WWI military camp

2018 marks 100 years since the end of WWI, the so-called Great War. (Sadly, it was not 'the war to end all wars'.) As part of the World Heritage Day event, there was a WWI military camp in Roberts Park and displays related to Saltaire's WWI history, which attracted lots of interest from visitors. 

The re-enactors take their history very seriously and are at pains to make things authentic and accurate. The unit was named as '6 Platoon B Company 1/8 Manchester Regiment' but I'm afraid I can't find any more information about the re-enactors. There is, however, a diary online detailing the horrors of the war in France and Belgium for the actual battalion (HERE).

The medic (right) was offering 'chloroform' to anyone willing to try it!


The older I've got, the more pacifist I've become. Nevertheless, I find these historical re-enactments (which usually centre around one or another of our wars, whether it's the English Civil Wars or the two World Wars) very fascinating. I think it's important that people should have the chance to learn about the past, and those involved are pretty knowledgeable and try hard to make it all interesting. They don't convey the horror of the war though. My own eyes were opened to that when I visited the battlefields and museum in Ypres, Belgium in July 2015. (HERE)


Boys and their guns though... (rolls eyes!)

1461 going on 2012

Inside, Bolling's Great Hall (the 'housebody') was where the Tempest family and their servants ate and where visitors were entertained.  The women of the Frei Compagnie were engaged in a little light sewing and playing games .... whilst one young lady checked her smartphone for updates.

Towton Battlefield Society

Bolling Hall is run by Bradford Council, and I think they do a great job there. They teach about history in a lively, interesting way. It's a place you feel you can really explore; not one of those 'keep off, don't touch' places. The day I went, the Towton Battlefield Society (its Frei Compagnie re-enactors) were encamped in the grounds, demonstrating combat and other activities from the time of the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century. These men demonstrated how the armour was put on, piece by piece and then how they might have fought, using different weapons including pikes, swords and daggers. We learned all sorts of interesting things... Apparently, fighting in a suit of armour quickly leads to dehydration, so in a battle the men-at-arms had to be rotated and rested.

The battle of Towton took place near York in 1461 and was a decisive battle with something like 40,000 fighting men in each opposing army. It was a very turbulent time of England's history when the Royal Houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose) were fiercely contesting the right to rule. All very complicated. In the end there was reconciliation (through a political marriage) and the great Tudor dynasty started.