Lord Hopton's Regiment of Foote

The ECWS (English Civil War Society) would like to thank all who made the Battle of Alton possible. (A more comprehensive list of thanks is being prepared for the press and will be published here in due course.)

Battle of Alton – Monday

Yesterday’s events were enjoyed by all. However, due to the rain overnight and this morning, the day’s schedule of events has changed. There will still be a drill display in the Market Square at 11:30; The march will take place as advertised at 1:30; At 2:00, there will be a skirmish in St Lawrence church yard (we are unable to use Flood Meadows); There will be a second skirmish in the church…

Sitting in Alton Rugby Club – outside stillage is open, beer is flowing, music is playing (live, if course), food is tasty and cheap; company is good too! All that and the weekend is just beginning. Happy days!

Battle of Alton – meetings

This post only applies to some people, but we just wanted to make sure that as many people as possible get the message: Really sorry for any inconvenience, but all meetings will need to be rescheduled, as the Council have now decided that we are not able to use the Finnemore Pavilion for our meetings. Please pass the message on to any members who you know will be affected by this and please bear…

The campsite is growing as more of our members arrive in preparation to participate in this weekend’s re-enactment. After Wednesday’s rain, we did have worries about the campsite, as did the council and we have had to use different parts of Anstey Park than we had  planned. This does mean we are a little more spread out than we would have perhaps chosen, but everyone is within extremely easy…

Battle of Alton – Saturday at the Allen Gallery

The excitement of the Battle of Alton isn’t all about Sunday and Monday. On Saturday at 2:30, a talk will be given at the Allen Gallery by an ECWS member about the (1643) Battle of Alton. It will be well worth listening to!

Living History at Alton – The Printing Press

Over the Bank Holiday weekend, there will be Living History displays in St Lawrence Church Yard.  Additionally, in the Parish Hall (next to the church yard), there will be a printing press; they do have their own blog (here) if you want to know more, but have also kindly sent me some photos and a short piece about what they do to publish here. We have been bringing the Printing Press out to ECWS…

With just over a week to go (excitement is building!!) until the (2015) Battle of Alton, I was rather delighted to find this absolute gem among my emails today! The Kings Army founded in 1972 staged this battle in 1973 at Alton. One  of the society’s founding aims was to recreate events on authentic sites  – and they don’t come very much more authentic than Alton to where we  are returning…

As the Battle of Alton draws closer, it seems quite apt that I came across this: It’s from Hopton’s newsletter issue 118, which as far as I can work out is from some time in 2013 (between March – it was after Cheriton – and before the end of May – it has the warning order for Chesterfield in it). The Battle of Alton (2015) was initially planned to be the RIE to remember Fluff. We have been…

I have been thinking this week that the blog could do with updating, but was scratching my head a little as to what to update it with…  So imagine my delight when I opened my emails just a little while ago and found a Regimail from Pippy!  Perfect timing… If you receive Hopton’s Regimail, hopefully, you will have already seen this, but it gives a pretty good summary of our season so far, so I…

Although Hopton’s weren’t really out in full force, we did get to join up with Blackwell’s and Fenwick’s. This resulted in by far the mightiest pike block seen in some time!

The Valence House event is fast approaching…  Unfortunately, it is in the low emissions zone, so Concorde cannot go…  However, kit is being transported by various people, so don’t worry!

As Concorde cannot go, there will be no breakfast tent :(

If you are intending using trains that weekend, it is worth checking strike details on the Monday….

“An epic clash of arms”, “an incredible Bank Holiday weekend” and “the biggest Civil War reenactment held in the region”; quotes from the National Civil War Centre’s events page.

Now just three weeks away, the Early May Bank Holiday event at Newark promises to be a good one!  Not only is the event planned on a grand scale (involving the ECWS, the Sealed Knot and History Re-enactment Worskshop)…