A major show at the same venue we visited in August 2023 Site address is Ushaw Historic House, Ushaw Moor, Durham City. Use postcode DH7 7DW when navigating with SatNav. This will take you to the main visitor entrance which is also our entry point. Do not use the postcode that a web-search will produce as the site is so large the generic postcode will take you to the wrong entrance. If coming from the North use the A1(M) to the turn off for the A167 (the old A1) at junction 63. Follow the A167 south through several roundabouts (past Chester-le-Street). Keep going till you get to the outskirts of Durham City. The turnoff you need is just after a blue footbridge ; you turn right. The venue is brown tourist signed, and the roadsigns point to “Bearpark, Ushaw College”. If coming from the South use the A1(M) but you have a choice turn-offs ; you need to get onto the A167 south of Durham City. Sat Navs will probably take you via the A177 from junction 61. This takes you through Bowburn and around the south side of Durham City. Across the city may be busy so an alternative is to leave the A1(M) at junction 60 and use the A689 to the first roundabout where you can join the A167 North. Which ever route is used turn right (North) onto the A167 and follow this till you get to Nevilles Cross (as in battle of 1346) ; go straight over the Nevilles Cross cross-roads still going North and you need the next junction left, just after a Sainsbury’s Local shop on the left. The venue is brown tourist signed, and the roadsigns point to “Bearpark”. Once off the A167 : Follow the road through the village of Bearpark and keep going till you get to the house. You should not be able to miss the entrance as the venue has arranged for temporary traffic lights to control the main road - entrance junction. The public car park is not as previously advertised and is on the south side of the main road i.e. on the opposite side of the road to the venue ; ignore this and go up the main driveway. Take it slow. The speed limit on site is 10mph, but the potholes in the drive will punish anyone flogging it. The plasticamp entrance is off the main entrance driveway, a hundred metres or so from the entrance, and on the right. We should have things signposted. The plasti-camp entrance and full access road is intended to be gravel paved by the time if the show so whirl devoid the issues of access we had in 2023. NOTE that if the works to the original plasti-camp have not bee completed or if it is exceptionally wet the plasti-camp may be relocated. Watch for updates on the usual society social media. LHE access is also off the main driveway but another 100m further up the road and through the disabled public car park, also on the right. Access to the LHE is via the lower (3rd) parking row. Once unloaded LHE cars should go back down the drive and park in front of the plasti-camp. Note that the plasti-camp is accessed though the disabled overspill car park which uses the same field ; do not park in the car park. Do not pitch tents close to the entrance or else you may be moved. The plasti-camp to LHE car park boundary may be marked with a tape and stake fence but that might not be in place for early arrivals. Note that the event finishes on the Monday and as usual people can stay over till the Tuesday morning. The client has agreed that if people want they can stay another day to go sightseeing, thereby making the trip to Ushaw a little more worthwhile for those who need to travel some distance. The catch is that the LHE has to be cleared on Tuesday morning, so anyone in the LHE wishing to stay another day must relocate to the plasti-camp. • Arrivals for LHE and plasti-camp camping is allowed from noon on Friday 26th. • Camping is allowed until 11am Monday 29th. The site is only 4miles or so from one of the suggested locations for the Battle of Brunanburg (AD 937) ; where Dere Street crosses the River Brownie there was a Roman fort. We will therefore be reenacting this battle. Authenticity standards for AS 927 apply - refer to the Authenticity Dept's information. The site is also only 6 miles from Durham City centre with the Castle and Cathedral as the main visitor attractions. The tombs of St Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede are in the cathedral ; so is St Oswald's head ! The cathedral museum holds St Cuthbert's tomb relics including the famous episcopal clothing with the best example of English tablet braiding in existence. Ushaw House has St. Cuthbert's episcopal ring (but unfortunately it is not at present on display). For local shops the closest and easiest to get to are in Bear Park. Out of the main gates turn left / East and follow the road for about 3 miles. There is a Morrison's Daily small supermarket on the left / North side of the main road though the village. There is a pizza take-away next door and another small store opposite. There is also a Co-op about the same distance away in Ushaw Moor. If you want a larger shop then there is a Sainsbury Local at the junction of the Bearpark road and the A167. There is also full shopping centre called the Arnison Centre at Pity Me, DH1 5GD about 6 miles away. This has the usual out of town range of shops including a Sainsbury's. LHE and the battlefield are to be located on the main show field - known as "the Bounds", which to put things into context we only managed to half fill with 120 tents in 2023. There is