Keep Your Powder Dry

A trip to that there London saw the ECWtravelogue revisit a few entries that have already appeared in the numerous London entries. Hampton Court Palace appears very briefly in the ECWtravelogue, with just a mention of the Toy Inn plaque at the entrance to the Palace.  A word of warning, Hampton Court is ridiculously expensive. Prices in the ticket office have an added voluntary donation (the small print says that you don't have to pay this if you don't want to, I'm sure that the vast majority of foreign tourists fall for this ruse). I would also recommend taking your own food and drink with you, to eat in the grounds. The cafes are best avoided unless you have just had a big lottery win (£12 for a pie! Just a pie, no sides, just the pie. Yes. really.) Think of Hampton Court and you immediately think of the great Tudor Palace that it once was. Whilst a good percentage of the Tudor buildings exist, most of the visitor accessible parts are from much later rebuilds. The Tudor...

The Museum of London Docklands currently has an exhibition exploring 700 years of executions in London's history; originally planned to appear in 2020 the exhibition fell victim to lockdown cancellations and disappeared from the Museum's schedule. It's finally here, but now on show at Docklands rather than the London Wall site. As I mention the London Wall site, it is about to permanently shut its doors (December 4th), in preparation for its move to the new site in West Smithfield (planned to open in 2026) and rebrands itself London Museum. The exhibition runs until 16th April 2023 and has an entrance charge. The Musuem recommends that the exhibition is suitable for 12 years and older. Obviously, the lack of interactive execution methods precludes the very young. The exhibition, unsurprisingly given its theme, is very macabre and probably isn't for everyone. The exhibition starts with a look at methods of execution and its use in medieval times, mostly the exhibits are ...

Regular readers (hello both of you) will know that I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about Wargamer Facts ™ . Here's the latest Wargamer Fact ™ to go under the KeepYourPowderDry investigative microscope. By default this post has become part of my coat colours series. You can find the rest of the posts here: Introduction   Part 1  Parliamentarian coat colours Part 2  Royalist coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Part 4  Dragoons, Horse and the New Model Army coat colours The Trained Bands Scarves   Having seen the phrase "the London Auxiliaries may have received blue coats" many times I decided to look into the source of this information. Just as another  wargamer fact™ asserts that the London Trained Band wore red coats*, this "blue coats" fact™  would   seem to be on equally shaky ground. 1939 Player's Cigarettes card: Trained Bands of London But first, who were the London Trained Bands ...

As the world slowly starts to learn to live with the Covid 19 virus, the UK is opening up again. The #ECWtravelogue visited the 'smoke' to tick off a few things that had been overlooked, or weren't on view when original entries were written.  Actually, quite a few of the places to visit in this addenda, aren't actually there anymore. Sites are recorded with a plaque. The National Gallery has already graced these pages , so why does it feature again? Van Dyck's stunning equestrian portrait of Charles I has undergone a lengthy restoration and is now on display in room 21. The Soanes Museum  is one of London's 'off-the-beaten-track' museums. They have in their collection the Naseby jewel, which is believed to have belonged to Charles I, who lost the jewel as he was spirited away to safety from the battlefield. Rarely on display sadly, more details and picture here . Whilst waiting for the museum to open, take a stroll down the path that runs through Lincoln...