmine, Jules' friend Stacy aka. 'Smee' and her infant. (You didn't know Smee had a baby, did'ja?) Jules was driving and I must say that she is a very considerate lead car, signaling clearly and recognizing that newly arrived American ship's surgeons would probably still be having problems with roundabouts. (The night before, she drove me to the train station in her car and
The Morrisroe Clan Transforming into Pirates
had whizzed through those roundabouts in a fashion that would make Mario Andretti blush. Today, she went slowly, waiting for cars coming from the right and signaling clearly.) We pulled into a parking lot (or, as they call it here, 'car park') in town.
It was raining when we arrived. I am always leery of rain because the Patrick Hand Original™ Planter's Hat is not waterproofed in any way and tends to acquire interesting new cricks and bends in its brim when it gets sodden.
Jules and Lee proceeded to don their garb which included well waterproofed hats. I registered my concerns about the Patrick Hand Hat, wishing that it was waterproofed like theirs. As Jules noted while gazing at the gloopy Welsh weather we were all enjoying, "Well, ours have to be." Indeed.
 Lee and Jules Getting Ready to Pirate |
 Stacy & Pram |
 Stacy as Smee |
 A PSJ tradition: Jules Tying Mission's Scarf |
The Kind of Cool Views You Get in a Walled Town
The sound of cannon fire was coming from the water at the edge of middle of town (outside of the castle walls), so we headed that way.
Rain be damned, there was a spirited bout 
Cannon by the Water
of cannon fire taking place there with at least 6 or 8 of them taking aim at the boats in the harbor. We watched this for a bit and then it started to hail. Seriously! The Patrick Hand Hat was being tested by fire. (Well, actually, ice.)
With the arrival of the hail, many of the reenactors and people watching the cannons (along with the actual cannons themselves) disappeared as if by magic. Not daunted by rain, our intrepid group decided to walk around the little pirate tent village set up there since it would have been difficult to get much more wet at this point anyhow. (I was not soaked through, perhaps because my hat makes a fine umbrella (or 'brolly' in UK speak). However, I did discover that my shoes are not, technically, waterproof.
 Ship Firing at Town in Battle |
 The Conwy Defence Cannoneers Group 1 |
 The Conwy Defence Cannoneers Group 2 |
Some of the Pirate Wares Available
While we were wandering through the tent booths, Jasmine spotted something and announced, "I want some candy floss! " Candy floss? I asked Lee what that was.
A Nobby Prawner undergoing restoration -
This is a sort of
fishing vessel that was
popular in here in the mid 1800s. It was
"a
gaff-rigged smack."
It turns out that it is cotton candy. We continued to amble through the booths set up by the waterside, while I pondered the term candy floss. Candy floss.
Later, when we were out of the rain and sitting down, I wrote that down as well as some other words I had heard that had struck me oddly. For example, when someone tells you to go to the till, they mean the cash register. (Which makes sense when you think about. I didn't at the time.) Lolli = Lollipop. Pram = Stroller. (Which I knew, but again, hearing it in context somehow struck me odd.) Tea time = Dinner. When I was writing these down, Jasmine learned of it and told me to write every word down that is different in the States. I tried to explain to her that this would take all day, but she insisted so I dutifully wrote a few more until she lost interest in the exercise.
 A Guy in a Bear Mask Explaining How to Fire a Cannon. (Why a Bear Mask?) |
 A Ren-Festival-Style Knife Show. They Built Up Their Act So Well They Scared the Kid Away. |
 The Albion Ale House. (There is Really No Reason to Have this Here. Sorry.) |
Jasmine Tests Her Strength
Note the Infant's Strength Test (Right)
Something else Jasmine wanted to try was the test your strength carnival game located at the edge of the pirate village by the water. The woman at the booth was very nice and gave her several tries, rewarding her with an inflatable sword. Now, I don't want to cast aspersions on the quality of the wares here, but the sword was pretty well deflated by the time we got to the next paragraph.
There were also a number of people who had birds of prey on their arms for display. This is not something I particularly remember as being a part of pirate culture - it was more monkeys and parrots as I recall it - but it was sort of neat to see.
 Petting a Raptor? |
 A Girl and Her Bird |
 Pirate Boy Admiring Bird |
 "No, we don't slash birds of prey, son." |
The Bridge Into Conwy Castle
I wanted to visit the Castle because I've never really seen one. Everyone was for it, so off we went. On first blush, it seems like it would be neat to hold the reenactment inside such castle ruins. However, they are historic and have been turned into a museum, so it would probably be difficult to use in most reenactments. Plus, I suspect whomever manages it would not think it a good idea.
The inside was roofless, although you could get to the upper walls of the castle via sets of extraordinarily narrow concrete spiral 
What's in the Conwy Castle 'Moat' (It's not quite what you
would have
figured, now,
is it?)
stairways. It's mostly grassy and open inside, with some spots having gravel floors, which seem like they would be accommodating spaces for reenactors to set up. Alas, they also had 'Keep to the Path' signs posted.
