Friday, 26 October 2007

Playing Soldiers or Preserving History?

Historic re-enaction at Landguard Fort. ©2007 Arthur Loosley


I took this photograph at Landguard Fort in Felixstowe, Suffolk which guarded the East Coast of England and two major river estuaries from the time of Henry VIII until the military finally moved out in the 1950s. Army, Navy, Marines and the Royal Air Force have all occupied the fort at various times.

Now managed by a charitable trust the fort holds regular re-enactments of various periods in its long history. The enactors take it very seriously, basing their displays on original drill books.
Landguard is the only fort to have defeated a full-scale invasion attempt on our shores. That was in 1667, when Captain Nathaniel Darell and his 500 men beat off a Dutch invasion force. The historic event is still celebrated annually.

Diesel locomotive named after Captain Nathaniel Darell at the Port of Felixstowe, July 2007.  ©Felixstowe Museum

Fast-forward to July 2007, when this new diesel locomotive at the Port of Felixstowe was named in the captain's memory.



Below: another reenactment from a different period of history.

Musketeers at Lngguards Fort. ©2007 Arthur Loosley

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