THE Medieval Banquet at Camelford Hall on Friday was deliberately held on the 750th anniversary of Henry III signing Camelford's first charter. It seems that a good time was had by all, and there was a whole team of people responsible for making it such a success.

Terry and Denise Tague decorated the hall, and the outside entrance, so that it looked spectacular. Then Audrey Copus who had already provided 37 costumes for guests, allowed us to use her precious banners which were displayed on the stage behind the top table.

She also did all the flower work in the hall and on the tables, and the result was just fantastic. We had people popping in all day to admire the work and it took until mid afternoon to make the hall look as mediaeval as we could.

The tables were covered with hessian and the trenchers (bearing on the reverse the legend Camelford Charter 750 1259 to 2009) and the matching goblets commissioned from Tintagel Pottery looked authentic.

Eddie McCormick was the Master of Ceremonies for the night, dressed as a medieval knight and events were heralded by members of Camelford Town Band with fanfares and drumrolls. Music was provided by a local Cornish Medieval Band Myska which played throughout the evening.

The bar was run by Penpont Brewery from Altarnun with its special brew for the Charter Celebration. Organisers thanked Joe Thomson and his fellow server Sunny for their hard work.

The food, provided by Ada McCormick and Clare Ireland, was served in four 'removes,' with entertainment by Trevor Lawrence in between, with storytelling and singing. A further episode of entertainment was provided when Mark Sim was punished and ended up in the pillory for a mistaken misdeed.

Service was provided by Girl Guides, as was the washing up team, headed by Peggy. Goodness, they did work hard and a great debt of gratitude is owed to them.

Thanks were also extended to the guests, 100 in number — they all came in costume and what a wonderful sight it was. On the top table was Andy Bain; John and Mary Pearce; Rev Jim and Claire Benton-Evans, the Lord and Lady; Dave and Ange Goodman; carnival queen Lauren Sim with Mark and Claire; Jean Stewart and Mayor Brian Lush. They had their own servers, Aaron Scawn and Philip Lessels.

Clare Ireland said: "It was a great start to the celebrations — so please come and join us at other events and have a look at the exhibitions that are running throughout the month."