Pikes and Plunder

-
On the 5th of May 1646 King Charles I surrendered himself to the Covenanters besieging Newark.

May Bank Holiday weekend (falling on the 5th and 6th of May) National Civil War Centre and the English Civil War Society put on their annual Pikes and Plunder weekend.



Living history camps at the Sconce and Newark Castle, re-enactors drilling in the market place, the National Civil War Centre open for business, the town's Civil War Trail, and all topped off with a skirmish and battle at the Queen's Sconce. What's not to like for the ECW anorak?


Living history at the castle


Authentic C17th Health and Safety signage
  
The rest is a shameless photo gallery...






 
This year there was something quite special to see - the ECWS's artillery train firing from atop the Sconce.





Arty effects time...




If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider supporting the blog. 
Thanks.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Houses of Interest: Grampian

-
Image
W hat's this, another Scottish entry for the inappropriately named ECWtravelogue? This time our spotlight falls on the Grampian region. This post is also a bit of a milestone, as this is my 500th post. Aberdeen was the site of two battles. In 1644 Montrose routed a Covenanter Army, led by   Robert Balfour, 2nd Lord Balfour of Burleigh. On the morning of September 13th, 1644, the Covenanter forces left the town to confront the attackers. They took up a defensive position on a steep ridge southwest of the town, overlooking the valley of the How Burn. Montrose sent a messenger and drummer under a flag of truce to demand the surrender of the city, or the defenders could expect no quarter. He also requested that they send women, children and the elderly out of the town before his attack.  Aberdeen's leading citizens and guild leaders were presented with an ultimatum near the current location of Justice Mill Lane. Despite rejecting it, they hosted the Royalist party graciously, of...
Read more

Houses of Interest: Tayside

-
Image
Yet more Scottishness from the ECWtravelogue summer jolly... Blair Castle Blair Castle , was garrisoned for the Royalist Engager cause, but was besieged by the New Model Army who took it quickly in 1650. bronze mortar barrel, inscribed "Thomas Pitt made this peece 1614", it also bears the Rose of England and Iacobus Rex The castle entrance hall is resplendently bedecked with C16th and C18th militaria, alas no clearly identifiable C17th weaponry.  James Stanley, Lord Strange The family are closely related to James Stanley, Lord Strange (yes, that Lord Strange, who lost his head at Bolton), as a result there are a number of Stanley family portraits Outside the Castle entrance there are a number of artillery barrels. the majority of which are C16th, there is also an early C17th mortar. John, Earl of Atholl As ardent supporters of the crown, there are a large number of portraits of Charles I and his immediate family. Prince Rupert of the Rhine The tapestry room sports elaborate t...
Read more

Witchfinder

-
Image
The BBC have just released a new comedy series set in East Anglia and Essex in the 1640s. The story follows a failing witchfinder taking a prisoner to court in order to impress Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General.  An impressive cast, the series was written and produced by the team behind Alan Partridge.   More details here Publicity still ©BBC The witchcraft stuff is fairly accurate, apart from continuing the myth of witches being burned alive (they weren't, they were hung). The series looks wonderful, and is well written and researched: not exactly laugh out loud funny, but this is well worth a watch.   This is gentle smile to yourself humour rather than clutch your sides funny - it took until the very end of episode 4 for me to actually laugh out loud. Plus there is the bonus of hearing some Beirut over the closing credits on the first and last episodes. The first episode aired on Tuesday 8th March, 10pm BBC 2, all episodes are now available on BBC iPlay...
Read more

Houses of Interest: Lothian

-
Image
The inappropriately named ECWtravelogue turns its attention to Lothian, scene of Oliver Cromwell's arguably greatest military victory. See also Edinburgh Before we turn our attention to the Second Battle of Dunbar, there are a couple of other Wars of the Three Kingdoms locations worthy of our attention. Borthwick Castle's cannon scars Borthwick Castle , was besieged by Oliver Cromwell's forces in November 1650; the garrison, short on supplies, surrendered after receiving only a handful of cannon shots. The damage to the walls from this attack is still visible. Borthwick is now a wedding venue. Dirleton Castle:  post-Dunbar the castle held out and moss troopers from the castle made a considerable nuisance of themselves. So much so, that Cromwell ordered Monck and Lambert to take the castle, with 1600 men. The castle would fall due to a combination of starvation and mortar fire (destroying the drawbridge and inner gate) on the 10th November 1650. A number of the moss troopers...
Read more

Houses of Interest: Dumfries and Galloway

-
Image
  The briefest entry for the current rash of Scottish entries. Brodick Castle was seized by Argyll in 1639; it would be reclaimed by James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, only to lose it to the Campbells in 1646. Hamilton would be captured at Preston, and be beheaded the 9th March 1649.  Brodick Castle The Castle would again be garrisoned for the King in 1650. The garrison resisted repeated half hearted attempts to take the Castle, before it eventually fell to soldiers from the Ayr garrison in April 1652. The Roman fort atop Burnswick Hill was reutilised as a defensive earthwork with two demi-bastions added. Access to the site is along the Axeltree/Relief road. Park where the decent road runs out, a footpath takes you to the hill summit. OS grid NY185786 Dunaverty Castle Dunaverty Castle was garrisoned for the King by the MacDonalds, but fell to Leslie in 1647 who slaughtered the 300 strong garrison, and camp followers. This incident became known as the "Dunaverty Massacre...
Read more

