We just got back tonight. I had an absolute BLAST on this trip. EVERY day
was packed with stuff. I learned SO MUCH on this trip. I went up to
Leeds on Wednesday and spent the entire day on Thursday at the Royal
Armouries. I spent the entire day in their reserve collection. Their
library was closed but they set up a special room in there for me to handle
maille from that collection. I had brought a notebook computer and my digital microscope and they allowed me to take many many many
pictures of their maille. FANTASTIC research stuff. If any of you have
seen the "Mail and Plate Armour" episode from the History Channel, you see
Thom Richardson, keeper of the Royal Armouries, and Ian Bottomely, also of
the Royal Armouries. They spent the entire day with me - I was blown away.
Saturday and Sunday were like college for armour geeks. It was incredible.
There were some very very high-level lectures, nearly all of them very very
good. Dr. Alan Williams spoke again this year and I finally feel like I
have some basic understanding of how to interpret metallographic images.
David Edge (curator of the Wallace armour collection and co-author of "Arms
and Armour of the Medieval Knight) gave a fantastic up-to-date lecture on
maille, as did Simon Metcalf, senior metal conservator of the Victoria and
Albert Museum (and who also appears in the "Mail and Plate Armour" episode
showing how to make the maille). Sunday was also fantastic - I got to give
a demo of my maille making techniques, and there was more fantastic
lectures, including one by a "Karen" (forgot last name) from the Royal
Armouries on cloth armours.
Monday I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum at the invitation of Simon
Metcalf, and I spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon in the
conservation laboratories. I got to see the progress on some of their
restorations, but mostly Simon and I discussed maille making. I chopped off
a piece of my hauberk for him and in return he gave me about 6 different
authentic ring specimens - two 16th century rings, 1 14th century ring, a welded ring, and others. I also met the woman (Mrs.
Stevens) who restored the famous "elephant" armour - a giant maille and
plate armour made for an elephant, now on display at the Royal Armouries.
It took her a year to do it.
All and all I felt like a mortal speaking with the Gods.
I went around the V&A a little bit - the plaster casts of effigies and
things were unbelievable.
Another highlight was my trip to Portsmouth. We saw the
Victory, the Mary Rose, and the Warrior. The Mary Rose was unbelievable.
It's basically half of a Tudor warship. The things they recovered from it
were incredible. To much to type.
The whole trip is a big blur. I learned so much stuff I just can't type it
all.
You have to go.
------------------
Forth Armoury
The Riveted Maille Website!
I'm back from England!
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Prince Of Darkmoor
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Argentsable
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white mountain armoury
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gee steve hate to get all mushy but im proud of you, i can remember a few years ago, was it that long? when you started your rivited maille quest, and now your hanging out and sharing specimines with some of the most armour knowlagable people on the planet. Damn cool, glad to hear you are back, one of these times i hope to go with you, ive only been to leeds once and it was not for a study day.
how is the hauberk comming since i saw it at pennsic?
by the way archive people, steve put his hauberk on me at pennsic and it was excellent, rivited maille is too cool, the fit and weight of it was amazing you could easily wear it all day.
well glad you had a good time and got to rub shoulders with all those armour people
look forward to some images
how is the hauberk comming since i saw it at pennsic?
by the way archive people, steve put his hauberk on me at pennsic and it was excellent, rivited maille is too cool, the fit and weight of it was amazing you could easily wear it all day.
well glad you had a good time and got to rub shoulders with all those armour people
look forward to some images
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Maunikar
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I hate you, Steve. 
How am I ever going to scrape together the vacation time to make that trip next year?<hr><font face="Times New Roman">Stephen atte Smythe - <img src="http://junior.apk.net/~jdub/pics/OotA.gif" align=center border=0> - The Lycaeum Appendix
<font size=-1>When I bite into a York Peppermint Patty, I get the sensation of a cold wind blowing through my chain mail...</font></font>
How am I ever going to scrape together the vacation time to make that trip next year?<hr><font face="Times New Roman">Stephen atte Smythe - <img src="http://junior.apk.net/~jdub/pics/OotA.gif" align=center border=0> - The Lycaeum Appendix
<font size=-1>When I bite into a York Peppermint Patty, I get the sensation of a cold wind blowing through my chain mail...</font></font>
I am planning a trip in late August-early September. Any info on who to contact at Leeds would be great. I went last year and the armoury was closed. I really would love a chance to see these guys and to "pick" their brains a little.
