Keep Your Powder Dry

The modern County of East Yorkshire (or East Riding as Yorkshire folk would have it) saw the first symbolic act of the First English Civil war take place here.  Those of you in need of further  Yorkshire adventures should check out:   West Yorkshire , South Yorkshire ,   North Yorkshire  , York and Marston Moor  and Adwalton Moor . Let us start with Hull , the symbolic birthplace of the First Civil War, when Sir John Hotham denied King Charles entry to the town and barred the Beverley Gate. As a consequence Hull became a significant target for Charles's ire, being besieged in 1642 and again in 1643. Hull was Yorkshire's second largest town, only York was bigger. It was a very important port and possessed a large arsenal prior to the outbreak of hostilities (the second largest arsenal in England after London). Sir John Meldrum led raiding sorties out of the town, during the siege, attacking Royalist positions: a lack of coordination of the Royalist forces would see them fall bac

For more Yorkshire 'related stuff' you can find  West Yorkshire  here ,  South Yorkshire  here , and  East Riding  here . For sites of interest in York, and the Marston Moor battlefield see here ; Skipton Castle see here , and Knaresborough Castle here . All Saints Church  in Ripley (Harrogate way, not the one in Derbyshire) was used by the Parliamentarians as a billet for their soldiers who were pursuing fleeing Royalists from Marston Moor. A number were captured and executed against the walls of the church which still bears the scars of musket balls. Inside the Church they added graffiti  "no pompe nor pride let God be honoured" to the tomb of Sir William Ingilby (1546-1618). Interestingly Sir William's children are both claimed to have fought at Marston Moor: Sir William (junior) was a Royalist cavalry officer, and his sister Jane is supposed to have disguised herself as a man wearing full armour in order to take the field. After the Battle Sir William (jr.) hi

The ECWtravelogue is beginning to turn its attention to those counties further away from Château KeepYourPowderDry. Here begins the Herefordshire entry... Goodrich  Castle has long been on the ECW travelogue's 'to visit' list, why? Roaring Meg.  There appears to have been a tradition of gunners giving their 'pieces' nicknames. Roaring Meg appears more than once, but this Roaring Meg is the only known Civil War mortar still in existence. Be still my beating heart. Goodrich Castle was started in the twelfth century, before it was completed/modified/extended in the latter half of the thirteenth century. And very impressive it must have been too. Obligatory arty photo, showing how Goodrich commands the landscape Fast forward to the turbulent times of the seventeenth century. The castle was originally garrisoned by Parliament in 1642 with the consent of Richard Tyler, a local lawyer who was tenant and constable of the castle. The garrison fled to Gloucester when the Roya