Keep Your Powder Dry

Those of you who have tried to visit either the BCW Project or Regimental Wiki will notice that it is 'down'. >>>>>>>>> Update May 2025: www.BCW-Project.org.uk is now live. There's just a blog entry explaining what's going on, for now! >>>>>>>>> Update April 2025: Those of you wondering what is happening with the site data, well real life has been throwing some massive spanners in the works, so progress on restoring the site has been, to be honest, none existent. Fear not, work on restoring the site has started, and will commence in earnest soon. Unfortunately GoDaddy have parked the BCW-project.org URL and are effectively holding it for ransom. So when the site returns it will be at a slightly different address  BCW-project.org.uk We will be asking for help with the funding of the website - so if you have missed the website, it would be a very nice way of remembering the founder of the site, the late Dave Plant, by...

Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer spent seven years in Tibet, nice work if you can get it; his story was turned into a film, and Harrer was portrayed by Brad Pitt. In years to come who will portray me in the film version of this blog? When I started writing this blog it was a receptacle for bits of paper that didn't really have a 'home', so I gave them one; but the 'home' has grown and developed a life of its own. Almost.  Regular readers will be surprised to hear that the Saturday boy did not attend this year's KYPD staff mid-winter party - management's bluff of compulsory playing of 'Mould-my-Cockle-Bread'* obviously scared him off  I genuinely never expected anyone to read my ramblings, but read them you do.  Every year, sometime about October I do start to wonder what the viewing figures for the year will be: will it be 50k?, will it be 100k?, this year I started wondering if it would break the 250k figure. It passed that with ease in November...

Sorry regular readers, once again comments and the contact form have temporarily been turned off. Why? Someone on Twitter has got their knickers in a twist about an information panel at Newark Castle.  Why has she done that? Because the information board features an image of a man of African descent.  The man pictured is an actor, portraying a man called John Americanus, who fought for the King at Newark. John's role in the defence of Newark is well documented. And yes, John was of African descent. The National Civil War Centre created a Civil War Trail around the town, information panels are located at points of interest. These panels feature QR codes which accessed features on a now defunct smartphone app. Each location also featured an eye witness account - stories from real people who witnessed the events in Newark. Each information panel has a photographic representation of the person whose story was told in the app. The Castle's eyewitness account was John Americanus. Un...

 I really am still very surprised that people read this nonsense . And read it you clearly do. I am absolutely blown away by the reach of this niche of a blog, visitors have come from six of the seven continents of the world (surely it is only a matter of time before I bag my first visit from Antarctica). I must admit that I will probably be watching the hit counter, more than is healthy, sometime around the end of February as it nudges ever closer to half a million hits. Pushed the boat out this year, the KeepYourPowderDry annual staff party was held in colour. Saturday boy was off sick (again). Flemish Wedding Party, artist unknown. Image from Düsseldorfer Auktionshaus sale page 'Viewing' figures have grown exponentially this year; annual figures had settled down to just under 100k hits a year, but this blogging year it is just nudged over 161k. Wow. I genuinely, never actually expected anybody to read the blog. My ghast is well and truly flabbered. Why such an increase? War...

Sorry regular readers, comments and the contact form have temporarily been turned off. Why? A YouTube 'content creator' has put a direct link in his description to my post about Newark Upon Trent.  Why has he done that? Because I posted a picture of an information panel from Newark Castle, which features an image of a man of African descent. An information panel that I did not write or have any hand in creating. The man pictured is an actor, portraying a man called John Americanus, who fought for the King at Newark. John's role in the defence of Newark is well documented. And yes, John was of African descent. The National Civil War Centre created a Civil War Trail around the town, information panels are located at points of interest. These panels feature QR codes which accessed features on a now defunct smartphone app. Each location also featured an eye witness account - stories from real people who witnessed the events in Newark. Each information panel has a photographic r...

Readers familiar with Radio 4's Front Row will be wondering if KeepYourPowderDry is muscling in on Samira Ahmed's post-Archers slot on the nation's airwaves. Fear not. But this is a first for KeepYourPowderDry...a theatrical review. A trip down to that there London saw KeepYourPowderDry visit the Garrick Theatre, for the self styled 'riotous new comedy' set around Captain Blood's attempt to steal the crown jewels. Written by Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly), and directed by Sean Foley (Upstart Crow); the Crown Jewels stars Al Murray as King Charles II. He’s joined by a star-studded cast: Carrie Hope Fletcher, Mel Giedroyc, Neil Morrissey, Joe Thomas, Aidan McArdle, and Tanvi Virmani. Not Al Murray Based upon the somewhat incredulous story of Captain Blood's attempted theft of the crown jewels, the script allows the cast enough leeway to exploit their talents as stand up comedians. (I'm trying really hard not to give any spoilers here, can you tell?)  At ti...

