A Viking visited the March meeting of Kineton and District Local History Group. Announced by by his splendid horn, he strode into the village hall clad in helmet, pieces of armour and woollen clothing to announce himself as Martin Way, about to give the group a lecture on Glimmer in the Dark, a celebration of art and craftsmanship in Anglo-Saxon England.

The rest of the evening more than lived up to this dramatic opening. By the end of it, Mr Way had convinced the members that any idea that Anglo-Saxon England was the Dark Ages, was totally mistaken. He had not only provided the group with well chosen slides illustrating the exquisite artefacts that the Saxons left behind, but also in particular metalwork, some domestic, some some with a war-like puirpose, they all displayed a degree of craftsmanship and design that passing centuries have not bettered. Skilled warriors these ancestors of ours might have been, but they were also people of great artistic sensitivity and skills.

Mr Way allowed time for the group to examine the generous number of artefacts he had brought with him and the number of questions asked of him after the lecture shows how much interest he had generated in the members of the group. Never again will they think of Anglo-Saxon England as being a Dark Age.