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IT is a great British tradition to spend your Bank Holiday Monday visiting a castle and watching people in suits of armour batter each other with blunted swords and axes.

Arundel Castle’s siege weekend saw two teams of living history enthusiasts don the red and white of England and the Earl of Arundel to tackle the blue clad and fleur-de-lis-sporting Frenchmen.

Wandering through the castle’s siege encampment you got to meet some of the likeable medieval nuts who proudly showed off their arms and armour with infectious enthusiasm.

When it came to the battles themselves, while they may not have been as impressive as the event’s title Castle Siege implied, they were still satisfying.

Watching two teams lumber at each other carrying 60 pounds of equipment as they proceed to wail on one another with their cumbersome weapons while the pantomime-esque announcer crows on brought out a sense of childlike joy in the audience.

The fascinating castle and its pretty grounds were open as well throughout the day.

This was all topped off with a display of thundering medieval gunpowder artillery, which was as impressive as it was loud.

An all-round great day out.