Fighting, fancy dress & fun – come rain AND shine – at Cropredy Bridge

It’s the biggest event of the year and 2024’s August Bank Holiday muster went off with a real bang!

The regiment flocked to north Oxfordshire for a weekend of relaxing, partying, and fighting – despite some pretty extreme weather! The elements toyed with us all weekend, going from absolutely torrential downpours to tentpole-bending wind! It cleared up in time for battle, but it was all part-and-parcel of a British Bank Holiday weekend!

Loads of our members arrived on Friday night, catching up over a drink in the huge Sealed Knot beer tent, so Saturday was the day for exploring the local area or, as was the case, hunkering down in the pub to escape the downpours!

Saturday night was SUPER … POWERED as it was our traditional night for fancy dress! The party this year was superhero-themed! From ‘The Procrastinator’ (“I’ll definitely get around to making a costume!”) to ‘The Dodger’ with her biscuit-themed costume, from the bare-chested ‘Woolly Jumper’ to ‘Captain Hindsight’, our gang threw themselves into the fun and games as the sun went down. Just check out these costumes:

Of course, we’re all there to do battle – and two epic confrontations awaited us! We were very fortunate to be fighting on land that was part of the original battlefield of Cropredy Bridge. Fought on 29 June 1644, the battle at Cropredy Bridge was a daring opportunistic Parliamentarian attack on King Charles’ army on the march north of Banbury. Despite the Royalists being strung out in line of march, Sir William Waller’s tactical weaknesses led to huge Parliamentarian losses. Although the outcome was indecisive, casualties and poor leadership saw Waller’s army collapse in the days after the battle as many of his men deserted, and it proved a massive setback for the Parliamentarian cause.

Each day began with a unique event: massed musket volleys by ALL of the musketeers of the Sealed Knot, both Parliamentarian and Royalist. Portraying an attack by musketeers on a detachment of cavalry, this was a spectacular event, with several hundred muskets all firing at once!

Video by John Beardsworth

Such a great thing to be a part of! We were soon joined by our brethren in pike and battle commenced! Thanks to all our opponents on the field, with and against whom we had two great days of battling! We were also delighted to welcome a number of brand new members to our ranks, who got their first taste of reenacting with us – so welcome to Anwen, Russell, and James!

And a big thank you to the organisers of the whole weekend – Cromwell’s Brigade of the Parliamentarian Army – for putting on a great show!

 

Enjoyed this post and want to give it a go? You could be taking part for as little as £10, with your kit provided! This hobby has something for everyone and by joining our regiment you could:

💥 Fire a cannon!

⚔️ Fire a musket and go into hand-to-hand!

🥁 Be a drummer and lead the regiment!

𓐬 Or block in with our pikeman to take on the enemy!

If that’s not your thing then join our living history, where you can learn traditional skills 🔨🪡🍳

Visit our join up page or email earlofmanchesterspr@gmail.com and discover a brand new hobby you’ll love!