The rivalry and banter between the Jousting knights was back in full flow this weekend as thousands experienced a day in mediaeval England at the first of the Loxwood Joust’s two weekends of mediaeval fun and revelry.

Celebrating Queen Katheryn Adelina 1 of Loxwood’s first year on the throne, the best knights in the land were invited to attend a mêlée on the battle field and Sir Thomas of Loxwood returned to defend both his Queen’s lands, and his title in the Jousting Arena when pitted against his arch enemy Sir Hector of Horsham.

And, Sir Alexander Iden of Kent had been invited by Queen Katheryn to this year’s tournament before his real intentions to overthrow the Loxwood Kingdom were made clear. As a result, visitors to this spectacular event saw two magnificent full contact battles each day with 200 fully armoured knights, 70 archers and 20 gunners displaying their skills, strength and training as they went into combat with their authentic mediaeval weaponry.

And the excitement continued in the jousting arena as the four Jousting Knights powered down the tilt with a thunder of hooves, before their clashing lances splintered on impact. By far the fastest man on the field, Sir Like took on Sir Hector with his roguish humour and impressive swordsmanship and bade him to yield before being declared as the tournament’s jousting champion.

Emma Barker who was attending the Loxwood Joust for the first time said ”What a fantastic day, such a great day out for all the family. It was really good to see the children interacting with the weapons experts, so it really was “learning with fun”. The stalls and entertainment were brilliant, the melee was very realistic and the jousting stunning. Well done to everyone involved, we will definitely be coming back next year.”

With the activities and entertainment taking place every half hour from 10am to 6pm there really was something for everyone and the new knight school proved to be a huge success. The Bards were roaming the Loxwood Kingdom’s meadows and woodlands spinning fine tales and spreading the hearsay of Loxwood, whilst the witches, faerie goddess mother, wandering minstrels and children’s kingdom activities were once again the favourites of many.

Maurice Bacon, organiser of the Joust commented “We have had an amazing weekend with all of our new attractions being really popular and Queen Katheryn and our new History of Loxwood story, that is now running through the various threads of the event, has also been very well received. We always aim to make the full mediaeval experience really come to life for our visitors, and this weekend we have achieved that with a large array of characters, food, drink and historic accuracy that is fun, engaging and thrilling for people of all ages.”

The second weekend of the Loxwood Joust takes place on the 10th and 11th August and advance tickets are on sale at www.loxwoodjoust.co.uk . The Loxwood Joust is excellently located just off the B2133 between Wisborough Green and Loxwood and has ample Free Parking.

Tags: What's on, Loxwood, Horsham, West Sussex, Things to do

Petworth is one of Britain’s most attractive market towns, offering visitors a quintessentially English country escape just a short journey from London.

From beautiful walks in Petworth park, excursions and independent shopping experiences, to the exciting year-round calendar of events, Petworth is a hidden gem and a cultural centre of the West Sussex countryside.

Calendar of events: Noteworthy upcoming occasions below:

Petworth Festival - 17 July – 04 August1 - Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Petworth Festival offers the opportunity to indulge in a multitude of cultural experiences from performances by the Royal Academy of Music, to classical piano concerts by the popular comedian and impressionist, Alistair McGowan

Qatar Goodwood Festival - 31 July – 04 August - Five days of thrilling action set against the magnificent backdrop of the rolling Sussex countryside. Popularly known as Glorious Goodwood, it is the sporting and social highlight of the flat-racing season

Goodwood Revival - 7 -9 September - A three-day festival celebrating the halcyon days of motor racing with the accompanying glamour of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s

Alongside the above events, Petworth recently saw the opening of brand new restaurant, New Street Bar & Grill - a smart, warm and welcoming retreat offering guests an exceptional seasonal menu using the highest quality local ingredients sourced from the ‘larder on its doorstep’.

Tags: What's on, Petworth, West Sussex

Exhibition: 5 May - 23 June 2018

Printmaker Anne Desmet RA will curate an intimate exhibition of contemporary wood engravings at Kevis House Gallery in Petworth, West Sussex. Anne Desmet is one of only three wood engravers to be elected as Academicians in the Royal Academy's 250-year history.

The show will feature the work of six artists; Anne Desmet RA, Neil Bousfield, Edwina Ellis, Peter Lawrence, Peter S Smith and Roy Willingham.

