We haven't had a proper full-kit pub invasion for a while? Possibly near the start of term, to get maximum turn-out?

I am keen to host a craft day / weekend to do some outdoorsy things but when would be best for this? I assume beginning of term so its not too close to exams but it would be warmer if we waited.

Do we want to have separate feast and fire one almighty fireast?

What else do we want to do?

Another possibility is a film night. I am not sure if Wychwood has seen these before but my suggestions would be the Sword of Xanten (although it is quite long), Viking Women and the Sea Serpent or The Vikings.

The Birka style of kaftan is basically just a tunic with a cut all the way up the front, plus an optional back split.
The back is one piece, like a normal tunic. I guess you could make it in two pieces if you really fancied, but there's no evidence so why would you?
You could make it without side gores (much like you could make a Norman style front & rear split tunic without side gores) but personal experience says they're not as nice to wear, don't move as well, are too tight.
Shoulders, arms and underarms are just like standard tunics.
In conclusion, use the standard tunic pattern.

The standing collar is based entirely on one surviving find (pictured here). That one is 51 cm long. Which is a good 20 inch diameter neck hole. It's hard to tell, but it doesn't seem to have been made to overlap like a modern shirt and doesn't seem to have had any sort of clasp? Most people reconstruct it to be standing and not overlapping, but possibly butting. Like a Chinese shirt, basically- look up Mandarin collars or Nehru collars.

Buttons. Kaftans are buttoned from the neck to the waist, no lower.
You could just attach the buttons to one edge of the kaftan, and the loops to the other? But that wouldn't show them off as well, so most people instead go for frogging. Frogging is, again, like you see on Chinese shirts. But keep the fancy big swirls to a minimum, you just want straight horizontal lines.
Basically get two bits of cord the same length. Thread a button onto the middle of one. Then double them over, and sew the two cords onto the surface of your Kaftan. One has the button attached, the other has a loop at the end you use as the buttonhole. Success!
If you don't have authenti-buttons, here are instructions on making pretty knots to use as buttons on the second half of this page (ignore the big swirl loops on the first half!)

Is anyone else interested in doing the same? In particular, this might be of interest to couples/others who've had some particular house in the past which they think needs some fixing. (And of course be inspired by what the Poles did to theirs (the one slightly outside the village)!)

Just to remind you, I think the dates are 1st - 6th of April (Thursday - Tuesday over Easter), and so Jemma and I are planning to go up on the 30th of March.

Pppppppppppppp

What you can get in London is:

Wool and linen - shops on Goldsworth Road. Take the tube to Goldsworth Road. Walk out of the exit. Look across the road. Just to the right of the Shepherds Bush Market entrance (as you look at it) there is Classic Textiles. Upstairs for wool, down for linen. There are other good shops up and down that bit of road also.

Handweavers Studio in North London. The only place to get weaving yarns. An amazing selection of wool, silk, linen etc etc etc. They have recently moved so check their new location and opening times on their website (search for Handweavers Studio).

Beads - you could try the obvious shop in Camden.

Pppppppppppppp

http://www.infowars.com/police-brutality-in-pittsburgh-after-the-g20/

I've never seen them form interlocking shieldwalls either, I think generally their shields are too small and they don't need to because they're generally not actually under attack. Anyone know if this occurs in modern day shieldwalls at all?

Different force, but I know the MET don't pull their blows :(. Maybe I could train them to be pacifist combatants? Dunno how long they'd have held Senlac hill with <s>hippies</s> domestic extremists like us holding it:

1:37 - http://london.indymedia.org.uk/videos/993

I thought I wouldn't vent on the maillist full of freshers :)

This is kind of a long-term project for me but I'm enjoying beginning to read up on the subject.

I expect my character will be a wealthy widow, with connections dating from her time as a successful merchant's wife.

Somewhere I have notes for my abbess character, which I can dig out at a later date. I think the main thing I'd say at this point is: don't forget that the class system permeated into the monasteries. A nun who brought her own money and land when she took the veil would enjoy a much easier life, and have more power, than her sisters who brought little or nothing. A noble nun would not expect to be assigned menial chores or housework.

I plan on bringing Abbess Wulfhild back from time to time - hopefully she will be swinging a censer and blessing the troops next Hastings! I started writing her story a while ago, so I'll see how far I got and post it here if it's any use. For me the interest lies in portraying a literate, educated person. The important thing for this, however, is that it will require learning a bit of Latin… enough to say a few prayers and blessings, anyway. (Interesting fact: Latin remains the legal language of Great Britain. If you cannot read and write Latin, you are technically illiterate).

I know almost nothing about the subject, as I have studied Viking women and history much more. The idea is that the new nun will be a contemporary of my Viking woman, Ingibjorg, originating from the area where Ingibjorg now lives, but with very different attitudes.

I've created a page on the wiki for notes/research/reading list.

http://wychwood.wikidot.com/kit-nun-character

I've had a sneaky peek and see that the fire is on the 30th October. Don't suppose I could be a-borrowing some floorspace that night to allow me to come along, get happily merry and shout "BEAR!" at various moments throughout the singing?

