Re-enactment society brings civil war to life in Dalton
Last updated at 11:45, Tuesday, 23 August 2011
DALTON residents were woken by the pounding of drums and firing of muskets as a re-enactment group took to the streets.
The commotion was made by members of Lieutenant-Colonel John Lilburne’s Regiment of Foote – a section of The Sealed Knot English Civil War re-enactment group.
The band of men, women and children congregated outside Furness Building Society and marched up Market Street towards Dalton Castle at the event on Saturday.
Inside the fortress, a 17th-century civilian household was mocked-up as women demonstrated stick weaving – a method used to make rugs, blankets, belts and straps.
Musketeers then fired from the top of the castle as people crowded below to take in the spectacle of the display.
Adrian Copping, the regiment’s commanding officer, said: “The Sealed Knot is a charity and its main role is to bring the English Civil War to life for people.
“Its main aim is to entertain the public, to educate the public and just to try and make the subject of history – which can be quite boring for a lot of people – more interesting and try and bring it to life.”
The musket shots took some of the younger members of the audience by surprise, but Mr Copping said it would have been much louder during battles in the war.
He said: “It was absolutely fantastic. It sounded brilliant up there. And I know from the reaction we got from some of the people that it was great.
“The interesting thing is there were only eight or nine muskets going off.
“In the Civil War, a regiment would’ve had about 700 muskets, so if you had multiplied it to that, it would’ve been very loud indeed.
“But it was brilliant – a really good experience.”
In 1643, a battle took place at Lindal Close between Furness Royalists and a force of Parliamentarians.
A further skirmish took place in the area in 1644.
First published at 10:10, Monday, 22 August 2011
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Have your say
I remember them coming to Ulverston in the 1980s. It was a fantastic weekend and felt like goibg back in time.
Posted by Helen on 22 August 2011 at 14:28