The WFA is exhibiting at the Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire once again. The Festival returns on 16 and 17 July 2011 for "a blockbuster weekend of clashing swords, thundering hooves and epic battles". One of the highlights this year is a replica WWI trench, recreated by a team who have been working on Steven Spielberg's latest movie War Horse.
In the replica World War One trench, visitors will be able to glimpse the reality of life for men and horses on the battlefields of the Great War. The team have employed some of the same movie magic used on War Horse to recreate a scene from the Great War, complete with water filled shell craters, shattered trees and twisted barbed wire.
Visitors will also be able to hear stories from the front line, told in the words of the real soldiers who experienced it. They will be able to discover more about the role of horses during the Great War, and between shows walk through the trenches and meet the Tommies.
War Horse author Michael Morpurgo, whose bestseller has been transferred to stage and now onto film due for release next year, will be talking about his writing (Saturday only) as part of the inaugural Festival of Historical Writing. Dozens of other historical writers including MC Scott and Simon Scarrow will also be on stage and signing books.
For further information about the WFA's activities at Kelmarsh over the weekend, please contact Jane Backhouse. (Jane is a the WFA Trustee and Chair of the Milton Keynes Branch.)
