Almost 375 years since the notorious ‘Bolton Massacre’, Roundheads and Cavaliers will again descend on Bolton on 7-8 July for an exciting FREE event featuring thrilling battles and fascinating ‘living history’. Click here for more details…
Step into our encampment in the grounds of Bolton School and you’ll step back in time to 1644 – but who will you meet there…?
David Wickar comes from a long line of basket makers. From Hull to Bolton, his ancestors have worked the willow for generations to supply the good folk of Lancashire and Yorkshire with their wares.
But David is an enterprising sort: not content with providing Bolton’s goodwives with a steady source of basketry for their food and linen, he has his eye on greater opportunities…
“With Prince Rupert set to descend on this town, I foresee a dire need for wicker coffins, but I may find it difficult to meet the demand.
“One thing is certain, though – I have a very special basket ready for the King’s lackey, that sworn servant of Babylon, the Earl of Derby! As you can see it is made-to-measure for the size of his head. Who knows, maybe one day it will come in useful, that is if I don’t spear him with my bodkin first.”
But David Wickar will have no time for that. Bolton’s local market for fustians – a hard-wearing cloth made of cotton and linen, for which Bolton has become famous – is a steady customer for his work, and with the new saplings ready, he will be working full pelt to make as many baskets as he can for the town’s weekly market.
You are invited to come and see what he is making next week – if you can stop him from getting onto the battlefield, that is. If he is not to be located in his workshop, he is sure to be found manning the barricades on Bradshawgate, protecting the town from Rupert’s Papist hordes!
Come along and meet David at The Storming of Bolton at Bolton School, Chorley New Rd, Bolton BL1 4PA on 7-8 July, from 10am to 4pm with battle in the afternoon!