THE soldiers and camp followers of the Berkeley Household set up in the shadow of Eastnor Castle at the weekend.

The everyday existence of an army during the Wars of the Roses was brought back to life by a band of skilled re-enactors on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, to the delight of thousands of visitors.

Castle spokesman Ben Leeke said: "They go to great lengths to make it authentic, cooking over open fires and so on.

"They'd have one guy making the shafts of the arrows, another putting the flights on and another forging the points."

More than 50 members of the Household camped on the Valley Lawn by the castle and gave displays of the fighting skills of the era, as well as the handicrafts. They also gave talks about their art.

The Berkeley Household attracted some 2,500 visitors over the two days, helping to make the Bank Holiday weekend at Eastnor Castle more successful than last year.

Another attraction, the Symphonic 70s concert by the Performing Arts Orchestra, drew further thousands to the Deer Park on Sunday, where pop hits of the decade were given the grand treatment, complete with firework displays.