THE medieval history of the North of England inspired a man to forge a career as a jousting knight.

Hartlepool-born Dominic Sewell, who grew up near Bowes, in County Durham, is one of a handful of professional knights in armour.

As his alter-ego, Sir John Babington, the 39-year-old steps back more than five centuries to show his skills on horseback with ancient weaponry.

He was bitten by the re- enactment bug when, aged eight, he attended an event in Barnard Castle with his parents, Glenn and Gillian.

"I was caught up by the romanticism and I couldn't wait to get involved," said Mr Sewell, who runs his own re-enactment and training company.

"As I found out more, I became really passionate about the late 15th Century, with its generic image of medieval knights in armour.

"My roots are in the Barnard Castle area, which saw its greatest time in the 15th Century at the time of Richard III and the Nevilles of Raby."

Mr Sewell, who now lives near Peterborough, learned to ride to improve his re-enactment skills and now has his own livery yard with five horses, two of which he owns.

Typical displays by the Knights of the Order of the Crescent see members riding at centering speed throwing javelins at targets and cutting cabbages in half with a sword, before jousting with lances.

Mr Sewell admits that the work can be dangerous, but ranks a broken wrist while learning to ride as his worst injury.

After a brief Christmas break, Mr Sewell and his team gave a New Year's Day display of Renaissance armour at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London.

He leaves for New Zealand for a joust next month, then travels to the US to talk about the sport before the re-enactment season starts in April.