An eden family is proving itself to be a blast from the past with their favourite hobby of bringing history to life.

By day Adrian and Elaine Waite, of Murton, near Appleby, work together at the family consultancy firm. But at weekends for part of each year, they and their three children - Amy 18; Adam, 16; and Anna, 15 - leap back in time and change into medieval attire.

The Waite family perform re-enactments of medieval life at weekends and even act out battles from The War of The Roses with other groups from throughout the country.

Mrs Waite explained that the family's unusual passion was born after watching others take part in re-enactments.

She said: "About 12 years ago we decided to take part ourselves and we have now run our own group, The Red Wyverns, which now has about 20 or 30 people, to each weekend re-enactment."

The Red Wyvern is a mythical two-headed dragon which featured on the coat of arms of the Clifford family of Appleby.

Mrs Waite described how each re-enactment group swears allegiance to a real-life lord who rallied their troops during The War of the Roses.

"You have to research your lord to make sure that your livery is correct so that everyone knows who you are when you walk in the battle field - just like the football pitCH. The big organisations have horses and cannons but our group doesn't have anything like that. We portray the part just before the guns came in," she said.

The family even has its own medieval alter egos. Mrs Waite is the Red Wyverns' cook and prepares tasty vegetable "potages" and stews to spur her group into battle. Amy works as a candle maker and Adam and Anna make arrows and also fight.

Mr Waite plays the part of Lord Clifford's captain and leads the group into re-enactments of The War of the Roses that mirror the original battles' historical endings with an element of risk still involved.

Mrs Waite said: "It can be very dangerous and you have to be very safe and know what you are doing. We have never had any serious injuries but you have to be aware."