The picture shows a section of a magnificent life-size representation of King Athelstan created by award-winning contemporary embroiderer, Jacky Puzey, for Kingston-upon-Thames. This is part of the ‘Seven Kings’ set of vividly embroidered panels, inspired by this year being the 1100th anniversary of the crowning of King Athelstan there in in 925, with Kingston also claiming the coronation of his immediate predecessor and five successors, each featured in other panels.
Ahead of the formal ceremony on 4 September, with the renowned historian Tom Holland giving an address about the king, Kingston held a wide-ranging ‘Athel’s Town’ event on 26/7 July at the nearby Canbury Gardens. This featured Regia Anglorum warriors in costume, warhorses, falconry, medieval crafts and ‘medieval’ music. To add to the mix, I had been invited to give a half-hour talk about the coming together of the two kingdoms of Mercia, the ‘other’ side of the Thames, and Wessex, ‘this’ side of the Thames, at the main bandstand at 2pm on the Saturday. At 1.50 pm it started to rain and the bandstand filled up. The crowds dispersed as the rain stopped, but the fast-food stall generator next door did not. And the microphone I’d been promised to overcome all the ambient noise was still elsewhere. Although my talk had been minimally advertised, a few people turned up and sat down patiently on the straw bales provided for the audience while I waited for the mike. Finally I felt I had to make a start, enlisting the offered help of an attendant medieval horn-player to introduce me. More people came and sat down as I tried to project my voice into the void, with Hazel plus grandchildren Naomi and Joseph holding up date cards for dramatic effect. Finally, about 15 minutes in, the mike arrived and more and more folks stopped to listen, with a few book sales being generated plus a very positive follow-up email.
I was left thinking that Athelstan had not needed a microphone, but then he didn’t have a generator to cope with either!