There was also a sign not to climb on a railing that guardied a 91' deep well. That would be practically a dare to some of the American pirate reenactors I know. With that fact alone in mind, using the castle in reenactments seemed like a bad idea. I'm certain it's considered an historic treasure on top of all that, so I don't see any re-enacting inside Conwy Castle in the near future. Then again, as I was later to learn, nearly every little town has a castle ruin of some sort, so who knows? Ed Fox later told me they do a reenactment in such a place.
 A Model of the Original Town |
 The 91' Drop Warning |
 Jasmine, PoD/Lee and Mission |
 A Softer View of the Castle |
Helping to Carry Stacy's Pram Down the Stairs
One thing we all learned about the castle was that it was not 'pram-friendly'. I know this because I foolishly volunteered to help Stacy carry her stroller up and down the various staircases. Fortunately for me, Stacy had no head for heights, and I was never recruited to carry the stroller up one of those narrow, 3 story spiral staircases. (Although, quite frankly, I'm pretty certain that would have resulted in there being a twisted pile of pram, people and sodden Patrick Hand Original™ Planter's Hats at the bottom of that staircase.)
Although the castle wasn't in pristine shape, it still retained a lot of its austere beauty. The grounds were well kept as you can see here and it was rather interesting to climb the stairways up and down and see the remnants of what was clearly once a grand castle, based on various views from the walls.
 The Basement View (Gothic, isn't it?) |
 The Main Level of Conwy Castle |
 Conwy Castle Seen From the Upper Walls |
Ah, the British Pub. Love it.
Since it was still wet and drizzling, I suggested we go find a pub, which everyone quickly agreed with. "See, you're becoming more British already!" Jules announced. In the pub, we ordered lunch (Or maybe it was called coffee time. I don't know for sure.) and got drinks.
Naturally the sun came out within moments of our entering the pub. For those of you who like to whine about the changeability of the weather in the States, I would like to here note that in the course of about two hours in Conwy, we had had rain, hail, drizzle, 17 other various forms of rain and sunshine. Top that. (And quit whining.)
Since we were all seated and there were several folks sitting around us, Lee and I decided to start showing off the stuff we'd brought. Lee had brought several documents he'd made for Letters of Marque with him. I got out my surgeon's pocket kit (which is carried on a surgeon at all times for emergencies - even in foreign countries) and explained the pieces of that. (I had brought this stuff all the way from America, after all, so I might as well trot it out where there was no rain to rust it and a small audience to appreciate it.) Lee then produced a set of navigational equipment which he explained for one and all. (We never outgrow show-and-tell, do we?)
 Lee Showing Off One of The Documents He Sells |
 Mission Showing off the Pocket Kit |
 Lee Showing Off Nav Equipment |
While we were goofing around in the Pub, I had the Morrisroe
Mission and Stacy in Conwy
clan pose with the Patrick Hand Original™ Planter's Hat for me. (It's now a tradition in these Journals to convince people to do this, after all.) I must say that Lee actually looks better in the hat than I do. Give him a walking stick and I think he could create a whole new period character.
Here you can also see Jasmine's outfit. She has a complete set of period garb, but she had decided that she was going to be a pirate princess and neither Lee nor Jules could convince her to climb into the period stuff.
I should note that Jules can be seen in Tam Fox-made stays, which she raved about because they were so comfortable. (Tam is Ed Fox's wife - whom I would meet next weekend.)
While we were posing, I got Stacy aka Smee, to pose with me, making some offhand comment about her being my wife for the day. (Smee as my wife... let's just not pursue that train of thought further, shall we?) I must have made a reasonably good impression because she mentioned it in a text to Jules when I returned the Sunday following and had dinner out with Lee and Jules.
 Lee in the Patrick Hand Hat |
 Jasmine in the Patrick Hand Hat |
 Jules in the Patrick Hand Hat |
Captain Pugwash from the 1974 Series. Unrecognizability Rating: 45%
It's only that high because I know you're pirate fans.
By the time we left the pub, the rain had stopped and the sun had once again disappeared so we now had a 'cloudy with a chance of rain' weather situation. We all agreed to wander back down to the waterside and see if any the pirates who had taken flight when the hail started had reappeared.
On the way, we ran into someone Lee knew who turned out to be Captain Pugwash. They chatted for a bit. Lee later told me that he had sold Captain Pugwash his first reenacting hat, which I thought was sort of interesting. I asked him if he was Captain Pugwash from the Pyracy Pub. He wasn't sure, since if he had been there, it had been long ago. Since I know no differently, we'll agree that this was he unless contrary evidence is produced. Motion carried.
 Captain Pugwash and His Namesake |
 With a Spiffy Chapeau |
 Lee, Captain Pugwash and Mission in Front of the Castle |