Colonel Charles Lucas' Regiment of Horse

-
Image
The last of the Royalist regiments of horse to take their moment in the spotlight. Sir Charles Lucas is probably most famous for his execution, or "The Loyall Sacrifice" as the Royalist newsbooks would describe it. Charles learned his soldiering, as so many did, in the Netherlands during the 1630s, before returning to fight in the Bishops' Wars. He would be knighted for his efforts in 1639 and be appointed governor of Richmond (the Yorkshire one). As the King was raising his banner, Sir Charles would raise his Regiment of Horse. The Regiment would have their  first taste of combat at a skirmish at Padbury; followed by First Newbury; Hunsborough Hall; Bradford; Boldon Hill; Chester-le-Street; and Marston Moor. Lucas would be wounded and taken prisoner. He would help to identify the eminent Royalist dead for honourable burial. It is said he wept at their numbers. The Regiment would continue fighting at Malpas; Dorchester; were possibly at the storming of Ledbury; skirmishe...
Read more

Royalist Artillery (Again)

-
Image
Regular readers (hello all seven of you) will be familiar with my tit-for-tat army expansions. So just as Parliament had an artillery expansion, so the King's Army requires one too. With the apparent demise of Naismith-Roundway, I thought I wouldn't be able to get hold of any of my preferred 'light' limbers. Thankfully, I discovered  KeepWargaming  (no relation) who have a dwindling stock of Naismith figures. I quickly purchased all of the limbers in their stock room.   So here are my final planned Royalist figures: two minions, crews and limbers. Figures from PP, the gun is listed as light gun. Regular readers will be aware that I wasn't totally happy with my cannons. Historically the metalwork was most probably black, but it just looked much too flat. So these have painted using my new paint recipe: instead of matt black I now use Foundry blackened barrel. I have two shades of the paint, the lighter version being used for the wheel tyres (my thinking being that th...
Read more

Marquis of Montrose’s Troop of Horse

-
Image
After the excitement of Captain Frances Dalyell's Troop, recruiting the Army Of Montrose comes down to earth with a bump. Sorry.   A very short-lived troop of horse that we don't really know much about. Raised by the Victorian's very own action hero, The Marquis of Montrose, to serve on Clavering’s brief campaign on the Scottish Border in early 1644. Reputedly boasting Scots gentry amongst their numbers. Their very brief fighting history being the taking of Dumfries; the siege of Morpeth; and a skirmish at Sunderland. And that, gentle reader, is pretty much all that is known about them; other than Blount described their cornet in  The Art of Making Devises. I've chosen to present them as lancers, as I originally intended just to have the Gordon Horse as Montrose's harquebusiers.  Mostly straight from the bag PP lancers. As I was being a cheapskate I rummaged in my spares box to find a trumpeter and a pair of mounted dragoon command figures - all three have had heads...
Read more

Building Supplies

-
Image
Back in the days when the only people wearing a mask to go to the bank were armed robbers, I started this blog as a repository for all my little notes. Since then, the blog has taken on a life of its own and become... well... here is a post that goes back to the roots of the blog. Somewhat selfishly, it is primarily for me. If it helps anyone else out - bonus! Regular readers will know that I am continually on the lookout for suitable buildings.  The bulk of my buildings are Hovels , which are 15mm sized but with a reduced footprint. I've found a few other suitable buildings from PP and Total Battle Miniatures ; and some less suitable ones (from the extensive building ranges stocked by Magister Militum ). So maybe it is time to scratch build a few... I've kitbashed a windmill , making a stone base for it, which doesn't look too shoddy. Could be fun. Equally could be a nightmare (best to gloss over my woodwork lessons at school). Buoyed by my greenstuff adventures making ar...
Read more

Montrose's Artillery and Baggage

-
Image
Montrose's army wasn't known for it's artillery or baggage trains, but they must have had them. A good rummage (who doesn't love a good rummage?) in the spares box provided some dragoon horseholders, who with a headswap for a Scots bonnet soon became lovers of  Irn Bru and Tunnocks. A Museum Miniatures open wagon with load, with a couple of extra PP drums and a Donnington halberd fancying up the cart's baggage a bit. As Montrose wasn't really known for his artillery train I had a spare PP frame gun and crew lurking in the spares box. Also residing in the spares box was a Magister Militum pack mule, a suitable candidate to transport the frame gun between jobs. I would like to point out that my spares box is not enormous, nor does it hold riches beyond belief. In fact, apart from far too many standard bearers it is looking pretty empty now. Of course an artillery expansion requires a casualty marker from Warbases. If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other p...
Read more