Association for UK Old West Re-enactors

 “Mission ~ To promote respect, credibility and awareness of and for Old West re-enactment and Living History in the UK, by advocating and encouraging authenticity and historical accuracy.”

During the 1950’s and 60’s Hollywood produced numerous Western films, and popular though they were, they portrayed the Old West in a glamorised fashion intended more to increase box office success than to portray the history of America in the latter half of the 19^th century. This has resulted in whole generations of UK people accepting the Hollywood version of important events like the OK Corral gunfight, Custer’s Last Stand and so on. Americans of course learn their own history in school; we British by and large learned it from Hollywood.

In the UK there are many people who are interested in the Old West, some whom are happy to go along with the Hollywood version. There are many people however who are dedicated to researching and portraying the characters from the West as it really was during the discovery, settlement and creation of many of the present day United States.

Open-Range is an association formed in 2003, and committed to uniting these ‘Westerners’ under one banner, in order to gain credibility and respect from the general public who still think of the old ‘Cowboy and Indian’ games they played in their schooldays. To this end we will promote historical accuracy and members will be expected to conform to a high standard.

We aim to publicise UK Western re-enactors and help them as far as we can by giving them a single ‘voice’ to speak to those who govern us. Guns and knives were necessary tools during the era, the current legislation on these items means there is a real danger that even the replica ones used by re-enactors may be prohibited.

We have a clothing guide which is intended for those new to the hobby, you can see it here