ACWS INTERNATIONAL EVENT
Weston Park, Telford, Shropshire
July 26-27th, 2003
The American Civil War Society Ltd (UK) is organising its regular biannual International re-enactment at Weston Park, near Telford, Shropshire, England on the weekend of July 26-27th, 2003. For our representation of The Road To malvern Hill (1862), an Eastern Theatre battle, we will be using similar areas of the Weston Park countryside as before.
ACWS is happy to invite respectable and responsible American Civil War re-enactors who meet the relevant standards and hopes everybody joining us for the weekend will have a very enjoyable and interesting time. Friends from all over the United kingdom, from North America and Europe are coming. We intend to follow the familiar pattern for our International Events. Camping can be from the afternoon of Thursday 24th July until the morning of Tuesday 29th July. The Battles and Cameo programme will be on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July. There will be the usual bar in the stables and musical entertainment on the Saturday night.
Separate Union and Confederate Authentic Camps will be established in the usual way, with registration points, and the Family Camp will be at a separate location, "out of sight", with its own Registration arrangements. Also, discipline will be imposed to keep modern vehicles out of the way and out of sight of the Authentic Camps from Saturday mid-morning until Sunday late afternoon. The registration Fee per participant will be £8 per head per re-enactor in the Authentic Camps and/or going onto the field. Authorised visitors not taking part in the re-enactment and staying on the Family Camp will have to pay a Camping Fee per unit (i.e. per tent or caravan etc.)
Gunpowder will be supplied to re-enactors with proper licences. Percussion caps and 9mm blank ammunition will be available for sale at reasonable prices by sutlers. This event will be closely supervised by the Police and the Health and Safety Executive, and therefore strict compliance with UK Law regarding explosives and weapons is, as always, required. The event will be run by ACWS under its Rules and control. ACWS carries proper and usual insurances against Public Liability and for Third Party claims. Re-enactors as members of ACWS and any invited Society or re-enactors are NOT insured by ACWS. Visitors will therefore on registration have to sign the usual ACWS indemnity, and "be at their own risk," at the event and whilst re-enacting.
Registration is at the event, but we do need as accurate an estimate as possible for who is coming, so we can plan and prepare. We have to invest a lot of money in advance for gunpowder, so we need to know likely attendance and use. Only ACWS or authorised-by-ACWS distributors of gunpowder, caps, blanks etc are permitted.
For matters regarding safety, security of explosives, liaison with Police and H&SE etc, the ACWS contact is Mr John Taylor, The Safety and Explosives Director. He will be issuing safety guidance notes in European languages and such matters near to the event date.
All our cavalry matters are dealt with by our Horse Master, Clive Green. He in turn reports to the ACWS Board of Directors. He is in overall command of all mounted troops and all horses and his arrangements regarding such matters are to be followed.
Sutlers and the sellers of authentic equipment and services to the ACW re-enactors are welcome. There will be an area set aside for
- Authentic Sutlers
- Modern Sales and Displays
- Recruiting and Information
Phil and Jayne Olden of West Point Sutlers will be in charge of and co-ordinating all Sutlers. If any Sutler is interested, please register with West Point as soon as possible. There is to be no unauthorised selling of any description from the authentic or family camps at Weston Park. Anyone wishing to sell at this event should register with West Point Sutlers and pay a £30.00 fee (per single 5m x 5m pitch), this includes blanket sales. Fees will be payable in advance. APPROVED blanket sales will be announced at a later date.
All other categories will need to record your interest in the event with the ACWS Board of Directors at the ACWS, P O Box 52, BRIGHOUSE, West Yorkshire, England, HD6 1JQ. ALL re-enactors from the UK must of course be properly licensed for the weapons and explosives they will be using. ALL re-enactors from outside the UK must have, if they are to use black powder guns and the like, an Overseas Visitors Firearms Pass and a Gunpowder Licence (ref. Home Office Circular 95 [1992] page 47.) Neil Harrison can arrange for the necessary licences etc. from the Police in the UK, if full details and all requirements are supplied to Neil well in advance. A small fee is payable to the Police via ACWS for this necessary paperwork.
ACWS welcomes all friends and visitors. ACWS very much wants as many people as possible in the firing line and with weapons. To do this we inevitably have to comply with UK Firearms Licensing laws for you to bring your guns into the UK and use them. UK Firearms Licensing laws are among the strictest in the world. Even if we had enough spare guns ourselves (which we do not have), we could not lend you guns without you being licensed anyway. But it will all be worth the effort and we will have a huge re-enactment and create a wonderful impression, together.
The battle plan and programme of events will be decided closer to the date of the event and will be determined, after any necessary consultation by ACWS, by Nick Richards, its Chairman and Commander Union Army, and Allan Colquitt, Commander Confederate Army. A lively realistic and enjoyable time is planned and envisaged, with over 50 mounted cavalry, plenty of artillery, and quality pyrotechnics effects.
So, please pass on the word to the rest of your unit and other interested parties and let us try and get:
- a good audience of spectators, and
- a good turnout of quality re-enactors prepared to work together to have a safe, enjoyable weekend of events and comradeship, to the highest practical standards.
We do so hope we get a really good turnout and that we can all enjoy, to the fullest possible extent what will undoubtedly be the premiere event of the season. If you need any more information, or you are a UK based group, and wish to record your desire to be with us at Weston Park this July, please contact our Projects Director, Mrs Vivienne Corbishley, at ACWS, P O Box 52, BRIGHOUSE, West Yorkshire, HD6 1JQ, England. We very much look forward to hearing from you.
|