plenty of room. The plastic camping is on a grassed field right next door, which is used for rock festivals so much much larger than most camping fields we tend to get. Note that this is a field, it's not a bowling green, but is in comparison better than the LHE at Battle Abbey. There are 2 cafe's on site, one overlooking the LHE the other within the main house buildings. The main house cafe only tales card payments - no cash. Not sure about how to pay in the second cafe but likely to be the same. The cafe's tend to be open only during public hours - but see below re breakfasts. The cafe overlooking the LHE will be open from around 8:00 am for bacon butty and mug of tea/coffee breakfasts. The venue has arranged this specially for us so please avail yourselves of this facility. Unfortunately there is no similar arrangement for evening meals, although there may be food concession vans there during the day and the events manager is trying to get them to stay till say 6:00 - 6:30pm. It will be obvious if they have not stayed - as they wont be there. Water is available from two outside taps located on the main house. This is a tad of a hike for people in plastic-camp but this cannot be helped. It's probably about the same distance as you had to walk at Whitby. Wood will be located adjacent the wall around to the north side of "the Bounds". Open fires are only allowed in the LHE and plasti-camp and must be on our usual raised fireboxes. You can use single use barbecues and gas stoves etc. in plastic-camp. The client is supplying 1½ ton of wood but this should only be used for the displays in the LHE (even if we also use it at night). If the firewood runs out then we are allowed to go foraging for wind-fall in the woods. During the day we can use the public toilets in the main building ; this is locked after public hours. For overnight toilets : There will be 6 portaloos provided for each camp. For the LHE these will be in the car park to the right when facing the buildings, through the stone gateway and out of sight of the general public. For the plastic-camp we are at the mercy of where the suppliers are prepared to drive to with the delivery truck. These toilets are no-where near where the public are going so should remain for our exclusive use. Portaloos are being cleaned once a day, Skips will be located at the entrance to the LHE car park / plasti-camp and everyone should put their rubbish in them irrespective of where they camp. Alternatively take you rubbish home with you. Do not leave it in heaps on the campsites or fill waste bins till they overflow. There is a bar on site !!! This is located in the room that had the large cafe in 2023, with the cafe having been relocated to other rooms to the right of the main entrance. This bar has just been installed so I don't have any other information at this time. There is a door entry system to get through the locked front door to get to the bar after closing time. Note that at present there is no special provision for campers and caravans, which must also use the general plasti-camp. Registration for vans is not required as the camping field is huge and we can extend if necessary. Caravans and campers will be located within the general plasti-camp and will be on grass. Watch the society online media for any updates on the location of parking vans. Vehicles may enter the LHE to unload but need to be removed to the plasti-camp as soon as possible, and cannot be brought back onto site until the end of the show. Late arrivals vehicles must be off the LHE site by 9:00am on Saturday and should not return till the public have left site o n Sunday - probably at about 5:30pm. There may be vehicular restrictions if the ground is very wet. Anyone with LHE needing to leave earlier than Sunday evening should include this information in their booking so that they can be suitably located and not leave a big hole in the LHE after they have gone. Note that the site also offers accommodation for anyone wishing to attend but who cannot or doesn't want to camp. Its not the cheapest but it is on site ; see https://ushaw.org/stay-with-us/ Not sure how much is still available. For the time being the timetable is the usual major programme with the show ground open to public at 10:00 am, so the LHE needs to be authentic by 9:30 am each day. Show closes at 5:00pm each evening ; we should remain authentic if there are public still present. The site opening times are different on the venue website but the site opens earlier than their usual time when events are on. Running Order / Programme as Follows :- 09:30 - LHE etc. authentic / all vehicles off site 10:00 Event starts : LHE opens to public 10:45 - Muster for skirmish 11:00 Skirmish followed by circles 12:00 Kiddie-Vike 1 12:30 - Arena lunch break (1 hr) 13:30 Archery / weaponry displays. 14:00 Hrothgar’s story (or similar) 14:30 Kiddie-Vike 2 15:00 Acting (in LHE ?) 15:30 - Muster for main battle 15:45 Main battle followed by refight(s) 17:00 Event closes : LHE closes to public 17:30 - or sooner if no public - LHE etc. in-authentic Anything listed after a dash - is for our own use re organisation and will not be published. Additional Events :- Combat Training - TBA Archery Training - TBA Alley/Ollie Brawl - TBA Authenti Checks - TBA --------- Also see https://ushaw.org/whatson/vikingweekend/ Nearest A&E is the University Hospital Durham - 4-5 miles away in the city centre.