“Blow up the bridge!” Bringing the English Civil War to Bidford-on-Avon

It’s been far too long since we donned wool and stepped back to the 17th Century – but what a glorious weekend to do it!

Nestled in the Warwickshire countryside and equidistant between Stratford and Worcester, Bidford is the site of an ancient bridge over the River Avon. In mid-1644, as he withdrew from Worcester towards his capital at Oxford, King Charles ordered that the bridge at Bidford be blown up in order to stop it being used by the Parliamentarian forces of William Waller that were pursuing him. Three hundred and seventy seven years later, we turned up to repeat the job … but with less success!

From fights breaking out to broken tables, from rotten teeth to traditional trades, there was plenty for visitors to see and enjoy on our encampment at the Big Meadow on the banks of the Avon. It’s a perfect spot to bring this period of history alive, with ne’er-do-wells locked up in the pillory, our cooks preparing meals and serving ale, and plenty of lazy soldiers sat around snoozing or – horror of horrors – gambling!

Video by Cliff Moore

Of course, we were there for one reason – to blow up the bridge! One of our Scottish troops deployed his little coracle boat to mount a reconnaissance under the bridge in order to check where best to place the explosives – but he was fired upon by dastardly Parliamentarian snipers and capsized!

An armed guard was necessary to deliver the barrels full of gunpowder, with one soldier wading into the water to lay them in the right place.

Then the fuse was lit, followed by some comedy shouts of “Run away! Run away!”…

But when they failed to properly blow up the bridge it was clear he was a Parliamentarian saboteur! Blamed for the failure, he was executed by his own side and died face down in river!

Video by Rob Jones

What an absolutely fantastic weekend! Thank you to everyone who came to visit the event and to the people of Bidford for giving us such a warm welcome – especially when our friends from the Marquis of Newcastle’s Regiment of Foote and Scottish regiments, who very kindly supported this event in great numbers, visited the Bull’s Head pub to … er … ‘secure’ the local beer supplies!

 

More photos by Mike Graham: