Vapnartak 2003 was York Wargames Society's 25th Open Day. |
The Club was founded in 1974 and the open day to promote our hobby became an established feature. The first few being held at the Church Hall in St Saviourgate, York. As the hobby grew and more manufacturing traders emerged, the show moved to a larger venue at the De Grey Rooms and although the 'open day' concept remained, a small trade hall became a feature. Several of our members were employees of the York Archealogical Society and when the concept of a York Viking Festival was introduced in 1990, they proposed that our open day, now named 'Vapnartak', be allocated to February and form a part of that Festival. It was our belief that we were involved in further Festivals until the mid-1990's when it moved to a later time of the year. The wargames calendar is crowded and there was no way that we could follow the change of date without clashing with other shows. We retained the first weekend (now Sunday) of February as the York date. An early organiser of Vapnartak is quoted "We want the men who make the metal!" By which he means that we have always sought to have a show with a fixed number of trade stands and allocate those stands to leading and innovative manufacturers from the independant sector of the hobby. In most cases, you can come to Vappa and talk to the guys who run their own company and who will be selling their own products on the day. The move to York Racecourse for our 25th show allowed us to invite additional traders and look at the names! - Old Glory, 1st Corps, Baccus, Lancashire Games, Amazon etc, all worthy additions which enhance our show. And finally, why did we pick a name which nobody can spell! Vapnartak, is probably the Viking original of the word which became 'Wapentake' and which in it's original form meant (roughly) 'Bring your weapon to a gathering of the local militia at a given place and time'. Wapentakes (and Hundreds) later became sub-units of administrative districts with Wapentakes mainly in the north and Hundreds in the south of England. The guys behind the first Vappa did a lot right and spelling aside, the name is perfect for a wargames show! So, come to Vappa and have a great day out! |
And now it can be told .................................. Vanpartak
2003 was a gamble, with the costs for our new venue being four times
that of the old and it was the wish of the club by way of our AGM
that we kept charges in line with previous years! |