Greenwood

Convention
Name:	Greenwood
Dates:	1987-1989
Frequency:
Location:
Type:	fan run fan con
Focus:	Robin of Sherwood
Organization:
Founder:	Mr. and Mrs. Bougourd
Founding Date:
URL:
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Greenwood was a Robin of Sherwood convention. There were at least three of them.

Greenwood 1

Greenwood 1 was held in 1987.

Greenwood 2

Greenwood 2 was held August 27-28, 1988.

Greenwood 2: Con Reports

The second ROBIN OP SHERWOOD Convention took place at the Shepperton Moat House Hotel, August 27/28 1988; the same hotel and the same committee as GREENwOOD I.

The guests present were Robert Addie, Jeremy and Robbie Bulloch, Richard Carpenter, Nicholas Grace, Annabelle Lee, Clive Mantle, Terry Walsh and two stuntmen who worked on the series; Graeme Crowther and Brian Bowes. Also present as guests were the Hawk Conservancy and the Arrow and the Sword; the former with a display of hawks and the latter archery.

The convention opened on Saturday morning (the 27th) with the Opening Ceremony introduced by M.C. Donna Lauchlan. It was followed by a very impromptu "talk” by Terry Walsh, who was the first guest to arrive and had been put immediately on the spot. For once the quick—talking Terry was so wrong-footed about all he could come up with was a very bad Quasimodo joke I He was "rescued" shortly after by the arrival of Richard Carpenter and his wife Annabelle Lee, and a little later by Robert Addie.

Guest talks were the main events through the day in the main hall, with Nicholas Grace arriving in the afternoon, Unfortunately he was unable to stay for long, but we were all delighted to see him even for a short length of time.

In addition to the main hall events, displays of archery and hawks were arranged for outside, and both The Arrow and the Sword and the Hawk Conservancy gave talks in the main hall as well. capricious in Britain!) and it rained only a little on Sunday afternoon. We were lucky with the weather (always The archers also ran a "have ago stall," from which the six best were picked for a small contest to be run on the Sunday.

There were also dealers' rooms, with books, fan memorabilia (but not much from ROBIN OF SHERWOOD, sadly) and other items, plus, in the art and craft display room, an armourer selling some wonderful swords, knives, goblets, dishes, jewellery and robes.

A demonstration of spinning yarn was given in the foyer on both days, with samples of natural dyed yams in the craft exhibition. The Saturday evening brought the usual fancy dress, of avery high standard. Winners included two girls dressed as Nottingham Castle, acute tiny tot in tunic and huge black fluffy boots as The Littlest Serf, and Robin Hood and The Sheriff from the original 1950s black and white series, done entirely in monochrome. There were also several superbly done ROBIN costume copies, from West Germany and the United States.

The disco followed the fancy dress, concluding the Saturday.

Sunday morning commenced with the auction, at which, among other things, a ROBIN annual costing £3.95 when new went for nearly £80!, followed by further guest talks, and in the afternoon, the drama. There were only three entries, but they got larger in number as they went along, starting with a solo of "Gulnar summoning Penris"; a small, ferocious clockwork Penris. It was short, but very funny, especially when "Gulnar" clapped her hands and her fake finger ends flew off! Second entry was "ROBIN OP SHERWOOD meets MONTY Second entry was "ROBIN OF SHERWOOD meets MONTY PYTHON", with a contingency of about four. All the usual lupin jokes were blended superbly in with ROBIN, but perhaps it was a bit too long with occasional faltering to be superbly funny. The third and final entry was "Ribena of Sherwood", with a cast of thousands; largely the committee and associates, doing a very funny skit on the series, which had actually been done once before at a previous GALACTICON. This time they repeated it to fill in due to lack of entries, and they won, despite a few anxious moments when they realised Jeremy Bulloch had been guest and judge at its first performance!

By late afternoon the bar (note!) was full of guests, as Annabelle Lee, Clive Mantle, Robert Addie, Jeremy and Robbie Bulloch and the stunt contingency signed autographs, posed for photos and generally chatted to the GREENWOOD attendees. Richard Carpenter was in the dealers' room at this time, signing copies of his latest ROBIN book THE TIME CF THE WOLF, which had just been published.

Later, the hawks moved into the foyer (with human keepers in attendance!) and the archery continued outside. The whole convention had a happy, relaxed, family atmosphere, very similar to GREENWOOD I, which is perhaps a reflection of the family feel of the actual series.

All too soon, it seemed, the Closing Ceremony came round. Prizes were awarded, thanks were given, goodbyes were said. The convention made over £1000 for its two charities, the Hawk Conservancy and the Woodland Trust. And it was over. But with the promise of GREENWOOD III next year.

But not quite. Sunday evening concluded with a candlelit medieval banquet in the main hall, patronised by nearly 100 GREENWOOD attendees, and with Richard Carpenter as Guest of Honour (Mrs Carpenter having unfortunately had to go and work for the evening!).

The banquet started with soup, and the main course consisted of beef, chicken and venison with peas, carrots, swede, mushrooms, cress and cauliflower, with a vegetarian dish for those who preferred. The Hawk Conservancy flew two owls in the room before the meal began; silent, swift and beautiful.

It was a very pleasant evening, with good food, good company, and background medieval music. A fitting end to GREENWOOD II. At the conclusion of the banquet Donna proposed a toast to the man without whom none of us would have been present.

Although he tried to spoil it by calling a toast to King John (!), I think the sentiment was echoed wholeheartedly by all present. The entire company rose as one to acknowledge, thank and honour him.

Blessed Be, Richard Carpenter.

Greenwood 3

Greenwood 3 was held August 26-27, 1989 at the Shepperton Moat House Hotel in Shepperton, Middlesex, England.

flyer for the 1989 con

Greenwood 4

Greenwood 4 was held August 28-29th, 1993 at the Shepperton Moat House Hotel in Shepperton, Middlesex, England.