A mere mortal wanting to walk in the footsteps of the Gods.
Thanks
------------------
He conquers who endures.
A mere mortal wanting to walk in the footsteps of the Gods.
Thanks
------------------
He conquers who endures.
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Steve S.
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"Oh please, please say you'll post some pictures."
Well, I'm afraid there won't be much in the way of pictures. The microscopic images that I took at Leeds cannot be disclosed without permission from the Royal Armouries. So they are basically for personal study use only. However, I can talk about what I saw all I want, and I can attempt to reproduce what I saw in my own work. As I succeed I'll share pictures of my own stuff with you as always.
"If you don't mind me asking, how much did the trip set you back?"
I highly recommend http://www.travelocity.com. You plug in destinations and it watches the air fares for you. It sends you an email if they change +/- $25. We got air fares on British Airways for $329 round trip - taxes and everything included!
I shared a room with a friend at the Rhodes Hotel in London (http://www.rhodeshotel.com). I highly recommend the Rhodes hotel. It was a very nice room, and great service. They even took care of getting two <u>huge</u> cabs to come and take all 9 of us to Victoria Station on our last day. I think my half of the room cost around 230 pounds for the week. My room in Leeds cost 60 pounds for one night.
The arms and armour study day cost 60 pounds for both days, and included the reception on Saturday night.
So I'd guess the whole week in London cost me around $1000-$1500.
"Please tell me you plan on writting a summery of the lectures."
I audio-recorded all of the lectures on both days, though I missed the beginning of Karen's lecture on Sunday morning as I was setting up my maille presentation.
Though I can't distribute it (copyright again), I plan on typing up a transcript of all of the lectures. I will post a synopsis of my take on the lectures though.
"How did you get in on this trip? How often does it happen? When is the next one? Is it open it anyone? How do I get in on it?"
I thought this was only the second annual arms and armour study day at the Wallace Collection, but appearantly there was one done in 1992. One was also done last year (which I also attended) and then of course there was this year's program. This year's program was unique in that it covered 2 days and was held in the brand new lecture hall that has been excavated and constructed under the Wallace Collection museum. It is a first-class auditorium and was perfect for the study day.
David Edge announced that he intends to do the study days again next year, and that while the date is not yet fixed it will probably be around the same time of year as this year (first weekend of November). It is open to anyone who wants to pay the fee to attend. Check out the Wallace Collection's web page for future study days: http://www.the-wallace-collection.org.uk/
It's important that folks understand that my visits to the Royal Armouries and the Victoria and Albert to do the "behind the scenes" work is not related to the Wallace Collection's Study Days in any way - I made prior arrangements with the Royal Armouries and Simon Metcalf of the V&A to do those. If you contact these institutions (or any institutions for that matter) and present yourself as in a professional manner as a serious academic of the field they will most likely accommodate your requests as they did for me.
"how is the hauberk comming since i saw it at pennsic?"
Thanks for the kind words, Chu! I did a frenzied addition to the lower end of the hauberk before I went to London - I'll have new pics soon.
"I am planning a trip in late August-early September. Any info on who to contact at Leeds would be great."
You can see the Royal Armouries web site at: http://www.armouries.org.uk/
I contacted Thom Richardson, Keeper of the Royal Armouries, to make arrangements to do research there.
Again, please be aware that while museum folks are generally very willing to help researchers at their facilities, these resources should not be viewed as a way to get "behind the scenes peeks" or "personalized tours" of these places. The people who work at these museums have very limited time and resources. Should you wish to contact a museum to do research you should have a very specific agenda. Also, where possible, you should let them pick the date(s) on which to deal with you. For example, I had Thursday, Friday, Monday, or Tuesday to spare, so I let the Royal Armouries pick which day. I also had a very narrow, specific agenda - I wanted to handle European maille samples and take microscopic digital images of them. It's important that you spell our exactly what your expectations are - for example with some places they may not let you handle the pieces or take photographs. If you simply show up with a camera you may be disappointed and embarassed.
