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 on 7-8 July and you’ll step back in time to 1644 – but who will you meet?
Bolton was an important bastion for Parliament in Lancashire – troops marched from it to capture Blackburn, Preston, and Lancaster – but the threat from the Royalists was always there and the town had already seen off one attempt to take it. When he heard that Prince Rupert was marching north with a great army, Parliamentarian commander Colonel Alexander Rigby broke off his ineffectual siege of nearby Lathom House and divided his forces – a third went to Liverpool, a third to Lancaster, and – after much dithering – Rigby heading with the rest for Bolton and its crumbling earthwork defences.
It’s at these defences you’ll meet Lieutenant Graham Laugharne – an old veteran now turning all his skills towards the fight against the Royalists…
“I was born in 1591, the bastard son of John Laugharne of Pembrokeshire.
“I was never going to be accepted in the same way that my legitimate younger brother, Rowland, would be. My father John decided that I needed to learn a trade and so apprenticed me to the local cobbler.
“My master was a veteran of the wars fought by Queen Bess against the Spanish Catholics and, during my apprenticeship, I was fortunate enough to have him school me in the art of war, becoming proficient with both musket and sword.
“At the age of 27, I travelled to Europe and also spent my time fighting the Spanish – this time for the Protestant cause in the Low Countries, where I rose to the rank of Captain.
“In 1642, in my 51st year, my father called me home from my wandering – the King and Parliament were in dispute and I joined my younger brother, Rowland, in service of our Parliament, defending its right against the King’s tyrannical advisors. Whilst Rowland was at Pembroke and Tenby, my military service made me useful and I was sent to north into England to Bolton to help train the raw troops of Alexander Rigby, then the commander of the Parliament troops in Lancashire.
“The devil makes work for idle hands and in the quiet interludes between fighting our enemy my old skills working with leather came in handy – much of our equipment needs to be repaired and we do not have the luxury of time to wait for professional workers to arrive, so I have taken up my old tools once again.
“You will see me most days in our camp at Bolton – either training the troops with sword or sitting with needle and awl repairing kit.”
Come and meet Lieutenant Laugharne at The Storming of Bolton, a FREE event at Bolton School, Chorley New Rd, Bolton BL1 4PA on 7-8 July, from 10am to 4pm with battle in the afternoon!