Mid July saw Foreign Field assisting with Brigstock Village's Operation Pied Piper festival.

This pleasant Northamptonshire village received evacuated children from London and other major cities at the outbreak of war and to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Operation Pied Piper the village welcomed back several of its original evacuees and held a festival for all to learn about the experiences of these children.

Foreign Field provided military camps, home and house demonstrations throughout the two day event as well as swinging entertainment and education, and to perform such a task in front of the original evacuees was a worrying task.

Our thanks go out to all reenactors who travelled to take part, the village of Brigstock for such an overwhelming spirit to get behind the event and everyone who came out to visit or participate.

It was an honour and privilege to work there.

Having staged a taster day for the 1940s in 2008 Ponderosa came back to stage a much bigger event over their impressively large site this last weekend.

Covering the farm, the restaurant, the lakes and the surrounding fields we staged a Wartime Weekend where there was always something to see from battels and weaponry demonstrations, to military vehicles in action, through to laundry, music and song.

Locals and travellers alike flocked to the site to enjoy the range of Foreign Field displays including living history, two battles per day, singers, dancers, the laundry demonstration and the childrens infantry training.

The weekend set a new attendance record for the farm, our second record breaking event this year and the dates for next year have been booked again. We are looking forward to returning both next year and for the Medieval and English Civil War events we have yet to stage there in 2009.

A fantastic venue and an incredible day out, thanks to all reenactors, performers, farm staff, and visitors who made the event what it was.

Summer kicked off with our new Wartime Weekend at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings. A charming relaxed event in a beautiful site that no matter how full it gets retains a peaceful atmosphere of history.

Having taken over the management of this event this year we are proud to have set an all time record on the site for the number of visitors through the door in a weekend as well as the number of annual memberships to the museum sold over the weekend.

Reenactors and members of the public enjoyed an event the style of which had not been tried at the museum before and it paid off with a fantastic day out for families and enthusiasts of all ages.

Discussions have begun immediately to stage the event again next year with more shows, camps and reenactors. Our thanks to all who took part and worked so hard to make it a success.

We look forward to seeing you next year.

This weekend saw Foreign Field down on the beaches of Bournemouth to take part in a small town commemoration of the 65th anniversary of Operation Overlord.

Working with outside contractors and Bournemouth Town Council Foreign Field provided entertainers and childrens activities throughout the weekend as part of a town centre salute to the forces of 1944.

Glorious weather started the season off in earnest with a scorching weekend for the new event at Kedleston Hall. Foreign Field was invited to this event to bring the conscription and training to life for visiting families at this fantastic National Trust venue.

Over the course of this weekend we launched our second demonstration of training for children with the airborne and field training.

Foreign Field was invited to stage interactive childrens training displays at the inaugural VE Day event at the picturesque Piece Hall in Halifax.

Staff at the hall said that they had never seen the hall that well attended ever and were thrilled with the response from both visitors and reenactors alike.

Stay tuned for this event being built on year after year as next year sees the 65th anniversary of VE Day.

As we close our third year off we'd like to say a big thank you to all of you who took part in, traded at or merely visited a Foreign Field event over 2008. We have had an incredible year where we have broken into new terrirories in the south of England with the Trowbridge Veterans Day, made the Elsecar Wartime Weekend a popular mainstay of the living history calendar and expanded our LRP Kit Fair to two sites and twice a year..

Despite the best efforts of the snowy weather the South Stafford Airborne Weekend was a success and we are back at Whittington Barracks twice in 2009 as a result. We will be launching our first multi-period festival as the Staffordshire Regiment Museum celebrates 500 years of the Stafford Knot in battle.

Another first for 2009 is expanding into other periods of history as we hold our first medieval jousting tournament against the back drop of the Battle of Wakefield 1460 and our first staging of the bloody battles of King and Parliament in the English Civil War.

On the Second World War front we will be commemorating the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities and the 65th anniversary of D-Day with our regular events and new events at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings and Ingoldmells Point.

Once again a huge thanks to all those who made our 2008 season happen and we look forward to working with you in 2009.