Easter Sunday. Bolling Hall

Easter Sunday. My last day off in this holiday time.

 We got into the Fonz car and went to Bolling Hall in Bradford. At first attempt we could not parkas we were a bit later than I hoped.

Then everyone apeared to be coming out and climbing into cars and going away. so it worked out nicely in the end.

We went to discover how life would have been at Bolling in the 17th century.

Civil war activities, and costumed actors we saw today. Lord Montegue's foot soldiers.....

I tried and mostly seceeded in photographing the actors and not the modern people visiting. And to day it was very popular, and parents and children were everywhere in droves.
They were very happy to demonstrate and talk about their weapons and fighting back in the days.

Here they are in the garden at Bolling hall.everything they wear and carry is an intricate copy of the original.

So who was Lord Montague ?  Well he was the Earl of Sandwich and the patron of Pepys the diarist. Hence why we know so much about him.

A strong supporter of Oliver Cromwell and later his son Richard. Then he disapeared from politics and laid low for a while. (I have found this a few times about this civil war!!!) and then he changed sides and was very instrumental in bringing back the king from exile!. Charles 11.

Elected as a member of the council of state he was. Co general at sea and commissioner of the admiralty.  So it all came out alright for him in the end.

1625 -1672 the years Lord Montague lived. He was as I say a strong supporter of Oliver Cromwell And then his son To become Lord Protector. Richard was overthrown in 1659. He went back to his home and quietly and secretly at first transferred his allegiance to Charles11. He was also instrumental in bringing home many royalist supporters from exile.  He became commissioner of the admiralty and prepared the fleet which brought home the king Charles11.  He set sale with Samuel Pepys on board and set sail in may 1660 in the Nasby. May 23 1660 in fact .....In return for this the king made him The first Earl of Sandwich, knight of the garter and master of the wardrobe.

Outside foot soldiers demonstrated their trade  and inside

were other characters dressed to period....

there were plenty of costumed guides to tell stories.

this house was very important in the Civil war, so there are a lot of displays relating to this.

Lord montagues regiment of foote are part of the civil war society and helped bring the old house back to life.

Sewing spinning and cooking were also demonstrated.....

We wandered around some of the other rooms. All of which have been re organised since my last visit....so there were some new things to see on this visit.

I have been many times. This is my first of a few visits I hope to make this year and here is my fave portrait. Caroline who was the Lady of the house for a while and has a plaque in Otley church . Otley is where her family came from. Caroline Lacon Barker.

And her husband Charles Wood a sea captain who hangs on the other wall......

My favorite is the nursery and the dolls.

Today. Monday now I am finishing this blog and can see a lot of sleat and snow. a very different day. so I leave you with the rest of the photos of Bolling and drink tea before going off to work now,