Without giving too much away, I found myself in need of some rat markers to go alongside my rat catcher and plague doctors...  Hunting for 15mm rats on Google got me nowhere really, it was only when I used the term 'skaven'* that I actually started getting somewhere.  Eventually discounting numerous anthropomorphic rats with shields and unfeasibly large swords I found some rat swarms on Etsy. These are 3D resin prints, and three bases came in at £2.50. Spot the cartwheel When they eventually arrived, one base was pure rats, one had a skeleton on it and another a shield. Not really what I wanted but I could disguise the inappropriate bits under foliage. Members of the National Fancy Rat Society look away now, my rats have more in common with the film Ratatouille than real life. They'll do nicely. But why do I need rat markers...?   All in good time  * something to do with Warhammer I believe If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider ...

Despite having a career that dabbles in and out of the shallows of academia, I was put off from attending 'Civil War' lectures because I don't own a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches or a beard that has bits of last night's dinner lurking in it. But enough of this inappropriate, and frankly mean caricaturing. I was invited to attend Helion's Century of the Soldier Conference held in Worcester in April 2023, thank you Charles for the invite. Must confess that I didn't really know what I was letting myself in for. This year's theme was 'Novelty and Change' and included a number of influential researchers and writers. I was particularly interested in hearing Dr Padraig Lenihan's "Countermarches, Caracoles and Charges: Firearms Against Shock in Ireland 1641-3", most probably because I have an Irish Confederate army in the planning stage.  I was very wrong in the slight apprehension I felt about attending. Wow. What a brilliant day. I ...

Bonus points to those of you who got the 1970s children's TV reference in the title. Having run out of things to paint, I was, as you do when you can't fall asleep, trawling a certain auction site in the wee small hours and happened across a small wooden box. I won the auction with a bid of £2.50.  An idea germinated... A little project came to pass. The box was an ideal size to store all my gaming ephemera (dice, measuring sticks, arc of fire templates, All Rolled Up folding dice trays, dice pouches). But it would need a little bit of corporate titivation first. The inside was sprayed Liquitex raw umber, and a print of Streeter's Plan was sized, cut and glued to the inside of the lid. Several coats of satin varnish sealed everything. Everything fits neatly, and snugly inside. The lid had an inset piece of navy leather; now that would never do. An engraved 'brass effect' plaque was sourced from an online trophy shop for £4. And there you go, I'm now Mr Fancypant...

Once again, I pen the words 'who'd have thunk it?' KeepYourPowderDry still exists and I still find stuff to write nonsense about. Oh dear, the Saturday boy shows himself up again at the work's bloggiversary 'do', and Derek from accounts looks a bit angry - think HR might need a word... At the risk of sounding like an awards ceremony acceptance speech... Thank you to everyone who has supported the blog via BuyMeACoffee , your support really does help the blog keep existing. Particular thanks, and honorary board memberships go to @BirdyTheolProf and @Clubmen1645. Regular reader numbers have swelled to almost ten (hello everybody), a number that mainstream social influencers can only dream of   scoff at. Page hits don't actually matter, as I wrote 5 years ago. This blog is a receptacle for lots of little bits of paper, hopefully laid out in a slightly more sensible and understandable order; it is primarily for me, if it helps anyone else, even better. But I can...

One can not simply spend one's life visiting sites associated with the wars, or painting little men. You do have to eat, now and again... Now even the most die hard seventeenth century afficiando can take their passion into the kitchen with them! Stuck for a recipe? Try Mrs Cromwell's Cookbook , available from the Cromwell Museum  online shop, or in person from the museum itself: although this book was not written by her (it was actually written after Oliver Cromwell had died as a way to make fun of her) the recipes are good examples of food that they might have eaten while they were alive. Maybe I should have ironed it for the pictures... Once you have dined upon your 'Cromwellian' feast I'm afraid there is the washing up to do. And what better to complete the task than a World Turned Upside Down tea towel? Also available from the Cromwell Museum or in person from the shop at the National Civil War Centre. Other seventeenth century themed tea towels are availabl...

Charles, Maurice, Rupert and Boye; protected by The King's Lifeguard (conjecturally equipped as cuirassiers) Due to the completion* of my Royalist Army, coupled with the need to see what a Regiment of Foot looked like at 1:1, my kitchen table was set up as a 'studio' .  So, here is the King's Army (Parliament's Army is identical). The army consists of the following: Regiments of Foot - 18 units, each 34 men strong Combined Shot - 3 units, each 24 men strong Regiments of Horse - 21 units, each 16 men strong (1 unit are cuirassiers) Regiments of Dragoons - 3 units, each 21 men strong Siege Engineers - 10 men Assault party - 6 men, and 4 petard teams Train of Artillery: demi-culverins  - 2, each consisting of a crew of 4 men and a limber Train of Artillery: sakers  - 3, each consisting of a crew of 4 men and a limber Train of Artillery: minions  - 6, each consisting of a crew of 4 men and a limber Baggage Train - 15 assorted pieces of baggage Command - 19 indivi...