Steve
------------------
Forth Armoury
The Riveted Maille Website!
Well, I'm afraid there won't be much in the way of pictures. The microscopic images that I took at Leeds cannot be disclosed without permission from the Royal Armouries. So they are basically for personal study use only. However, I can talk about what I saw all I want, and I can attempt to reproduce what I saw in my own work. As I succeed I'll share pictures of my own stuff with you as always.
"If you don't mind me asking, how much did the trip set you back?"
I highly recommend http://www.travelocity.com. You plug in destinations and it watches the air fares for you. It sends you an email if they change +/- $25. We got air fares on British Airways for $329 round trip - taxes and everything included!
I shared a room with a friend at the Rhodes Hotel in London (http://www.rhodeshotel.com). I highly recommend the Rhodes hotel. It was a very nice room, and great service. They even took care of getting two <u>huge</u> cabs to come and take all 9 of us to Victoria Station on our last day. I think my half of the room cost around 230 pounds for the week. My room in Leeds cost 60 pounds for one night.
The arms and armour study day cost 60 pounds for both days, and included the reception on Saturday night.
So I'd guess the whole week in London cost me around $1000-$1500.
"Please tell me you plan on writting a summery of the lectures."
I audio-recorded all of the lectures on both days, though I missed the beginning of Karen's lecture on Sunday morning as I was setting up my maille presentation.
Though I can't distribute it (copyright again), I plan on typing up a transcript of all of the lectures. I will post a synopsis of my take on the lectures though.
"How did you get in on this trip? How often does it happen? When is the next one? Is it open it anyone? How do I get in on it?"
I thought this was only the second annual arms and armour study day at the Wallace Collection, but appearantly there was one done in 1992. One was also done last year (which I also attended) and then of course there was this year's program. This year's program was unique in that it covered 2 days and was held in the brand new lecture hall that has been excavated and constructed under the Wallace Collection museum. It is a first-class auditorium and was perfect for the study day.
David Edge announced that he intends to do the study days again next year, and that while the date is not yet fixed it will probably be around the same time of year as this year (first weekend of November). It is open to anyone who wants to pay the fee to attend. Check out the Wallace Collection's web page for future study days: http://www.the-wallace-collection.org.uk/
It's important that folks understand that my visits to the Royal Armouries and the Victoria and Albert to do the "behind the scenes" work is not related to the Wallace Collection's Study Days in any way - I made prior arrangements with the Royal Armouries and Simon Metcalf of the V&A to do those. If you contact these institutions (or any institutions for that matter) and present yourself as in a professional manner as a serious academic of the field they will most likely accommodate your requests as they did for me.
"how is the hauberk comming since i saw it at pennsic?"
Thanks for the kind words, Chu! I did a frenzied addition to the lower end of the hauberk before I went to London - I'll have new pics soon.
"I am planning a trip in late August-early September. Any info on who to contact at Leeds would be great."
You can see the Royal Armouries web site at: http://www.armouries.org.uk/
I contacted Thom Richardson, Keeper of the Royal Armouries, to make arrangements to do research there.
Again, please be aware that while museum folks are generally very willing to help researchers at their facilities, these resources should not be viewed as a way to get "behind the scenes peeks" or "personalized tours" of these places. The people who work at these museums have very limited time and resources. Should you wish to contact a museum to do research you should have a very specific agenda. Also, where possible, you should let them pick the date(s) on which to deal with you. For example, I had Thursday, Friday, Monday, or Tuesday to spare, so I let the Royal Armouries pick which day. I also had a very narrow, specific agenda - I wanted to handle European maille samples and take microscopic digital images of them. It's important that you spell our exactly what your expectations are - for example with some places they may not let you handle the pieces or take photographs. If you simply show up with a camera you may be disappointed and embarassed.
Steve
------------------
Forth Armoury
The Riveted Maille Website!