2019 attendance figures would have been surpassed .”
Andrew is a man who believes in a glass half-full , not half empty .
Despite his sorrow in having to call off the Hawkesbury Showground event at such short notice , he is already deep into planning Winterfest 2021 Mark II which will be held at the same venue on the October 2-3 long weekend .
As is my want in these Hawkesbury ’ s Finest articles , I wanted to learn about Andrew ’ s formative years .
And fortunately I had plenty of pages in the notebook and a couple of spare pens !
As they say , “ there ’ s a book ” in Andrew Beattie but as I am only allocated two pages in this fine magazine , I ’ ll have to provide an abridged version .
Andrew was born 50 years ago and grew up in Meadowbank where he attended the local public school before his hard working parents – mum was a teacher and dad worked for the local council , “ scrimped and saved to send me to Newington ”.
“ Dad was a good rower and he coached at Balmain Rowing Club so naturally Newington ’ s rowing program was an added attraction because dad got me interested in the sport from an early age ,” Andrew said .
Out in the workforce after his university studies , Andrew , who was into martial arts due to Tae Kwon Do , somehow managed , over a period of 10 years to get a few months leave each year to travel to Japan and learn and hone his skills .
“ I was able to learn many other skills
under the masters including sword fighting , archery on horseback , throwing spears and Shuriken ( hidden hand blade ),” Andrew said .
Back in Australia , Andrew was contacted by two movie stuntmen who wanted him to train them in swordplay .
“ They were so impressed with the skills learned , they said ‘ come and play with us ’ as stuntmen ,” Andrew said . And so he did ! Down the years he worked on a host of movies and television shows both here and overseas , including A Country Practice , McLeod ’ s Daughters , The Killing Fields , Gods of Egypt , the satirical movie , Ned , and the second and third Stars Wars and most recently , the remake of Steven King ’ s Children of the Corn .
As well as a stuntman , Andrew ’ s skills extended to choreographing fight scenes and also overseeing stunts being performed with utmost safety .
Andrew ’ s venture into the Medieval world began in 2000 when he joined a jousting group at Maitland under the tutelage of Justin Holland , one of the pioneers of the resurgent sport in Australia .
“ I loved it from the moment I donned the armour , mounted a horse and charged down the list with my lance aimed at my opponent ,” Andrew said .
Such were the development of his jousting skills , three years later he and Justin were members of the Australian contingent which went to New Zealand ’ s Taupo for the 2010 Wold Jousting Championships .
“ It was a wonderful time for all of us ,
with Justin and I and two fellow team-mates combining to win the Team Jousting and I was over the moon in taking out gold in the individual event ,” Andrew said .
Down the years since , Andrew has continued to reap a number of world championships in not only jousting but mounted archery , mounted skills at arms and swordon-foot .
“ Sword on foot ,” I exclaimed . “ Crikey , do you kick your opponent with a sharp sword tip on a foot ?” “ Very funny ,” Andrew laughed . Finally I asked Andrew had he sustained many injuries in Medieval mayhem .
“ I lost a tooth and had a few broken ribs whilst jousting but my worst injury was cracking a femur pulling apart two
Andrew Beattie aboard his beloved Palamino , Takoma , which carried him to numerous victories across Medieval men-at-arms events . The 23-yearold Takoma is living a life of ease at Andrew ’ s South Maroota property . Photo : Kathryn Johnston .
warring horses just prior to competing in a tournament ,” he said .
Despite the painful injury , which later required surgery and insertion of numerous pins , this tough as teak knight of the realm of Medieval warfare went out and won the joust and sword on foot . Before I could ask again about the sword on foot , Andrew ushered us back to the car as he had to hustle back to the feed shed and prepare his horses ’ evening snacks .
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THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 135 // AUGUST 2021 7