Chippenham was markedly noisier and more colourful at the weekend when the English Civil War Society (ECWS) came to town to re-enact a couple of local skirmishes from 1643. This is the scene at the height of the battle in the afternoon. Dozens of cavalry, pikemen, musketeers and artillerymen all joined together for the noisiest of scenes we've seen for a while... and that was just from the yelling and shouting before anything else joined in! For us as Pewsham Belles it was particularly fitting that a line of trees in the park were playing the role of Pewsham Forest, where the King's men lay in wait to ambush the Parliamentarians on their way to Devizes. If you're wondering who won... it was different on each day.
Ten Belles met for coffee and breakfast first on Saturday, and it was good to see everyone looking so well and with lots of news between us to catch up on. A smaller group then decamped to Monkton Park for a good look around the tented village, where there was plenty going on with craftsmen (and women) explaining their roles in supporting the war, with the occasional bang from musketry and canon thrown in for good measure from time to time as the soldiers prepared!
It made for a vibrant and colourful time with the chance to learn oodles of history without tears. Who knew that the commanders of each side (Hopton and Waller) were good friends, who continued to write to each other throughout the Civil War, with one of them describing it as a war without an enemy? A more risque fact came from the woodsman in the tented village who told us about the origins of 'piss poor'; those who were so poor they sold their urine to the tanners for their leather making. As you can see, gentler pursuits were also in evidence.
As well as the group that came together for Our Town, it was good to bump into lots of other Belles over the weekend who turned out with friends and family to enjoy the free show on offer. We look forward to ECWS returning to Chippenham sometime in the future.