The question arises, what did a Regiment of Foot actually look like? As wargamers we happily put a collection of thirty figures together and call it a 'regiment'. How many men were in a 'regiment' in real life?   I'll try and have a go... One of the problems that arises with the English Civil Wars/ British Civil Wars/ Wars of Three Kingdoms is the use of language and terminology. Many military terms start becoming more widespread in their use. We start coming across uniforms, regiments, companies, and battalia. From our standpoint in the 21st Century we have very specific views of what these terms mean; but in the 17th Century such terms, like spellings, had not been standardised. Throw into the mix large holes in our knowledge, due to a lack of records and documentation, and the best we can ever hope to achieve is a 'best guess'. With these caveats I set out on my quest. The London Trained Bands and their structure is probably our best data mine for evidenc...

Way back in the innocent days of the tail end of 2017, when if you entered a bank wearing a mask you'd have a lot of explaining to do, I started this blog. It was meant as a store for all the snippets of information that were lying around on scraps of paper; something that would help me buy the correct version of Stirland Battlemire/Mud (I'm not sure, think it is mud, would have to check here first) when I visit the shops - even when I'd forgotten to take my shopping list with me. I didn't really expect many people to visit, or even read my inane ramblings. As the little counter thingy has just rolled past a very big number (a quarter of a million!) I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has visited the blog; read my nonsense (unlikely); looked at the pretty pictures (more likely); followed @KeepPowder on Twitter; liked posts; retweeted; commented upon posts; used one of my Google maps; promoted the blog on their own blog or website; generously supported t...

Socially distanced, after work cheese and wine, definitely not a party (note everyone wearing masks). Saturday boy showing himself up again 🙄 I am somewhat surprised to still be writing this nonsense after four whole years - who'd have thunk I'd have this much to blather on about? And who would have thought that the number of regular readers has reached the dizzying heights of 'possibly seven' - a number that other bloggers can only dream of. So I am told. Well somebody must be reading this as the page number thing keeps ticking over. Unless it is my mum, constantly clicking away, or some hackers in some far off distant land hoping to bring down great instruments of state (sorry you've got the wrong website, you want sites that end gov.uk) I'd like to thank everyone who has supported the blog via Buy Me a Coffee, it really is very greatly appreciated. Your contributions pay for the domain, and help towards parking fees, house entrance fees and some fuel; it doe...

  Google/Feedburner have announced  that they will be discontinuing the 'follow by email' gadget with Blogger in July 2021. Obviously this will only impact those of you who do follow by email: no idea how many of you there are, as Blogger doesn't easily let me know this. So you'll be pleased to hear that my nonsensical rubbish will no longer be cluttering up your inboxes on a Monday. Those of you who will be devastated to lose these quality missives, I usually schedule posts to be published at 6am (UK time) on Mondays. DELETE AS APPROPRIATE There is a way that I could make a mailing list, to which you could subscribe, but as this would then add onerous bureacracy, and cost (think GDPR), on to my already busy schedule I'm not going to. Sorry. Update: a little more delving on the FeedBurner service update page states that they are migrating to a more stable platform. Whether this means that 'follow by email' will return at some point I'm not sure. KeepYour...

As per the title of this post, please don't panic. However, I do have to inform my regular readers (hello both of you) that KeepYourPowderDry may go a little quiet for a wee while. It's not going away, you don't have to Wayback Machine everything, it's just I am rather busy*. A new job inevitably leads to being ridiculously busy for a period until systems are in place - which has had the consequence that I haven't picked up a paint brush in weeks. That pile of harquebusiers on my desk are still bare metal. A red herring attending a fancy dress party as an owl? Plus a very exciting offer has been accepted which will take my full attention away from KeepYourPowderDry for a period. I really really want to tell you, but I can't. So don't ask. Rubbish at keeping 'good' secrets. You'll find out eventually, and agree that it is 'moderately acceptable'. But rest assured that the usual poor quality blather and waffle will return soon.  There are a...

 Having been asked the tricksy question,  What is it: The English Civil War, The British Civil Wars or the Wars of the Three Kingdoms? Pictures from Holly Holy Day 2020, Nantwich's annual celebration of the battle I will attempt to answer it... but first, some definitions.  British , means belonging to the archipelago known as the British Isles, a geographical term (Great Britain is the name of the largest island in the archipelago). Britain is not the name of a country, it is the name of an island on which there are two countries and a principality. The term is, understandably, unpopular in Eire. Three Kingdoms - Charles was concurrently king of England, Scotland and Ireland. The kingdoms were separate countries, the Act of Union creating the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland hadn't happened yet. But what about Wales? (long story made short): Wales had been subsumed by England in the thirteenth century and politically when the word England was used, it included Wale...