“What I hope to create is a sense of six mini solo exhibitions, each one bringing out some of the abiding threads in each artist's work." Says Desmet. "Although all of the artists regularly exhibit with the Society of Wood Engravers, none of the works shown here has ever previously been exhibited by the Society of Wood Engravers, so they will offer a wealth of unseen delights to even the most assiduous devotee of wood engraving exhibitions. All the engravings shown will offer key insights into the ongoing, long-held interests of each engraver and all are works that each artist considers seminal in their expansive oeuvre.”

Neil Bousfield is a younger artist whose engravings started out as imagery in self generated novels without words, following in the grand tradition of Frans Masereel and Lynd Ward and bearing striking similarities to the characteristic noir atmosphere of Ward's 1930's engravings. More recently Bousfield has experimented with subtle overlays of printed colour, tone and pattern, developed from vigorous, keenly observed drawings of beaches, harbours and landscape near his home in Norfolk, coupled with imaginative aerial views, contours and geography of Ordnance Survey maps. “ The work here explores the notion of place and home encapsulated through experience, memory and narrative,” says Bousfield “made tangible within drawing and engraving."

Anne Desmet RA's chooses architectural motifs as her subject matter. However whilst her engravings depict specific places, they are also intended to represent something universal; the way light brings life to a subject; the way apparently permanent structures are poignantly prone to the ravages and redevelopments of time, weather and human intervention. Her interests also spreads into what our buildings tell us about mankind's great aspirations, follies, passions and humour.

Desmet enjoys playing with shape, form and structure - to break down and rebuild existing structures into invented or more abstract forms through the medium of collage. These small scale, highly detailed works which take, often, many weeks to create, may evoke in the viewer a sense both of timelessness or of the passage of time - or both ideas simultaneously. These are the abiding thoughts and threads that have connected her prints and collages since her first tentative engravings (in the mid 1980s) to today, whether their subject is ancient Rome London's Olympic site, Brooklyn Bridge, a derelict neo-classical interior or Eton College.

Edwina Ellis established her reputation with meticulously wrought, observational, landscape and still life engravings. Recently PhD studies have led her to experiment "with colour and compound engraving and printing and continue to augment the modular collection of engravings, vinyl cuts and linocuts developed during this research. My current aim," Ellis says, "is to harness and combine the techniques I have developed in the belief that experimental journeys close in on what it's all about."

Closer looks at Ellis's work shows a strong sense of the abstract within the particular, a sense of layering and an intricate textile reminiscent of woven textiles.

Peter Lawrence's engravings have long celebrated the glorious abstract potential of the wood engraving medium at a time when many other British practitioners stayed firmly within the figurative tradition of Bewick.

"Dark Corners, is one of the first completely abstract prints. Working from an outline drawing of forms, the engraving is largely improvised. Other prints are abstracted from life, or combine a series of differently styled engravings with an abstract form, sometimes using multiple blocks to resemble collage." says Lawrence.

Peter S Smith's engravings, like Edwina Ellis's, have a strong textural quality and a pervading sense of the abstract within the particular.

"On sunny days, while waiting for the train. I draw my shadow across the station: some of the drawings become engravings."

Smith's engravings are fascinating both as semi-abstract compositions in light and shade but also because the character of each engraved mark and the combination of marks he makes are unpredictable and unexpected.

Roy Willingham has long been concerned with the fine balance between the figurative and the abstract. His starting point is often meticulously observed drawings yet many diverse influences including Russian Constructivist graphics, Edward Wadsworth's Dazzle Ship engravings, Picasso, Matisse and a vibrant yet finely calibrated sense of colour and tone have long invested his work with great energy and originality. They are truly miniature marvels.

Refering to his print Downland, Willingham says "This print derives from the memory of a walk over the South Downs from Hassocks to Lewes and a solitary tree near Ditchling Beacon standing out against the emptiness of the downland landscape."

Kevis House Gallery hosts the Society of Wood Engravers Annual Exhibition each year (next held November - December 2018). The gallery holds a large collection of work by the wood engraver Gwenda Morgan (1908 - 1991). Kevis House also exhibits pictures by a range of contemporary artists.

For more information please visit www.kevishouse.com

Tags: Kevis House Gallery, Art, Wood Engravings, West Sussex, Anne Desmet RA, Petworth, Roy Willingham, Peter S Smith, Peter Lawrence, Edwina Ellis