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In pictures: Re-enactors out in force at history festival

Sophie ParkerWiltshire
BBC Four historical re-enactors sitting on a bench in the sunshine, they all have their feed dipped in washing up bowls filled with water. The sign, Jane' Historical Kitchen can be seen in the background.BBC
Four of this year's 600 re-enactors kept their cool with footbaths as temperatures soared

For one week in June every year, history lovers converge on a field in the south of England to celebrate and recreate the past at the UK's biggest history festival.

The Chalke History Festival combines historical re-enactments, talks and a major schools festival over a week in the countryside near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

This year's festival includes more than 200 speakers, 600 living history re-enactors, various workshops, an SOE (Special Operations Executive) training camp and a World War Two trench experience.

Here is a selection of the best pictures from this year's event.

Two fell ponies - one brown and one white - pictured with their handlers, one man and one women. It is a sunny day with the light shining brightly on the grass and fields in the background. There are a few white tents behind them.

Rare fell ponies Teddy and Prince are in attendance with their keeper Tom and will be racing Romano-Celtic chariots against dales ponies.

Tom said it could be the "first time in a couple of thousand years" that native ponies have participated in such a contest.

Mason and Mike sitting down on a bench facing towards each other. Mason is playing a wooden mandolin while Mike is playing a hurdy-gurdy, which is also wooden and has a number of small keys which he is pushing with one hand and a crank he is turning with the other.

There was a strong musical contingent among the re-enactors this year, including Mason and Mike.

The pair demonstrated how to play a mandolin and a hurdy-gurdy, a cranked instrument commonly associated with medieval folk music that sounds like a bagpipe.

A man and two women pose for a photo with two ancient Celtic war horns. The horns are cold and have a big opening in the shape of an animal's mouth. They are tall, ending at least a head height above the people. A few tents and marquees can be seen in the background.

These re-enactors have what was considered a terrifying psychological weapon - a carnyx. The ancient Celtic war horn emits a loud, harsh wail to rally troops and intimidate the enemy.

Al Murray stands in front of a striped, colourful marquee in a field. He is holding up a carnyx - a historical horn - with only its pole visible. Another man with long hair in a ponytail watches on.

Festival favourite Al Murray also made an appearance at the event, and was given the opportunity to play a carnyx.

The wind instrument features highly-decorative animal heads, often in the shape of a serpent or dragon.

A large, beige-white sarsen stone in the landscape with blue sky behind it.

With Stonehenge close by, the festival also featured its own sarsen stone.

Programme director for living history and events Laura Bailey said the stone was designed to be "an anchor point" for the pre-history period in the landscape.

It will also be used for ceremonies during the festival, which include colouring it with pigments and dyes.

Two Army green, historical trucks are parked alongside each other on the grass in a field. A historical motorbike in the same colouring is parked behind them.

This year's festival once again included a healthy selection of historical vehicles including motorbikes, traction engines and trucks.

The festival is ongoing until Sunday.

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