Joss

So with me, that's 2/3 committee who reckon Sunday of 1st is best for Freshers' BP. Then it shall be.

I agree with the way V handled DAS Murton Park last year, and I'd go with the same solution.

How many actually wants to go to Hastings? And how many of us would be left to run freshers' BP on Sunday 1st if these went? I don't think it's a great solution, but I guess it is a possibility.

Ppppppppp

VeronicaUsurper-President:

Basically, I think we should leave the Freshers BP on Sunday of 1st. Will we
lose LOTS and lots of people to Hastings if we do this? I think if we push
everything into the 2nd week then we lose the momentum. I think we're more
likely to alienate the beserker types by throwing crafts at them than we would
the crafty people by having a fight as the first event. Does that make sense?
(And we should still do Bunni's plan of meeting early on the Sunday to discuss
the plan for the freshers fight.)

If we can still get a trip to Hastings on the Saturday that would be awesome.
But I don't know if we will - I don't know how travel would work, for example.
But anyway.

I'm leaving here tomorrow morning and will be out of email contact for the next
few days. When I get back to Oxford on Sunday, it would be nice if this stuff
was finalised, not to put to fine a point on it :P Because we have to make the
fliers and put the dates on them.

Les-Secretary:

Thanks V, nice summary!
I'm still not registered on the forum really need to do that. But for now, I vote for Freshers BP on Sun 1st. Just purely considering grabbing those freshers nice and early and not delaying recruitment any later then we have to. So yeah that's my final vote.

Joss-Treasurer:

I'd have to say option 1, to grab them fresh as Bunni put it. Much as we all want to be at Hastings for ages, we really need to think about our new members first.

I agree, whole-heartedly: this is 1st Term, it has to be All About The Freshers.

Pros:
- In my opinion at least, Freshers' BP is an excellent first event and if you do it right it can show all aspects of WW (i.e. make people come in shiny kit with weapons and possibly doing brief kit presentation in pub + drinking…)
- It is before the freshers may have forgotten all about us
- It means freshers get more BPs in their term (and if we keep freshers BP as first event, but shift it to 2nd week, then more of everything else too)
- It means less no re-jigging of the termcard to acommodate craft day etc

Cons:
- Paul Witty may not be able to come (woof!)
- We don't get to go to Hastings on the Sunday/if we do go on the Saturday we might be very tired

Freshers' BP on Sunday of 2nd week

Pros:
- We get to go to Hastings whenever we like, or at least when Ferny likes.
- Might possibly mean freshers are less busy? But who can genuinely say they better things to do on any Sunday afternoon than swordfight?
- We (probably) get Paul Witty

Cons:
- If we keep the other freshers events where they are we'll need to make a massive effort to keep people. Generally I think we might lose some of the fighters who just want to get into it straight away. Crafty people are usually more patient. Also, all freshers may have forgotten we exist by then
- Messy re-jigging of termcard last minute causes new committee lots of stress

Some alternatives
- Create a new uber freshers event - but this has to be uber - so we can go to Hastings.
- Have Freshers BP on Saturday of 0th
- Forget any of this ever happened…

So I know this is not an exhaustive list if you can think of anything that needs to be added, add away… Also if you can give brief indications of the way you may be going that would be good. Sorry if this is being too organisey for an ex-president but I think we need to decide by tomorrow (Thursday) at latest. If there is no decision by then, the committee will just have to decide.

P.S. Last year DAS Murton Park clashed with Freshers' BP. I told everyone they couldn't go. This is not necessarily the solution for Hastings but I'm just saying don't be afraid to just make a decision.

Note that some events at the end of term (Punting and Brewing and Pub Invasion) might be moved round, depending on when people finish. Especially Sam for the Brewery, as it's his idea! Also, brewery will need drivers…

Can people tell us their dates of last exams?

Also, Me & V aren't going back to Southport, so we are coming. Woof.

http://www.oskorei.co.uk/spring-banquet

I'll be going up on the Saturday morning via public transport - if you want to do the same, I could meet people at Bristol Temple Meads.

Alas, Pppppp, you may not be getting your timetable for a while yet, as it hasn't yet been written… I'm not bored at work, honestly…

I think an announce list would be an excellent idea, but having three lists may get unwieldy. And don't forget that you all have the option of signing up for a weekly digest instead of individual emails.

As far as I can tell, we are allowed more than one list. V, if you want to go ahead with this I can submit a request from the Wychwood Herald account in your name…?

I don't think there'll be a problem, being as it's only 2nd week next term.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Fun, fun, fun!!!

I've stayed on the mailing list for a couple of my Bristol societies and quite like hearing all the spam and gossip. Obviously if people do say they'd prefer to be on that list create it, I was just registering a lack of interest despite being the kind of person who in theory might want it and pointing out various ways in which multiple mailing lists can work other than what appears to be the Oxford convention of a temporary freshers one and a proper one.

