English Civil War Society

[watervole]

 I just found  a short video of the 'Battle for Wimborne'.  Also shows the evening life on the campsite at a big muster, which looks like something I'll probably enjoy too.

 

Watch on YouTube

 

I'll be taking the train to my first muster. But my tent, air bed, bags, etc. are travelling north with the aid of a lady who lives quite close to me.  

She taking a trailer, because she's towing <cut>

Just in case the photo doesn't work, it's a full size working canon!

 </cut>

Comments

[greenwoodside]

Hope she also has a dashcam to catch the expressions of passing motorists!

[ranunculus]

That sounds like a really fun outing!

[kotturinn]

Ooo, that's an impressive trailer full. I wonder if she's ever been stopped by the police (and if so just how confused they were!).

[watervole]

there's all kinds of interesting bonus twists.
A canon, depending on the type, has to have either a shotgun or a firearm licence.
(I think it's the muzzle velocity and barrel length that determine which.)

Which has resulted in occasional interesting discussions with police officers checking to see if a firearm is securely stored in a locked cabinet...

Muskets also need a licence, but at least police officers don't get quite as big a shock!

It goes without saying (I've just been reading their health and safety document), that the ECWS has detailed rules on handing firearms, both during and outside battles.

[kotturinn]

Oh. My!

[igenlode]

So how do you store a small cannon? In a locked shed?

[watervole]

I don't know yet, but I imagine something like that.

[vera_j]

This is awesome and requires lots of knowledge. I have always liked various kinds of re enactment!

[watervole]

I'm really looking forward to learning more about the canon and how it works.

[igenlode]

Does it have a limber, or is it just travelling inside a trailer?

[watervole]

Well, a limber is the part that carried the ammunition. I don't think it has one - at least I don't recall seeing any limbers when I was at the battle - but then they aren't firing real cannonballs.

But I doubt wooden wheels - even with iron tyres - would be upto the speed on modern roads.

I'm guessing they use a trailer, but it would need to be a pretty robust one for that weight, and with some way of rolling/winching the cannon up a ramp. It's an interesting problem. Maybe they dismantle it?

[igenlode]

The limber is the little bogie that lifts the trailing portion of the gun off the ground so that it can be moved around -- it basically converts the field cannon with its stationary dragging trail into a horse-drawn vehicle that travels *backwards*, i.e. with the gun barrel pointing behind! In effect it's like the cab of an articulated lorry; the 'trailer' portion (the gun barrel) doesn't go anywhere without it.
Unlike the familiar naval cannon on their permanent little four-wheeled trucks, field guns don't operate on a predictable flat surface so need much bigger wheels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_carriage

If you watch the King's Troop doing one of their displays you can get an idea of the role of the limbers (and "unlimbering"/"limbering up") on the battlefield. The idea was to be able to shift the battery to a new position at a gallop and return fire almost immediately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGZUM5wm0BA

Of course the King's Troop use the most modern remaining horse-drawn guns (WW1 vintage), but seventeenth-century cannon did have limbers, albeit probably much heavier and clumsier:

https://www.empressminiatures.com/ecw110-limber-for-large-and-medium-guns-157-p.asp


And you're right, you couldn't possibly take a gun and limber up the motorway on wooden wheels...!