Royal Armouries: The knight from Yorkshire who's hanging up his spurs after 30 years

And it will be one no doubt that knight extraordinaire Andy Deane will miss when he retires from jousting this year after 30 years.

A familiar face to generations visiting the Royal Armouries in Leeds where he continues to work as a living history officer, Andy took part in his final tournament there earlier this month.

He still has one more tournament in July before calling it a day at the Duke of Norfolk’s Arundel Castle - where he will be surrounded by friends among the close-knit group of competitors.

The 58-year-old says while most jousts go off safely "on occasion someone does get hurt" and he'd promised his wife Holly that it would be his last season. He lost three stone to be fit enough for this season and "trained like a 28-year-old".

"You do need to be fit to hold onto three-quarters of a tonne of horse," said Andy, from Harrogate, who has been riding horses since the age of four and began jousting in 1993.

After leaving drama college in London, Andy worked as an actor for 10 years and also became an assistant to the late John Waller, a noted fight director who guided combat sequences both on stage and screen, and was later creative director at the Armouries. "He invited me to a demonstration show in Kent. I was absolutely amazed by this guy re-enacting what I thought was fairy tales and things from Hollywood.

"They were trying to bring history alive. John developed an 8ft lance with 3ft of balsa on the end, partly for safety, but it suddenly made it really exciting, because when the balsa ends shattered on each of the lances there was an explosion of wood, and it's suddenly like a fireworks display every time you hit an opponent. It made it accessible to modern audiences."

Andy admits he’ll miss having all eyes on him as he rides out to face an opponent and he is rather hoping his steed Rodney Trotter - who's 17 - will retire too - as he doesn't fancy seeing him being ridden in a joust by someone else.

"Probably the only thing that would give me a pangs would be seeing Rodney whizz by me," he said. “Being the focus of attention and everyone just lighting up when the knights come through in front of them – I will miss being the centre of attention that’s for sure."

He'll now direct his energy into Western riding, competing at events where people handle groups of cattle on horseback, as well as keeping on with karate. He said people had been "kind and generous" when they found out he was retiring, telling him how they'd brought their children to the tournament - and their grandchildren. "I didn't realise how important the Royal Armouries was to so many people,” he said.