The trip will only happen if enough people want to go (say at least 5), but I think it will be ace. So read the
info, and see if you can come along!

Dates: 8-10 May 2009.

https://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodation/heart-of-england/hostels/St-Briavels/index.aspx
http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/default.asp?id=6&lang=placestovisit

Total cost of the trip should be £70-£80, which includes two nights B&B (Friday and Saturday), weekend pass for CADW sites (CADW = English Heritics
in Wales), minibus & fuel. Plus a few quid each for self-cook suppers. We can make supper on Saturday into a mini-feast by wearing kit!
Alternatively they are doing a medieval banquet in the castle but it would be an extra £15 per head…I kind of fancy saving my money for BEER but it's
up to you!!!

The hostel is licensed, so while we can't bring our own booze into the hostel, we can buy local beer and cider there. Also there is a pub just by
the castle.

We have provisionally booked some beds but we need to give them more definite numbers by 7th Feb, and put down a 25% deposit to secure the
places. After that, there may or may not be spaces available so if you want to come, it's best to book in by 7 Feb! The hostel is likely to be full that
weekend so we need to bag our places well in advance.

There is a £3 per night surcharge for beds if we are not members of the YHA: a group membership would cost £25 so if there are 5 or more of us,
that's the cheapest option and would also allow WW to do additional YHA trips to later in the year.

Since I joined Wychwood there have been a handful of us who've hung Oxford around lots and stuck on the main list whilst there's a much larger group who'd probably want to come back for some things, if they knew what was on, but can't neccessarily handle all of the hundreds of emails. People like Emily, Amelia, Shreena, Manny, Emily, Heid, Ross…

Obviously no-one will be forced onto the Old Git lists!

There might be people who think it's a great idea in which case go ahead and create it, but if everyone feels the same as I do there's not much point.

An alternative solution I've seen a society do (then scrap when they turned into a bunch of dullards) is have the main mailing list not far off your suggestion of this new one, a second one with more detailed information on events for people who actually turn up rather than just signed up at fresher's fair, and a third one for general fun chatter barely relevent (if at all) to the society.

Some ex-wwers have expressed an interest in an occasional update in what's going on but do not want the general clutter of the list. This list would be set up PURELY FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO REGULARLY ATTEND WYCHWOOD (i.e. it won't tell you venues of kit making etc)

It would:
- Send 1 email a term giving the dates of the fire, feast and perhaps one or two other interesting events (eg market, mystery trip)
- Inform people about special out of the ordinary events such as the upcoming trip to St Briavels, as well as the dates for York and Tintagel

It would NOT:
- Have any so called 'SPAM' or emails from anyone other than the committee
- Always contain precise details about events

Why this is a good idea:
- It would make feast organisation etc easier
- We would not alienate some of the old gits
- We would have more old gits at the bigger events which might be nice :D

Why this is a bad idea:
- Current wychwood members may join this list and therefore not know about regular wychwood meetings - more work for committee?
- Involves complex admin and setting up, which I have no idea how to do.

PLEASE DISCUSS, COMMENT, ARGUE, TELL ME I'M VERY WRONG ETC

Cos if we are, I should probably see about a minibus!

Fernyx

No idea how I made the cost £100 earlier in this thread. V is quite right: £70-£80 sounds more like it.

My policy as always is that we should go after 5pm, so those with lectures and stuff can come too. I don't really think a leave after 5.30pm could be engineered and it may mean that we don't have as much time to do things… although this is principally up to the driver.

When we know rough overall costs I can email wychwood the details, suggesting the current plan (8-9th of May) and see how much interest there has been.

But yes, rant over. I think a collection could be a good idea too. I think this shall go down on the list for discussion at committee meeting on Wed.

Perhaps mid-May?

V

Would workers need to book time off on the Friday, or would we be going late?

See, I'm quibbling over details already…committee, yaysay or naysay shelaalalala so that i can quibble :P

8-9 May seems like the obvious one because it's early in term.

Is that a good date?
Is the trip too expensive or do we want to do it?

Oh mighty committee, what do you think, shall I phone the YHA and book us in? Once that's done we can wibble over the details at leisure.

Estimated cost is £65 + food + booze + transport (maybe £30?), that totals just under £100 + consumables

Cheaper if we go in multiple cars not a minibus, but we would then be paying several lots of fuel so I am not sure it would come to that much less overall unless numbers are low - and if we are all in one vehicle, then if we do get lost, at least we will all be lost together, which is much more fun!

I guess any date in Trinity is going to be bad for people with exams, but I am guessing that earlier is better than later?

Anyway, those are my not-terribly-coherent thoughts for your pondering.

How was your birthday, Shelagh?

If the event is in Oxford, what sort of expenses will there be? Can we just put out a collection box or something, if we need to get a little money for this? We could use it to make it up to hose who are coming from outside of Oxford or something. As a student I must say; FREE FOOD!!! This is exactly the sort of well deserving motive for an activity, of course!

BTW, Ferny! I'm on! Yay!